The Lord had given explicit instructions to the effect that there should be no intermarriage with the peoples of the land (Ex. 34:11-16; 7:1-4). Solomon, who should have set the highest example of obedience to this command and of enforcement of the law, became its most flagrant violator. The man who had been of all men most wise became of all men most foolish. It is never the course of wisdom to go contrary to an explicit command of the Lord.