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. 30This caused Israel to sin; the people went to Bethel and Dan to worship the calves. He built temples on the high places and appointed as priests people who were not Levites. 32Jeroboam inaugurated a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival celebrated in Judah. On the altar in Bethel he offered sacrifices to the calves he had made. In Bethel he also appointed priests for the high places he had made. 33On the fifteenth day of the eighth month (a date he had arbitrarily chosen) Jeroboam offered sacrifices on the altar he had made in Bethel. He inaugurated a festival for the Israelites and went up to the altar to offer sacrifices.

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 13:24As the prophet from Judah was traveling, a lion attacked him on the road and killed him. His corpse was lying on the road, and the donkey and the lion just stood there beside it.
• Deuteronomy 24:15You must pay his wage that very day before the sun sets, for he is poor and his life depends on it. Otherwise he will cry out to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
• Ezekiel 16:25At the head of every street you erected your pavilion and you disgraced your beauty when you spread your legs to every passerby and multiplied your promiscuity.
• Hosea 12:11Is there idolatry in Gilead? Certainly its inhabitants will come to nothing! Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Surely their altars will be like stones heaped up on a plowed field!
• 1 Kings 13:33After this happened, Jeroboam still did not change his evil ways; he continued to appoint common people as priests at the high places. Anyone who wanted the job he consecrated as a priest.
• Numbers 3:10So you are to appoint Aaron and his sons, and they will be responsible for their priesthood; but the unauthorized person who comes near must be put to death.”
• 2 Kings 17:32At the same time they worshiped the Lord. They appointed some of their own people to serve as priests in the shrines on the high places.
• 2 Chronicles 11:14The Levites even left their pasturelands and their property behind and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons prohibited them from serving as the Lord’s priests.
• 2 Chronicles 13:9But you banished the Lord’s priests, Aaron’s descendants, and the Levites, and appointed your own priests just as the surrounding nations do! Anyone who comes to consecrate himself with a young bull or seven rams becomes a priest of these fake gods!
• Ezekiel 44:6Say to the rebellious, to the house of Israel, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Enough of all your abominable practices, O house 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