1 Kings 11:6
in 1 Kings 11So Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD; unlike his father David, he did not follow the LORD completely.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Solomon did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and went not fully after Jehovah, as did David his father.
KJV
And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father.
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This verse in 1 Kings 11
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Ashtoreth--Astarte, Milcom--Molech, and Chemosh--He built altars for these three; but, although he is described (1Ki 11:8) as doing the same for "all his strange wives," there is no evidence that they had idols distinct from these; and there is no trace whatever of Egyptian idolatry.
This site's exposition
his wives turned away his heart
on 1 Kings 11:4-6
The verdict is comparative rather than absolute: his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father, and Solomon went not fully after the Lord, as did David. David's own failures are on record earlier in the history, so the measure is not sinlessness but wholeness of devotion, a heart not divided between the Lord and Ashtoreth and Milcom. Old age is named as the setting, the slow accumulation of seven hundred compromises rather than one sudden fall.
This site's exposition
he did not follow the LORD completely
John Gill reads the charge as divided worship. Solomon kept the temple service and followed other gods beside it, so his heart was never whole. Matthew Henry notes that Solomon made no effort to turn his foreign wives to the God of Israel and built high places for their gods.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
(2.) He tolerated and maintained his wives in their idolatry and made no scruple of joining with them in it. Pharaoh's daughter was proselyted (as is supposed) to the Jews' religion, but, when he began to grow careless in the worship of God himself, he used no means to convert his other wives to it; in complaisance to them, he built chapels for their gods (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord,.... As idolatry is, nothing more provoking to him: and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father; for though he did not relinquish the worship of the true God, and the service of the temple, yet inasmuch as he worshipped other gods besides, or connived at the worship of them, he did not wholly, and constantly, and solely serve the Lord, as his father did.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּ֧עַשׂ | vaiyaas | and he did | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| שְׁלֹמֹ֛ה | shelomoh | Solomon | H8010 → | 291 times |
| הָרַ֖ע | hara' | the evil | H7451 → | 662 times |
| בְּעֵינֵ֣י | beeinei | in [the] eyes of | H5869 → | 887 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וְלֹ֥א | velo' | and not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| מִלֵּ֛א | mile' | he filled | H4390 → | 249 times |
| אַחֲרֵ֥י | ʾacharei | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| יְהוָ֖ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| כְּדָוִ֥ד | kedavid | like David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| אָבִֽיו׃ ס | ʾaviv | father his | H1 → | 1212 times |
וַיַּ֧עַשׂand he did
vaiyaasH6213 →2628 times
שְׁלֹמֹ֛הSolomon
shelomohH8010 →291 times
הָרַ֖עthe evil
hara'H7451 →662 times
בְּעֵינֵ֣יin [the] eyes of
beeineiH5869 →887 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וְלֹ֥אand not
velo'H3808 →5168 times
מִלֵּ֛אhe filled
mile'H4390 →249 times
אַחֲרֵ֥יafter
ʾachareiH310 →715 times
יְהוָ֖הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
כְּדָוִ֥דlike David
kedavidH1732 →999 times
אָבִֽיו׃ סfather his
ʾavivH1 →1212 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Numbers 14:24But because My servant Caleb has a different spirit and has followed Me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he has entered, and his descendants will inherit it.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 1:36
except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see it, and I will give him and his descendants the land on which he has set foot, because he followed the LORD wholeheartedly.”
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Joshua 14:6–14
Then the sons of Judah approached Joshua at Gilgal, and Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite said to him, “You know what the LORD said to Moses the man of God at Kadesh-barnea about…
- Numbers 14:6–9
Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes
- Numbers 32:11–12
‘Because they did not follow Me wholeheartedly, not one of the men twenty years of age or older who came out of Egypt will see the land that I swore to give Abraham, Isaac,…
- Ephesians 6:6
And do this not only to please them while they are watching, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.
- Deuteronomy 1:36
Through
Joshua 14:8Although my brothers who went with me made the hearts of the people melt with fear, I remained loyal to the LORD my God.
it leads to
- Numbers 14:24
But because My servant Caleb has a different spirit and has followed Me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he has entered, and his descendants will inherit it.
- Numbers 13:31
But the men who had gone up with him replied, “We cannot go up against the people, for they are stronger than we are!”
- Numbers 14:24
Through
Joshua 14:14Therefore Hebron belongs to Caleb son of Jephunneh the Kenizzite as an inheritance to this day, because he wholly followed the LORD, the God of Israel.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 15:58
Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
- 1 Corinthians 15:58
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Kings
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.