1 Kings 12:33

33 He went up to the altar which he had set up in Beit-El on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had chosen on his own, and instituted a festival for the people of Isra'el; he went up to the altar to burn incense.

1 Kings 12:33 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 12:33

So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the
fifteenth day of the eighth month
As he had done in Dan:

even in the month which he had devised of his own heart;
the feast of tabernacles was of God's appointing, but the time of keeping he had devised himself, changing it from the seventh month, or Tisri, which answers to our September and October, to the eighth month, or Marchesvan, which answers to part of October and part of November:

and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel;
to be observed by them as the feast of tabernacles was by the priests of Judah and Benjamin:

and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense;
which none but the priests should do; perhaps the reason why the same resentment was not shown as to Uzziah was, because this was not at the altar of the Lord: whether he burnt incense after the manner of the Jewish priests, or as the priests of Egypt did to the sun, where he had been for some time, is not certain; the former burnt incense only twice a day, morning and evening, the latter three times; at sunrising they burnt rosin, about noon myrrh, and about sun setting "kuphi", which was a compound of sixteen sorts ^F23.

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FOOTNOTES:

F23 Plutarch de lside & Osiride.

1 Kings 12:33 In-Context

31 He also set up temples on the high places and made cohanim from among all the people, even though they were not descended from Levi.

32 Yarov'am instituted a festival in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, similar to the festival held in Y'hudah; he went up to the altar in Beit-El to sacrifice to the calves he had made; and he placed in Beit-El the cohanim he had appointed for the high places.

33 He went up to the altar which he had set up in Beit-El on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month which he had chosen on his own, and instituted a festival for the people of Isra'el; he went up to the altar to burn incense.