1-Kings - 11:5



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

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of 1-Kings 11:5.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
But Solomon worshipped Astarthe the goddess of the Sidonians, and Moloch the idol of the ammonites.
For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Zidonians, and Milcom, the disgusting god of the Ammonites.
For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the detestation of the Ammonites.
For Solomon worshipped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the idol of the Ammonites.

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

Went after - This expression is common in the Pentateuch, and always signifies actual idolatry (see Deuteronomy 11:28; Deuteronomy 13:2; Deuteronomy 28:14, etc.).
For Ashtoreth, or Astarte, the goddess of the Zidonians, see Exodus 34:13, note; Deuteronomy 16:21, note. On the tomb of a Phoenician king, discovered in 1855, on the site of Sidon, mention is made of a temple of Astarte there, which the monarch built or restored; and his mother is said to have been a priestess of the goddess.
Milcom or Molech 1-Kings 11:7 are variants of the term ordinarily used for "king" among the Semitic races of Western Asia, which appears in melkarth (Phoenic.), Abimelech (Hebrew), Andrammelek (Assyrian), Abd-ul-malik (Arabic), etc. On the character and worship of Molech, see Leviticus 20:2-5 note.

For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after (d) Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.
(d) Who was also called Molech in (1-Kings 11:7). See also (2-Kings 23:10).

And Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians,.... Enticed by the Zidonian women, or woman, he had, 1-Kings 11:1. According to the Phoenician histories (i), Solomon married a daughter of Hiram, king of Tyre and Zidon; so Clemens of Alexandria says (k), that Hiram gave his daughter to Solomon; Ashtoreth is Astarte, the same with the Venus of the Greeks, so Suidas (l); and Lucian (m) expressly says, the Sidonians had a temple, said by them to belong to Astarte, which he takes to be the moon; and both Venus and Juno signify the same planet; See Gill on Judges 2:13.
and after Milcom the abomination of the Amnonites; the same with Molech, 1-Kings 11:7. See Gill on Leviticus 18:21. See Gill on Amos 1:13. After this he was drawn by his Ammonitish wife, or wives, 1-Kings 11:1, though the Jewish writers think he did not worship these idols, but suffered his wives to do it, and connived at it, which was his sin; so Ben Gersom and Abarbinel.
(i) Apud Tatian. contr. Graecos, p. 171. (k) Stromat. l. 1. p. 325. (l) In voce (m) De Dea Syria.

Ashtoreth--Astarte,
Milcom--Molech,
and Chemosh--He built altars for these three; but, although he is described (1-Kings 11:8) as doing the same for "all his strange wives," there is no evidence that they had idols distinct from these; and there is no trace whatever of Egyptian idolatry.

Milcom - Called also Moloch.

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