And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
He made an house of high places, х beeyt (H1004) baamowt (H1116)] - a chapel, or fane of heights; i:e., on a bill (cf. 1 Kings 13:32; 2 Kings 17:29), for worshipping Yahweh, including the appointment of priests to officiate in the celebration of the rites which were performed in these sanctuaries. Some of these, if not all of them, were tents or tabernacles, decorated wyth embroidered curtains (2 Kings 23:7).
Made priests of the lowest of the people, х kohªniym (H3548) miqtsowt (H7098) haa`aam (H7971)] - from the extremities of the people; i:e., out of all the people, the Levites refusing to act (cf, Nun. 22:41 with Jeremiah 51:31). Jeroboam assumed to himself the functions of the high priest, at least at the great festival, probably from seeing the king of Egypt conjoin the royal and sacred offices, and deeming the offices of the high priest too great to be vested in a subject. This was the gravamen of his offence, which consisted, not like Ahab's at a later period, in changing the object of worship, but in altering the circumstantials. These two acts of Jeroboam-the establishment of a place of worship separate from the place which God had chosen (in Jerusalem) to put His name there, and his appointment of priests who were not Levites-were a violation of the express command of God, (see the notes at Deuteronomy 12:1-32.)
In short, Jeroboam, instead of putting, like David, implicit confidence in the divine promise, which guaranteed him the possession of his throne (1 Kings 11:38) on condition of his ruling as a theocratic king, endeavoured to strengthen his position by measures of worldly policy. Without either impugning the authority or discrediting the rites of the established worship (for he acknowledged the divine origin and obligation of the law, 1 Kings 12:28; 1 Kings 12:32), he deviated from its prescription as to the place of worship, as well as the persons who performed it (for he expelled the priests and Levites: see the notes at 2 Chronicles 11:14), regarding these as matters of minor importance, and admitting of being modified, for the sake of convenience, in the altered circumstances of the kingdom. Josephus ('Antiquities,' b. 8:, ch. 8:, sec. 4) represents him as recommending the proposed innovations to the assembled representatives of Israel in an artful speech to the following effect: 'I suppose, my countrymen, you know this, that every place has God in it; nor is there any one determined plane in which He is, but He everywhere hears and sees those that worship: on which account I do not think it for you to go so long a journey to Jerusalem, which is an enemy's city, to worship Him. It was a man that built the temple. I have made two golden heifers dedicated to the same God-the one of them I have consecrated in the city Beth-el, and the other in Dan, to the end that those of you who dwell nearest those cities may go to them and worship there; and I will ordain for you certain priests and Levites from among yourselves, that you may have no want of the tribe of Levi, nor of the sons of Aaron; but let him among you that is desirous of being a priest bring to God a bullock and a ram, which, it is said, Aaron, the first priest, brought also.' By this coup d'etat he changed the form, the season, and other circumstances of the national worship.