1 Kings 11 · Verse 4

1 Kings 11:4

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.
1 Kings 11:4, King James Version

1 Kings 11:4 in other translations

BSBFor 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.
WEBWhen Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father was.
ASVFor 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 Jehovah his God, as was the heart of David his father.
YLTAnd it cometh to pass, at the time of the old age of Solomon, his wives have turned aside his heart after other gods, and his heart hath not been perfect with Jehovah his God, like the heart of David his father.
DARBYAnd it came to pass when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after othergods; and his heart was not perfect with Jehovah his God, as the heart of David his father.
BBEFor it came about that when Solomon was old, his heart was turned away to other gods by his wives; and his heart was no longer true to the Lord his God as the heart of his father David had been.
WebsterFor 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.

What does 1 Kings 11:4 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
4. when Solomon was old--He could not have been more than fifty. his wives turned away his heart after other gods--Some, considering the lapse of Solomon into idolatry as a thing incredible, regard him as merely humoring his wives in the practice of their superstition; and, in countenancing their respective rites by his presence, as giving only an outward homage--a sensible worship, in which neither his understanding nor his heart was engaged. The apology only makes matters worse, as it implies an adding of hypocrisy and contempt of God to an open breach of His law. There seems no possibility of explaining the language of the sacred historian, but as intimating that Solomon became an actual and open idolater, worshipping images of wood or stone in sight of the very temple which, in early life, he had erected to the true God. Hence that part of Olivet was called the high place of Tophet (Jr 7:30-34), and the hill is still known as the Mount of Offense, of the Mount of Corruption (2Ki 23:13).

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 1 Kings 11:1-8

There is not a more melancholy and astonishing instance of human depravity in the sacred Scriptures, than that here recorded. Solomon became a public worshipper of abominable idols! Probably he by degrees gave way to pride and luxury, and thus lost his relish for true wisdom. Nothing forms in itself a security against the deceitfulness and depravity of the human heart. Nor will old age cure the heart of any evil…

Read the full comment on 1 Kings 11:1-8 →

1 Kings 11:4 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיְהִ֗יvay.Hiand it wasH1961
לְעֵת֙le.'Etto [the] time ofH6256
זִקְנַ֣תzik.Nat[the] old age ofH2209
שְׁלֹמֹ֔הshe.lo.MohSolomonH8010
נָשָׁיו֙na.Shavwives hisH802
הִטּ֣וּhi.Tuthey turned asideH5186
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
לְבָב֔וֹle.va.Voheart hisH3824
אַחֲרֵ֖י'a.cha.ReiafterH310
אֱלֹהִ֣ים'E.lo.HimgodsH430
אֲחֵרִ֑ים'a.che.RimotherH312
וְלֹא\־ve.lo'-and notH3808
הָיָ֨הha.Yahit wasH1961
לְבָב֤וֹle.va.Voheart hisH3824
שָׁלֵם֙sha.LemcompleteH8003
עִם\־'im-withH5973
יְהוָ֣הYah.wehYahwehH3068
אֱלֹהָ֔יו'e.lo.HavGod hisH430
כִּלְבַ֖בkil.Vavlike [the] heart ofH3824
דָּוִ֥ידda.VidDavidH1732
אָבִֽיו\׃'a.Vivfather hisH1

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 1 Kings 11:4

  • 1 Kings 9:4

    And if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked, in integrity of heart, and in uprightness, to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my statutes and my judgments:

  • 1 Kings 8:61

    Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.

  • 1 Chronicles 28:9

    And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart and with a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts: if thou seek him, he will be found of thee; but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.

  • 1 Kings 11:6

    And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father.

  • 2 Chronicles 17:3

    And the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his father David, and sought not unto Baalim;

  • Deuteronomy 17:17

    Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.

  • 1 Kings 11:2

    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.

  • 2 Chronicles 34:2

    And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left.

  • 1 Kings 14:21

    And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah an Ammonitess.

  • 2 Chronicles 25:2

    And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart.

  • 1 Kings 15:14

    But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa’s heart was perfect with the Lord all his days.

  • 1 Kings 6:1

    And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month Zif, which is the second month, that he began to build the house of the Lord.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
when Solomon.
42; 6:1; 9:10; 14:21
his wives.
2; De 7:4; 17:17; Ne 13:26,27
his heart.
6,38; 6:12,13; 8:61; 9:4; 15:3,14; 2Ki 20:3; 1Ch 28:9; 29:19
2Ch 17:3; 25:2; 31:20,21; 34:2

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • 1 Kings 11:3

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

  • 1 Kings 11:4

    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.

  • 1 Kings 11:5

    For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

Read all of 1 Kings 11

1 Kings 11:4 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y ya que Salomón era viejo, sus mujeres inclinaron su corazón tras dioses ajenos; y su corazón no era perfecto con Jehová su Dios, como el corazón de su padre David.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et il arriva, au temps de la vieillesse de Salomon, que ses femmes détournèrent son cœur après d’autres dieux, et son cœur ne fut pas parfait avec l’ Éternel, son Dieu, comme le cœur de David, son père.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Und es geschah zur Zeit, als Salomo alt war, da neigten seine Weiber sein Herz anderen Göttern nach; und sein Herz war nicht ungeteilt mit Jehova, seinem Gott, wie das Herz seines Vaters David.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Cumque jam esset senex, depravatum est cor ejus per mulieres, ut sequeretur deos alienos: nec erat cor ejus perfectum cum Domino Deo suo, sicut cor David patris ejus.