1 Kings 12:31

1 Kings 12:31 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
• New International Version (NIV)Jeroboam built shrines on high places and appointed priests from all sorts of people, even though they were not Levites.
• English Standard Version (ESV)He also made temples on high places and appointed priests from among all the people, who were not of the Levites.
• New King James Version (NKJV)He made shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

Context of 1 Kings 12:31

29He put one in Bethel and the other in Dan. 30Worshiping them became ⌞Israel’s⌟ sin. The people went as far as Dan to worship the one calf. Jeroboam built worship sites on hilltops. He appointed men who were not descended from Levi to be priests. 32Jeroboam appointed a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, just like the festival in Judah. He went to the altar in Bethel to sacrifice to the calves he had made. He appointed priests from the illegal worship sites ⌞to serve⌟ in Bethel. 33He went to his altar in Bethel to burn an offering on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, ⌞the festival⌟ he had invented for the Israelites.

1 Kings 12:31 word by word

וַיַּ֖עַשׂ אֶת־בֵּ֣ית בָּמ֑וֹת וַיַּ֤עַשׂ כֹּֽהֲנִים֙ מִקְצ֣וֹת הָעָ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹֽא־הָי֖וּ מִבְּנֵ֥י לֵוִֽי׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And he madeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• an houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: homeH1004
• of high placesבָּמָהbâmâh · high placeH1116
• and madeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to make: doH6213
• priestsכֹּהֵןkôhên · priestH3548
• of the lowestקָצָהqâtsâh · endH7098
• of the peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• which were not of the sonsבֵּןbên · son: descendant/peopleH1121
• of Leviלֵוִיlêvîy · LeviH3878

Cross-references for 1 Kings 12:31

• 1 Kings 13:24The man of God left. A lion found him ⌞as he traveled⌟ on the road and killed him. His dead body was thrown on the road. The donkey and the lion were standing by the body.
• Deuteronomy 24:15Pay them each day before sunset because they are poor and need their pay. Otherwise, they will complain to the Lord about you, and you will be condemned for your sin.
• Ezekiel 16:25You also built worship sites at the head of every street. You used your beauty to seduce people there. You offered your body to everyone who passed by. You increased your acts of prostitution.
• Hosea 12:11The people of Gilead are evil. They are worthless. They sacrifice bulls in Gilgal. But their altars will become like piles of rubble beside a plowed field.
• 1 Kings 13:33Even after this, Jeroboam didn’t change his evil ways, but he once again made some men priests for the illegal worship sites. He took all who were willing and appointed them to be priests at the worship sites.
• Numbers 3:10Appoint Aaron and his sons to serve as priests. Anyone else who tries to do the priests’ duties must be put to death.”
• 2 Kings 17:32So while these people were worshiping the Lord, they also appointed all kinds of people to serve as priests for the shrines at their illegal places of worship.
• 2 Chronicles 11:14The priests abandoned their land and property and went to Judah and Jerusalem because Jeroboam and his descendants rejected them as the Lord’s priests.
• 2 Chronicles 13:9You forced out the Lord’s priests who were Aaron’s descendants, and you forced out the Levites so that you could appoint your own priests, as the people in foreign countries do. Anyone who has a young bull and seven rams can be ordained as a priest of nonexistent gods.
• Ezekiel 44:6Tell the rebellious people of Israel, ‘This is what the Almighty Lord says: I’ve had enough of all the disgusting things that you have done, people of Israel.

Commentaries on 1 Kings 12:31

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 31A house of high places - A temple of temples; he had many high places in the land, and to imitate the temple at Jerusalem, he made one chief over all the rest, where he established a priesthood of his own ordination. Probably a place of separate appointment, where different idols were set up and worshipped; so it was a sort of pantheon. Made priests of the lowest of the people - He took the people indifferently as they came, and made them priests, till he…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 31He made an house of high places - i. e., “He built a temple, or sanctuary, at each of the two cities where the calves were set up.” The writer uses the expression “house of high places” in contempt, meaning that the buildings were not real temples, or houses of God, like that at Jerusalem, but only on a par with the temples upon high places which had long existed in various parts of the land. Made priests of the lowest of the people - More correctly…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 25-33Verses 25-33 Jeroboam distrusted the providence of God; he would contrive ways and means, and sinful ones too, for his own safety. A practical disbelief of God's all-sufficiency is at the bottom of all our departures from him. Though it is probable he meant his worship for Jehovah the God of Israel, it was contrary to the Divine law, and dishonourable to the Divine majesty to be thus represented. The people might be less shocked at worshipping the God of…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 31Jeroboam broke the law of Moses by allowing worship at pagan shrines (Deuteronomy 12:2–7). The law also stated that priests should only be from the tribe of Levi (Exodus 40:13–15; Numbers 1:50–53).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 26-3226-32. Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David--Having received the kingdom from God, he should have relied on the divine protection. But he did not. With a view to withdraw the people from the temple and destroy the sacred associations connected with Jerusalem, he made serious and unwarranted innovations on the religious observances of the country, on pretext of saving the people the trouble and expense of a distant…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Kings 12:31

• Beth-El
• Calf
• Church and State
• High Places
• Jeroboam
• Minister, Christian
• Priest
• Religion
• Rulers
• Statecraft
• Temple

In the dictionaries

• Levi
• Add
• Aholah
• Bethel
• Consult
• Ephraim, The tribe of
• Heavy
• Ordain
• Scorpion
• Thick

Commentaries on 1 Kings 12

• 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
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings