The most important of these places of worship was at Gibeon, so the king went there and sacrificed 1,000 burnt offerings.
Parallel translations
- WEB The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.
- KJV And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.
- BSB Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for it was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on the altar there.
- NKJV Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.
- NASB And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, because that was the great high place; Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.
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
Solomon goes to the great high place at Gibeon and offers a thousand burnt offerings. His lavish worship expresses wholehearted devotion to God.
Overview
Gibeon held the tabernacle and bronze altar at this time, making it the chief high place. Solomon's offering of a thousand burnt offerings shows extravagant, sincere worship at the outset of his reign. This costly devotion sets the stage for God's gracious appearing to him, illustrating that the LORD meets those who seek Him earnestly.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- 2 Chr 7:5King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand head of cattle and a hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated God’s house.
- 1 Chr 16:39and Zadok the priest, and his brothers the priests, before Yahweh’s tabernacle in the high place that was at Gibeon,
- 2 Chr 1:3So Solomon, and all the assembly with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for God’s Tent of Meeting was there, which Yahweh’s servant Moses had made in the wilderness.
- 2 Chr 1:6–12Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before Yahweh, which was at the Tent of Meeting, and offered one thousand burnt offerings on it.
- 1 Chr 21:29For Yahweh’s tabernacle, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt offering, were at that time in the high place at Gibeon.
- Isa 40:16Lebanon is not sufficient to burn, nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering.
- Josh 9:3But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai,
- 1 Kgs 8:63Solomon offered for the sacrifice of peace offerings, which he offered to Yahweh, twenty two thousand head of cattle, and one hundred twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the children of Israel dedicated Yahweh’s house.
- 2 Chr 29:32–35The number of the burnt offerings which the assembly brought was seventy bulls, one hundred rams, and two hundred lambs. All these were for a burnt offering to Yahweh.
- 2 Chr 30:24For Hezekiah king of Judah gave to the assembly for offerings one thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep; and the princes gave to the assembly a thousand bulls and ten thousand sheep: and a great number of priests sanctified themselves.
- Mic 6:6–7How shall I come before Yahweh, and bow myself before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old?
- Josh 10:2They were very afraid, because Gibeon was a great city, as one of the royal cities, and because it was greater than Ai, and all its men were mighty.
- 1 Kgs 9:2Yahweh appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon.
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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 3:4 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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