Ver. 1. But king Solomon loved many strange women.] Praeceps ruit in libidinem, as if he had been born pro l’amore delle donne, - as Boccace saith of himself, -merely for love of fair ladies, to putrify and perish daily under a tabes of impure lusts, as Tiberius did at Caprea—though a good prince at first, as was also Alexander the Great, Nero, and some others. This was a bitterness beyond that of death. (Ecclesiastes 7:26) And surely it had been better for Solomon to have been buried alive, than thus to have miscarried in his old age, to the great dishonour of God, and offence of his people Israel, the beginning of whose sins, causing the destruction of Solomon’s temple, and ruin of that commonwealth, is reckoned from the seven and twentieth year of Solomon’s reign; about which began this his foul revolt here related, (Ezekiel 4:5) as Junius observeth. Together with the daughter of Pharaoh.] Or, Besides her; by a monstrous kind of polygamy and γυναικομανια, such as hath hardly been heard of in any other. His father, David, cannot be excused for his many wives and concubines, but himself much less; who could not but know that it was a direct violation of the law, (Deuteronomy 17:17) and that in the kingdom of pleasure, virtue could not consist. Quotidie perire me sentio.
Ver. 2. Solomon clave unto these in love,] i.e., In lust; which, when once set on fire, is as hard to be quenched as the fire of Etna. See Judges 16:16. Libidinous persons will not spare to bury name, substance, soul, carcass, all in the bosom of a filthy harlot.
Ver. 3. And he had seven hundred wives.] Numerum effraenem. Fewer they were by far at first, as some do gather from Song of Solomon 6:8, threescore queens, and fourscore concubines—wives of an inferior rank—and virgins without number: these likely were kept for store, as at this day sundry are in the great Turk’s harem, and turned off at pleasure, as Esther 2:14, “they came in to the king no more, except he delighted in them.” Miserabilis fuit hic lapsus, saith one. This was a miserable fall indeed of so wise and holy a man into so foul evils: to teach us the truth of that old rhyming couplet, “ Vestis pulchra, iocus, potus, cibus, otia, somnus, Enervant mentem, luxuriamque fovent.” And his wives turned away his heart.] O wives! the most sweet poison—saith one of our historians, speaking of the Duke of Somerset’s lady, in King Edward VI’s time—the most desired evil in the world, &c. Woman was first given to man for a comforter, and not for a counsellor, much less for a controller and director: and therefore in the first sentence against man, this cause is expressed, “Because thou obeyedst the voice of thy wife.” A Lapide. Sir John Heywood.
Ver. 4. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old.] And therefore the less to be excused, because his soul had had so long communion with God and experience of his goodness: as also because his body had now despumed, and was declining, so that his lust was the more monstrous, like as it is to behold green apples on a tree in winter. Augustine inveigheth against those—and worthily—who consecrate the flower of their youth to the devil, and reserve for God the dregs of their old age: Solomon offended on the contrary part. Let every man look to what lord he dedicateth both his youth and his age: for it sometimes falleth out, that Satan preyeth upon those when old, whom he could not prevail with when they were young; and it is not for nothing that the heathen sages say, that old age is to be feared, as that which cometh not alone, but is itself a disease, and bringeth with it not a few diseases both of body and mind. That his wives.] Working upon his impotencies, and having him wholly in their power, as it was said of the Persian kings, that they were captivarum suarum captivi, slaves to their concubines, though lords of many nations. And his heart was not perfect.] Magnae artis magnaeque sapientiae est, saith one, It is a high point of heavenly skill, to take heed by Solomon’s example, that thou use not thy happiness and welfare otherwise than well, and to thy spiritual disadvantage. Plutarch. Bucholcer.
Ver. 5. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth,] i.e., Venus, as some will have it, or Juno, as others. And after Milcom,] i.e., Saturn, as it is thought. Hinc patet Solomonem vere coluisse idola, saith A Lapide: hence it appeareth that Solomon did indeed worship idols: yea, Pineda and Salianus say, that he sacrificed his sons to this Milcom or Moloch. But I cannot be of that mind. He gave way, indeed, to those idolatries, and built temples for those dunghill deities, &c., atque ita obnubilabat gloriae multiplices cursus, as Marcellinus saith of Julian, and thereby be much dishonoured and endangered himself; carnal love drowning his zeal to God.
Ver. 6. And Solomon did evil.] Howbeit that evil one touched him not, (1 John 5:18) sc., with a deadly touch: he was not transformed into sin’s image. And went not fully after the Lord.] Heb., Fulfilled not after the Lord. Some render it, He persevered not in following the Lord, and therehence infer his utter apostasy. Bellarmine reckoneth him among reprobates; and he is commonly pictured by the Papists half in heaven and half in hell. But Hilary holdeth him a saint, and numbereth him with Moses and Peter, who sinned indeed, but repented and received mercy. [See Trapp on “Ec 1:1”] [See Trapp on “Ec 1:2”] In Ps. cxxvi.