1 Kings 12:28
in 1 Kings 12After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
KJV
Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
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This verse in 1 Kings 12
Commentary
11 notes on this verseWhile he prepared to establish the reign which was reserved to him by God according to the predictions of the prophets Shemaiah and Ahijah, Jeroboam thought that nothing could be more useful for his purpose than kindling the hatred of the two opposite parties to …
This site's exposition
the king made two golden calves
on 1 Kings 12:28-30
Jeroboam's words, “Here, O Israel, are your gods”, repeat the cry over Aaron's calf at Exodus 32:4 almost word for word. Now a king speaks them over two calves. One goes to Bethel, and one to Dan in the north, and the text says “this thing became a sin”.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
For all that, King Jeroboam of Israel, who had proof that God was true, when he got the kingdom God had promised, was so warped in mind as not to believe in him. Actually, he feared that if he came to God's temple in Jerusalem (as all Jews without exception were bound by divine ordinance to do for the offering of sacrifices), his subjects might be alienated from his allegiance and reattached to David's blood successors as the royal dynasty. With this in mind, he established idolatry in his own kingdom and, with shocking impiety, tricked God's people into joining him in the worship of idols. Even so, God did not entirely give up sending prophets to reprimand the king, and his successors who continued his idolatry and the people themselves. For it was in Israel that there appeared Elijah and his disciple, Elisha, both magnificent prophets and wonder workers as well.
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
And that God would dispense with them also in that matter; because going to Jerusalem was dangerous to them at this time; and God would have mercy, rather than sacrifice.
(1.) He would not be at the charge of building a golden temple, as Solomon had done; two golden calves are the most that he can afford. (2.) He intended, no doubt, by these to represent, or rather make present, not any false god, as Moloch or Chemosh, but the true God only, the God of Israel, the God that brought them up out of the land of Egypt, as he declares,
He set up these two at Dan and Beth-el (one the utmost border of his country northward), the other southward, as if they were the guardians and protectors of the kingdom. Beth-el lay close to Judah. He set up one there, to tempt those of Rehoboam's subjects over to him who were inclined to image-worship, in lieu of those of his subjects that would continue to go to Jerusalem.
Whereupon the king took counsel,....
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Sin is a bad way of building up a family. Rehoboam was the son of the wisest of men, yet did not inherit his father's wisdom, and then it stood him in little stead to inherit his father's throne. Neither wisdom nor grace runs in the blood.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Made two calves of gold - He invented a political religion, instituted feasts in his own times different from those appointed by the Lord, gave the people certain objects of devotion, and pretended to think it would be both inconvenient and oppressive to them to have to go up to Jerusalem to worship. This was not the last time that religion was made a state engine to serve political purposes.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
The latter place was the most frequented--for the words (1Ki 12:30) should be rendered, "the people even to Dan went to worship before the one" (Jer 48:13; The innovation was a sin because it was setting up the worship of God by symbols and images and departing from the place where He had chosen to put His name.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The “calves of gold” were probably representations of the cherubic form, imitations of the two cherubim which guarded the ark of the covenant in the holy of holies. But being unauthorized copies, set up in places which God had not chosen, and without any divine sanction, the sacred writers call them “calves.” They were not mere human figures with wings, but had at any rate the head of a calf or ox. (Hence, some attribute this calf-worship entirely to Assyrian and Phoenician influence.) Jeroboam, in setting them up, was probably not so much influenced by the Apis-worship of Egypt, as: (1) by a conviction that the Israelites could not be brought to attach themselves to any worship which did not present them with sensible objects to venerate; (2) by the circumstance that he did not possess any of the old objects of reverence, which had been concentrated at Jerusalem; and (3) by the fact that he could plead for his “calves” the authority of so great a name as Aaron (marginal reference).
