מלכים א, פרק י״א, פסוק ל״ג

The division of the kingdom and the heavy punishment placed upon Solomon's dynasty are the direct results of a severe spiritual downfall. This decline was marked by the worship of foreign idols, such as Ashtoreth, the god of the Sidonian people [ביאור שטיינזלץ], and a tragic departure from the moral path established by King David.

A striking aspect of God's rebuke is that the accusations of abandoning Him, bowing to idols, and failing to walk in His ways are directed at a group, rather than at Solomon alone. To explain why the blame is shared when the punishment is triggered by Solomon's reign, commentators offer different perspectives. One approach [אברבנאל ומצודת דוד] suggests that Solomon himself did not actively engage in idol worship. Instead, the active guilt belongs to his wives and the members of his royal household. Solomon’s true failure was his passive acceptance of their actions. He allowed them to abandon God and bow to foreign gods, failing to guide them along the proper moral path as his father David had done.

A different perspective [רד״ק] maintains that the shared blame includes Solomon directly. In this view, Solomon, his household, and the many citizens who were influenced by the royal court’s behavior are all grouped together in their guilt. Together, they turned away from the right path, ultimately failing to keep and fulfill God's laws and judgments [ביאור שטיינזלץ].