I Kings 3:4 · Bible study
1 Kings 3:4 Commentary: Why Gibeon? Sacrifice at the Great High Place
Hebrew · 8 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Solomon's thousand burnt offerings at Gibeon raise questions about high places.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Solomon’s sacrifice at Gibeon, the site of the Mosaic altar, was a public act of devotion before God appeared to him in a dream.
- Key words: bamah (high place, cultic platform); ‘olah (burnt offering); Gibeon (city of the tabernacle).
- Main debate: Whether the use of high places was acceptable before the Temple or already a compromise, resolved by the presence of the legitimate altar.
- Theological theme: Seeking God with extravagant sacrifice sets the stage for divine encounter and the gift of wisdom.
- Best use: To illustrate the transitional period of Israel’s worship and the importance of wholehearted devotion before asking for God’s guidance.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
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.
WEB World English Bible 2000
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 King James Version 1769
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.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
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.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
and the king goeth to Gibeon, to sacrifice there, for it is the great high place; a thousand burnt-offerings cause to ascend doth Solomon on that altar.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt-offerings did Solomon offer up upon that altar.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
He went therefore to Gabaon, to sacrifice there: for that was the great high place: a thousand victims for holocausts, did Solomon offer upon that altar, in Gabaon.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
E iba el rey á Gabaón, porque aquél era el alto principal, y sacrificaba allí: mil holocaustos sacrificaba Salomón sobre aquel altar.
E ia o rei a Gibeão, porque aquele era o alto principal, e Salomão sacrificava ali mil holocaustos sobre aquele altar.
Le roi se rendit à Gabaon pour y sacrifier, car c’ était le principal des hauts lieux. Salomon offrit mille holocaustes sur l’ autel.
Und der König ging hin gen Gibeon daselbst zu opfern; denn das war die vornehmste Höhe. Und Salomo opferte tausend Brandopfer auf demselben Altar.
En de koning ging naar Gibeon, om aldaar te offeren, omdat die hoogte groot was; duizend brandofferen offerde Salomo op dat altaar.
Il re si recò a Gabaon per offrirvi sacrifizi, perché quello era il principale fra gli alti luoghi; e su quell’altare Salomone offerse mille olocausti.
Szedł tedy król do Gabaon, aby tam ofiarował; bo tam była góra największa; tysiąc ofiar całopalonych ofiarował Salomon na onym ołtarzu.
И пошел царь в Гаваон, чтобы принести там жертву, ибо там был главный жертвенник. Тысячу всесожжений вознес Соломон на том жертвеннике.
所羅門王 上基遍 去 獻祭；因為 在那裡有 極大（或譯：出名）的邱壇，他 在 那 壇 上獻 一千 犧牲作燔祭。
And the king went to Gibeon to make an offering there, because that was the chief high place: it was Solomon's way to make a thousand burned offerings on that altar.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · I Kings 3:4
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
Commentators agree that Gibeon was the location of the Mosaic tabernacle and the bronze altar of burnt offering made in the wilderness (1 Chronicles 16:39; 21:29; 2 Chronicles 1:3-6). This made it “the great high place”, not because of its physical elevation but because the central sanctuary for sacrifice was there. Barnes and Gill note the tabernacle had been moved there from Nob. The offering of a thousand burnt offerings was an act of royal magnificence; Jamieson-Fausset-Brown suggest the sacrifice extended over several days, perhaps during a festival, and was a public event with the assembly, as described in 2 Chronicles 1:2. The verse sets the stage for the night when God appeared to Solomon in a dream and invited him to ask for anything.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Low
What is clear: Solomon’s sacrifice at Gibeon was a public, lavish act of worship at the authorized altar, setting the stage for God’s appearance and the request for wisdom.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Legitimacy of high places | Before the Temple, distinct high places could be acceptable if they housed the tabernacle and Mosaic altar. | Some read Solomon's action as entirely proper given the circumstances; others note that the narrator's 'except that' (v.3) already hints at a flaw, pointing toward the later centralization. |
| Duration of the thousand sacrifices | The offering was extraordinarily large, befitting a king. | Gill cites Jarchi saying it happened in one day; most commentators (Barnes, Jamieson-Fausset-Brown) argue it required several days, perhaps coinciding with a festival. |
| Significance of Gibeon vs. Jerusalem | The ark in Jerusalem and the tabernacle in Gibeon created two worship centers. | Christians across traditions see this as a temporary arrangement until the Temple unified worship; some emphasize that God honored Solomon's choice to go where the altar was, even if it was not the final site. |
Historical & Cultural Context
Gibeon, a Hivite city, had a long history with Israel. After its inhabitants secured a treaty with Joshua through deception (Joshua 9:3-15), it was assigned to the tribe of Benjamin (Joshua 18:21-25). Its significance grew when the tabernacle and the bronze altar were set up there following the destruction of Nob by Saul. David brought the ark to Jerusalem, but the tabernacle remained at Gibeon with the altar for regular sacrifices (1 Chronicles 16:39; 21:29).
During this transitional period, before Solomon completed the Temple, worship at “high places” (Hebrew bamah) was not automatically condemned. The later prophetic and Deuteronomic rejection of high places targeted sites where illicit or syncretistic worship occurred. Here, Gibeon housed the Mosaic altar, the legitimate place for sacrifice. The Chronicler explicitly states that Solomon went to Gibeon because the Tent of Meeting was there (2 Chronicles 1:3).
The journey from Jerusalem to Gibeon covered about five miles. The sacrifice of a thousand burnt offerings was extravagant by any measure. Keil and Delitzsch observe that this was a national event, seeking divine blessing at the outset of Solomon’s reign. The sheer scale of the offering demonstrated both the king’s wealth and his zeal for the Lord.
