And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines.
//According to this verse, Solomon kept a thousand wives and concubines. But when Solomon himself tells the story, it becomes a much more manageable number.
There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number (Song of Solomon 6:8).
Oh, thank Goodness! 140 women in the rotation sounds lots easier to handle. Nice to have all those virgins available, too. Question is, why did Solomon fudge the number? Was it just kingly humility?
Turns out Solomon was speaking to his “one and only,” his “beloved one,” his “dove.” He couldn’t hardly admit to having 999 more girlfriends, could he? 140 is about as much as one man can get away with.