Bible Strands
1 Kings 15:14
The high places were not removed, but Asa’s heart was fully devoted to the LORD all his days.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrative reports on King Asa’s reign, positioned immediately after his destruction of his grandmother Maacah’s Asherah pole and before his temple dedications. It functions as a historical assessment of his spiritual standing during his rule.
The words — רַק (rak) = only; לְבַב אָסָא (le.vav 'a.Sa) = Asa’s heart; שָלֵם (sha.Lem) = complete/perfect. The Hebrew syntax uses רַק to restrict the preceding negative, while לְבַב אָסָא שָלֵם literally reads "Asa’s heart complete," denoting undivided loyalty.
The thread — This phrase for undivided devotion appears in 1 Kings 15:3 to contrast Asa with his father Abijam, whose heart was not fully devoted, and in 1 Kings 8:61 as a command to walk in God’s statutes. 1 Kings 22:43 records Jehoshaphat continuing Asa’s reign by doing what was right.
Why it lands — The text states that religious infrastructure remained incomplete while personal allegiance stayed consistent. It requires the reader to separate institutional reform from personal fidelity without harmonizing the two into a single moral metric.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
But the high places were not removed: nevertheless Asa’s heart was perfect with the Lord all his days.
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 22:43 And Jehoshaphat walked in all the ways of his father Asa; he did not turn away from them, but did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. The high places, however, were not removed; the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
- 1 Kings 8:61 So let your heart be fully devoted to the LORD our God, as it is this day, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments.”
- 1 Kings 15:3 And Abijam walked in all the sins that his father before him had committed, and his heart was not as fully devoted to the LORD his God as the heart of David his forefather had been.
- 2 Kings 12:3 Nevertheless, the high places were not removed; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense there.
- 2 Kings 14:4 Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away, and the people continued sacrificing and burning incense on the high places.
- 2 Chronicles 14:3 He removed the foreign altars and high places, shattered the sacred pillars, and chopped down the Asherah poles.
- 2 Chronicles 14:5 He also removed the high places and incense altars from all the cities of Judah, and under him the kingdom was at peace.
- 2 Chronicles 15:17 The high places were not removed from Israel, but Asa’s heart was fully devoted all his days.
- 1 Kings 11:4 For when Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the LORD his God, as his father David had been.
- 2 Kings 15:4 Nevertheless, the high places were not taken away; the people continued sacrificing and burning incense there.