This week, we take a look at the life of Solomon. In Chronicles, he's said to have asked God for wisdom, and received it beyond the measure of any other man. Here, we see him acting rather less than wisely.
1 Kings 11:1-9 - King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the Israelites, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you; for they will surely incline your heart to follow their gods”; Solomon clung to these in love. Among his wives were seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of his father David. For Solomon followed Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not completely follow the LORD, as his father David had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who offered incense and sacrificed to their gods.
My first question in this passage would be - how many religions can one person believe? A related question would be how many sexual partners can one man possibly handle? Well, maybe that's a silly question, but I felt it had to be asked.
Now, my less emotional reactions to this passage are to think about the pragmatic aspects of this passage. Solomon, like any other king, was probably concerned about political relations with neighboring city-states, and relationships (both official and unofficial) were quite likely to have been reflected in the make-up of this "harem" he kept.
Likewise, I have to wonder if the religious "straying" attributed to Solomon (the wisest of all kings) might have really been simply an attempt to recognize the religious diversity of the people of the area of Palestine. Which sort of makes me wonder how future generations of the descendants of Christianity will view America, with its attempt to get many religious communities to live in peace and toleration together.
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