Solomon Died an Idol Worshiper
Problematic Passages
This passage indicates that Solomon, influenced by his foreign wives, turned to idol worship and built high places for various foreign gods. This act of idolatry was seen as a significant departure from his earlier devotion to God and led to God's anger against him.
1 Kings 11:1-10 (NIV):
1 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites.
2 They were from nations about which the Lord had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love.
3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray.
4 As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been.
5 He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites.
6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.