Nehemiah 13:26

Neh 13:26 Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin.

Ver. 26. Did not Solomon, king of Israel, &c.] Did not he deviate and prevaricate in his old age, shamefully turning from the Lord, who had appeared unto him twice? Did not his strange wives draw him to strange practices; insomuch as some have doubted about his salvation, and Bellarmine reckoneth him (but wrongfully) amongst reprobates?

Yet among many nations was there no king like him] For honour, pleasure, wisdom, and wealth, &c., the abundance he had of these drew out his spirits, and dissolved him. See Mar 10:23-25 1Ti 6:9 Isa 39:1-2.

Who was beloved of his God] His corculum, his darling, his Jedidiah, 2Sa 12:25, but he did not reciprocate; his heart was disjointed and hung loose from the Lord, whom he grievously provoked by his sensuality and apostasy.

And God made him king over all Israel] Not by right of inheritance (for he was a younger brother), but by special designation. Yet he defied that throne whereunto God had so graciously advanced him; this was a great aggravation of his sin, 2Sa 12:7-8 Deu 32:12; Deu 32:19 Amo 2:9.

Nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin] And that most shamefully. Never was there a wiser man than Solomon; and never any saint fell into more foolish lusts. Job, who had the greatest adversity that ever man felt, fell much; but Solomon, who had the greatest prosperity that ever man saw, fell more.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Neh_13:26

Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things?

Solomon

1. It may appear remarkable that one who fell so grievously should contribute at all to the Book of God, nor is there any other instance of the kind; but his sad history adds a peculiar weight of warning to his words; nor are there any books more strongly marked by the finger of God.

2. Solomon was chosen of God, and afterwards rejected as Saul had been; he was full of wisdom and understanding, and what is far more, of holiness and goodness. There is perhaps no one of whom the early promise of good seemed so decisive.

3. It has been said, as by St. Augustine, that Solomon was more injured by prosperity than profited by wisdom. Yet we may observe that his falling away is not attributed in Scripture to his wealth, his power and honour.

4. We cannot conclude that Solomon himself did not at last repent, but this has always been considered by the Church as very doubtful, to say the least. All we know is that Scripture has fully made known to us his falling away from God, but has said nothing of his repentance. The very silence is awful and impressive.

5. What more melancholy than the fall of one so great--so wise! What words could have been spoken to him more powerful than his own! What eloquence could describe his fall with more feeling and beauty than his own words! What could more powerfully paint the loveliness of that holiness from which he fell? what the overpowering sweetness of that Divine love which he has consented to give up to feed on ashes! Who can describe the temptations to those very sins by which he was ensnared in a more searching manner than he has done? It is very awful to think how God may use men as instruments of good that His Spirit may teach them, and through them teach others, and guide them to the fountain of living waters, yet they themselves at last fail of the prize of their high calling. What a warning for fear! (Isaac Williams.)

Solomons restoration

I. The wanderings of an erring spirit. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things?

1. That which lay at the bottom of all Solomons transgressions was his intimate partnership with foreigners. Did not Solomon sin by these things?--that is, if we look to the context, marriage with foreign wives. The history of the text is this--Nehemiah discovered that the nobles of Judah, during the captivity, when law and religious customs had been relaxed, had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab; and then, in his passionate expostulation with them, he reminds them that it was this very transgression which led to the fall of the monarch who had been most distinguished for Gods favour. Exclusiveness was the principle on which Judaism was built. Everything was to be distinct--as distinct as Gods service and the worlds. And it was this principle which Solomon transgressed. The Jewish law, shadowed out an everlasting truth. Gods people are an exclusive nation; Gods Church is for ever separated from the world. This is her charter, Come out from among them, and be ye separate, etc. We are to be separate from the world. Mistake not the meaning of that word. The world changes its complexion in every age. Solomons world was the nations of idolatry lying round Israel. Our world is not that. The world is that collection of men in every age who live only according to the maxims of their time. The world may be a profligate world, or it may be a moral world. All that is a matter of accident. Our world is a moral world. The sons of our world are not idolaters, they are not profligate; they are, it may be, among the most fascinating of mankind. No marvel if a young and ardent heart feels the spell of the fascination. No wonder if it feels a relief in turning away from the dulness and the monotony of home life to the sparkling brilliancy of the worlds society. The brilliant, dazzling, accomplished world--what Christian with a mind polished like Solomons does not own its charms? And yet now, pause. Is it in wise Egypt that our highest blessedness lies? Is it in busy, restless Sidon? Is it in luxurious Moab? No. The Christian must leave the world alone. His blessedness lies in quiet work with the Israel of God.

