1 Kings 13:33
in 1 Kings 13Even after these events, Jeroboam did not repent of his evil ways, but again he appointed priests for the high places from every class of people. He ordained anyone who desired to be a priest of the high places.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again from among all the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, that there might be priests of the high places.
KJV
After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.
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This verse in 1 Kings 13
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Apostolic ConstitutionsApostolic Constitutions (Book VIII), Section 5, XLVI · Written before 380.
For you know undoubtedly that those that are by us named bishops, and presbyters, and deacons, were made by prayer, and by the laying on of hands; and that by the difference of their names is showed the difference of their employments. For not every one that will is ordained, as the case was in that spurious and counterfeit priesthood of the calves under Jeroboam; [1 Kings 13:33] but he only who is called of God. For if there were no rule or distinction of orders, it would suffice to perform all the offices under one name.
This site's exposition
returned not from his evil way
on 1 Kings 13:33-34
After a withered hand restored, an altar split by sign, and a fellow prophet struck dead for one broken command, Jeroboam returned not from his evil way. He goes on consecrating priests from whoever will take the office, no regard to lineage, and Wesley notes he did not abate so much as a circumstance of the worship the whole chapter has just answered with three separate signs. The chapter's last verse names the wages plainly: this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, marked for its own cutting off.
This site's exposition
Jeroboam did not repent of his evil ways
Jeroboam does not repent of his evil ways. Adam Clarke calls the refusal obstinate after the sign at Bethel and the miracles that confirmed it. Albert Barnes reads anyone who desired to be a priest as a priesthood open to all, whatever their birth or character.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening4 voices
"Thy judgments, Lord, are a great deep." A Prophet Sent to Jeroboam; the Withering of Jeroboam's Hand. 1 And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the L ORD unto Beth-el: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:81%@v1-6
): He returned not from his evil way; some hand was found that durst repair the altar God had rent, and then Jeroboam offered sacrifice on it again, and the more boldly because the prophet who disturbed him before was in his grave ( Rev. xi. 10 ) and because the prophecy was for a great while to come.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
After this - That is, after all these things: the singular number put for the plural; after so many, and evident, and successive miracles. Made again - He abated not so much as a circumstance in his idolatrous worship.
After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Whosoever would, he consecrated him - i. e., he exercised no discretion, but allowed anyone to become a priest, without regard to birth, character, or social position. We may suspect from this that the office was not greatly sought, since no civil governor who cared to set up a priesthood would wish to degrade it in public estimation. Jeroboam did impose one limitation, which would have excluded the very poorest class. The candidate for consecration was obliged to make an offering consisting of one young bullock and seven rams 2Ch 13:9.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Jeroboam returned not from his evil way - There is something exceedingly obstinate and perverse, as well as blinding and infatuating, in idolatry. The prediction lately delivered at Beth-el, and the miracles wrought in confirmation of it, were surely sufficient to have affected and alarmed any heart, not wholly and incorrigibly hardened; and yet they had no effect on Jeroboam! Made - the lowest of the people priests - So hardy was this bad man in his idolatry that he did not even attempt to form any thing according to the model of God’s true worship: he would have nothing like God and truth. In his calves, or rather oxen, he copied the manner of Egypt; and in the formation of his priesthood, he seems to have gone aside from all models. Amongst the worst of heathens, the priesthood was filled with respectable men; but Jeroboam took of the lowest of the people, and put them in that office. Whosoever would, he consecrated him - He made no discrimination: any vagabond that offered was accepted even of those who had no character, who were too idle to work, and too stupid to learn.
