The word "only" introduces a contrast. The writer means to say that there was one exception to the flourishing condition of things which he has been describing, namely, that "the people sacrificed in high-places." (Compare the next verse.) The Law did not forbid "high-places" directly, but only by implication. It required the utter destruction of all the high-places which had been polluted by idolatrous rites Deuteronomy 12:2; and the injunction to offer sacrifices nowhere except at the door of the tabernacle Leviticus 17:3-5 was an indirect prohibition of them, or, at least, of the use which the Israelites made of them; but there was some real reason to question whether this was a command intended to come into force until the "place" was chosen "where the Lord would cause His name to dwell." (See Deuteronomy 12:11, Deuteronomy 12:14.) The result was that high-places were used for the worship of Yahweh, from the time of the Judges downward Judges 6:25; Judges 13:16; 1 Samuel 7:10; 1 Samuel 13:9; 1 Samuel 14:35; 1 Samuel 16:5; 1 Chronicles 21:26, with an entire unconsciousness of guilt on the part of those who used them. And God so far overlooked this ignorance that He accepted the worship thus offered Him, as appears from the vision vouchsafed to Solomon on this occasion. There were two reasons for the prohibition of high-places; first, the danger of the old idolatry creeping back if the old localities were retained for worship; and, secondly, the danger to the unity of the nation if there should be more than one legitimate religious center. The existence of the worship at high places did, in fact, facilitate the division of the kingdom.

The people sacrificed in high places - Could there be any sin in this, or was it unlawful till after the temple was built? for prophets, judges, the kings which preceded Solomon, and Solomon himself, sacrificed on high places, such as Gibeon, Gilgal, Shiloh, Hebron, Kirjath-jearim, etc. But after the temple was erected, it was sinful to offer sacrifices in any other place; yet here it is introduced as being morally wrong, and it is introduced, 1 Kings 3:3, as being an exceptionable trait in the character of Solomon. The explanation appears to be this: as the ark and tabernacle were still in being, it was not right to offer sacrifices but where they were; and wherever they were, whether on a high place or a plain, there sacrifices might be lawfully offered, previously to the building of the temple. And the tabernacle was now at Gibeon, 2 Chronicles 1:3. Possibly the high places may be like those among the Hindoos, large raised-up terraces, on which they place their gods when they bathe, anoint, and worship them. Juggernaut and Krishnu have large terraces or high places, on which they are annually exhibited. But there was no idol in the above case.

Only the people sacrificed in high places,.... On the tops of their houses, on hills and mountains, and particularly at the high place in Gibeon, where the tabernacle was:

because there was no house built unto the name of the Lord until those days; to which they were obliged to repair as afterwards, and there offer their sacrifices, as the Lord had commanded, Deuteronomy 12:5.

"Only the people sacrificed upon high places, because there was not yet a house built for the name of Jehovah until those days." The limiting רק, only, by which this general account of the existing condition of the religious worship is appended to what precedes, may be accounted for from the antithesis to the strengthening of the kingdom by Solomon mentioned in 1 Kings 2:46. The train of thought is the following: It is true that Solomon's authority was firmly established by the punishment of the rebels, so that he was able to ally himself by marriage with the king of Egypt; but just as he was obliged to bring his Egyptian wife into the city of David, because the building of his palace as not yet finished, so the people, and (according to 1 Kings 2:3) even Solomon himself, were only able to sacrifice to the Lord at that time upon altars on the high places, because the temple was not yet built. The participle מזבּחים denotes the continuation of this religious condition (see Ewald, 168, c.). The בּמות, or high places,

(Note: The opinion of Bttcher and Thenius, that בּמה signifies a "sacred coppice," is only based upon untenable etymological combinations, and cannot be proved. And Ewald's view is equally unfounded, viz., that "high places were an old Canaanaean species of sanctuary, which at that time had become common in Israel also, and consisted of a tall stone of a conical shape, as the symbol of the Holy One, and of the real high place, viz., an altar, a sacred tree or grove, or even an image of the one God as well" (Gesch. iii. p. 390). For, on the one hand, it cannot be shown that the tall stone of a conical shape existed even in the case of the Canaanitish bamoth, and, on the other hand, it is impossible to adduce a shadow of a proof that the Israelitish bamoth, which were dedicated to Jehovah, were constructed precisely after the pattern of the Baal's-bamoth of the Canaanites.)

were places of sacrifice and prayer, which were built upon eminences of hills, because men thought they were nearer the Deity there, and which consisted in some cases probably of an altar only, though as a rule there was an altar with a sanctuary built by the side (בּמות בּית, 1 Kings 13:32; 2 Kings 17:29, 2 Kings 17:32; 2 Kings 23:19), so that בּמה frequently stands for בּמה בּית (e.g., 1 Kings 11:7; 1 Kings 14:23; 2 Kings 21:3; 2 Kings 23:8), and the בּמה is also distinguished from the מזבּח (2 Kings 23:15; 2 Chronicles 14:2). These high places were consecrated to the worship of Jehovah, and essentially different from the high places of the Canaanites which were consecrated to Baal. Nevertheless sacrificing upon these high places was opposed to the law, according to which the place which the Lord Himself had chosen for the revelation of His name was the only place where sacrifices were to be offered (Leviticus 17:3.); and therefore it is excused here on the ground that no house (temple) had yet been built to the name of the Lord.

Only the people sacrificed in {b} high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the LORD, until those days.

(b) Where altars were appointed before the temple was built, to offer to the Lord.

3:2 Only - This particle is used here, and ver.3, as an exception to Solomon's integrity and as a blemish to his government, That he himself both permitted and practised this which was expressly forbidden, Levit 17:3,4 Deut 12:13,14. High places - Which were groves, or other convenient places upon hills, in which the patriarchs used to offer up their sacrifices to God; and from them this custom was derived both to the Gentiles and the Jews: and in them the Gentiles sacrificed to idols, the Hebrews to the true God. Because, and c. - Which reason was not sufficient, for there was a tabernacle, to which they were as much confined as to the temple, Ex 40:34 - 38, and c.

[1] high places

Cf. Lev 26:30 Dt 12:11-14. The use of commanding elevations for altars seems to have been immemorial and universal. In itself the practice was not evil Gen 12:7,8 22:2-4 31:54 Jud 6:25,26 13:16-23. After the establishment of Mount Moriah and the temple as the centre of divine worship Dt 12:5 2Chr 7:12 the pentateuchal prohibition of the use of high places Dt 12:11-14 which had looked forward to the setting up of such a centre, came into effect, and high places became identified with idolatrous practices. The constant recurrence to the use of high places, even for Jehovistic worship See Scofield Note: "1Ki 15:14" and after the building of the temple, proves how deeply rooted the custom was.

See 2Ki 18:4-22 23:1-37 2Chr 33:3,17,19 Note below refers to "Groves." See Scofield Note: "Jud 3:7".

1Ki 3:2-5. High Places Being in Use, He Sacrifices at Gibeon.

3:1-4 He that loved the Lord, should, for his sake, have fixed his love upon one of the Lord's people. Solomon was a wise man, a rich man, a great man; yet the brightest praise of him, is that which is the character of all the saints, even the poorest, He loved the Lord. Where God sows plentifully, he expects to reap accordingly; and those that truly love God and his worship, will not grudge the expenses of their religion. We must never think that wasted which is laid out in the service of God.