1 Kings 12:29 kjv
And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.
1 Kings 12:29 nkjv
And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.
1 Kings 12:29 niv
One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan.
1 Kings 12:29 esv
And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.
1 Kings 12:29 nlt
He placed these calf idols in Bethel and in Dan ? at either end of his kingdom.
1 Kings 12 29 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Exod 32:4 | ...he took the gold from them, and fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made it into a molten calf... | Golden calf made by Aaron in the wilderness. |
| Exod 32:8 | They have quickly turned aside from the way I commanded them. They have made for themselves a molten calf... | Immediate violation of covenant. |
| Deut 12:5 | But to the place that the Lord your God will choose... there you shall bring your burnt offerings... | God commanded a single, centralized place of worship. |
| Deut 12:13 | Take care that you do not offer your burnt offerings in every place that you see... | Warning against decentralized, self-made worship. |
| 1 Kgs 12:28 | So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold and said... “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem.” | Direct preceding context; Jeroboam's justification. |
| 1 Kgs 13:34 | This thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam... cutting it off and destroying it. | Jeroboam's action established a dynasty-ending sin. |
| 1 Kgs 14:16 | He will give up Israel because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and which he made Israel to sin. | Jeroboam made the nation sin, leading to their downfall. |
| 2 Kgs 10:29 | Nevertheless, from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, which he made Israel to sin, Jehu did not turn aside... | The golden calf idolatry persisted for centuries. |
| Hos 8:5 | Your calf, O Samaria, is cast off! My anger burns against them... | Prophetic condemnation of the calves in northern Israel. |
| Hos 8:6 | For from Israel it is, a workman made it; it is not God. The calf of Samaria shall be broken to pieces. | Emphasizes the man-made, non-divine nature of the calves. |
| Hos 10:5 | The inhabitants of Samaria tremble for the calf of Beth-aven... | Prophetic lament over the calf cult. |
| Hos 13:2 | They make for themselves molten images, idols, all of them the work of craftsmen. | Condemnation of continued idol worship in Israel. |
| Ps 106:19 | They made a calf in Horeb and worshiped a metal image. | Echoes the wilderness sin of idol worship. |
| Ps 106:20 | They exchanged the glory of God for the image of an ox that eats grass. | Spiritual blindness in trading God for an idol. |
| Isa 44:9 | All who fashion idols are nothing, and their treasured things do not profit... | Broader prophetic condemnation of idol worship. |
| Rom 1:21-23 | ...exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man... | Broader New Testament understanding of idolatry. |
| Acts 7:40-41 | ...made a calf in those days and brought a sacrifice to the idol... | Stephen's sermon linking Jeroboam's sin to historical idolatry. |
| Heb 9:1-5 | ...the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary... | Contrasts physical tabernacle/temple with true worship. |
| Lev 17:7 | They shall no longer offer sacrifices to goat demons... | Prohibits sacrificing to idols. |
| Judg 17:1-6 | Describes Micah making an ephod and household gods, appointing a priest. | Example of self-devised worship; "everyone did what was right in his own eyes." |
| Jer 3:6-8 | God divorces unfaithful Israel and Judah for harlotry, going after false gods. | Jeroboam's sin begins a long history of unfaithfulness. |
| Rev 9:20 | The rest of mankind... did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold... | Prophetic warning against continuing idol worship in the end times. |
1 Kings 12 verses
1 Kings 12 29 Meaning
This verse details Jeroboam's decisive and intentional act of establishing two golden calves as centers of worship for the newly formed northern kingdom of Israel. By placing one in Bethel, a historically significant religious site in the south of his territory, and the other in Dan, the northernmost city, Jeroboam created alternative worship locations to the Lord's Temple in Jerusalem. This move was a deliberate religious and political innovation designed to prevent his people from returning to Jerusalem for worship, thereby securing his reign and consolidating power, but it constituted a grave sin against God.