The words behind it
19 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּוָּעַ֣ץ | vaiyivaatz | and he took counsel | H3289 → | 79 times |
| הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ | hamelekh | the king | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| וַיַּ֕עַשׂ | vaiyaas | and he made | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| שְׁנֵ֖י | shenei | two | H8147 → | 768 times |
| עֶגְלֵ֣י | ʾeglei | calves of | H5695 → | |
| זָהָ֑ב | zahav | gold | H2091 → | 389 times |
| וַיֹּ֣אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵהֶ֗ם | ʾalehem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| רַב־ | rav- | [too] much | H7227 → | 454 times |
| לָכֶם֙ | lakhem | for you | ||
| מֵעֲל֣וֹת | mealot | for going up | H5927 → | 890 times |
| יְרוּשָׁלִַ֔ם | yerushalim | Jerusalem | H3389 → | 643 times |
| הִנֵּ֤ה | hineh | here! | H2009 → | 843 times |
| אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ | ʾeloheikha | gods your | H430 → | 2601 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | O Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הֶעֱל֖וּךָ | heelukha | they brought up you | H5927 → | 890 times |
| מֵאֶ֥רֶץ | meeretz | from [the] land of | H776 → | 2504 times |
| מִצְרָֽיִם׃ | mitzrayim | Egypt | H4714 → | 641 times |
וַיִּוָּעַ֣ץand he took counsel
vaiyivaatzH3289 →79 times
הַמֶּ֔לֶךְthe king
hamelekhH4428 →2525 times
וַיַּ֕עַשׂand he made
vaiyaasH6213 →2628 times
שְׁנֵ֖יtwo
sheneiH8147 →768 times
עֶגְלֵ֣יcalves of
ʾegleiH5695 →
זָהָ֑בgold
zahavH2091 →389 times
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵהֶ֗םto them
ʾalehemH413 →5510 times
רַב־[too] much
rav-H7227 →454 times
לָכֶם֙for you
lakhem
מֵעֲל֣וֹתfor going up
mealotH5927 →890 times
יְרוּשָׁלִַ֔םJerusalem
yerushalimH3389 →643 times
הִנֵּ֤הhere!
hinehH2009 →843 times
אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙gods your
ʾeloheikhaH430 →2601 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לO Israel
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
אֲשֶׁ֥רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
הֶעֱל֖וּךָthey brought up you
heelukhaH5927 →890 times
מֵאֶ֥רֶץfrom [the] land of
meeretzH776 →2504 times
מִצְרָֽיִם׃Egypt
mitzrayimH4714 →641 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 32:4He took the gold from their hands, and with an engraving tool he fashioned it into a molten calf. And they said, “These, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out of…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 9:16
And I saw how you had sinned against the LORD your God; you had made for yourselves a molten calf. You had turned aside quickly from the way that the LORD had commanded you.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Nehemiah 9:18
Even when they cast for themselves an image of a calf and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and when they committed terrible blasphemies,
- Acts 7:41
At that time they made a calf and offered a sacrifice to the idol, rejoicing in the works of their hands.
- Exodus 32:8
How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it. They have sacrificed to it and said,…
- Deuteronomy 9:16
Through
2 Kings 10:29but he did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam son of Nebat had caused Israel to commit—the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 12:28–30
After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out…
- 1 Kings 12:28–30
Through
2 Kings 17:16They abandoned all the commandments of the LORD their God and made for themselves two cast idols of calves and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the host of heaven and served…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 16:31
And as if it were not enough for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he even married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and he then…
- 1 Kings 14:15
For the LORD will strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that He gave their fathers, and He will scatter them beyond the…
- 1 Kings 16:31
Through
Exodus 32:8How quickly they have turned aside from the way that I commanded them! They have made for themselves a molten calf and have bowed down to it. They have sacrificed to it and said,…
it leads to
- Exodus 20:23
You are not to make any gods alongside Me; you are not to make for yourselves gods of silver or gold.
- Exodus 20:23
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Kings
Who and where
2 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PlaceThe NileEgyptThe land where Joseph rose, where Israel grew into a nation in bondage, where the Passover lamb was slain and the sea opened, and…
- PlaceJerusalemJerusalemThe city David took from the Jebusites and made his capital, where Solomon built the temple, where Christ was crucified and rose,…
This page draws on 9 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, City of God 17.22; Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 12:18; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.