1 Kings 12:30
in 1 Kings 12And this thing became a sin; the people walked as far as Dan to worship before one of the calves.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And this thing became a sin; for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.
KJV
And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.
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This verse in 1 Kings 12
Commentary
10 notes on this verseNow let us talk also about the second kind of scandal, which, we said, arises from human cleverness.… Jeroboam raised up a scandal. He set up as gods for the people, golden calves—pitiful images—to keep them from seeking the living God, the true temple, God's …
This site's exposition
made two calves of gold
on 1 Kings 12:28-30
Jeroboam's proclamation repeats Aaron's sentence at Ex 32:4 almost to the word, behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, only now a king speaks it and two calves stand where Aaron's one stood. One calf goes to Bethel, the house of God where Jacob had met the Lord, and one to Dan at the northern edge, so that neither end of the kingdom is left without a shrine of its own. The narrator's verdict is short and final: this thing became a sin, and the people traveled as far as Dan to keep it.
This site's exposition
And this thing became a sin
Albert Barnes reads the calves as a snare for the people. John Wesley traces where it led, to the worship of Baal and a full turning from God. Hosea 8:5 later declares that God has rejected the calf of Samaria.
The record, by era
The Medieval Church1 voice
"The people went before the other [god] as far as Dan." In order to worship the calf, the crowd walks in procession before it. Dan is the city that is now called Panias. When Israel took possession of the promised land, the children of Dan …
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
A sin - That is, an occasion of great wickedness, not only of idolatry, which is called sin by way of eminency; nor only of the worship of the calves, wherein they pretended to worship the true God; but also of the worship of Baal, and of the utter desertion of the true God; and of all sorts of impiety.
19 ), and it is likely removed the golden calf, or forbade the use of it, and then they had only that at Dan to go to. This became a sin; and a great sin it was, against the express letter of the second commandment. God had sometimes dispensed with the law concerning worshipping in one place, but never allowed the worship of him by images.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
And this thing became a sin,.... The cause and occasion of the sin of idolatry; it led them by degrees to leave off the worship of God, and to worship these calves as gods: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan; which was the furthest off, such was their great zeal for idolatrous worship; or they went thither before that at Bethel was set up; and even they at Bethel would go as far as Dan to worship, such was their veneration for both the calves.
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.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
This thing became a sin - i. e., this act of Jeroboam’s became an occasion of sin to the people. The author perhaps wrote the following words thus: “The people went to worship before the one to Bethel and before the other to Dan.”
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
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִ֛י | vayhi | and it became | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| הַדָּבָ֥ר | hadavar | the thing | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| הַזֶּ֖ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| לְחַטָּ֑את | lechatat | <into> sin | H2403 → | 295 times |
| וַיֵּלְכ֥וּ | vaiyelekhu | and they went | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| הָעָ֛ם | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| לִפְנֵ֥י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| הָאֶחָ֖ד | haechad | the one [calf] | H259 → | 971 times |
| עַד־ | ʾad- | to | H5704 → | 1261 times |
| דָּֽן׃ | dan | Dan | H1835 → | 70 times |
וַיְהִ֛יand it became
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
הַדָּבָ֥רthe thing
hadavarH1697 →1440 times
הַזֶּ֖ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
לְחַטָּ֑את<into> sin
lechatatH2403 →295 times
וַיֵּלְכ֥וּand they went
vaiyelekhuH1980 →1546 times
הָעָ֛םthe people
haamH5971 →1873 times
לִפְנֵ֥י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
הָאֶחָ֖דthe one [calf]
haechadH259 →971 times
עַד־to
ʾad-H5704 →1261 times
דָּֽן׃Dan
danH1835 →70 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
2 Kings 10:31Yet Jehu was not careful to follow the instruction of the LORD, the God of Israel, with all his heart. He did not turn away from the sins that Jeroboam had caused Israel to…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 10:29
but 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.
- Proverbs 4:23
Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life.
- Psalms 78:10
They failed to keep God’s covenant and refused to live by His law.
- 2 Kings 10:29
Through
1 Kings 13:34And this was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its extermination and destruction from the face of the earth.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 14:10
Because of all this, behold, I am bringing disaster on the house of Jeroboam: I will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both slave and free, in Israel; I will burn up the house…
- 1 Kings 15:29–30
As soon as Baasha became king, he struck down the entire household of Jeroboam. He did not leave to Jeroboam anyone that breathed, but destroyed them all according to the word that the LORD…
- 2 Kings 17:21
When the LORD had torn Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king, and Jeroboam led Israel away from following the LORD and caused them to commit a…
- 1 Kings 14:10
Through
2 Kings 17:21When the LORD had torn Israel away from the house of David, they made Jeroboam son of Nebat king, and Jeroboam led Israel away from following the LORD and caused them to commit a…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 11:11
Then the LORD said to Solomon, “Because you have done this and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will tear the kingdom away from you and…
- 1 Kings 11:31
and said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself, for this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and I…
- 1 Kings 11:11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 1 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
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); Ishodad of Merv, BOOKS OF SESSIONS 1 KINGS 12:30; 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; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Peter Chrysologus, SERMON 27.