1 Kings 3:2
in 1 Kings 3The people, however, were still sacrificing on the high places because a house for the Name of the LORD had not yet been built.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Only the people sacrificed in the high places, because there was no house built for the name of Jehovah until those days.
KJV
Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the Lord, until those days.
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This verse in 1 Kings 3
Commentary
7 notes on this verseOnly the people sacrificed in high places,.... On the tops of their houses, on hills and mountains, and particularly at the high place in Gibeon, where the tabernacle was: because there was no house built unto the name of the Lord until those days; to which they were obliged to repair as afterwards, and there offer their sacrifices, as the Lord had commanded, Deu 12:5.
This site's exposition
formed an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt
on 1 Kings 3:1-3
Solomon's marriage to Pharaoh's daughter opens the reign before any act of wisdom is named. The alliance points toward the many wives Deuteronomy 17:17 forbade. The people, and Solomon too, sacrifice on the high places “because a house for the Name of the LORD had not yet been built”.
This site's exposition
sacrificing on the high places
Albert Barnes finds the law against high places only by implication, in the command of Leviticus 17:3 to 5 to sacrifice at the tabernacle. Adam Clarke lists Gibeon, Gilgal, Shiloh and Hebron as places where judges, prophets and kings had offered. Matthew Henry says God bore with their weakness.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
High places - Which were groves, or other convenient places upon hills, in which the patriarchs used to offer up their sacrifices to God; and from them this custom was derived both to the Gentiles and the Jews: and in them the Gentiles sacrificed to idols, the Hebrew to the true God.
It was so by divine institution; from it the high places separated; yet while they worshipped God only, and in other things according to the rule, he graciously overlooked their weakness, and accepted their services; and it is owned that Solomon loved the Lord, though he burnt incense in the high places, and let not men be more severe than God is.
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
The people sacrificed in high places - Could there be any sin in this, or was it unlawful till after the temple was built? for prophets, judges, the kings which preceded Solomon, and Solomon himself, sacrificed on high places, such as Gibeon, Gilgal, Shiloh, Hebron, Kirjath-jearim, etc. But after the temple was erected, it was sinful to offer sacrifices in any other place; yet here it is introduced as being morally wrong, and it is introduced, 1Ki 3:3, as being an exceptionable trait in the character of Solomon.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The word “only” introduces a contrast. The writer means to say that there was one exception to the flourishing condition of things which he has been describing, namely, that “the people sacrificed in high-places.” (Compare the next verse.) The Law did not forbid “high-places” directly, but only by implication. It required the utter destruction of all the high-places which had been polluted by idolatrous rites Deu 12:2; and the injunction to offer sacrifices nowhere except at the door of the tabernacle Lev 17:3-5 was an indirect prohibition of them, or, at least, of the use which the Israelites made of them; but there was some real reason to question whether this was a command intended to come into force until the “place” was chosen “where the Lord would cause His name to dwell.” (See Deu 12:11, Deu 12:14.) The result was that high-places were used for the worship of Yahweh, from the time of the Judges downward Jdg 6:25; Jdg 13:16; 1Sa 7:10; 1Sa 13:9; 1Sa 14:35; 1Sa 16:5; 1Ch 21:26, with an entire unconsciousness of guilt on the part of those who used them. And God so far overlooked this ignorance that He accepted the worship thus offered Him, as appears from the vision vouchsafed to Solomon on this occasion. There were two reasons for the prohibition of high-places; first, the danger of the old idolatry creeping back if the old localities were retained for worship; and, secondly, the danger to the unity of the nation if there should be more than one legitimate religious center. The existence of the worship at high places did, in fact, facilitate the division of the kingdom.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Shlomo became the son-in-law. As long as Shim’i, his teacher, was alive, he did not enter into marriage [with Pharaoh’s daughter]. From here, [our Sages derived and] declared, that a person should always live in the vicinity of his teacher.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
13 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| רַ֣ק | rak | only | H7535 → | 109 times |
| הָעָ֔ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| מְזַבְּחִ֖ים | mezabechim | [were] sacrificing | H2076 → | 134 times |
| בַּבָּמ֑וֹת | babamot | at the high places | H1116 → | 102 times |
| כִּ֠י | ki | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| לֹא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| נִבְנָ֥ה | nivnah | it had been built | H1129 → | 376 times |
| בַ֙יִת֙ | vayit | a house | H1004 → | 2046 times |
| לְשֵׁ֣ם | leshem | for [the] name of | H8034 → | 864 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| עַ֖ד | ʾad | until | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| הַיָּמִ֥ים | haiyamim | the days | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| הָהֵֽם׃ פ | hahem | <the> those | H1992 → | 553 times |
רַ֣קonly
rakH7535 →109 times
הָעָ֔םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
מְזַבְּחִ֖ים[were] sacrificing
mezabechimH2076 →134 times
בַּבָּמ֑וֹתat the high places
babamotH1116 →102 times
כִּ֠יfor
kiH3588 →4482 times
לֹא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
נִבְנָ֥הit had been built
nivnahH1129 →376 times
בַ֙יִת֙a house
vayitH1004 →2046 times
לְשֵׁ֣םfor [the] name of
leshemH8034 →864 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
עַ֖דuntil
ʾadH5704 →1261 times
הַיָּמִ֥יםthe days
haiyamimH3117 →2304 times
הָהֵֽם׃ פ<the> those
hahemH1992 →553 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
1 Kings 22:43And Jehoshaphat walked in all the ways of his father Asa; he did not turn away from them, but did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. The high places, however, were…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 15:14
The high places were not removed, but Asa’s heart was fully devoted to the LORD all his days.
- 2 Kings 12:3
Nevertheless, the high places were not removed; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense there.
- 1 Kings 15:14
Through
2 Chronicles 33:17Nevertheless, the people still sacrificed at the high places, but only to the LORD their God.
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 32:12
Did not Hezekiah himself remove His high places and His altars and say to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before one altar, and on it you shall burn sacrifices’?
- 1 Kings 22:43
And Jehoshaphat walked in all the ways of his father Asa; he did not turn away from them, but did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. The high places, however, were…
- 2 Chronicles 32:12
Through
Leviticus 26:30I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your lifeless bodies on the lifeless remains of your idols; and My soul will despise you.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 23:20
On the altars he slaughtered all the priests of the high places, and he burned human bones on them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
- Ezekiel 6:13
Then you will know that I am the LORD, when their slain lie among their idols around their altars, on every high hill, on all the mountaintops, and under every green tree and leafy…
- Isaiah 27:9
Therefore Jacob’s guilt will be atoned for, and the full fruit of the removal of his sin will be this: When he makes all the altar stones like crushed bits of chalk, no Asherah…
- Ezekiel 6:3–6
You are to say: ‘O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Lord GOD! This is what the Lord GOD says to the mountains and hills, to the ravines and valleys: I am…
- 2 Kings 23:20
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Kings
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.