1 Kings 11:3

And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines,.... In all 1000, a prodigious number; though these might not be all for use, but for state after the manner of the eastern

And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart. Wives, princesses.

Seven hundred wives, and three hundred concubines; partly for his lust, which being indulged, becomes infinite and unsatiable; and partly from his pride, accounting this a point of honour and magnificence.

1 Kings 11:3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.Ver. 3. And he had seven hundred wives.] Numerum effraenem. Fewer they were by far at first, as some do gather from Son 6:8, threescore queens, and fourscore concubines - wives of an inferior rank - and virgins without number: these likely were kept for store, as at this day sundry are in the great Turk’ s harem, and turned off at pleasure, as Esther 2:14, "they came in to the king no more, except he delighted in them." Miserabilis fuit hic lapsus, saith one. This was a miserable fall indeed of so wise and holy a man into so foul evils: to teach us the truth of that old rhyming couplet, “ Vestis pulchra, iocus, potus, cibus, otia, somnus, Enervant mentem, luxuriamque fovent. ” And his wives turned away his heart.] O wives! the most sweet poison - saith one of our historians, speaking of the Duke of Somerset’ s lady, in King Edward VI’ s time - the most desired evil in the world, &c. Woman was first given to man for a comforter, and not for a counsellor, much less for a controller and director: and therefore in the first sentence against man, this cause is expressed, "Because thou obeyedst the voice of thy wife." A Lapide. Sir John Heywood.

(3) Seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines.—The harem of an Eastern king is simply an adjunct of his magnificence, and the relation of the wives to him little more than nominal. (Comp. Esther 2:14.) Nor does the statement here made necessarily imply that at any one time the whole number existed. Still, the numbers here given, though found also in the LXX. and in Josephus, are not only extraordinarily large, but excessive in comparison with the “three- score queens and fourscore concubines” of Son 6:8, and disproportionate in the relative number of the superior and inferior wives. It is possible that, in relation to the former, at any rate, the text may be corrupt, though the corruption must be of ancient date.

Verse 3. He had seven hundred wives, princesses] How he could get so many of the blood royal from the different surrounding nations, is astonishing; but probably the daughters of noblemen, generals, c., may be included. And three hundred concubines] These were wives of the second rank, who were taken according to the usages of those times but their offspring could not inherit. Sarah was to Abraham what these seven hundred princesses were to Solomon; and the three hundred concubines stood in the same relation to the Israelitish king as Hagar and Keturah did to the patriarch. Here then are one thousand wives to form this great bad man's harem! Was it possible that such a person could have any piety to God, who was absorbed by such a number of women? We scarcely allow a man to have the fear of God who has a second wife or mistress; in what state then must the man be who has one thousand of them? We may endeavour to excuse all this by saying, "It was a custom in the East to have a multitude of women, and that there were many of those whom Solomon probably never saw," c., c. But was there any of them whom he might not have seen? Was it for reasons of state, or merely court splendour, that he had so many? How then is it said that he loved many strange women? - that he clave to them in love? And did he not give them the utmost proofs of his attachment when he not only tolerated their iniquitous worship in the land, but built temples to their idols, and more, burnt incense to them himself? As we should not condemn what God justifies, so we should not justify what God condemns. He went after Ashtaroth, the impure Venus of the Sidonians after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites after Chemosh, the abomination of the Moabites; and after the murderous Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. He seems to have gone as far in iniquity as it was possible.

3. seven hundred wives, princesses] The numbers in this verse are far in excess of those in the Song of Solomon, which makes mention (1 Kings 6:8) of threescore queens. But from the instances known of other monarchs there is little reason to question what is stated in this verse. Philippson (die Israelitische Bibel) tells of the wives of the great Mogul as 1000 in number, and in ancient history there are similar examples. Many of these were probably never seen by the monarch in his life, but counted among his household, as an item of magnificence. It was only by the few who were his more constant companions that Solomon’s heart was turned away.

These numbers seem excessive to many critics, and it must be admitted that history furnishes no parallel to them. In Son 6:8 the number of Solomon’s legitimate wives is said to be sixty, and that of his concubines eighty.

3. Seven hundred wives — Some have thought by a supposed corruption in the text to reduce the seven hundred to seventy, and the three hundred concubines to eighty, and have referred to Son 6:8, as