1 Kings 3:3
in 1 Kings 3And Solomon loved the LORD and walked in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Solomon loved Jehovah, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.
KJV
And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.
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This verse in 1 Kings 3
Commentary
7 notes on this verseAnd Solomon loved the Lord,.... The worship of the Lord, as the Targum: and which he showed by walking in the statutes of David his father; in which his father walked, which were the statutes of the Lord, or which he exhorted him to walk in, and were the same, 1Ki 2:3; only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places; besides that at Gibeon, which it seems David did not.
This site's exposition
made affinity with Pharaoh
on 1 Kings 3:1-3
Solomon's marriage to Pharaoh's daughter opens the reign before the narrator names a single act of wisdom, and the alliance anticipates the multiplied wives Deuteronomy 17:17 forbade the king, though the text withholds any comment here. The same restraint governs the next verse: the people, and Solomon himself, sacrifice at high places only because no house had yet been built to the name of the Lord. That formula, a king weighed partly by whether the high places stood or fell, becomes the book's standing measure for every reign that follows.
This site's exposition
Solomon loved the LORD
Matthew Henry calls Solomon's love for the LORD his brightest praise, the mark of every saint, even the poorest. John Wesley explains the statutes of his father David as God's own commands, pressed on Solomon with David's authority. John Gill reads the exception as high places besides Gibeon.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Statutes - According to the statutes or commands of God, which are here called the statutes of David; not only because they were diligently practiced by David, but also because the observation of them was so earnestly pressed upon Solomon, and fortified with David's authority and command.
And here we find he returned that love, as John, the beloved disciple, was most full of love. Solomon was a wise man, a rich man; yet the brightest encomium of him is that which is the character of all the saints, even the poorest, He loved the Lord, so the Chaldee; all that love God love his worship, love to hear from him and speak to him, and so to have communion with him.
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 Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
They were prohibited in the law (Le 17:3, 4; But, so long as the tabernacle was migratory and the means for the national worship were merely provisional, the worship on those high places was tolerated. Hence, as accounting for their continuance, it is expressly stated (1Ki 3:2) that God had not yet chosen a permanent and exclusive place for his worship.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיֶּאֱהַ֤ב | vaiyeehav | and he loved | H157 → | 211 times |
| שְׁלֹמֹה֙ | shelomoh | Solomon | H8010 → | 291 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְהוָ֔ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| לָלֶ֕כֶת | lalekhet | to walk | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| בְּחֻקּ֖וֹת | bechukot | in [the] statutes of | H2708 → | 104 times |
| דָּוִ֣ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| אָבִ֑יו | ʾaviv | father his | H1 → | 1212 times |
| רַ֚ק | rak | only | H7535 → | 109 times |
| בַּבָּמ֔וֹת | babamot | at the high places | H1116 → | 102 times |
| ה֥וּא | hu' | he | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| מְזַבֵּ֖חַ | mezabeach | [was] sacrificing | H2076 → | 134 times |
| וּמַקְטִֽיר׃ | umaktir | and making smoke | H6999 → | 116 times |
וַיֶּאֱהַ֤בand he loved
vaiyeehavH157 →211 times
שְׁלֹמֹה֙Solomon
shelomohH8010 →291 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְהוָ֔הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
לָלֶ֕כֶתto walk
lalekhetH1980 →1546 times
בְּחֻקּ֖וֹתin [the] statutes of
bechukotH2708 →104 times
דָּוִ֣דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
אָבִ֑יוfather his
ʾavivH1 →1212 times
רַ֚קonly
rakH7535 →109 times
בַּבָּמ֔וֹתat the high places
babamotH1116 →102 times
ה֥וּאhe
hu'H1931 →1879 times
מְזַבֵּ֖חַ[was] sacrificing
mezabeachH2076 →134 times
וּמַקְטִֽיר׃and making smoke
umaktirH6999 →116 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 Corinthians 8:3But the one who loves God is known by God.
it leads to
- Revelation 3:8–9
I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door, which no one can shut. For you have only a little strength, yet you have kept My word and have not…
- Exodus 33:17
So the LORD said to Moses, “I will do this very thing you have asked, for you have found favor in My sight, and I know you by name.”
- Nahum 1:7
The LORD is good, a stronghold in the day of distress; He cares for those who trust in Him.
- 2 Timothy 2:19
Nevertheless, God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are His,” and, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord must turn away from iniquity.”
- Revelation 3:8–9
Through
Deuteronomy 6:5And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.
it leads to
- Mark 12:30
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
- Deuteronomy 30:6
The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, and you will love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, so that you may live.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Matthew 22:37
Jesus declared, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’
- Luke 10:27
He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
- Mark 12:30
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Kings
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; 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.