High Place
What Was a High Place?
The Hebrew word bamah (plural bamot), translated "high place," originally meant simply "elevation" or "height" (Jeremiah 26:18; Ezekiel 36:2). In its religious context, it referred to an open-air worship site, typically situated on a hilltop or elevated terrain. The practice of worshiping on heights was nearly universal in the ancient world, reflecting a primitive instinct that elevated locations brought worshipers closer to the divine.
Over time, the term "high place" shifted from describing the physical elevation to the worship installation itself. This explains why high places could also be found in valleys, cities, and other locations that were not physically elevated (2 Kings 17:9; 2 Chronicles 21:11; Ezekiel 16:16). The name had become a technical term for a type of shrine, regardless of its actual altitude.
The Features of a High Place
Archaeological excavations, particularly at Petra and Gezer, combined with biblical descriptions, allow us to reconstruct these worship sites with reasonable confidence. The most essential features were upright stone pillars (massebot), which served as the focal point of worship. These standing stones were believed to be the dwelling place of the deity, and multiple pillars could stand at a single site (1 Kings 14:23; 2 Kings 18:4).
Alongside the pillars stood wooden poles or living trees called asherim, associated with the Canaanite goddess Asherah (Deuteronomy 16:21; 1 Kings 14:23). Altars for burnt offerings and incense were present, sometimes carved from the natural rock outcropping. Many sites included sacred groves, ritual basins, and areas for communal meals connected with sacrifice.
The prophets and historical books also mention cult prostitution (both male and female) associated with some high places (1 Kings 14:24; 2 Kings 23:7), along with divination, child sacrifice, and other practices that the Law explicitly condemned (Deuteronomy 18:10-12; 2 Kings 16:3-4).
High Places and Yahweh Worship
The relationship between high places and Yahweh worship is complex. Before the construction of Solomon's Temple, legitimate worship of God occurred at elevated sites. Samuel offered sacrifice at a high place (1 Samuel 9:12-14, 19, 25), and Solomon himself worshiped at the great high place of Gibeon, where the tabernacle stood (1 Kings 3:4; 2 Chronicles 1:3). God appeared to Solomon there and gave him the gift of wisdom.
However, even during this period, the danger of syncretism was real. The Canaanite high places that Israel was commanded to destroy (Numbers 33:52; Deuteronomy 12:2-3) were easily adapted for use in Yahweh worship, blurring the line between true and false religion. After the Temple was built, the continued use of high places represented a refusal to centralize worship as God commanded (Deuteronomy 12:5-7), and the sites increasingly incorporated pagan elements.
The High Places in Israel's History
The history of high places in Israel is essentially a chronicle of spiritual compromise. After the division of the kingdom, Jeroboam I established rival worship centers at Dan and Bethel with golden calves and appointed non-Levitical priests "for the high places" (1 Kings 12:31-32). In the southern kingdom of Judah, Rehoboam's people "built for themselves high places and pillars and Asherim on every high hill and under every green tree" (1 Kings 14:23).
The evaluation of nearly every king of Judah includes a note about high places. The refrain "the high places were not taken away" becomes a recurring lament (1 Kings 15:14; 22:43; 2 Kings 12:3; 14:4; 15:4, 35). Even kings described as doing "what was right in the eyes of the Lord" — like Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joash, and Uzziah — are faulted for failing to remove them.
Reform and Destruction
Two kings stand out for their efforts to eliminate high places. Hezekiah conducted a sweeping reform, removing the high places, breaking the pillars, cutting down the Asherim, and even destroying the bronze serpent Moses had made, because the people had been burning incense to it (2 Kings 18:4). His reform was connected to a renewed commitment to the centralized worship prescribed in the Law.
Josiah carried out the most thorough destruction of high places in Israel's history. He defiled and demolished the high place at Bethel (fulfilling a prophecy from 1 Kings 13:2), slaughtered the priests of the high places, and removed every form of idolatrous worship from Judah and the former territory of Israel (2 Kings 23:4-20). Yet these reforms did not outlast the reformers. Josiah's sons returned to the old ways, and within a generation Jerusalem itself was destroyed by Babylon.
The Prophetic Condemnation
The prophets consistently condemned the high places as sites of spiritual adultery. Hosea declared, "On the tops of the mountains they sacrifice, and on the hills they make offerings, under oak, poplar, and terebinth, because their shade is good" (Hosea 4:13). Jeremiah warned that the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Hinnom, where children were burned, would become a place of judgment (Jeremiah 7:31-32; 19:5-6). Ezekiel pronounced God's fury against the high places, promising to scatter bones around the altars and lay the cities waste (Ezekiel 6:3-6).
The destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC and the exile to Babylon finally accomplished what centuries of prophetic warning and royal reform could not: the elimination of high place worship from Israelite religion. The post-exilic community, having learned the bitter lesson of idolatry, never returned to the high places.
Biblical Context
High places are mentioned extensively from the period of the judges through the exile. Key passages include Israel's command to destroy Canaanite high places (Numbers 33:52; Deuteronomy 12:2-3), Samuel's worship at a high place (1 Samuel 9:12-14), Solomon at Gibeon (1 Kings 3:4), Jeroboam's establishment of rival shrines (1 Kings 12:31-32), the recurring evaluation of Judean kings (1 Kings 14:23; 15:14; 2 Kings 12:3), Hezekiah's reform (2 Kings 18:4), Josiah's reform (2 Kings 23:4-20), and prophetic condemnation (Hosea 4:13; Jeremiah 7:31; Ezekiel 6:3-6).
Theological Significance
High places represent the persistent human temptation to worship God on human terms rather than His. They illustrate how easily legitimate worship can be corrupted by syncretism — mixing true faith with surrounding cultural practices. The Bible's treatment of high places teaches that God cares not only that He is worshiped but how He is worshiped. The failure of most kings to remove high places demonstrates that partial obedience is insufficient, and the prophetic condemnation reveals that God views spiritual compromise as a form of adultery against His covenant.
Historical Background
Archaeological excavations across the Levant have uncovered numerous open-air worship installations consistent with biblical descriptions of high places. The high place at Gezer featured a row of ten standing stones dating to the Middle Bronze Age. At Megiddo, circular stone altars were found in elevated positions. The Nabataean high place at Petra, with its carved rock altar and drainage channels for sacrificial blood, provides one of the best-preserved examples. Canaanite religion, as known from the Ugaritic texts discovered at Ras Shamra, centered on the worship of Baal and Asherah at such elevated sites.