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NAVARRE BIBLE COMMENTARY (RSV)

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God)

First Reading:

From: 1 Kings 11:4-13

The King’s Sins (Continuation)
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[4] For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. [5] For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. [6] So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done. [7] Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. [8] And so he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

[9] And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, [10] and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not keep what the LORD commanded.

The Division of the Kingdom Foretold

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[11] Therefore the LORD said to Solomon, “Since this has been your mind and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from you and will give it to your servant. [12] Yet for the sake of David your father I will not do it in your days, but I will tear it out of the hand of your son. [13] However I will not tear away all the kingdom; but I will give one tribe to your son, for the sake of David my servant and for the sake of Jerusalem which I have chosen.”

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Commentary:

11:1-43 The sacred Writer deals briefly with some negative aspects of Solomon, and in them we can see the cause of the split in the kingdom that occurred after his death. Applying the teaching of the book of Deuteronomy he allows us to see that when Solomon was true to the Lord, peace and prosperity reigned; but when he moved away from God (vv. 1-10) he was visited with divine punishment (vv. 11-13) in the form of Israel’s external enemies (vv. 14-25) and internal division (vv. 26-40). Yet the split will not happen in Solomon’s lifetime: by the mercy of God he will see out his reign in peace (vv. 41-43).

11:1-10. Conscious of the effects of Solomon’s marriages with foreign women, the writer retrospectively applies a law (v. 2) which was not in fact made until later (Deut 7:3-4; 17:17).

The real cause of Solomon’s sin was that “his wives turned away his heart” (v. 3), not just by getting his permission to worship idols but by involving him in that practice. This meant that Solomon ceased to worship the God of Israel with all his heart. “Idolatry refers not only to false pagan worship. It remains a constant temptation to faith. Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not God. Man commits idolatry whenever he honors and reveres a creature in place of God, whether this be gods or demons (for example, satanism), power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money, etc. Jesus says, ‘You cannot serve God and mammon (Mt 6:24). Many martyrs died for not adoring ‘The Beast’ (cf. Rev 13-14) refusing even to simulate such worship. Idolatry rejects the unique Lordship of God; it is therefore incompatible with communion with God (cf.Gal 5:20; Eph 5:5)” ("Catechism of the Catholic Church", 2113).

11:11-13. These words of the Lord to Solomon provide the key to understanding what is going to happen after the king dies. Although Solomon’s sin would have justified the kingdom’s being taken away from the house of David, God is faithful to his promises to David (cf. 2 Sam 7:12-15) and to Solomon himself (cf 1 Kings 9:3): he leaves the tribe of Judah with the city of Jerusalem under a king of Solomon’s and, therefore, of David’s line. This shows that if Judah and its capital survive it is only because of God's fidelity to his promise.