1 Kings 11:3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines--and his wives turned his heart away.

◄ 1 Kings 11:3 ►

New International Version
He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.

New Living Translation
He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the LORD.

English Standard Version
He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart.

Berean Standard Bible
He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines—and his wives turned his heart away.

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

New King James Version
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.

New American Standard Bible
He had seven hundred wives, who were princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned his heart away.

NASB 1995
He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away.

NASB 1977
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away.

Legacy Standard Bible
And he had 700 wives—princesses—and 300 concubines, and his wives turned his heart away.

Amplified Bible
He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away [from God].

Christian Standard Bible
He had seven hundred wives who were princesses and three hundred who were concubines, and they turned his heart away.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
He had 700 wives who were princesses and 300 concubines, and they turned his heart away from the LORD.

American Standard Version
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.

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

GOD'S WORD® Translation
He had 700 wives who were princesses and 300 wives who were concubines.

Good News Translation
Solomon married seven hundred princesses and also had three hundred concubines. They made him turn away from God,

International Standard Version
He had 700 princess wives and 300 mistresses who turned his heart away from the LORD,

Majority Standard Bible
He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines—and his wives turned his heart away.

NET Bible
He had 700 royal wives and 300 concubines; his wives had a powerful influence over him.

New Heart English Bible
He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred secondary wives; and his wives turned away his heart.

Webster's Bible Translation
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.

World English Bible
He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines. His wives turned his heart away.

Literal Translations

Literal Standard Version
And he has seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turn aside his heart.

Young's Literal Translation
And he hath women, princesses, seven hundred, and concubines three hundred; and his wives turn aside his heart.

Smith's Literal Translation
And there will be to him seven hundred chief wives, and three hundred concubines: and his wives will turn his heart.

Catholic Translations

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he had seven hundred wives as queens, and three hundred concubines: and the women turned away his heart.

Catholic Public Domain Version
And for him, there were seven hundred wives, as if they were queens, and three hundred concubines. And the women turned aside his heart.

New American Bible
He had as wives seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines, and they turned his heart.

New Revised Standard Version
Among his wives were seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.

Translations from Aramaic

Lamsa Bible
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And he had seven hundred wives, free women, and three hundred Concubines, and his wives seduced his heart.

OT Translations

JPS Tanakh 1917
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines. And the strange women turned away his heart after their gods.

Additional Translations ...

Audio Bible

Context

Solomon's Foreign Wives
…2These women were from the nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these women in love. 3He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines— and his wives turned his heart away. 4For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been.…

Berean Standard Bible · Download

Cross References

Deuteronomy 17:17
He must not take many wives for himself, lest his heart go astray. He must not accumulate for himself large amounts of silver and gold.

Nehemiah 13:26
Did not King Solomon of Israel sin in matters like this? There was not a king like him among many nations, and he was loved by his God, who made him king over all Israel—yet foreign women drew him into sin.

2 Samuel 5:13
After he had arrived from Hebron, David took more concubines and wives from Jerusalem, and more sons and daughters were born to him.

1 Kings 3:1
Later, Solomon formed an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt by marrying his daughter. Solomon brought her to the City of David until he had finished building his palace and the house of the LORD, as well as the wall around Jerusalem.

1 Kings 9:24
As soon as Pharaoh’s daughter had come up from the City of David to the palace that Solomon had built for her, he built the supporting terraces.

1 Kings 10:14-29
The weight of gold that came to Solomon each year was 666 talents, / not including the revenue from the merchants, traders, and all the Arabian kings and governors of the land. / King Solomon made two hundred large shields of hammered gold; six hundred shekels of gold went into each shield. ...

2 Chronicles 9:25
Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 horses, which he stationed in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem.

Ecclesiastes 7:26
And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.

Proverbs 5:3-4
Though the lips of the forbidden woman drip honey and her speech is smoother than oil, / in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword.

Proverbs 6:24-26
to keep you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress. / Do not lust in your heart for her beauty or let her captivate you with her eyes. / For the levy of the prostitute is poverty, and the adulteress preys upon your very life.

Proverbs 7:25-27
Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths. / For she has brought many down to death; her slain are many in number. / Her house is the road to Sheol, descending to the chambers of death.

Matthew 6:24
No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Matthew 19:4-6
Jesus answered, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ / and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? / So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.”

Mark 10:6-9
However, from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ / ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, / and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. ...

Luke 16:13
No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

Treasury of Scripture

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

seven hundred

Judges 8:30,31
And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives…

Judges 9:5
And he went unto his father's house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten persons, upon one stone: notwithstanding yet Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself.

