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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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.
- 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 23:14–17“You shall observe a feast to me three times a year.
- Deut 16:16Three times in a year all of your males shall appear before Yahweh your God in the place which he chooses: in the feast of unleavened bread, in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tents. They shall not appear before Yahweh empty.
- 2 Chr 8:12–13Then Solomon offered burnt offerings to Yahweh on Yahweh’s altar, which he had built before the porch,
- 2 Chr 8:16Now all the work of Solomon was prepared from the day of the foundation of Yahweh’s house until it was finished. So Yahweh’s house was completed.
- 2 Chr 26:16–21But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up, so that he did corruptly, and he trespassed against Yahweh his God; for he went into Yahweh’s temple to burn incense on the altar of incense.
- 2 Chr 29:11My sons, don’t be negligent now; for Yahweh has chosen you to stand before him, to minister to him, and that you should be his ministers, and burn incense.”
- Exod 30:7Aaron shall burn incense of sweet spices on it every morning. When he tends the lamps, he shall burn it.
- 2 Chr 34:25Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath is poured out on this place, and it will not be quenched.’”’
- Exod 34:23Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord Yahweh, the God of Israel.
- 1 Chr 23:13The sons of Amram: Aaron and Moses; and Aaron was separated, that he should sanctify the most holy things, he and his sons, forever, to burn incense before Yahweh, to minister to him, and to bless in his name, forever.
- 1 Kgs 6:38In the eleventh year, in the month Bul, which is the eighth month, the house was finished throughout all its parts, and according to all its specifications. So he spent seven years building 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 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.