He had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. Did he ignore them? No, because he held fast to them in love (1 Kings 11:2). He loved them! Was he infertile? No! He had a son and two daughters. There was another, much greater, problem.

Perhaps he had unrecorded children? In those days many sons was a sign of strength and status. Israel had no king wealthier or wiser than Solomon. If he’d had more, we would know!

The Bible records King David’s nineteen sons, besides his sons by his concubines (1 Chronicles 3:9). Rehoboam, Solomon’s only son, had twenty-eight sons and sixty daughters (2 Chronicles 11:21)! We’re told about those.

Solomon’s first wife, Naamah, an Ammonite, gave birth to Rehoboam a year before Solomon became king (see 1 Kings 14:21). He had two daughters, Taphath and Basemath, probably also by Naamah.

A Deadly Invasion

His next wife was Pharaoh’s daughter who came to live in the palace. She was a worshiper of the Egyptian god, Amun, and goddess, Mut. Strife entered Solomon’s household.

Many years later, Solomon brought Pharaoh’s daughter up from the City of David to the palace he had built for her, for he said, “My wife must not live in the palace of David king of Israel, because the places the ark of the LORD has entered are holy” (2 Chronicles 8:11).

It was too late. Idolatry entered Solomon’s home, and he had no more children.

Why didn’t he forbid her idols? The short answer is politics. Solomon had made a vital political alliance with Pharaoh, and he daren’t rock the boat. It was important to be seen to be doing the right thing.

How often do we make decisions based on what people think of us?