1 Kings 12 29 Context
Following the division of the united monarchy into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, Jeroboam I was chosen as the king over the ten northern tribes. Fearing that his subjects would return to their loyalty to Rehoboam, the king of Judah, if they continued to make pilgrimages to the Temple in Jerusalem (1 Kgs 12:26-27), Jeroboam devised a new religious system. Verse 29 explicitly details his key action in establishing this system: placing two golden calves as central cultic figures in strategically important locations within his new kingdom, namely Bethel and Dan, providing a readily accessible and politically safe alternative to worship in Jerusalem. This was not merely a political move, but a religious offense directly challenging the monotheistic principles and centralized worship commanded by God.
1 Kings 12 29 Word analysis
- And he set: Hebrew: וַיָּשֶׂם (`wayyā́śem`) - a verb meaning "to put, place, lay, establish." This emphasizes Jeroboam's deliberate, active choice and the foundation he laid for this alternative worship system, not a passive or accidental occurrence. His action was a premeditated act of defiance against God's commanded form of worship.
- one: Hebrew: אֶחָד (`’eḥāḏ`) - indicating a singular entity. This clarifies that a single calf was placed in Bethel.
- in Bethel: Hebrew: בֵּית־אֵל (`Beth-el`) - meaning "House of God." This site held profound historical and religious significance in Israel's history (e.g., Jacob's vision in Gen 28). By placing a calf there, Jeroboam hijacked and defiled a holy site associated with God's original revelation, transforming it into a center for idolatry. This was a clear polemic against legitimate Yahweh worship.
- and the other: Hebrew: וְאֶת־הָאֶחָד (`wĕ’et-hā’eḥāḏ`) - literally "and the one," referring to the second, distinct calf.
- in Dan: Hebrew: דָּן (`Dān`) - located at the northernmost border of Israel, making it a complementary pole to Bethel. The phrase "from Dan to Beersheba" typically defined the full extent of the Israelite territory, indicating that Jeroboam established idolatry throughout his entire kingdom, from north to south. Placing a calf here provided accessibility for his northern subjects.
- "And he set one in Bethel, and the other in Dan.": This phrase describes a specific, decisive political and religious strategy. By installing calves in these two geographically and religiously significant locations, Jeroboam aimed to establish a comprehensive, nationwide alternative cult. It demonstrated his intent to sever spiritual ties with Jerusalem entirely, forcing the allegiance of the northern tribes solely to his kingdom and his form of worship. This directly violated God's command for a single, centralized place of worship in Jerusalem and reintroduced practices reminiscent of pagan cults and the wilderness golden calf incident. It shows a king actively manipulating religious practices for political gain, which set a pattern of apostasy for subsequent northern kings. This was not a minor deviation but a systemic replacement of true worship with a man-made, politically convenient religion.
1 Kings 12 29 Bonus section
The establishment of the golden calves by Jeroboam was not merely a passive act of backsliding, but a sophisticated, state-sponsored syncretism that merged elements of Yahweh worship with pagan symbolism. The calves likely served as pedestals for the invisible Yahweh, rather than being worshipped as gods themselves, akin to ancient Near Eastern practices where deities stood on or were associated with animal figures. However, for a people explicitly commanded against making any graven image (Exod 20:4), this was an abominable breach of covenant. Furthermore, Jeroboam's innovations included appointing priests who were not Levites and creating feasts at unauthorized times (1 Kgs 12:31-32), consolidating a full alternative religious system designed to supersede divinely ordained worship, leading to national apostasy and spiritual decline. This comprehensive perversion set a tragic precedent for every king who followed him in the Northern Kingdom, forever tying their rule to "the sin of Jeroboam."
1 Kings 12 29 Commentary
1 Kings 12:29 underscores the practical implementation of Jeroboam's fear-driven policy. Having decided that allowing his people to worship in Jerusalem was a political risk (1 Kgs 12:26-28), he institutionalized idolatry. His action of setting up two golden calves—one at Bethel, a site consecrated by divine encounter, and the other at Dan, representing the northern reach of his kingdom—was a direct re-enactment of the wilderness golden calf sin. This was a deliberate human innovation replacing divine command, demonstrating a profound lack of faith and a direct challenge to the covenant. This act was not simply a concession to popular demand; it was a calculated religious engineering to ensure political stability, thereby polluting the spiritual landscape of Israel for centuries and laying the foundation for their eventual judgment. The verse succinctly captures the establishment of the central "sin of Jeroboam," which corrupted generations of the northern kingdom's kings and subjects.