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

1Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and married one of his daughters. He brought her to live in the City of David until he could finish building his palace and the Temple of the Lord and the wall around the city. At that time the people of Israel sacrificed their offerings at local places of worship, for a temple honoring the name of the Lord had not yet been built. 3Solomon loved the Lord and followed all the decrees of his father, David, except that Solomon, too, offered sacrifices and burned incense at the local places of worship. 4The most important of these places of worship was at Gibeon, so the king went there and sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings.

1 Kings 3:2 word by word

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

Words taken from the KJV.

• Only the peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971
• sacrificedזָבַחzâbach · to sacrificeH2076
• in high placesבָּמָהbâmâh · high placeH1116
• because there was no houseבַּ֫יִתbayith · house: homeH1004
• builtבָּנָהbânâh · to buildH1129
• unto the nameשֵׁםshêm · nameH8034
• of the Lordיְהֹוָהyehôvâh · LORDH3068
• until those daysיוֹםyôm · dayH3117

Cross-references for 1 Kings 3:2

• 1 Kings 1:3So they searched throughout the land of Israel for a beautiful girl, and they found Abishag from Shunem and brought her to the king.
• 1 Kings 22:43Jehoshaphat was a good king, following the example of his father, Asa. He did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight. During his reign, however, he failed to remove all the pagan shrines, and the people still offered sacrifices and burned incense there.
• Leviticus 17:3“If any native Israelite sacrifices a bull or a lamb or a goat anywhere inside or outside the camp
• Leviticus 26:30I will destroy your pagan shrines and knock down your places of worship. I will leave your lifeless corpses piled on top of your lifeless idols, and I will despise you.
• Deuteronomy 12:2“When you drive out the nations that live there, you must destroy all the places where they worship their gods—high on the mountains, up on the hills, and under every green tree.
• 2 Chronicles 33:17However, the people still sacrificed at the pagan shrines, though only to the Lord their God.
• 1 Kings 5:3“You know that my father, David, was not able to build a Temple to honor the name of the Lord his God because of the many wars waged against him by surrounding nations. He could not build until the Lord gave him victory over all his enemies.
• 1 Chronicles 17:4“Go and tell my servant David, ‘This is what the Lord has declared: You are not the one to build a house for me to live in.
• 1 Chronicles 28:3but God said to me, ‘You must not build a Temple to honor my name, for you are a warrior and have shed much blood.’
• Acts 7:47But it was Solomon who actually built it.

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