2. The second step of Solomons wandering was the unrestrained pursuit of pleasure. And a men like Solomon cannot do anything by helves. No man ever more heartily and systematically gave himself up to the pursuit. There are some men who are prudent in their epicuresnism. They put gaiety aside when they begin to get palled with it, and then return to it moderately again. Mere like Solomon cannot do that. No earnest man can. No! if blessedness lies in pleasure, he will drink the cup to the dregs. But let us mark the wanderings of an immortal soul infinite in its vastness. There is a moral to be learnt from the wildest worldliness. When we look on the madness of life, and are marvelling at the terrible career of dissipation, let there be no contempt felt. It is an immortal spirit marring itself. It is an infinite soul, which nothing short of the Infinite can satisfy, plunging down to ruin and disappointment. That unquenched impetuosity within you might have led you up to God. You have chosen instead that your heart shall try to satisfy itself upon husks. There was another form of Solomons worldliness.

3. It was not worldliness in pleasure, but worldliness in occupation. He had entered deeply into commercial speculations. He had alternate fears and hopes about the return of his merchant ships on their perilous three-years voyage to India end to Spain. He had his mind occupied with plans for building. The architecture of the temple, his own palace, the forts and towns of his now magnificent empire, all this filled for a time his soul. He had begun a system of national debt end ruinous taxation. Much of this was not wrong; but all of it was dangerous. It is a strange thing how business dulls the sharpness of the spiritual affections. It is strange how the harass of perpetual occupation shuts God out. There are writers who have said that in this matter Solomon was in advance of his age enlightened beyond the narrowness of Judaism, and that this permission of idolatry was the earliest exhibition of that spirit which in modern times we call religious toleration. But Solomon went far beyond toleration. The truth seems to be, Solomon was getting indifferent about religion. He had got into light and worldly society, and the libertinism of his associations was beginning to make its impression upon him. He was beginning to ask, Is not one religion as good as another, so long as each man believes his own in earnest? There are few signs in a souls state more alarming than that of religious indifference; that is, the spirit of thinking ell religions equally true, the real meaning of which is, that all religions are equally false.

