What is the meaning of 1 Kings 11:8?

He did the same

“He did the same” (1 Kings 11:8) reaches back to verse 7, where Solomon “built a high place for Chemosh … and for Molech.”

• The phrase underscores repetition: Solomon’s accommodation of idolatry wasn’t a one-time lapse; he duplicated it every place a wife desired (cf. 1 Kings 11:4–7).

• Earlier God had blessed Solomon with wisdom (1 Kings 3:12), yet wisdom unused turns into folly (Ecclesiastes 10:1).

• Scripture repeatedly warns that even a little compromise spreads (Galatians 5:9; Joshua 23:12-13).

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for all his foreign wives

Solomon “loved many foreign women” (1 Kings 11:1), accumulating 700 wives and 300 concubines (v. 3).

• Deuteronomy 17:17 forbade Israel’s kings to “multiply wives,” and Deuteronomy 7:3-4 foretold that foreign spouses would “turn your sons away from following Me.”

• Political alliances may have seemed prudent, yet trusting treaties over God’s promises is spiritual adultery (Isaiah 31:1).

• 1 Corinthians 15:33 reminds that “bad company corrupts good character,” illustrated by how these marriages bent Solomon’s heart.

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who burned incense

Incense symbolized worship (Revelation 8:4). Here, however, it rose to false deities.

• Exodus 30:9: “You must not offer unauthorized incense.” Solomon let “strange fire” (Leviticus 10:1-2) stain Jerusalem.

• The pleasing aroma that belonged to the Lord alone (Psalm 141:2) drifted toward lifeless idols (2 Kings 17:15).

• Allowing idolatrous worship inside Israel defiled the land God deemed holy (Numbers 35:34).

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and sacrificed

Sacrifice is covenant language. Offering it elsewhere transfers allegiance.

• Only the LORD’s altar in Jerusalem was authorized (Deuteronomy 12:13-14).

• Leviticus 17:7 warns, “They must no longer sacrifice their sacrifices to goat demons.” Solomon’s permissiveness dragged Israel toward that very sin (1 Kings 11:33).

• “You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons” (1 Corinthians 10:21), a truth Solomon ignored.

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to their gods

Plural “gods” exposes the heart of the issue—polytheism versus the singular “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One” (Deuteronomy 6:4).

• Chemosh, Molech, Ashtoreth, and others demanded vile rituals, even child sacrifice (2 Kings 23:10).

• Psalm 96:5 declares, “All the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.” Turning from the Creator to created things always invites judgment (Romans 1:25).

• By enabling idol worship, Solomon gave the next generation a staircase to apostasy; the kingdom would soon divide (1 Kings 11:11-13).

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summary

1 Kings 11:8 records the tragic consistency of Solomon’s compromise: for every wife, he reproduced an altar, allowed incense, and sanctioned sacrifice to false gods. Disregarding clear commands (Exodus 20:3; Deuteronomy 17:17), he traded wholehearted devotion for political peace and domestic harmony. The verse warns that repeated small concessions erode faith, that leadership choices ripple through a nation, and that the one true God tolerates no rivals.