King Solomon [1 Kings 11 (4)] “had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines;” How many children did he have? Three. The question is referred to at http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_children_did_King_Solomon_have Do we have a different/better answer?
asked Sep 3, 2011 at 21:02
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I don't have a better answer, but I just want to say that the odds of Shlomo HaMelech having children with the extra 700 wives and 300 concubines is rather low.– aviSep 3, 2011 at 21:26
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His palace was not big enough for them all to live there.– aviSep 4, 2011 at 6:18
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1@avi: so who says he didn't have other palaces all over the country for them? (The Gemara, Bava Metzia 86b, in fact says that each of these thousand wives had her own quarters.)– AlexSep 4, 2011 at 15:56
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@Alex, who says they all moved to Israel?– aviSep 4, 2011 at 15:57
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2Like the Mashgichot that verify factories in china :)– aviSep 4, 2011 at 19:04
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1 Answer
Only three of his children are named in Tanach: his successor Rechavam, and two daughters named Tafath and Basemath, who married two of Shlomo's officials (I Kings 4:11,15).
R. Chaim Dov Rabinowitz (Daas Soferim) comments that it seems likely that Shlomo had 100 children or less (which would of course mean that most of his wives were childless), since in Eccles. 6:3 he speaks of that number as a peak of human potential.