Textual Notes
The consulted sources note no significant textual variants for 1 Kings 3:4 in the Hebrew manuscripts or ancient versions. The verse is stable across traditions.
Reception History
In Jewish tradition, Gibeon is remembered as the site of the tabernacle during the early monarchy. The verse shows Solomon’s faithfulness before his later decline. Christian commentators from the Reformation onward have focused on the dream that follows, often treating the sacrifice as the occasion for God’s self-revelation. Matthew Henry praises Solomon’s love for God and his generosity; Calvin (in his harmony of Kings and Chronicles) highlights that God appeared to Solomon after he had sought the Lord earnestly. The offering has also been used in preaching as an example of costly worship that precedes receiving wisdom.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- The place: Gibeon as the sacred center before the Temple. The tabernacle and altar gave it legitimacy; Solomon went where God had promised to meet his people.
- The offering: A thousand burnt offerings. This was not empty ritual but costly devotion, echoing the wholehearted love Solomon had for the Lord (v. 3).
- The outcome: The sacrifice prepared the way for God’s appearance. In the following dream, Solomon received the chance to ask for anything, and he chose wisdom.
Five-point outline
- Context of the high places: why Gibeon was different.
- Solomon’s love for God (v. 3) as the foundation for his actions.
- The magnitude of the sacrifice: what a thousand offerings meant.
- God’s response: the dream at Gibeon (v. 5).
- Transition to the Temple: after this, Gibeon fades from the narrative.
Illustration hooks
- A young couple putting most of their savings into a down payment on their first home, an extravagant act that shows commitment.
- A leader who makes a major public donation to a cause before asking for advice on how best to serve the people.
- A church investing heavily in a new building, knowing it will be the center of worship for generations to come.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Why didn’t Solomon just sacrifice in Jerusalem where the ark was?
- Was it wrong for Solomon to use a “high place,” since later kings were condemned for doing the same?
- What can we learn from the connection between this huge sacrifice and the wisdom God gave Solomon?
Leading a Discussion
Solomon’s actions at Gibeon raise questions about worship, location, and motive. As you read 1 Kings 3:4, consider what this tells us about the period before the Temple and about Solomon’s heart.
Discussion questions
- What do you learn about Gibeon from the cross-references (Joshua 9; 1 Chronicles 16:39; 21:29)? Why does the text call it “the great high place”?
- How does the surrounding context (verses 2-3) help us understand why Solomon went there?
- The Hebrew verb for “offered up” (ya‘aleh) literally means “caused to ascend.” What does that picture add to the scene?
- Why do you think the number of offerings, a thousand, is recorded? What does it communicate about Solomon’s approach to God?
- How is the sacrifice at Gibeon connected to the dream that follows (verses 5-15)? What role does the offering play in that encounter?
- Later, worship at high places was condemned. How do you reconcile Solomon’s action with that? What changed?
- How does this verse challenge or encourage you in your own patterns of worship and devotion?
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| Joshua 9:3 | But when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and to Ai, |
| Joshua 10:2 | they 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. |
| I Kings 8:63 | Solomon 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. |
| I Kings 9:2 | Yahweh appeared to Solomon the second time, as he had appeared to him at Gibeon. |
| I Chronicles 16:39 | and Zadok the priest and his brothers the priests, before Yahweh’s tabernacle in the high place that was at Gibeon, |
| I Chronicles 21:29 | For 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. |
| II Chronicles 1:3 | Then 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. |
| II Chronicles 1:6 | Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before Yahweh, which was at the Tent of Meeting, and offered one thousand burnt offerings on it. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
7 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible Protestant 1832
Barnes notes that Gibeon became the great high place because Moses' tabernacle and bronze altar were moved there from Nob, making it second only to Mount Zion in sacredness. He treats Solomon's thousand burnt offerings as an act of royal magnificence befitting a great king, comparing it to Xerxes' similar offering. If all were whole burnt offerings on Moses' single altar, the sacrifice likely stretched over several days.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The writer highlights that Gibeon was historically notable as a Hivite city and the site where the tabernacle and brazen altar stood before the temple was built, which explains why it is called the great high place. The thousand burnt offerings are accounted for by Solomon’s solemn procession with all the people, as described in Chronicles.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva Note emphasizes that Gibeon was the chief high place, the main sanctuary before the temple was built. Solomon’s offering of a thousand burnt offerings there underscores both the site’s supreme importance and the extraordinary scale of his worship.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill clarifies that Gibeon was called the great high place not because of its physical elevation, but because the tabernacle and bronze altar were located there, giving it special sacred dignity. He also notes that Solomon's offering of a thousand burnt offerings was an extraordinary number, perhaps spread over several days.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB emphasizes that Solomon's visit to Gibeon was a public, national event with the nobility present, likely during a seven-day festival. The enormous number of sacrifices is partly explained by the king's rank and the daily offerings required over such a solemn occasion.
Keil & Delitzsch OT Commentary Protestant 1876
Keil and Delitzsch note that Solomon's sacrifice at Gibeon was offered on the great altar of the tabernacle, but the ark of the covenant was not there. God compensated for that absence by granting Solomon a direct dream revelation and commended his request for a hearing heart to judge rightly instead of asking for long life, riches, or his enemies' destruction.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Henry notes that Solomon's love for the Lord, not his wisdom or wealth, is his highest praise. This love showed itself in walking carefully in God's statutes and in offering generous sacrifices. For Henry, a king's devotion is measured by obedience and open-handed worship, not by his resources.