2 Samuel 3:2-5
And unto David were sons born in Hebron: and his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; …

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1 Kings 11

1. Solomon's wives and concubines
4. In his old age they draw him to idolatry
9. God threatens him,
14. Solomon's adversaries were Hadad, who was entertained in Egypt
23. Rezon, who reigned in Damascus
26. And Jeroboam, to whom Ahijah prophesied
41. Solomon's acts, reign, and death. Rehoboam succeeds him

Berean Study Bible

He had
This phrase indicates possession and responsibility. In the context of ancient Israel, kings often had multiple wives to secure political alliances and demonstrate wealth and power. The Hebrew root here, "hayah," implies existence and continuity, suggesting that Solomon's actions were not momentary lapses but a sustained lifestyle choice.

seven hundred wives of royal birth
The number "seven hundred" is significant, symbolizing completeness or perfection in biblical numerology. However, in this context, it underscores excess and deviation from God's design for marriage. The phrase "of royal birth" indicates that these marriages were likely political alliances, which was common in the ancient Near East. This practice, while politically expedient, often led to spiritual compromise, as foreign wives brought their gods and practices into Israel.

and three hundred concubines
Concubines were women who had a recognized relationship with a man but without the full status of a wife. The Hebrew term "pilegesh" reflects a secondary status, often used for political or social purposes. The sheer number of concubines further illustrates Solomon's departure from God's ideal of monogamous marriage, as outlined in Genesis 2:24.

and his wives turned his heart away
This phrase is pivotal, highlighting the spiritual consequences of Solomon's marriages. The Hebrew word for "heart," "leb," encompasses the mind, will, and emotions. The turning away of Solomon's heart signifies a shift in his devotion and priorities. Despite his wisdom, Solomon's heart was led astray by his foreign wives, who influenced him to worship other gods, contrary to the first commandment (Exodus 20:3). This turning away is a cautionary tale about the dangers of compromising one's faith for worldly alliances and pleasures.

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(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 Song of Solomon 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.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 3. - And he had seven hundred wives, princesses [These may have been members of royal or princely houses of neighbouring nations. Evidently they enjoyed a distinguished rank], and three hundred concubines [Though not committed to a defence of the accuracy of the figures 700 and 300 (which are clearly round numbers), it must be said that the reasons alleged for reducing them (as from 700 to 70) are not of much weight. It is hardly correct, e.g., to say (as Rawlinson) that the numbers are given in Song of Solomon 6:8 as "threescore queens and fourscore concubines," for it is obvious that too much importance must not be attached to an obiter statement ("there are threescore," etc.) in a poetical book, too, and one descriptive of Solomon's youth. The view of Ewald and Keil, again, that these numbers represent the sum total of the inmates of the harem at different periods of Solomon's long reign, rather than the number present at any one time - they would see in the numbers of Song of Solomon l.c. a statement of the average strength of the seraglio - though not to be described as evasive, is certainly not the natural interpretation of the words. And these numbers, when we compare them with the establishments of other Eastern potentates, are not found to be at all incredible. The commentators all remind us that Dareius Codomannus, e.g., took with him on his expedition against Alexander 360 pellices. Or if ancient history, as Rawlinson affirms, furnishes no strict parallel to these figures, the harems of modern Persia and Turkey at any rate have quite equalled that of Solomon. (See Bahr in loc.) It is true that Rehoboam had only 18 wives and 60 concubines (2 Chronicles 11:21), but then Rehoboam was not Solomon. If his harem was but a tithe of his father's, so also were his wealth and his power]: and his wives turned away his heart. ["Satan hath found this bait to take so well that he never changed since he crept into Paradise" (Bp. Hall).]

Parallel Commentaries ...

Hebrew

He had
וַיְהִי־ (way·hî-)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 1961: To fall out, come to pass, become, be

seven
שְׁבַ֣ע (šə·ḇa‘)
Number - feminine singular construct
Strong's 7651: Seven, seven times, a week, an indefinite number

hundred
מֵא֔וֹת (mê·’ō·wṯ)
Number - feminine plural
Strong's 3967: A hundred

wives
נָשִׁ֗ים (nā·šîm)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 802: Woman, wife, female

of royal birth
שָׂרוֹת֙ (śā·rō·wṯ)
Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 8282: A mistress, female noble

and three
שְׁלֹ֣שׁ (šə·lōš)
Number - feminine singular construct
Strong's 7969: Three, third, thrice

hundred
מֵא֑וֹת (mê·’ō·wṯ)
Number - feminine plural
Strong's 3967: A hundred

concubines—
וּפִֽלַגְשִׁ֖ים (ū·p̄i·laḡ·šîm)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - feminine plural
Strong's 6370: A concubine, a paramour

and his wives
נָשָׁ֖יו (nā·šāw)
Noun - feminine plural construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 802: Woman, wife, female

turned his heart
לִבּֽוֹ׃ (lib·bōw)
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular
Strong's 3820: The heart, the feelings, the will, the intellect, centre

away.
וַיַּטּ֥וּ (way·yaṭ·ṭū)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Hifil - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine plural
Strong's 5186: To stretch out, spread out, extend, incline, bend

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OT History: 1 Kings 11:3 He had seven hundred wives princesses (1Ki iKi i Ki 1 Kg 1kg)