What Does 1 Kings 11:4 Mean in the King James?

For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods: and his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.

1 Kings 11:4 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The name Solomon echoes ⁨שָׁלוֹם⁩ (shalom, wholeness), while his heart is described as not ⁨שָׁלֵם⁩ (shalem, whole) with the LORD.

THE MEANING

Your heart can be drawn after rival gods through the attachments it follows, and that divided pursuit leaves it not whole with the LORD. The name Solomon echoes ⁨שָׁלוֹם⁩ (shalom, wholeness), while the description of his heart uses ⁨שָׁלֵם⁩ (shalem, whole): the verse lets the name’s promise and the heart’s condition stand side by side.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The lie that a heart can remain whole with the LORD while it is being drawn after rival gods.

THE ROOT

שָׁלֵם

shalem

GROWS FROM

שלם

sh-l-m

Be whole, complete, or sound; the root also carries the sense of bringing something to completion.

“perfect” in this verse is shalem. The name Solomon is ⁨שְׁלֹמֹה⁩ (Shelomoh, peaceful), associated with the root ⁨שלם⁩ (sh-l-m, wholeness and completeness). His heart is described as not ⁨שָׁלֵם⁩ (shalem, whole) with the LORD, so the name and the heart expose a striking gap.

ALSO GROWS

shalom: Wholeness, well-being, peace.

שָׁלוֹם

The verse’s claim that the heart is not shalem with the LORD describes the absence of the wholeness named by shalom.

hishlim: Complete, finish, or make peace with.

הִשְׁלִים

This verb carries the root’s movement toward completion or reconciliation, showing that the heart’s relation with the LORD is part of its wholeness.

THE PATTERN

A heart drawn between rival allegiances loses the wholeness that comes from being wholly directed toward God.

And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

Deuteronomy 6:5 · KJVThe heart’s love is gathered toward the LORD with the whole self, expressing undivided allegiance.

Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.

Psalm 86:11 · KJVThe prayer asks for a united heart, making inner division the opposite of walking in God’s way.

A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.

James 1:8 · KJVA divided mind produces instability across the whole course of a person’s way.

THE THREAD

Let your heart therefore be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.

1 Kings 8:61 · KJV

The word rendered “perfect” here is ⁨שָׁלֵם⁩ (shalem, whole), the same word used in the description of Solomon’s heart. This verse ties that wholeness to walking in the LORD’s way, showing allegiance as something the heart lives out.

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