1 Kings 3:4

“And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, etc.] About four or five miles from Jerusalem; (see Gill on “<110228>1 Kings 2:28”); for that [was] the great high place; not that the place itself might be higher than others that were used; but here were the tabernacle of Moses, and the altar; so that it was a more dignified place, and more sacred because of them: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar; the brazen altar of burnt offerings there; not at one time, but on several days successively; though Jarchi says on one day; and which was a prodigious number, never was known the like, unless at the dedication of the temple, (<110863>1 Kings 8:63,64).”

“the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there--The old tabernacle and the brazen altar which Moses had made in the wilderness were there (Ch1 16:39; Ch1 21:29; Ch2 1:3-6). The royal progress was of public importance. It was a season of national devotion. The king was accompanied by his principal nobility (Ch2 1:2); and, as the occasion was most probably one of the great annual festivals which lasted seven days, the rank of the offerer and the succession of daily oblations may help in part to account for the immense magnitude of the sacrifices.”

“Gibeon - The transfer to Gibeon of the “tabernacle of the congregation,” and the brass “altar of burnt offerings” made by Moses, which were removed there from Nob (compare 1 Samuel 21:6, with marginal references “i,” “k”), had made it “the great high-place,” more sacred, i. e., than any other in the holy land, unless it were Mount Zion where the ark had been conveyed by David. For the position of Gibeon, see Joshua 9:3 note. A thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer - Solomon presented the victims. The priests were the actual sacrificers 1 Kings 8:5. A sacrifice of a thousand victims was an act of royal magnificence suited to the greatness of Solomon. So Xerxes offered 1,000 oxen at Troy.…”

“3:4-15 God’s gift of wisdom to Solomon is narrated as a chiasm (a symmetrical arrangement in which sections A and B are mirrored by sections B’ and A’), drawing the focus in on Solomon’s transaction with the Lord: A: While he sacrificed at Gibeon . . . the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream (3:4-5). B: Solomon prayed for wisdom to govern his people equitably and efficiently (3:6-9). B’: The Lord favorably answered his request and granted additional blessings (3:10-14). A’: Solomon awoke from the dream and offered additional sacrifices to the Lord (3:15). 3:4 The city of Gibeon lay six miles northwest of Jerusalem. Its altar, the most important of these [local] places of worship (literally…”

“Gibeon: Kg1 9:2; Jos 9:3, Jos 10:2; Ch1 16:39, Ch1 21:29; Ch2 1:3, Ch2 1:7-12 a thousand: Kg1 8:63; Ch2 1:6, Ch2 7:5, Ch2 29:32-35, Ch2 30:24; Isa 40:16; Mic 6:6, Mic 6:7 3 Kings (1 Kings) 3:5”

“Solomon's Sacrifice and Dream at Gibeon (cf. Ch2 1:1-13). \- To implore the divine blessing upon his reign, Solomon offered to the Lord at Gibeon a great sacrifice - a thousand burnt-offerings; and, according to Ch2 1:2, the representatives of the whole nation took part in this sacrificial festival. At that time the great or principal bamah was at Gibeon (the present el Jib; see at Jos 9:3), namely, the Mosaic tabernacle ( Ch2 1:3), which is called הבּמה, because the ark of the covenant, with which Jehovah had bound up His gracious presence, was not there now. "Upon that altar," i.e., upon the altar of the great bamah at Gibeon, the brazen altar of burnt-offering in the tabernacle ( Ch2…”