יחזקאל, פרק כ׳, פסוק כ״ט

God directs a sharp rebuke against the Israelites for their ongoing attraction to unauthorized, foreign places of worship. This reprimand highlights the stark contrast between the single, designated location God established for His service and the pagan customs the people eagerly adopted. God protests their visits to these sites, questioning the true nature and value of these elevated altars [מצודת דוד, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. The very concept of a high place denotes physical elevation. Constructing towering altars or placing them on mountain peaks is a practice learned directly from foreign nations, standing in direct opposition to the divine command to build a simple altar out of earth [רד״ק].

The true worth of an altar is not determined by the crowds of people who gather around it, but by the divine fire that descends upon it from heaven [מצודת דוד]. Therefore, God’s questioning carries a tone of mockery and disdain. He asks what value these structures actually hold, employing a play on words to ask why the people even bother coming to a place that is entirely empty and devoid of substance [רש״י, ביאור שטיינזלץ]. By addressing those who actively travel to these sites, God emphasizes the profound gap between idol worshipers who flock to the high places and the faithful who carefully restrict their worship to the specific location dedicated to God [רד״ק]. The description of the people arriving at these altars carries deeper, negative undertones. It hints at foolishness and nonsense, or it may evoke the burning and flickering of the illicit sacrifices offered there. It can even be understood as a derogatory title for the group itself, much like labeling a group of people as sinners or thieves [מלבי״ם].

Despite this divine protest, the people did not abandon their ways. The term for these high places became permanently rooted in their everyday language and was never erased [מצודת דוד]. Out of sheer linguistic habit, the word eventually became the standard term even for altars that were genuinely erected for God. This was a completely new phenomenon; such language did not exist in the Torah or during the eras of Joshua and the Judges. This usage only began after the destruction of the Tabernacle in Shiloh during the time of Samuel. It persisted throughout the reigns of Solomon and the subsequent kings, deeply embedding itself in the culture until the high places were finally dismantled during the days of Hezekiah [רד״ק, מלבי״ם].