Bible Strands
1 Kings 11:8
He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records Solomon’s actions toward his foreign wives at the moment he is constructing pagan high places east of Jerusalem. This account immediately precedes the text’s statement that the LORD grew angry because Solomon’s heart had turned away from Him.
The words — The Hebrew מַקְטִיר֥וֹת (mak.ti.Rot) literally means "[who] made smoke," specifying the ritual burning of incense. Combined with לֵ/אלֹהֵי/הֶֽן\׃ (le./lo.hei./Hen) = "to/ gods/ their," it pinpoints the exact objects of these rites.
The thread — This practice extends the introduction of Solomon’s many foreign wives in 1 Kings 11:1. It aligns with the prophetic pattern of covenant unfaithfulness cited in Ezekiel 16:22 and Hosea 4:11.
Why it lands — The text states that foreign wives actively performed idolatrous rites, making ritual the concrete mechanism of apostasy. It requires the reader to acknowledge how tolerated religious syncretism directly triggers divine judgment.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 11:1 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh—women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women.
- Ezekiel 16:22 And in all your abominations and acts of prostitution, you did not remember the days of your youth when you were naked and bare, wallowing in your own blood.
- Hosea 4:11 to promiscuity, wine, and new wine, which take away understanding.
- 1 Corinthians 10:11 Now these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.
- 1 Corinthians 10:20 No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be participants with demons.