1 Kings 3:2

1 Kings 3:2 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the Lord, until those days.
• New International Version (NIV)The people, however, were still sacrificing at the high places, because a temple had not yet been built for the Name of the Lord.
• English Standard Version (ESV)The people were sacrificing at the high places, however, because no house had yet been built for the name of the Lord.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Meanwhile the people sacrificed at the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days.

Context of 1 Kings 3:2

1Then Solomon formed a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her to the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the Lord and the wall around Jerusalem. The people were still sacrificing on the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days. 3Now Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, except he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. 4The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place; Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.

1 Kings 3:2 word by word

רַ֣ק הָעָ֔ם מְזַבְּחִ֖ים בַּבָּמ֑וֹת כִּ֠י לֹא־נִבְנָ֥ה בַ֙יִת֙ לְשֵׁ֣ם יְהוָ֔ה עַ֖ד הַיָּמִ֥ים הָהֵֽם׃ פRead the interlinear

• The peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• were stillרַקraq · thinH7534
• sacrificingזָבַחzâbach · to sacrificeH2076
• on the highבָּמָהbâmâh · high placeH1116
• becauseכִּיkîy · forH3588
• there was noלֹאlô' lô' lôh · notH3808
• houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: homeH1004
• builtבָּנָהbânâh · to buildH1129
• for the nameשֵׁםshêm · nameH8034
• of the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• untilעַד‛ad · tillH5704
• daysיוֹםyôm · dayH3117

Cross-references for 1 Kings 3:2

• 1 Kings 1:3So they searched for a beautiful girl throughout all the territory of Israel, and found Abishag the Shunammite, and brought her to the king.
• 1 Kings 22:43He walked in all the way of Asa his father; he did not turn aside from it, doing right in the sight of the Lord. However, the high places were not taken away; the people still sacrificed and burnt incense on the high places.
• Leviticus 17:3“Any man from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox or a lamb or a goat in the camp, or who slaughters it outside the camp,
• Leviticus 26:30I then will destroy your high places, and cut down your incense altars, and heap your remains on the remains of your idols, for My soul shall abhor you.
• Deuteronomy 12:2You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom you shall dispossess serve their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree.
• 2 Chronicles 33:17Nevertheless the people still sacrificed in the high places, although only to the Lord their God.
• 1 Kings 5:3“You know that David my father was unable to build a house for the name of the Lord his God because of the wars which surrounded him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet.
• 1 Chronicles 17:4“Go and tell David My servant, ‘Thus says the Lord, “You shall not build a house for Me to dwell in;
• 1 Chronicles 28:3But God said to me, ‘You shall not build a house for My name because you are a man of war and have shed blood.’
• Acts 7:47But it was Solomon who built a house for Him.

Commentaries on 1 Kings 3:2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 2The 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, 1 Kings…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 2The 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 Deuteronomy 12:2; and the injunction to offer…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 2-3The ark of the covenant was in David's tent in Jerusalem before the temple was built. During this time, people made sacrifices at local worship sites (see study note on 1 Kings 8:1). This practice reduced unified worship at a central place (1 Kings 12:1–24). It also increased the risk of adopting Canaanite religious practices. Worshiping at these local sites was forbidden for Israel (Deuteronomy 12:1–14).Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Kings 3:2

• High Places
• Prayer

In the dictionaries

• Affinity
• Divide
• Solomon
• Yearn
• Abishag
• City
• Criticism
• God
• High Place
• Israel, History of

Commentaries on 1 Kings 3

• 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