Three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built for the LORD, burning incense with them before the LORD. So he completed the temple.
Parallel translations
- WEB Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he built to Yahweh three times per year, burning incense with them, on the altar that was before Yahweh. So he finished the house.
- KJV And three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt offerings and peace offerings upon the altar which he built unto the LORD, and he burnt incense upon the altar that was before the LORD. So he finished the house.
- NKJV Now three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he had built for the Lord, and he burned incense with them on the altar that was before the Lord. So he finished the temple.
- NASB Now three times a year Solomon offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he had built for the Lord, burning incense with them on the altar which was before the Lord. So he finished the house.
- NLT Three times each year Solomon presented burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar he had built for the Lord. He also burned incense to the Lord. And so he finished the work of building the Temple.
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 faithfully offered sacrifices three times a year and so completed the temple's purpose. It marks the proper worship for which the house was built.
Overview
With the temple finished, Solomon regularly presented burnt and peace offerings, likely at the three annual feasts (Passover, Weeks, and Tabernacles). This shows his early devotion and the temple functioning as the center of Israel's worship. The repeated sacrifices anticipate the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ, who would fulfill and surpass all these offerings, providing the lasting peace they could only foreshadow.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Exod 23:14–17Three times a year you are to celebrate a feast to Me.
- Deut 16:16Three times a year all your men are to appear before the LORD your God in the place He will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the LORD empty-handed.
- 2 Chr 8:12–13At that time Solomon offered burnt offerings to the LORD on the altar of the LORD he had built in front of the portico.
- 2 Chr 8:16Thus all the work of Solomon was carried out, from the day the foundation was laid for the house of the LORD until it was finished. So the house of the LORD was completed.
- 2 Chr 26:16–21But when Uzziah grew powerful, his arrogance led to his own destruction. He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, for he entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.
- 2 Chr 29:11Now, my sons, do not be negligent, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before Him, to serve Him, to minister before Him, and to burn incense.”
- Exod 30:7And Aaron is to burn fragrant incense on it every morning when he tends the lamps.
- 2 Chr 34:25because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. My wrath will be poured out upon this place and will not be quenched.’
- Exod 34:23Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD, the God of Israel.
- 1 Chr 23:13The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses. Aaron and his descendants were set apart forever to consecrate the most holy things, to burn incense before the LORD, to minister before Him, and to pronounce blessings in His name forever.
- 1 Kgs 6:38In his eleventh year and eighth month, the month of Bul, the temple was finished in every detail and according to every specification. So he built the temple in seven years.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 9:25 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.