מלכים א, פרק י״א, פסוק ה׳

A striking turning point occurs in King Solomon's reign, marking a steep decline in his spiritual standing. He is seemingly associated with the grave sin of idolatry. However, the primary approach among commentators is that Solomon never actually engaged in idol worship. Instead, his actions merely created an outward appearance of following foreign gods [מלבי"ם]. He is held personally responsible and directly blamed because he failed to protest or stop his wives from their idolatrous practices. By remaining silent and not preventing their actions, he is judged as if he had actively participated alongside them [מצודת דוד].

Solomon's true failure lay in a lack of complete, undivided devotion to God. This stands in sharp contrast to his father, King David, who gave his very soul to fulfill the word of God [מלבי"ם]. The foreign practices brought into Jerusalem included the worship of Milcom, who is identified as the infamous god Molech [מצודת ציון]. Furthermore, the idolatry of the Ammonite nation is described using a highly derogatory term, highlighting a sense of deep disgust and total rejection toward these false beliefs [מצודת ציון, ביאור שטיינזלץ].