Naamah

Biblical Record

The biblical record concerning Naamah is brief. 1 Kings 14:21 reports that Rehoboam reigned over Judah and adds, "And his mother's name was Naamah an Ammonitess." Verse 31 of the same chapter repeats this information, and 2 Chronicles 12:13 contains the same statement. Scripture does not say when Naamah married Solomon, nor does it describe her life.

Rehoboam came to the throne at the age of forty-one (1 Kings 14:21), and Solomon reigned for forty years (1 Kings 11:42). Taken together, these two statements place Rehoboam's birth around the time of Solomon's accession. For this reason, many interpreters infer that Naamah married Solomon late in the reign of David. This is, however, an inference drawn from the text rather than something Scripture states directly.

Significance Within Scripture

When the books of Kings and Chronicles introduce a king of Judah, they usually record the name of his mother as well. Naamah's name has been preserved in keeping with this convention. The books of Kings also record an instance in which a king's mother held the position of queen mother (1 Kings 15:13).

First Kings 11 records that Solomon loved many foreign women, including women of Ammon and other Gentile peoples, and that he built high places for Milcom and Molech, gods of the Ammonites. First Kings 14:22–24 then reports that Judah fell into idolatry in the days of Rehoboam. Naamah stands between these two accounts.

The New Testament does not mention Naamah by name. Matthew 1:7 says only, "And Solomon begat Roboam." This stands in contrast to Matthew's genealogy, which identifies four women—Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, and the wife of Uriah—by name or by description.

Interpretations and Issues

• Relationship to idolatry: Some sermons and commentaries connect the idolatry of Rehoboam's reign with his mother's origins. The text, however, offers no evaluation of Naamah's faith or conduct, and this connection should be recognized as the interpreter's own inference.
• Her place as a foreign woman: Deuteronomy 23:3 stipulates that an Ammonite shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD. Yet Naamah, an Ammonite woman, became part of the lineage of the Davidic royal house. Some interpreters group her with the Moabite woman Ruth and read this as a sign of God's plan being open to the Gentiles. The Talmud is also reported to contain a passage that mentions Ruth and Naamah together.
• Later additions: Certain additional passages in the Septuagint are reported to present Naamah as a member of the Ammonite royal family. This material does not appear in the Hebrew text or in the New Korean Revised Version.
• Others of the same name: The Naamah of Genesis 4:22, the daughter of Lamech and Zillah and the sister of Tubal-cain, is a different person from the mother of Rehoboam. Later Jewish legend added various stories about this Naamah of Genesis, but the biblical text gives only her name. The designation "Zophar the Naamathite" in Job (one of Job's three friends) is generally regarded as derived from a place name.

In the Korean Church

Sermons devoted specifically to Naamah are rare. She is mentioned chiefly in sermons on Solomon's foreign wives and the consequences of those marriages, or she is introduced as a background figure in discussions of the division of the kingdom and the idolatry of Rehoboam's reign. Sunday school lessons and Bible quizzes sometimes include questions asking for the name of "Rehoboam's mother."