1 Kings 15:14

But the high places [evidently such as are referred to in 1 Kings 3:1-28 , i.e; un authorized shrines of Jehovah; cf. 2 Kings 14:4 ] were not taken away [lit; departed not . Yet we read in 2 Chronicles 45:3, that Asa "took away the high places (cf. verse 5). But it is clear, even from 2 Chronicles 15:17 , that all of them were not re moved, and the discrepancy arises from the well-known Eastern idiom of putting the whole for the part, of which we have in stances in Genesis 7:19 ; Exodus 9:25 , etc. Cf. Exodus 9:32 ; 2 Kings 9:35 , and see below. Asa probably aimed at removing all, and he may have removed all out of the cities ( 2 Chronicles 14:5 ), but some remained in the country districts or in remote places. Or he may have swept them away for a short time, and they may have been stealthily and gradually reintroduced. It may be interesting to remark here that down to the present day the cultus of the high places exists—under a modified form, it is true—in Palestine. Every traveller will remember the Mukama which crown almost every hill. The religion of the Fellahin, though nominally Mohammedan, is really, like that of China, a worship of the dead. "In almost every village of the country a small building, surmounted by a whitewashed dome, is observable, being the sacred chapel of the place; it is variously called Kubbeh, "dome," Mazor, "shrine," or Mukam, "station," the latter being a Hebrew word, used in the Bible for the places of the Canaanites ( Deuteronomy 2:2 )… Just as in the time of Moses, so now the position chosen for the Mukam is generally conspicuous This Mukam represents the real religion of the peasant"]: nevertheless Asa's heart was perfect with the Lord all his days. [We have here a notable instance of the Oriental exaggeration just referred to. For the very same expression is used by the chronicler ( 2 Chronicles 15:17 ), who in the next chapter (2 Chronic;es 2 Kings 16:7-12 ) tells us of Asa's unfaithfulness in his old age.]