Jeroboam also built shrines on the high places and appointed from every class of people priests who were not Levites.
Parallel translations
- WEB He made houses of high places, and made priests from among all the people, who were not of the sons of Levi.
- 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.
- NKJV He made shrines on the high places, and made priests from every class of people, who were not of the sons of Levi.
- NASB And he made houses on high places, and appointed priests from all the people who were not of the sons of Levi.
- NLT Jeroboam also erected buildings at the pagan shrines and ordained priests from the common people—those who were not from the priestly tribe of Levi.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jeroboam builds high-place shrines and appoints non-Levite priests. He overturns God's appointed worship.
Overview
Beyond the calves, Jeroboam establishes shrines on high places and ordains priests from outside the divinely appointed line of Levi. These actions defy God's commands concerning worship and priesthood. By substituting his own system, Jeroboam compounds his rebellion against the Lord's order.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- 1 Kgs 13:32–33for the message that he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria will surely come to pass.”
- 2 Chr 13:9But did you not drive out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites? And did you not make priests for yourselves as do the peoples of other lands? Now whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams can become a priest of things that are not gods.
- 2 Kgs 17:32So the new residents worshiped the LORD, but they also appointed for themselves priests of all sorts to serve in the shrines of the high places.
- Num 3:10So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out the duties of the priesthood; but any outsider who approaches the tabernacle must be put to death.”
- 2 Chr 11:14–15For the Levites left their pasturelands and their possessions and went to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the LORD.
- Deut 24:15You are to pay his wages each day before sunset, because he is poor and depends on them. Otherwise he may cry out to the LORD against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
- Ezek 44:6–8Tell the rebellious house of Israel that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I have had enough of all your abominations, O house of Israel.
- Hos 12:11Is there iniquity in Gilead? They will surely come to nothing. Do they sacrifice bulls in Gilgal? Indeed, their altars will be heaps of stones in the furrows of the field.
- Ezek 16:25At the head of every street you built your lofty shrines and degraded your beauty. With increasing promiscuity, you spread your legs to all who passed by.
- 1 Kgs 13:24As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left lying in the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it.
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Christ at the center
Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
How 1 Kings 12:31 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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