Reference: High place
Easton
an eminence, natural or artificial, where worship by sacrifice or offerings was made (1Ki 13:32; 2Ki 17:29). The first altar after the Flood was built on a mountain (Ge 8:20). Abraham also built an altar on a mountain (Ge 12:7-8). It was on a mountain in Gilead that Laban and Jacob offered sacrifices (Ge 31:54). After the Israelites entered the Promised Land they were strictly enjoined to overthrow the high places of the Canaanites (Ex 34:13; De 7:5; 12:2-3), and they were forbidden to worship the Lord on high places (De 12:11-14), and were enjoined to use but one altar for sacrifices (Le 17:3-4; De 12; 16:21). The injunction against high places was, however, very imperfectly obeyed, and we find again and again mention made of them (2-Kings/14/4/type/isv'>2Ki 14:4; 2-Kings/15/4/type/isv'>15:4,2, etc.).
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Then Noah built an altar to the LORD and offered burnt offerings on it from every clean animal and every clean bird.
Then the LORD appeared to Abram and said, "I'll give this land to your descendants." So Abram built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him. From there Abram traveled on to the hill country east of Bethel and set up his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the LORD and called on the name of the LORD.
So Jacob made an oath by his father's Fear, offered sacrifices there on the mountain, and called on his relatives to eat some food. So they ate the food and spent the night on the mountain.
Rather, you are to tear down their altars, you are to smash their sacred pillars, and you are to cut down their sacred poles
When a person from the house of Israel slaughters an ox, a lamb, or a goat (whether in the camp or outside the camp), but fails to bring it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting as an offering in the presence of the tent of the LORD, that person will incur bloodguilt. Because he has shed blood, that person is to be eliminated from contact with his people."
This is what you are to do to them: tear down their altars, break their pillars, cut down their ritual pillars, and burn their carved idols in fire,
Be sure you destroy there all the places where the nations that you're going to dispossess serve their gods upon the high mountains and hills and under every leafy tree. Tear down their altars, cut down their sacred poles, and burn them. Cut down the carved images of their gods to erase their memory from that place."
then bring to the place that the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling place where he will establish his name everything that I'm commanding you: your burnt offerings, your sacrifices, your tithes, your hand-carried gifts, and all your best offerings in fulfillment of promises that you pledged to the LORD. "Rejoice in the presence of the LORD your God you, your sons and daughters, your male and female servants, and the descendant of Levi who is in your city for there is no territorial allotment for him as you have. read more. Be careful not to offer burnt offerings at any location you happen to see instead of at the place the LORD will choose in one of the tribal areas. There you may offer burnt offerings, and there you may do everything that I'm commanding you."
because what he predicted by a message from the LORD against the altar in Bethel and the temples built in the high places of the cities of Samaria will certainly come about."
except that the high places were not abolished. The people continued to offer sacrifices and to burn incense on the high places.
He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 52 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem.
except that the high places were never removed, and the people kept on sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.
Morish
The word commonly used for the high place is bamah, signifying what is high or elevated (cf. Eze 20:29), and then the hills on which altars were erected. There were such places in Canaan before the Israelites entered it, which they were told to destroy. Nu 33:52. If the Israelites had such, God would destroy them and cut down their images. Lev. 26:80.
In the above passages the high places are connected with idolatry; but it would appear that before the temple was built, altars for the worship of God had been erected elsewhere than at the tabernacle. With Samuel at Zuph, there was 'a sacrifice of the people' in the 'high place' (God having forsaken the tabernacle at Shiloh, this disorder resulted). It was evidently on elevated ground, for they went up to it and came down. 1Sa 9:12-25. At the beginning of the reign of Solomon the people sacrificed in high places because the temple was not yet built. This was failure, for we read that "Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places." 1Ki 3:2-4. The tabernacle was there (Gibeon), 1Ch 16:39; 2Ch 1:3, so that it appeared to be the right place to go to, and it was where God appeared to Solomon in the night; yet it was 'the great high place.' The reason of this implied disapproval is doubtless because the ark was not there, the symbol of God's presence, which was the true place of worship. At the close of Solomon's life he sinned greatly in building a high place for the gods of all his strange wives. 1Ki 11:7-8. On the division of the kingdom, Jeroboam set up his idols and "ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made." 2Ch 11:15. With these two examples it is not surprising that in the whole land there were many high places. Hezekiah and Josiah zealously destroyed the high places, which included the buildings thereon and the idols connected therewith. The word bamah is used apparently for any idolatrous erection, for we once read of high places in a valley. Jer 7:31.
