1 Kings 11:5-7

11:5 Solomon worshiped¹ the Sidonian goddess Astarte and the detestable Ammonite god Milcom.² 11:6 Solomon did evil in the Lord’s sight;³ he did not remain loyal to⁴ the Lord, like his father David had. 11:7 Furthermore,⁵ on the hill east of Jerusalem⁶ Solomon built a high place⁷ for the detestable Moabite god Chemosh⁸ and for the detestable Ammonite god Milcom.⁹

1 Kings 11:2

11:2 They came from nations about which the Lord had warned the Israelites, “You must not establish friendly relations with them!¹⁰ If you do, they will surely shift your allegiance to their gods.”¹¹ But Solomon was irresistibly attracted to them.¹²

1 Kings 1:13

1:13 Visit¹³ King David and say to him, ‘My master, O king, did you not solemnly promise¹⁴ your servant, “Surely your son Solomon will be king after me; he will sit on my throne”? So why has Adonijah become king?’

¹tn Heb “walked after.”

²tn Heb “Milcom, the detestable thing of the Ammonites.”

³tn Heb “in the eyes of the Lord.”

⁴tn The idiomatic statement reads in Hebrew, “he did not fill up after.”

⁵tn Heb “then.”

⁶sn The hill east of Jerusalem refers to the Mount of Olives.

⁷sn A high place. The “high places” were places of worship that were naturally or artificially elevated (see 1 Kgs 3:2).

⁸tn Heb “Chemosh, the detestable thing of Moab.”

⁹tc The MT reads “Molech,” but Milcom must be intended (see vv. 5, 33).

¹⁰tn Heb “you must not go into them, and they must not go into you.”

¹¹tn Heb “Surely they will bend your heart after their gods.” The words “if you do” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

¹²tn Heb “Solomon clung to them for love.” The pronominal suffix, translated “them,” is masculine here, even though it appears the foreign women are in view. Perhaps this is due to attraction to the masculine forms used of the nations earlier in the verse.

¹³tn Heb “come, go to.” The imperative of הָלַךְ (halakh) is here used as an introductory interjection. See BDB 234 s.v. חָלַךְ.

¹⁴tn Or “swear an oath to.”