Nehemiah confronts a serious crisis among the Israelites, addressing the dangerous practice of marrying foreign women. To make his point, he draws upon the tragic historical precedent of King Solomon, delivering a sharp and logical argument. The Israelites mistakenly believed they were spiritually strong enough to marry these women without straying from the path of the Torah. Nehemiah shatters this illusion by reminding them that King Solomon held the exact same belief, yet he ultimately failed to maintain his righteousness [מלבי״ם]. The core issue was that these foreign women worshipped idols, which eventually swayed Solomon's heart to sin against God [ביאור שטיינזלץ, מצודת דוד].
To make his argument even stronger, Nehemiah highlights Solomon’s unique virtues, which stand in stark contrast to his downfall. First, he was unmatched in wisdom and influence among all nations. Naturally, it is incredibly difficult to change the mind of someone so wise and accomplished, yet his wives managed to do exactly that [רלב״ג, ביאור שטיינזלץ, מצודת דוד]. Second, he was deeply beloved by God, who showed His love by making him king over all Israel. This profound relationship and elevated status should have made Solomon exceptionally careful to follow God's commands [מצודת דוד]. Adding another layer to his greatness, some explain that Solomon’s original intentions were completely pure. He converted these women with the high spiritual goal of elevating sparks of holiness from other nations [חומת אנך].
Despite this immense wisdom, God's love, and his own pure intentions, the painful reality is that the foreign women still caused him to sin. He could not withstand the temptation, and they successfully turned his heart [מצודת דוד, חומת אנך]. The primary approach among commentators is that this creates a clear, undeniable conclusion: if the great King Solomon fell into the trap of foreign women, ordinary people will certainly be led to sin by them. Therefore, the Israelites had absolutely no justification for their actions.