The term 'high places' has another application under the Hebrew word ramah, which also signifies 'exalted;' for Israel is charged with making a high place in every street, and at every head of the way, which doubtless refers to some shrine or symbol of idolatry connected with abominable practices. Eze 16:24-25,31,39. They courted the favour of the heathen by adopting their idolatrous worship and customs.
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they are to drive out all the inhabitants of the land and destroy all their idols and their molten images. You are to demolish all their high places,
They answered them: "Yes, he's right there ahead of you. Hurry, for he came to town just today because there is a sacrifice for the people on the high place today. When you come into town you can find him before he goes up to the high place to eat. For the people don't eat until he arrives, because he must bless the sacrifice and then after that those who are invited will eat. So go up right now because you can find him now." read more. They went up to the town, and as they were coming to the center of the town, Samuel was coming out to meet them, on his way up to the high place. Now one day before Saul's arrival, the LORD had revealed to Samuel: "About this time tomorrow I'll send you a man from the land of Benjamin, and you are to anoint him as Commander-in-Chief over my people Israel. He'll deliver my people from the control of the Philistines, because I've seen the suffering of my people and because their cry has come up to me." When Samuel saw Saul, the LORD told him, "Here is the man I told you about. This man will rule over my people." As Saul approached Samuel in the middle of the gate, he said, "Please tell me where the seer's house is." Samuel answered Saul: "I'm the seer. Go up ahead of me to the high place, and eat with me today. In the morning I'll send you away and tell you everything that is on your mind. Now as for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, don't give any thought to them, because they've been found. Meanwhile, to whom is all Israel looking, if not to you and all of your father's household?" Saul answered: "Am I not a descendant of Benjamin from the least of the tribes of Israel? Isn't my family the least important of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why have you spoken to me like this?" Then Samuel took Saul and his young man and brought them to a room where he gave them a place at the head of those who were invited, of whom there were about 30 men. Then Samuel told the cook, "Bring the portion that I gave you, the one I told you to set aside." The cook picked up the thigh and what was on it and set it in front of Saul. Then Samuel said, "Here is what is left! Set it before you and eat, for it has been kept for you until the appointed time, about which I said, "I've invited the people.'" So Saul ate with Samuel that day. When they had come down from the high place into town, Samuel spoke to Saul on the roof.
The people were sacrificing at various high places because the Temple had not yet been built and dedicated to the LORD. Solomon loved the LORD, and lived according to the statutes that his father David obeyed, except that he sacrificed and burned offerings at the high places. read more. The king used to go to Gibeon to sacrifice, since there was a famous high place there, where Solomon once offered 1,000 burnt offerings on that altar.
Later, Solomon even constructed a high place on the mountain east of Jerusalem that was dedicated to Chemosh, that detestable Moabite idol, and to Molech, the detestable Ammonite idol. Solomon did this for all of his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their own gods.
He left Zadok the priest and his relatives at the Tent of the LORD at the high place in Gibeon, where they ministered in the LORD's presence,
Jeroboam had appointed his own priests to serve at the high places and to serve the satyrs and calves that he had made.
They have built high places at Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire. I didn't command this, and it never entered my mind!
"You built raised mounds and high places for yourself on every plaza. At every street corner you made your beauty abhorrent when you made yourself available for sex to anyone who was passing by. By doing this, you kept on committing more and more immorality.
When you built your mound on every street corner and constructed your high place at every plaza, you weren't like a common prostitute, in that you've insulted the wages of a prostitute
"I'll also deliver you into their control, and they'll break down your mounds, tear down your high places, strip off your clothes, remove your fine jewels, and then they'll leave you stark naked!
So I asked them, "What is the high place to which you're going?' That's why the name of the place has been called Bamah to this day."'