1 Kings 12:31

Moses had declared that only men from the tribe of Levi would be priests, but Jeroboam also told his workers to build shrines on hilltops, and then he appointed men who were not from the tribe of Levi to be priests.

Translation for Translators

In The King James Version

And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.

In Context

30So what Jeroboam did caused the people to sin. Some of them went and worshiped the calf at Bethel, and others went and worshiped the other calf at Dan.

32He also appointed Adonijah and two priests, Elishama and Jehoram. They had a celebration at the end of October, like the celebration of Living in Temporary Shelters that occurred in Judah each year. On the altar that they built in Bethel, he offered sacrifices to the gold statues of calves that they had made, and he stationed the priests there at the shrines that his workers had built.

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Cross References

Deuteronomy 24:15Every day, before sunset, you must pay/give them the money that they have earned. They are poor and they need to get their pay. If you do not pay them right away, they will cry out against you to Yahweh, and he will punish [MTY] you for having sinned like that.

1 Kings 13:32And do not forget what he said, because the things that Yahweh told him to say about the altar in Bethel, and about the shrines on the hills in the towns in Samaria, will surely happen.”

1 Kings 14:23They built places to worship those gods; on high hills, and under big trees they set up stone pillars to worship the goddess Asherah.

2 Kings 17:32But those people also worshiped Yahweh, and they appointed from among their own groups many people to be priests at the shrines on the tops of the hills, in order that those priests could offer sacrifices for them there.

2 Chronicles 13:9But you expelled the priests that Yahweh appointed, men who are descendants of Aaron the first Supreme Priest, and you expelled the descendants of Levi, and you appointed the priests that you wanted, like the people of other countries do. You allow anyone to become a priest of idols that are not gods if he comes to dedicate himself to be a priest by sacrificing a young bull and seven rams.

Ezekiel 44:6Say this to the rebellious Israeli people: ‘This is what I, Yahweh the Lord, say: You Israeli people, I will no longer endure the detestable things that you do!

Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 12:26-33

Jeroboam's Idolatry. ( b. c. 975.) 25 Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel. 26 And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David: 27 If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah. 28 Whereupon the king took counsel, and made… Read the whole commentary →

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Study 1 Kings 12:31