Why did King Solomon have so many wives and concubines?

Question

Top of the day to everyone. I have been having this concerns for a while so I thought I could ask to get some clarity on it. A wise as King Solomon was in the bible, why did he choose to have so many wives and concubines? And why did he not marry one wife?

1 Kings 11:2 These women were from the nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, for surely they will turn your hearts after their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these women in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines— and his wives turned his heart away.

Answer 1

A wise as King Solomon in the bible, why did he choose to have so many wives and concubine? And why did he not marry one wife?

In this area of marriage, Solomon was not wise, Deuteronomy 17:

16 The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, “You are not to go back that way again.” 17 He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold.

Answer 2

We're given a hint as to the reason in 1 Kings 3:1 (NASB):

Then Solomon formed a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her to the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the LORD and the wall around Jerusalem.

1 Kings 10 show his later extensive foreign involvements.

Verse 1 (NIV):

When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relationship to the Lord, she came to test Solomon with hard questions.

From verses 22-24 (NIV):

The king had a fleet of trading ships at sea along with the ships of Hiram... King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth. The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.

Also, in verse 29:

They imported a chariot from Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. They also exported them to all the kings of the Hittites and of the Arameans.

We can infer from this that at least some, or perhaps many, of the marriages were likely marriage alliances (which is why 1 Kings 11:1 notes that many of them were foreign).