The words behind it
21 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אַחַר֙ | ʾachar | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| הַדָּבָ֣ר | hadavar | the matter | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| הַזֶּ֔ה | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| שָׁ֥ב | shav | he turned back | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| יָרָבְעָ֖ם | yaraveam | Jeroboam | H3379 → | 104 times |
| מִדַּרְכּ֣וֹ | midarko | from way his | H1870 → | 707 times |
| הָרָעָ֑ה | haraah | <the> evil | H7451 → | 662 times |
| וַ֠יָּשָׁב | vaiyasho | and he returned | H7725 → | 1056 times |
| וַיַּ֜עַשׂ | vaiyaas | and he appointed | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| מִקְצ֤וֹת | miktzot | from [the] ends of | H7098 → | 35 times |
| הָעָם֙ | haam | the people | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| כֹּהֲנֵ֣י | kohanei | priests of | H3548 → | 750 times |
| בָמ֔וֹת | vamot | high places | H1116 → | 102 times |
| הֶֽחָפֵץ֙ | hechafetz | the [one] desiring | H2655 → | |
| יְמַלֵּ֣א | yemale' | he filled | H4390 → | 249 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יָד֔וֹ | yado | hand his | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| וִיהִ֖י | vihi | and he may be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כֹּהֲנֵ֥י | kohanei | priests of | H3548 → | 750 times |
| בָמֽוֹת׃ | vamot | high places | H1116 → | 102 times |
אַחַר֙after
ʾacharH310 →715 times
הַדָּבָ֣רthe matter
hadavarH1697 →1440 times
הַזֶּ֔ה<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
שָׁ֥בhe turned back
shavH7725 →1056 times
יָרָבְעָ֖םJeroboam
yaraveamH3379 →104 times
מִדַּרְכּ֣וֹfrom way his
midarkoH1870 →707 times
הָרָעָ֑ה<the> evil
haraahH7451 →662 times
וַ֠יָּשָׁבand he returned
vaiyashoH7725 →1056 times
וַיַּ֜עַשׂand he appointed
vaiyaasH6213 →2628 times
מִקְצ֤וֹתfrom [the] ends of
miktzotH7098 →35 times
הָעָם֙the people
haamH5971 →1873 times
כֹּהֲנֵ֣יpriests of
kohaneiH3548 →750 times
בָמ֔וֹתhigh places
vamotH1116 →102 times
הֶֽחָפֵץ֙the [one] desiring
hechafetzH2655 →
יְמַלֵּ֣אhe filled
yemale'H4390 →249 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יָד֔וֹhand his
yadoH3027 →1618 times
וִיהִ֖יand he may be
vihiH1961 →3559 times
כֹּהֲנֵ֥יpriests of
kohaneiH3548 →750 times
בָמֽוֹת׃high places
vamotH1116 →102 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
Numbers 1:51Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever it is to be pitched, the Levites are to set it up. Any outsider who goes near it must…
it leads to
- Numbers 3:38
Moses, Aaron, and Aaron’s sons were to camp to the east of the tabernacle, toward the sunrise, before the Tent of Meeting. They were to perform the duties of the sanctuary as a service…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 3:10
So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out the duties of the priesthood; but any outsider who approaches the tabernacle must be put to death.”
- 1 Samuel 6:19
But God struck down some of the people of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the LORD. He struck down seventy men, and the people mourned because the LORD had struck them…
- Numbers 18:22
No longer may the Israelites come near to the Tent of Meeting, or they will incur guilt and die.
- Numbers 3:38
Through
2 Chronicles 13:9But did you not drive out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites? And did you not make priests for yourselves as do the peoples of other lands? Now…
it leads to
- 2 Chronicles 11:14–15
For the Levites left their pasturelands and their possessions and went to Judah and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them as priests of the LORD.
- Jeremiah 2:11
Has a nation ever changed its gods, though they are no gods at all? Yet My people have exchanged their Glory for useless idols.
- 2 Chronicles 11:14–15
Through
Numbers 3:10So you shall appoint Aaron and his sons to carry out the duties of the priesthood; but any outsider who approaches the tabernacle must be put to death.”
it leads to
- Numbers 1:51
Whenever the tabernacle is to move, the Levites are to take it down, and whenever it is to be pitched, the Levites are to set it up. Any outsider who goes near it must…
- Numbers 1:51
Through
2 Chronicles 11:15And Jeroboam appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat demons and calf idols he had made.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 12:28
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
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Kings
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Apostolic Constitutions, Apostolic Constitutions (Book VIII), Section 5, XLVI; 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.