HOW MANY WIVES DID KING SOLOMON HAVE AND WHY WAS THIS HIS DOWNFALL?

Do you know how many wives Solomon had during his lifetime? Understand why Solomon had a thousand women and how this led to his downfall.

King Solomon had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, according to the Bible. Of all these women, the only one whose name is mentioned in the biblical text is Naamah the Ammonite, mother of his son Rehoboam. Like Naamah, many of Solomon’s other wives were also foreign women from neighboring nations of the Israelites. Therefore, Solomon married Moabite, Edomite, Sidonian, Egyptian, and Hittite women. He even married an Egyptian princess, the daughter of the Pharaoh of Egypt at that time.

What led Solomon to have 700 wives and 300 concubines? Among ancient peoples, marriages often served as political alliances between kingdoms. Thus, Solomon used this strategy during his reign. However, the Bible also explains that beyond the diplomatic purpose of Solomon's marriages, the Israeli king also loved his women. The problem is that all this was disapproved by divine law. In fact, there was an ordinance that prohibited Israeli kings from accumulating many wives. Additionally, they should not marry women from neighboring nations, as this could compromise worship of God. And that is exactly what happened to King Solomon.

Solomon ignored divine guidance, accumulated 700 wives and 300 concubines, and his spiritual life declined. The Bible says Solomon forgot the Lord and began to worship the gods of his wives, resulting in the division of his kingdom during the reign of his son Rehoboam.

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