Amplified Bible
1 Kings 14:23
23For they also built for themselves high places [to worship idols] and sacred pillars and Asherim [for the goddess Asherah]. These were on every high hill and under every luxuriant tree.
1 Kings 14:23 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.
- New International Version (NIV)They also set up for themselves high places, sacred stones and Asherah poles on every high hill and under every spreading tree.
- English Standard Version (ESV)For they also built for themselves high places and pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree,
- New King James Version (NKJV)For they also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree.
Context of 1 Kings 14:23
21Now Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel in which to put His Name (Presence). His mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess. 22And [the people of] Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord. They provoked Him to jealousy more than all that their fathers had done, with their sins which they had committed. For they also built for themselves high places [to worship idols] and sacred pillars and Asherim [for the goddess Asherah]. These were on every high hill and under every luxuriant tree. 24There were also male cult prostitutes in the land. They committed all the repulsive acts of the nations which the Lord dispossessed before the Israelites. 25Now in the fifth year of King Rehoboam, Shishak king of Egypt [Jeroboam’s brother-in-law] came up against Jerusalem.
Read all of 1 Kings 141 Kings 14:23 word by word
וַיִּבְנ֨וּ גַם־הֵ֧מָּה לָהֶ֛ם בָּמ֥וֹת וּמַצֵּב֖וֹת וַאֲשֵׁרִ֑ים עַ֚ל כָּל־גִּבְעָ֣ה גְבֹהָ֔ה וְתַ֖חַת כָּל־עֵ֥ץ רַעֲנָֽן׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- For they also builtבָּנָהbânâh · to buildH1129
- them high placesבָּמָהbâmâh · high placeH1116
- and imagesמַצֵּבָהmatstsêbâh · pillarH4676
- and grovesאֲשֵׁרָה'ăshêrâh 'ăshêyrâh · AsherahH842
- on every highגָּבֹהַּgâbôhha gâbôhha · highH1364
- hillגִּבְעָהgib‛âh · hillH1389
- and under every greenרַעֲנָןra‛ănân · luxuriantH7488
- treeעֵץ‛êts · treeH6086
Cross-references for 1 Kings 14:23
- 1 Kings 3:2But [in the meantime] the people were still sacrificing [to God] on the high places (hilltops) [as the pagans did to their idols], for there was no [permanent] house yet built for the Name of the Lord.
- Deuteronomy 12:2You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and the hills and under every green [leafy] tree.
- Isaiah 57:5Who inflame yourselves [with lust in pagan rites] among the oaks (terebinth trees), Under every green and leafy tree, Who slaughter the children [in sacrifice] in the ravines Under the clefts of the rocks?
- Ezekiel 16:24that you built yourself an altar for prostitution and made yourself a high place [for ritual prostitution] in every square [of Jerusalem].
- Ezekiel 20:28For when I had brought them into the land which I swore to give to them, they saw every high hill and every dark and leafy tree [as a place for idol worship], and there they offered their sacrifices and there they presented their offering that provoked My anger; there also they made their sweet-smelling aroma and there poured out their drink offerings.
- Leviticus 26:1‘You shall not make idols for yourselves, nor shall you erect an image, a sacred pillar or an obelisk, nor shall you place any figured stone in your land so that you may bow down to it; for I am the Lord your God.
- Micah 5:14I will root out your Asherim (symbols of the goddess Asherah) from among you And destroy your cities [which are the centers of pagan worship].
- 2 Kings 17:9The Israelites ascribed things to the Lord their God which were not true. They built for themselves high places [of worship] in all their towns, from [the lonely] lookout tower to the [populous] fortified city.
- 2 Kings 21:3For he rebuilt the high places [for the worship of pagan gods] which his father Hezekiah had destroyed; and he set up altars for Baal and made an [image of] Asherah, just as Ahab king of Israel had done, and he worshiped all the [starry] host of heaven and served them.
- 2 Chronicles 28:4He also sacrificed and burned incense on the high places [of pagan worship], on the hills and under every green tree.
- Jeremiah 17:2As they remember their children, So they remember [in detail] their [pagan] altars and their Asherim Beside green trees on the high hills.
- Jeremiah 3:13Only understand fully and acknowledge your wickedness and guilt, That you have rebelled (transgressed) against the Lord your God And have scattered your favors among strangers under every green tree, And you have not obeyed My voice,’ says the Lord.
Commentaries on 1 Kings 14:23
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 23The words “they also” are emphatic. Not only did the Israelites make themselves high places 1 Kings 12:31; 1 Kings 13:32, but the people of Judah also. The “high places,” which are said to have been “built,” were probably small shrines or tabernacles hung with bright-colored tapestry Ezekiel 16:16, like the “sacred tent” of the Carthaginians. The “images” were rather “pillars” (Genesis 28:18 note). Groves - See 1 Kings 14:15, note. The “groves,” it will…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 21-31Verses 21-31 Here is no good said of Rehoboam, and much said to the disadvantage of his subjects. The abounding of the worst crimes, of the worst of the heathen, in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen for his temple and his worship, shows that nothing can mend the hearts of fallen men but the sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit. On this alone may we depend; for this let us daily pray, in behalf of ourselves and all around us. The splendour of their…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 23-24Solomon married foreign wives, which led his family into idol worship. Under Rehoboam's leadership, Judah continued the offensive practices of the pagan nations that lived in the land before the Israelites. When leaders are corrupt, a nation's spiritual decline often follows, leading to shame and ruin (Proverbs 14:34). Shrine prostitutes were common in Canaan but were forbidden for Israel (see study notes on Leviticus 17:7; Deuteronomy 23:17–18). They…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 Kings 14:23
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on 1 Kings 14
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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