The Pulpit Commentary — 1 Kings — Section 219

turn o.wo.y thy son from following me," &o. Ver. 4.-For it came to pass, when Solo- (Deut. vii. 4). The spirit of the lo.w, conse- mon was old [Ae he was but sixty a.t the quently, was as much violated byan Edomite time of his death, " old" is here a. relative or A.mmonite as by a Hittite alliance], term, and mast mean "toward the close of Ye shall not go 1n to them, neither shall hie life," i.e., when he was about 50 or 55], they come 1n unto you [much the same ex- tha.t his wives turned away his heart after pression Josh. xxiii. 12. The historian does other gods [The text does not limit Solo- not cite any special Scripture, however, but mon's polygamy to the time of old age, but gives the substance of several warnings], for his idolatrous leanings. I say leaning.~, surely they w1ll turn away your heart for it is doubtful to what extent Solomon after their gods [cf. Exod. xxxiv. 16]: Solo- himself took part in actual idolatry. Both mon clave [same word Gen. ii. 4] unto Bii.hr and Keil- the latter in opposition these [emphatic in Heb. "even to these," to the views he held in 1846 - not to instead of cleaving to God (Dent. iv. 4; x. speak of others, deny that he shared the 20; xx.x. 20, each of which has the ea.me idolatries of his wives, and the former word as here), and despite the prohibitions labours hard, and on the whole, H seems of the law, &c.] 1n love. to me, successfully, to prove that he was Ver. 3.-And he had seven hundred only guilty of sanctioning idolatrous wor- wives, princesses [These may have been ship in the vicinity of Jerusa.lem. His members of royal or princely houses of arguments, briefly stated, a.re these: (1) neighbouring nations. Evidently they en- It is nowhere said that he "served" (1;1¥) joyed a distinguished rank], and three hun- other gods-the expression constantly used dred concubines [Though not committed to of the idolatrous kings; cf. xvi. 31 ; xxii. 53; o. defence of the accuracy of the figures 2 Kings xvi. 3, &c. (2) Neither the son of 700 and 300 (which are clearly round num- Sirach nor the Ta.I.mud nor the Ila.bbins bers), it must be said tho.t the reasons o.lleged know anything of his personal idolatry. (3) for reducing them (as from 700 to 70) are Had he formally worshipped idols, his sin not of much weight. It is ho.rdly correct, e.g., would have been greater than that of Jero- to say (o.s Rawlinson) that the numbers are boam-as to which, however, see on eh. given in Cant. vi. 8 as "threescore queens xii. 29 sqq. (The "sin of Jeroboam" lay and fourscore concubines," for it is obvious in "making Israel to sin," i.e., in forcing that too much importance must not be at- his people into schismatic and unauthorized tached to an obiter statement (" there are worship, rather than in any practices of his threescore," &c.) in a. poetical book, too, own.) (4) The expressions "his heart was o.nd one descriptive of Solomon's youth. not perfect," below, and" he went not fully" The view of Ewald and Keil, again, that these (ver. 6) a.re inconsistent with the idea of numbers represent the sum total of the in- idolatry. Similarly Ewald says, "There is mates of the harem at different periods of no evidence from ancient authorities that Solomon's long reign, rather tho.n the num- Solomon, even in advanced life, ever left ber present at any one time-they would eoe the religion of Jahveh, and with his own in the numbers of Cant. l.c. a statement of hand sacrificed to heathen gods. All traces the average strength of the seraglio-though of contemporary history extant testify to the not to be described. as evasive, is certainly contrary" (vol. iii. p. 297). See, however, on not the natural interpretation of the words. ver. 5]: and his heart was not perfect with And these numbers, when we compo.re them the Lord his God [It is instructive to com- with the establishments of other Eastern pare with this the words of eh. viii. 61, potentates, are not found to be at all incre- "Let your heart be perfect," &c. Worda- dible. The co=entators o.ll remind us that worth remarks that " tLe defection even of Dareiue Codomannus, e.g., took with him on Solomon from God through the influence hie expedition agaiuet Alexander 360 pellices. of his strange wives is one of the best justi- Or if ancient history, as Rawlinson o.ffirms, fications" of the commanda of E.rnd. u:xiv. furnishes no strict parallel to these figures, 12-16; Dent. vii. 2-4, &c.], as was the the harems of modem PersiE1 and Turkey at heart of David his father. o.nyratehave quite equalled that of Solomon. Ver. 5.-For Solomon went after [Raw- (See Biihr in Zoe.) It is true that Rehoboam linson observes that this expression, which had only 18 wives and 60 concubines (2 Chron. ie " oo=on in the Pentateuch, alwo.ye xi.21), but then Rehoboam waenot Solomon. signifies actual idolatry." He cites Dent. If his harem was but o. tithe of his father's, xi. 28; xiii. 2 ; xxviii. 14; bat it should be so also were hie wealth and his power]: and considered th11t in the two passages last hie wives turned away hie heart. [" So.t!lll cited the words a.re added," and served then&." bath found this bait to take so well that he And the true explanation would seem to be never changed since he crept into :Pe.radise" that, though "it is not stated that Solomon (Bp. Ho.II),] himself offered sacrifice to these idols," yet 222 THE FIRST BOOK OF RINGS. [err. XI. 1-18,