The people, however, were still sacrificing on the high places because a house for the Name of the LORD had not yet been built.
Parallel translations
- WEB However the people sacrificed in the high places, because there was not yet a house built for Yahweh’s name.
- KJV Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the LORD, until those days.
- NKJV Meanwhile the people sacrificed at the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days.
- NASB The people were still sacrificing on the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days.
- NLT 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.
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
The people still sacrificed at high places because the temple had not yet been built. The note explains a temporary irregularity in Israel's worship.
Overview
Before the temple centralized worship, the people offered sacrifices at local elevated sites, the 'high places.' The narrator notes this as a condition awaiting correction, since worship was meant to be unified at the place God would choose. The verse highlights Israel's need for the appointed dwelling of God's name, ultimately answered in Christ, in whom God fully dwells with His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 1 Kgs 22:43And Jehoshaphat walked in all the ways of his father Asa; he did not turn away from them, but did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. The high places, however, were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
- 2 Chr 33:17Nevertheless, the people still sacrificed at the high places, but only to the LORD their God.
- Deut 12:2–5Destroy completely all the places where the nations you are dispossessing have served their gods—atop the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree.
- Lev 26:30I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your lifeless bodies on the lifeless remains of your idols; and My soul will despise you.
- 1 Chr 28:3–6but God said to me, ‘You are not to build a house for My Name, because you are a man of war who has spilled blood.’
- 1 Kgs 5:3“As you are well aware, due to the wars waged on all sides against my father David, he could not build a house for the Name of the LORD his God until the LORD had put his enemies under his feet.
- Acts 7:47–49But it was Solomon who built the house for Him.
- 1 Chr 17:4–6“Go and tell My servant David that this is what the LORD says: You are not the one to build Me a house in which to dwell.
- Lev 17:3–6‘Anyone from the house of Israel who slaughters an ox, a lamb, or a goat in the camp or outside of 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 3:2 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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