1 Raja-raja 11:1-2

The Lord Punishes Solomon for Idolatry

11:1 King Solomon fell in love with many foreign women (besides Pharaoh’s daughter), including Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites. 11:2 They came from nations about which the Lord had warned the Israelites, “You must not establish friendly relations with them! ¹  If you do, they will surely shift your allegiance to their gods.” ²  But Solomon was irresistibly attracted to them. ³ 

1 Raja-raja 11:4

11:4 When Solomon became old, his wives shifted his allegiance to ⁴  other gods; he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his father David had been. ⁵ 

1 Raja-raja 11:6

11:6 Solomon did evil in the Lord’s sight; ⁶  he did not remain loyal to ⁷  the Lord, like his father David had.

1 Raja-raja 11:9-13

11:9 The Lord was angry with Solomon because he had shifted his allegiance ⁸  away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him on two occasions ⁹  11:10 and had warned him about this very thing, so that he would not follow other gods. ¹⁰  But he did not obey ¹¹  the Lord’s command. 11:11 So the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you insist on doing these things and have not kept the covenantal rules I gave you, ¹²  I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. 11:12 However, for your father David’s sake I will not do this while you are alive. I will tear it away from your son’s hand instead. 11:13 But I will not tear away the entire kingdom; I will leave ¹³  your son one tribe for my servant David’s sake and for the sake of my chosen city Jerusalem.”

[11:2]  ¹ tn Heb “you must not go into them, and they must not go into you.”

[11:2]  ² tn Heb “Surely they will bend your heart after their gods.” The words “if you do” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[11:2]  ³ tn Heb “Solomon clung to them for love.” The pronominal suffix, translated “them,” is masculine here, even though it appears the foreign women are in view. Perhaps this is due to attraction to the masculine forms used of the nations earlier in the verse.

[11:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “bent his heart after.”

[11:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “his heart was not complete with the Lord his God, like the heart of David his father.”

[11:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “in the eyes of the Lord.”

[11:6]  ⁷ tn The idiomatic statement reads in Hebrew, “he did not fill up after.”

[11:9]  ⁸ tn Heb “bent his heart.”

[11:9]  ⁹ sn These two occasions are mentioned in 1 Kgs 3:5 and 9:2.

[11:10]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “and had commanded him concerning this thing not to walk after other gods.”

[11:10]  ¹¹ tn Or “keep.”

[11:11]  ¹² tn Heb “Because this is with you, and you have not kept my covenant and my rules which I commanded you.”

[11:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “give.”