high places
Preserved but no longer current.
In the Authorized Version of the Scriptures this is a literal translation of the Hebrew bamah, but actually the word was applied to a tribal or village place of worship because such were usually on hilltops or rises in the ground. Such sites usually had a stele, the seat of the local god, and a wooden pole, itself an object of worship and often trans- lated in the Old Testament as a "grove.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “high places” mean?
In the Authorized Version of the Scriptures this is a literal translation of the Hebrew bamah, but actually the word was applied to a tribal or village place of worship because such were usually on hilltops or rises in the ground. Such sites usually had a stele, the seat of the local god, and a wooden pole, itself an object of worship and often trans- lated in the Old Testament as a "grove.
Is “high places” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.