1 Kings 11:4

1 Kings 11:4 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
• New International Version (NIV)As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For it was so, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned his heart after other gods; and his heart was not loyal to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David.

Context of 1 Kings 11:4

2from the nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, and they must not intermarry with you, because they will turn your heart away to follow their gods.” To these women Solomon was deeply attached in love. 3He had seven hundred wives who were princesses and three hundred who were concubines, and they turned his heart away. When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods. He was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his father David had been. 5Solomon followed Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the abhorrent idol of the Ammonites. 6Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, and unlike his father David, he did not remain loyal to the Lord.

1 Kings 11:4 word by word

וַיְהִ֗י לְעֵת֙ זִקְנַ֣ת שְׁלֹמֹ֔ה נָשָׁיו֙ הִטּ֣וּ אֶת־לְבָב֔וֹ אַחֲרֵ֖י אֱלֹהִ֣ים אֲחֵרִ֑ים וְלֹא־הָיָ֨ה לְבָב֤וֹ שָׁלֵם֙ עִם־יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהָ֔יו כִּלְבַ֖ב דָּוִ֥יד אָבִֽיו׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• For it came to pass, whenעֵת‛êth · timeH6256
• Solomonשְׁלֹמֹהshelômôh · SolomonH8010
• was oldזִקְנָהziqnâh · old ageH2209
• his wivesאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · woman: wifeH802
• turned awayנָטָהnâţâh · to stretchH5186
• his heartלֵבָבlêbâb · heartH3824
• afterאַחַר'achar · afterH310
• otherאַחֵר'achêr · anotherH312
• godsאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• was not perfectשָׁלֵםshâlêm · completeH8003
• with the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• of Davidדָּוִדdâvid dâvîyd · DavidH1732
• his fatherאָב'âb · fatherH1

Cross-references for 1 Kings 11:4

• 1 Kings 11:42The length of Solomon’s reign in Jerusalem over all Israel totaled forty years.
• 1 Kings 6:1Solomon began to build the temple for the Lord in the four hundred eightieth year after the Israelites came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of his reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, which is the second month.
• 1 Kings 9:10At the end of twenty years, during which Solomon had built the two houses, the Lord’s temple and the royal palace —
• 1 Kings 14:21Now Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king; he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city where the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel to put his name. Rehoboam’s mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonite.
• 1 Kings 11:2from the nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, and they must not intermarry with you, because they will turn your heart away to follow their gods.” To these women Solomon was deeply attached in love.
• Deuteronomy 7:4because they will turn your sons away from me to worship other gods. Then the Lord’s anger will burn against you, and he will swiftly destroy you.
• Deuteronomy 17:17He must not acquire many wives for himself so that his heart won’t go astray. He must not acquire very large amounts of silver and gold for himself.
• Nehemiah 13:26Didn’t King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, yet foreign women drew him into sin.
• 1 Kings 11:6Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, and unlike his father David, he did not remain loyal to the Lord.
• 1 Kings 6:12“As for this temple you are building — if you walk in my statutes, observe my ordinances, and keep all my commands by walking in them, I will fulfill my promise to you, which I made to your father David.
• 1 Kings 8:61Be wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord our God to walk in his statutes and to keep his commands, as it is today.”
• 1 Kings 9:4As for you, if you walk before me as your father David walked, with a heart of integrity and in what is right, doing everything I have commanded you, and if you keep my statutes and ordinances,
• 1 Kings 15:3Abijam walked in all the sins his father before him had committed, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God as his ancestor David had been.
• 2 Kings 20:3“Please, Lord, remember how I have walked before you faithfully and wholeheartedly and have done what pleases you.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
• 1 Chronicles 28:9“As for you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father, and serve him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands the intention of every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you abandon him, he will reject you forever.
• 1 Chronicles 29:19Give my son Solomon an undivided heart to keep and to carry out all your commands, your decrees, and your statutes, and to build the building for which I have made provision.

Commentaries on 1 Kings 11:4

• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 4-8he did not follow the LORD completely: David committed a serious sin, but he truly repented when God's prophet confronted him (2 Samuel 11:1–12:23; Psalm 51:1–4). However, Solomon ignored God's warnings (1 Kings 3:14; 6:12–13; 9:4–9) and did not learn from Israel's history. Instead, he repeated their sins.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 44. when Solomon was old--He could not have been more than fifty. his wives turned away his heart after other gods--Some, considering the lapse of Solomon into idolatry as a thing incredible, regard him as merely humoring his wives in the practice of their superstition; and, in countenancing their respective rites by his presence, as giving only an outward homage--a sensible worship, in which neither his understanding nor his heart was engaged. The apology…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Kings 11:4

• Backsliders
• Character
• Fellowship
• Influence
• Instability
• Molech
• Perfection
• Polygamy
• Rulers
• Solomon
• Temptation
• Wife
• Women

In the dictionaries

• David
• God
• Solomon
• Clad
• Notwithstanding
• Rend
• Agriculture
• Gods
• Jeroboam
• Kings, Books of

Commentaries on 1 Kings 11

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings