Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
1 Kings 11:1 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 1. 1But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
The KJV phrase means foreign women. Solomon is the responsible royal actor throughout the unit.
Solomon loves many foreign women, and the narrator keeps him the actor
This verse is one part of that explanation in 1 Kings 11:1–8. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- 1 Kings 11:1–8
Read 1 Kings 11:1 with 11:1–8. The selected wording supplies one opening in the thought unit and establishes its first action or speech; the surrounding verses supply the causes, responses, and outcome summarized here: Opens Solomon's decline with his attachment to many foreign royal women, including Pharaoh's daughter; adds that Solomon accommodated the worship practices of all his foreign wives.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Within “Solomon's loves and worship turn his heart,” 1 Kings 11:1 opens the thought unit and establishes its first action or speech through the wording “But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites….” Its placement is governed by this reviewed relationship: The law's limits on royal multiplication and the preceding accumulation frame Solomon as the responsible royal actor whose loves and worship turn his heart; foreign women are not an ethnic or gender explanation.
Read 1 Kings 11:1–8 together
Why these verses belong together: Solomon's loves and worship turn his heart is the complete reviewed scene, prayer, oracle, list, or regnal notice bounded at 11:1–11:8.
Verse 1. 1 But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;
Verse 2. 2 Of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in unto you: for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love.
Verse 3. 3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
Verse 4. 4 For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.
Verse 5. 5 For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
Verse 6. 6 And Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father.
Verse 7. 7 Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon.
Verse 8. 8 And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.
Follow the Context
- Opens Solomon's decline with his attachment to many foreign royal women, including Pharaoh's daughter
- Adds that Solomon accommodated the worship practices of all his foreign wives
Phrase-by-Phrase Explanation
“strange women”
In plain language: The KJV phrase means foreign women.
Solomon is the responsible royal actor throughout the unit.
Why it matters: The wording cannot support xenophobia or gendered blame.
How certain? very strongWhat This Verse Is Not Saying
1 Kings 11:1 does not permit the wording “But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites…” to be read apart from the selected verse's context. The unit does not reduce a woman to sexuality, foreignness, manipulation, or a male ruler's supporting role, and it does not erase the agency of the men, officials, and institutions around her.
What Remains True
Public power and worship remain accountable to truth, covenant faithfulness, affected people, and consequences rather than title, success, wealth, or majority support. This unit tests that truth through opens Solomon's decline with his attachment to many foreign royal women, including Pharaoh's daughter; adds that Solomon accommodated the worship practices of all his foreign wives. In 1 Kings 11:1, the concrete line “But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites…” keeps that truth accountable to the narrated evidence.
Teach It Back
In 70–220 words, explain 1 Kings 11:1's role in 11:1–8. Paraphrase “But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites…,” identify one agent or affected person, state one material source or historical limit, and name one conclusion the context does not authorize.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read 1 Kings 11:1–8 — Solomon's loves and worship turn his heartSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The received Hebrew narrative and its KJV presentation are clear enough to follow this movement, while precise source history, chronology, motives, textual development, and external correlation require graded confidence rather than invented certainty.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 1 Kings 11:1–8, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 1 Kings
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording and morphology used for lexical, grammatical, name, clause, and older-English checks; this is not a critical apparatus or historical proof.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Kgs.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 11:1–8
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: 1 Kings with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Only printed unit-level translation, lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, and verse-numbering notes; silence is not evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible 1 Kings PDF, printed pp. 605–608, translation and translator notes for 11:1–8
Open source ↗