Concerning the kings of Israel, the law of God commanded, “and he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away” (Deut. 17:17, ESV). Since polygamy was already strictly forbidden in the law (Lev. 18:18), we need to ask why God would bother to give this rule specifically for kings.48 The answer is that such royal marriages were alliances. The premier example of this sin of marital alliances is Solomon. The climax of the good side of the story of Solomon is the visit of Queen Sheba (1 Kings 10:1-13). This story shows the conversion of a gentile nation and an exchange of
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