II. Gods loving guidance of Solomon in the midst of all his apostasy. In the darkest, wildest wanderings a man to whom God has shown His love in Christ is conscious still of the better way. In the very gloom of his remorse, there is an instinctive turning back to God. It is enumerated among the gifts that God bestowed upon Solomon that He granted to him largeness of heart. Now that largeness of heart which we call thoughtfulness and sensibility, generosity, high feeling, marks out for the man who has it a peculiar life. You look to the life of Solomon, and there are no outward reverses there to speak of. His reign was a type of a reign of the power of peace. No war, no national disaster, interrupted the even flow of the current of his days. No loss of a child, like Davids, pouring cold desolation into his soul--no pestilences nor famines. Prosperity and riches, and the internal development of the nations life--that was the reign of Solomon. And yet, with all this, was Solomon happy? Is there no way that God has of making the heart grey and old before its time without sending bereavement, or loss, or sickness? Has the Eternal Justice no mode of withering and drying up the inner springs of happiness while all is green, and wild, and fresh outwardly? We look to the history of Solomon for the answer. The first way in which his aberration from God treasured up for him chastisement was by that weariness of existence which breathes through the whole Book of Ecclesiastes. Another part of Solomons chastisement was doubt. Once more turn to the Book of Ecclesiastes. All things come alike to all: there is one event to the righteous, and to the wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not. In this you will observe the querulous complaint of a man who has ceased to feel that God is the ruler of this world. A blind chance, or a dark destiny, seems to rule all earthly things. And that is the penalty of leaving Gods narrow path for sins wider and more flowery one. But the love of God brought Solomon through all this to spiritual manhood. Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep His commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. In this we have the evidence of his victory. Doubt, and imprisonment, and worldliness have passed away, and clear activity, belief, freedom, have taken their place. It was terrible discipline, but God had made that discipline successful. I speak to those who know something about what the world is worth, who have tasted its fruits, and found them like the Dead Sea apples--hollowness and ashes. By those foretastes of coming misery which God has already given you, those lonely feelings of utter wretchedness and disappointment when you have returned home palled and satiated from the gaudy entertainment, and the truth has pressed itself icy cold upon your heart, Vanity of vanities--is this worth living for? By all that, be warned. Be true to your convictions. Be honest with yourselves. Learn from the very greatness of your souls, which have a capacity for infinite agony, that you m in this world for a grander destiny than that of frittering away life in usefulness. Lastly, let us learn from this subject the covenant love of God. There is such a thing as love which rebellion cannot weary, which ingratitude cannot cool (W. F. Robertson, M. A.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Neh 13:26. Did not Solomon sin by these things? — He quotes a precedent to show the pernicious consequences of their conduct, which were such as rendered it necessary that their sin should be animadverted upon by the government. The falls of great and good men are therefore recorded, that we may take warning by them to shun the temptations by which they were overcome. Solomon was famous for wisdom; yet, when he married strange wives, his wisdom could not secure him from the snares of such connections: nay, it departed from him, and he acted very foolishly as well as wickedly. He was beloved of God, but his conduct, in that particular, threw him out of God’s favour, and went near entirely to extinguish the grace of God in his soul. He was king over Israel, but that lost his house ten of the twelve tribes. You plead that you can marry strange wives, and yet retain the purity of Israelites; but Solomon himself could not; even him did outlandish women cause to sin — Therefore let him that assuredly standeth, take heed lest he fall, when he runs upon such a precipice.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13:26-27 King Solomon had led the nation into sin by his foreign wives (1 Kgs 11). If intermarriage with pagans was allowed to continue, the same apostasy would overtake the community. Nehemiah would not let that happen.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 26. Did not Solomon] Have you not had an awful example before you? What a heavy curse did Solomon's conduct bring upon himself and upon the people, for a conduct such as yours?

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(26) Did not Solomon . . .—Here it is implied that the language of Scripture concerning Solomon was familiar both to Nehemiah and to these transgressors. It is a remarkable instance of the faithful application of their own chronicles.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

26. Solomon king of Israel] An argument from the greater to the less. If Solomon, the beloved of God, fell through this snare, how much more likely to sin were these ignorant Jews?

by these things] i.e. on account of wives taken from idolatrous people.

among many nations] Cf. Mich. Neh_4:3, ‘he shall judge between many peoples.’

was there no king like him] Cf. 1Ki_3:12-13; 2Ch_1:12.

who (R.V. and he) was beloved of his God] Perhaps referring especially to the privilege of Solomon to receive the task of building the Temple and ordering the sacred worship; but the expression calls to mind 2Sa_12:25, ‘And the Lord loved him; … and he called his name Jedidiah for the Lord’s sake.’

outlandish women] R.V. strange women. See 1Ki_11:3 ff.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Remember them, O my God,.... The priests, and punish them: because they have defiled the priesthood; by marrying strange wives, and rendering themselves unfit to officiate in it:

and the covenant of the priesthood, and of the Levites; made with Levi, Aaron, and Phinehas, see Num 24:11, of the corruption of which, complaint is made, Mal 2:4.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

26. Outlandish women — That is, foreign women. The word outlandish, from the Anglo-Saxon utlendisc, is now obsolete in the sense in which it is here used. The reference to Solomon was exceedingly appropriate. See 1Ki_11:1-9.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Did not Solomon... sin by these things? The example adduced was more apt than any other to move Jews. Israelites might have felt more deeply the case of Ahab. (1Ki_21:25) Solomon"s sin in "going after strange wives," and its punishment, are set forth very fully in 1Ki_11:1-40. Among many nations there was no king like him. The reference is not so much to particular texts (e.g. 1Ki_3:13 2Ch_1:12) as to the general description of Solomon, his glory, and his greatness, (1Ki 4-10 2Ch 1-9) which set him above all other earthly monarchs. Who was beloved of his God. See 2Sa_12:24. And God made him king over all Israel. See 1Ki_4:1.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

caused him even to sin If he sinned, how much more so is it certain that you will sin through your heathen wives! As is written in the next verse, “Shall we hearken, etc.?” i.e., Solomon was found sinning through his heathen wives, and you have married foreign wives in order to sin?

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.