The Meaning of 1 Kings 9:25 Explained

1 Kings 9:25

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.

YLT: And Solomon caused to ascend, three times in a year, burnt-offerings and peace-offerings on the altar that he built to Jehovah, and he perfumed it with that which is before Jehovah, and finished the house.

Darby: And three times in the year did Solomon offer up burnt-offerings and peace-offerings upon the altar that he had built to Jehovah, and he burned incense upon that which was before Jehovah. So he finished the house.

ASV: And three times a year did Solomon offer burnt-offerings and peace-offerings upon the altar which he built unto Jehovah, burning incense therewith, upon the altar that was before Jehovah. So he finished the house.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

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. 

What does 1 Kings 9:25 Mean?

Verse Meaning

The king offered sacrifices of worship three times annually, probably at the required feasts of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost (also called Harvest or Weeks), and Tabernacles (also called Booths or Ingathering).
"Solomon officiates at the three major festivals because in ancient Israel the king was a religious as well as a political leader. The king was God"s son by adoption ( Psalm 2:7), a priest after the order of Melchizedek ( Psalm 110:4), and his chief responsibilities were to defend the powerless and to maintain justice, righteousness, and peace (e.g, Psalm 72; Isaiah 9:7; Isaiah 11:2-5)." [1]

Context Summary

1 Kings 9:15-28 - Prosperity And Wealth
Solomon was a great builder and employed vast numbers of Canaanites, the old inhabitants of the land, as forced laborers. They performed the drudgery, while the Israelites filled the more honorable and lucrative posts. See Isaiah 60:10. There are Amorites and Perizzites in our lives. Let us not be mastered by them, but compel them to subserve our own growth in grace.
Millo was the key to the fortifications of Jerusalem; Hazor and Megiddo, Baalath and Tadmor guarded the northern frontier. On the extreme south, the navies visited distant realms, and returned laden with gold. Such were Israel's midsummer days. But as, in the latter days of summer, there is the faint odor of decay in the air, and we know that the autumn comes apace, so beneath all this splendor and imperial glory, as we turn to the earlier chapters of Ecclesiastes, we learn that decadence was at its heart.
1 Kings 9:1-28 - Breaking Three Commandments
From a worldly point of view Naboth might have done a good stroke of business by selling his estate to. Ahab. A royal price and assured favor might have been his-but he had a conscience! Above the persuasive tones of the monarch's offer sounded the voice of God: "The land shall not be sold for ever, for the land is mine." See Leviticus 25:23; Numbers 36:7; Ezekiel 46:18.
Ahab knew perfectly well that Jezebel could not give him the property of another except by foul means, but he took pains not to inquire. Though the direct orders for Naboth's death did not come from him, yet, by his silence, he was an accomplice and an accessory; and divine justice penetrates all such specious excuses. God holds us responsible for wrongs which we do not arrest, though we have the power. The crime was blacker because of the pretext of religion, as suggested by a fast. See also 2 Kings 9:26. The blood of murdered innocence cries to God, and his requital, though delayed, is inevitable. See Revelation 6:9-10. [source]

Chapter Summary: 1 Kings 9

1  God's covenant in a vision with Solomon
10  The mutual presents of Solomon and Hiran
15  In Solomon's works the Gentiles were his bondmen, the Israelites servants
24  Pharaoh's daughter removes to her house
25  Solomon's yearly solemn sacrifices
26  His navy fetches gold from Ophir

What do the individual words in 1 Kings 9:25 mean?

And offered Solomon three times a year burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar which he had built for Yahweh and he burned incense [on the altar] with them that [was] before Yahweh So he finished - the temple
וְהֶעֱלָ֣ה שְׁלֹמֹ֡ה שָׁלֹשׁ֩ פְּעָמִ֨ים בַּשָּׁנָ֜ה עֹל֣וֹת וּשְׁלָמִ֗ים עַל־ הַמִּזְבֵּ֙חַ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בָּנָ֣ה לַיהוָ֔ה וְהַקְטֵ֣יר אִתּ֔וֹ אֲשֶׁ֖ר לִפְנֵ֣י יְהוָ֑ה וְשִׁלַּ֖ם אֶת־ הַבָּֽיִת

וְהֶעֱלָ֣ה  And  offered 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Conjunctive perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: סָלַק 
Sense: to go up, ascend, climb.
שְׁלֹמֹ֡ה  Solomon 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: שְׁלֹמֹה  
Sense: son of David by Bathsheba and 3rd king of Israel; author of Proverbs and Song of Songs.
שָׁלֹשׁ֩  three 
Parse: Number, feminine singular
Root: מִשְׁלֹשׁ 
Sense: three, triad.
פְּעָמִ֨ים  times 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural
Root: פַּעַם  
Sense: stroke, beat, foot, step, anvil, occurrence.
בַּשָּׁנָ֜ה  a  year 
Parse: Preposition-b, Article, Noun, feminine singular
Root: שָׁנָה  
Sense: year.
עֹל֣וֹת  burnt  offerings 
Parse: Noun, feminine plural
Root: עֹלָה  
Sense: whole burnt offering.
וּשְׁלָמִ֗ים  and  peace  offerings 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Noun, masculine plural
Root: שֶׁלֶם  
Sense: peace offering, requital, sacrifice for alliance or friendship.
הַמִּזְבֵּ֙חַ֙  the  altar 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: מִזְבֵּחַ  
Sense: altar.
בָּנָ֣ה  he  had  built 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: בָּנָה  
Sense: to build, rebuild, establish, cause to continue.
לַיהוָ֔ה  for  Yahweh 
Parse: Preposition-l, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
וְהַקְטֵ֣יר  and  he  burned  incense  [on  the  altar] 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Hifil, Infinitive absolute
Root: מֻקְטָר 
Sense: .
אִתּ֔וֹ  with  them 
Parse: Preposition, third person masculine singular
Root: אֵת 
Sense: with, near, together with.
אֲשֶׁ֖ר  that  [was] 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
לִפְנֵ֣י  before 
Parse: Preposition-l, Noun, common plural construct
Root: לִפְנֵי 
Sense: face.
יְהוָ֑ה  Yahweh 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יהוה 
Sense: the proper name of the one true God.
וְשִׁלַּ֖ם  So  he  finished 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Verb, Piel, Conjunctive perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: שָׁלֵם  
Sense: .
אֶת־  - 
Parse: Direct object marker
Root: אֹות 
Sense: sign of the definite direct object, not translated in English but generally preceding and indicating the accusative.
הַבָּֽיִת  the  temple 
Parse: Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: בַּיִת 
Sense: house.