1 Kings 11:9

And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Benson Commentary

1 Kings 11:9-10. The Lord was angry with Solomon — Displeased with his actions, and determined to punish him for them; in which sense we are generally to understand such expressions, for we must always remember that human passions can have no place in God. Because his heart was turned from the Lord, who had appeared to him twice — First at Gibeon, in the beginning of his reign, (1 Kings 3:5,) and then at Jerusalem, after the building of the temple. And had commanded him concerning this thing — For in both those visions, the happiness promised him was declared to depend upon his observing God’s statutes. And when he began to build the temple, he was divinely admonished that he had better desist than go on in that work, unless he purposed to walk according to all God’s commandments, 1 Kings 6:12-13. But he kept not, &c. — Which was the greater crime, because God had so often admonished him of his duty, and done such great things for him.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

11:9-13 The Lord told Solomon, it is likely by a prophet, what he must expect for his apostacy. Though we have reason to hope that he repented, and found mercy, yet the Holy Ghost did not expressly record it, but left it doubtful, as a warning to others not to sin. The guilt may be taken away, but not the reproach; that will remain. Thus it must remain uncertain to us till the day of judgment, whether or not Solomon was left to suffer the everlasting displeasure of an offended God.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Chemosh (Numbers 21:29 note), seems to have been widely worshipped in Western Asia. His name occurs frequently on the "Moabite-Stone." Car-Chemish, "the fort of Chemosh," a great city of the northern Hittites, must have been under his protection. In Babylon he seems to have been known as Chomus-belus, or Chemosh-Bel.

The hill - Olivet. At present the most southern summit only (the "Mons Offensionis") is pointed out as having been desecrated by the idol sanctuaries: but the early Eastern travelers tell us that in their time the most northern suburb was believed to have been the site of the high p ace of Chemosh, the southern one that of Moloch only.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

1Ki 11:9-13. God Threatens Him.

9-12. the Lord was angry with Solomon—The divine appearance, first at Gibeon [1Ki 3:5], and then at Jerusalem [1Ki 9:2], after the dedication of the temple, with the warnings given him on both occasions [1Ki 3:11-14; 9:3-9], had left Solomon inexcusable; and it was proper and necessary that on one who had been so signally favored with the gifts of Heaven, but who had grossly abused them, a terrible judgment should fall. The divine sentence was announced to him probably by Ahijah; but there was mercy mingled with judgment, in the circumstance, that it should not be inflicted on Solomon personally—and that a remnant of the kingdom should be spared—"for David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, which had been chosen" to put God's name there; not from a partial bias in favor of either, but that the divine promise might stand (2Sa 7:12-16).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

From the Lord God of Israel; from the express command and from the worship of God; not that he wholly neglected God, but because God esteems all the worship of idols (though it be not exclusive of, but conjoined with his own worship) to be a forsaking of and departing from God, and ofttimes so calls it.

Which had appeared unto him, to wit, in an extraordinary and most gracious and obliging manner.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel,.... Or from the fear of him, as the Targum, which must in a great measure be cast off, or he could not have given in to idolatry in any shape as he did; for it was for that the Lord was displeased, the which nothing is more provoking to him, as may be often observed:

which had appeared unto him twice; once at Gibeon, and again after his prayer at the dedication of the temple, 1 Kings 3:5, which is mentioned here as an aggravation of his sin, that he should fall into it, when the Lord had condescended to appear to him so graciously.

Geneva Study Bible

And the LORD was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the LORD God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice,

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

9–13. Anger of the Lord at these offences (Not in Chronicles)

9. which had appeared unto him twice] See 1 Kings 3:5 for the first appearance of the Lord in Gibeon; and (1 Kings 9:2) for the second when the Temple and the king’s house were finished.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 9. - And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice. [cf. 1 Kings 3:5 and 1 Kings 9:2. The anger arose partly from the exceptional favours which had been shown to him; cf. Amos 3:2; Luke 10:12-15.] 1 Kings 11:9

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Through this apostasy from the Lord his God, who had appeared to him twice (1 Kings 3:5. and 1 Kings 9:2.) and had warned him against idolatry (וצוּה is a continuation of the participle הנּראה), Solomon drew down upon himself the anger of Jehovah. The emphasis lies upon the fact that God had appeared to him Himself for the purpose of warning him, and had not merely caused him to be warned by prophets, as Theodoret has explained. In consequence of this, the following announcement is made to him, no doubt through the medium of a prophet, possibly Ahijah (1 Kings 11:29): "Because this has come into thy mind, and thou hast not kept my covenant, ... I will tear the kingdom from thee and give it to thy servant; nevertheless I will not do it in thy lifetime for thy father David's sake: howbeit I will not tear away the whole kingdom; one tribe I will give to thy son." In this double limitation of the threatened forfeiture of the kingdom there is clearly manifested the goodness of God (δείκνυσι τὴν ἄμετρον ἀγαθότητα - Theodoret); not, however, with reference to Solomon, who had forfeited the divine mercy through his idolatry, but with regard to David and the selection of Jerusalem: that is to say, not from any special preference for David and Jerusalem, but in order that the promise made to David (2 Samuel 7), and the choice of Jerusalem as the place where His name should be revealed which was connected with that promise, might stand immoveably as an act of grace, which no sin of men could overturn (vid., 1 Kings 11:36). For אחד שׁבט see the Comm. on 1 Kings 11:31, 1 Kings 11:32.