He raised up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.
Parallel translations
- KJV And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.
- BSB First, Ahab set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal that he had built in Samaria.
- NKJV Then he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.
- NASB So he erected an altar for Baal at the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria.
- NLT First Ahab built a temple and an altar for Baal in Samaria.
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
Ahab builds a temple and altar for Baal in Samaria, institutionalizing pagan worship.
Overview
By erecting a temple and altar to Baal in the capital, Ahab makes the worship of a foreign god an official feature of the kingdom. This is a direct assault on the exclusive covenant loyalty Israel owed to Yahweh. The establishment of Baal's cult center sets the physical and spiritual backdrop for Elijah's coming ministry.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 2
- 2 Kgs 10:21Jehu sent through all Israel; and all the worshipers of Baal came, so that there was not a man left that didn’t come. They came into the house of Baal; and the house of Baal was filled from one end to another.
- 2 Kgs 10:26–27They brought out the pillars that were in the house of Baal, and burned them.
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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 16:32 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.