1 Kings 11:5

“And Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, etc.] Enticed by the Zidonian women, or woman, he had, (<111101>1 Kings 11:1). According to the Phoenician histories f285, Solomon married a daughter of Hiram, king of Tyre and Zidon; so Clemens of Alexandria says f286 , that Hiram gave his daughter to Solomon; Ashtoreth is Astarte, the same with the Venus of the Greeks, so Suidas f287; and Lucian f288 expressly says, the Sidonians had a temple, said by them to belong to Astarte, which he takes to be the moon; and both Venus and Juno signify the same planet; (see Gill on “<070213>Judges 2:13”) and after Milcom the abomination of the Amnonites; the same with Molech, (<111107>1…”

“Ashtoreth--Astarte, Milcom--Molech, and Chemosh--He built altars for these three; but, although he is described (Kg1 11:8) as doing the same for "all his strange wives," there is no evidence that they had idols distinct from these; and there is no trace whatever of Egyptian idolatry.”

“Went after - This expression is common in the Pentateuch, and always signifies actual idolatry (see Deuteronomy 11:28; Deuteronomy 13:2; Deuteronomy 28:14, etc.). For Ashtoreth, or Astarte, the goddess of the Zidonians, see Exodus 34:13, note; Deuteronomy 16:21, note. On the tomb of a Phoenician king, discovered in 1855, on the site of Sidon, mention is made of a temple of Astarte there, which the monarch built or restored; and his mother is said to have been a priestess of the goddess. Milcom or Molech 1 Kings 11:7 are variants of the term ordinarily used for “king” among the Semitic races of Western Asia, which appears in melkarth (Phoenic.), Abimelech (Hebrew), Andrammelek (Assyrian),…”

“Milcom - Called also Moloch. 3 Kings (1 Kings) 11:6”

“11:5 Ashtoreth, the Canaanite goddess of love and war, was widely worshiped in the ancient Near East under names such as Ishtar and Astarte. The cult practices associated with Astarte were transmitted to the Greek world in the worship of the goddess Aphrodite. • Rites in the worship of Molech, the god of the Ammonites, included sacrificing children by fire (11:7; see Lev 20:1-5; 2 Kgs 16:3; 23:5-10; Jer 7:30-33; 19:4-6; 32:35), which the writer properly denounces as detestable.”

“Ashtoreth: Kg1 11:33; Jdg 2:13, Jdg 10:6; Sa1 7:3, Sa1 7:4, Sa1 12:10; Kg2 23:13; Jer 2:10-13 Milcom: Kg1 11:7; Lev 18:21, Lev 20:2-5, Molech, Zep 1:5, Malcham 3 Kings (1 Kings) 11:6”