And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his mind was turned away from the Lord the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,

And Jehovah sheweth Himself angry with Solomon, for his heart hath turned aside from Jehovah, God of Israel, who had appeared unto him twice,

And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had twice come to him in a vision;

And so, the Lord became angry with Solomon, because his mind had been turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice,

The Lord was angry with Solomon - Had not this man's delinquency been strongly marked by the Divine disapprobation, it would have had a fatal effect on the morals of mankind. Vice is vice, no matter who commits it. And God is as much displeased with sin in Solomon as he can be with it in the most profligate, uneducated wretch. And although God sees the same sin in precisely the same degree of moral turpitude as to the act itself, yet there may be circumstances which greatly aggravate the offense, and subject the offender to greater punishment. Solomon was wise; he knew better; his understanding showed him the vanity as well as the wickedness of idolatry. God had appeared unto him twice, and thus given him the most direct proof of his being and of his providence. The promises of God had been fulfilled to him in the most remarkable manner, and in such a way as to prove that they came by a Divine counsel, and not by any kind of casualty. All these were aggravations of Solomon's crimes, as to their demerit; for the same crime has, in every case, the same degree of moral turpitude in the sight of God; but circumstances may so aggravate, as to require the offender to be more grievously punished; so the punishment may be legally increased where the crime is the same. Solomon deserved more punishment for his worship of Ashtaroth than any of the Sidonians did, though they performed precisely the same acts. The Sidonians had never known the true God; Solomon had been fully acquainted with him.

And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel,.... Or from the fear of him, as the Targum, which must in a great measure be cast off, or he could not have given in to idolatry in any shape as he did; for it was for that the Lord was displeased, the which nothing is more provoking to him, as may be often observed:
which had appeared unto him twice; once at Gibeon, and again after his prayer at the dedication of the temple, 1-Kings 3:5, which is mentioned here as an aggravation of his sin, that he should fall into it, when the Lord had condescended to appear to him so graciously.

The Lord told Solomon, it is likely by a prophet, what he must expect for his apostacy. Though we have reason to hope that he repented, and found mercy, yet the Holy Ghost did not expressly record it, but left it doubtful, as a warning to others not to sin. The guilt may be taken away, but not the reproach; that will remain. Thus it must remain uncertain to us till the day of judgment, whether or not Solomon was left to suffer the everlasting displeasure of an offended God.

GOD THREATENS HIM. (1-Kings 11:9-13)
the Lord was angry with Solomon--The divine appearance, first at Gibeon [1-Kings 3:5], and then at Jerusalem [1-Kings 9:2], after the dedication of the temple, with the warnings given him on both occasions [1-Kings 3:11-14; 1-Kings 9:3-9], had left Solomon inexcusable; and it was proper and necessary that on one who had been so signally favored with the gifts of Heaven, but who had grossly abused them, a terrible judgment should fall. The divine sentence was announced to him probably by Ahijah; but there was mercy mingled with judgment, in the circumstance, that it should not be inflicted on Solomon personally--and that a remnant of the kingdom should be spared--"for David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, which had been chosen" to put God's name there; not from a partial bias in favor of either, but that the divine promise might stand (2-Samuel 7:12-16).