What Does 1 Kings 9:25 Mean?
And three times in a year Solomon brought up rising offerings and offerings of wholeness upon the altar which he built to the LORD, and he made smoke rise upon the altar that was before the face of the LORD. So he made the house whole.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
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.THE KEY
Solomon’s name and the “peace offerings” share the root of wholeness, so the king’s name echoes through the altar’s recurring offering.
THE MEANING
The verse holds completion beside return: the finished house does not end the rhythm of offering. The peace offerings carry the root-language of wholeness, and the burnt offerings carry the image of ascent.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A completed sacred work ends the need for ongoing devotion.
THE ROOT
שְׁלָמִים
shelamim
GROWS FROM
שלם
sh-l-m
Be whole, complete, or sound; bring something to wholeness.
“offerings of wholeness” in this verse is shelamim. שְׁלָמִים (shelamim) grows from the same root as שָׁלוֹם (shalom, wholeness), and Solomon’s Hebrew name שְׁלֹמֹה (Shelomoh) carries that root too. The king’s name and the recurring offering echo the same language of wholeness.
ALSO GROWS
shalom: Wholeness, well-being
שָׁלוֹם
It reveals the wholeness beneath the offering’s English name, “peace offerings.”
shalem: Whole, complete
שָׁלֵם
It brings the root’s sense of completeness alongside the verse’s finished house.
Shelomoh: Solomon; a name carrying the root of wholeness
שְׁלֹמֹה
The king’s name shares its root with the offerings he presents.
עֹלוֹת
olot
GROWS FROM
עלה
ʿ-l-h
Go up, ascend, rise.
“rising offerings” in this verse is olot. The verb הֶעֱלָה (heʿelah, raised up) and the noun עֹלוֹת (olot, ascensions) both come from עלה (ʿ-l-h, ascend). Hebrew makes the upward movement audible in both the act of offering and the offering itself.
ALSO GROWS
ʿalah: To go up, ascend
עָלָה
This is the root behind both the offering verb and the burnt-offering noun.
aliyah: Ascent, going up
עֲלִיָּה
It keeps the upward motion of the offering visible beneath the English wording.
THE PATTERN
Offering before God takes recurring forms, from appointed times to praise offered continually.
Three times in a year all your males shall be seen before the face of the LORD your God in the place he will choose, at the feast of unsoured bread, at the feast of weeks, and at the feast of booths. They shall not be seen before the face of the LORD empty.And this is the instruction of the slaughter of the wholeness offerings, which shall be brought near to the LORD.Through him, then, let us always carry up a sacrifice of praise to God, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to his name.THE THREAD
Turn aside from evil and do good; seek wholeness and pursue it.The Hebrew שָׁלוֹם (shalom, wholeness) shares the root שלם (sh-l-m) with שְׁלָמִים (shelamim, the peace offerings) in this verse. The same root names both what is brought to the altar and the wholeness Psalm 34 says to seek and pursue.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us