For follow-up discussion and general commentary on the topic. Comments are sorted chronologically.
James Kraft
There is so much to learn from this. The bible tells us to rejoice with the wife of our youth. Gods laws are not to make us unhappy, but to bring about joy and happiness when we obey them. I believe God allowed this in Solomons life to show us the folly of getting away from Gods perfect laws. It is good for both the unsaved and the saved to obey Gods laws.
Obeying Gods laws will not save us, but it will lead to joy and happyness in the long run. Not always, but if you are not happy with the first wife God gave you, you probably will not be happy with the second one either.
I can tell you from experience that staying with the wife of your youth is better than all the gold in California. We are both 74. But, I can also say that it is only by the mercy and grace of God that we are able to be what we are. It is Jesus life lived in us that enables us to follow Him.
Denise Walker
Amen!
Kenneth Heck
In my opinion, this number, along with certain others (185,000 dead Assyrians, 1,000 killed by Samson, New Jerusalem 1,500 miles on a side, etc.) is suspicious because it is so easy in Hebrew to add one or more zeroes to any number. This is done with a small dot or dash after the actual written number. I believe it is possible that the true numbers were only 7 wives and 3 concubines.
Besides the burdensome economic impact of supporting 1,000 females, there is the question of where the 700 princesses could have come from, since the surrounding kingdoms could not have supplied anywhere near that number. Also, it seems unfair that the vast majority of the 1,000 would not have had a normal opportunity for bearing children - something fundamental for the women of that time.
Sharon Fiocca
I am guessing it was culturally accepted just like women once were to cover their heads in church but no longer do so.
However since not God's perfect plan there is a consequence.
Danny Hickman
Kenneth Heck,
Read the book of Ecclesiastes; Solomon talks about his excessive living. There are men living out in Utah who have 7 wives. There are men living in my neighborhood who have fathered children by 7 different women. The point of it all is that Solomon had an excess of everything. But the biggest takeaway is that he had a ton of wisdom.
I think many people read the Bible and totally miss the point.
There are people who read the story of Lazarus being raised back to life from bring dead for four days, and say 'he was probably only in a coma.' They say something very similar to what happened to Jesus at the cross: 'He must have been in a coma.'
Now we're tobelieve that in Hebrew "it's easy to add one or more zeroes to any number."
Please excuse me, but I don't think this kind of scripture bashing should go unchallenged. What else is easy to distort in Hebrew? I don't think there's anything easier about distorting the truth in Hebrew than in any other culture!
Solomon had 1,000 women in his harem. The scriptures make that very clear. He was a man who as king, made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as rocks on the ground (2 Chr 1:15) (I copied that straight from the bible). Is it hyperbole? Yes! But it makes a real point.
The Bible isn't to be understood the way we read a courtroom transcript. It delivers truth! It uses many facets of language to convey the truth.
If he only had ten women in his harem, Eccl 2:8 makes no sense. Excess is the point..
Kenneth Heck
Is there anything on earth that man has touched that he has not thereby corrupted? I can't think of anything - including the holy scriptures entrusted to our care. Our thanks to God that only certain numbers appear to be corrupted, not any words or ideas.