1 Kings 12:32 kjv
And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.
1 Kings 12:32 nkjv
Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did at Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he had made. And at Bethel he installed the priests of the high places which he had made.
1 Kings 12:32 niv
He instituted a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the festival held in Judah, and offered sacrifices on the altar. This he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves he had made. And at Bethel he also installed priests at the high places he had made.
1 Kings 12:32 esv
And Jeroboam appointed a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar. So he did in Bethel, sacrificing to the calves that he made. And he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places that he had made.
1 Kings 12:32 nlt
And Jeroboam instituted a religious festival in Bethel, held on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in imitation of the annual Festival of Shelters in Judah. There at Bethel he himself offered sacrifices to the calves he had made, and he appointed priests for the pagan shrines he had made.
1 Kings 12 32 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Ki 12:28-30 | The king took counsel and made two calves of gold... He said to them, "You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough... behold your gods, O Israel!" And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan. This thing became a sin. | Jeroboam's initial idolatry, leading to this verse's innovations. |
| Exod 32:4, 8 | He received the gold from their hand... fashioning it with a graving tool and made a molten calf. And they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!"... and worshiped it. | Echoes the sin of the golden calf in the wilderness. |
| Lev 23:34, 39, 41 | On the fifteenth day of the seventh month is the Feast of Booths... For seven days you shall keep the feast to the Lord. You shall keep it as a feast to the Lord seven days in the year. | Contrasts with Jeroboam's calendar change for the feast. |
| Deut 12:5-7, 13-14 | But you shall seek the place that the Lord your God will choose... There you shall bring your burnt offerings... Be careful not to offer your burnt offerings in every place... but only in the place that the Lord will choose. | Violation of centralized worship command. |
| Deut 18:10-11 | There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering... or one who inquires of the dead. | Appointing unauthorized priests. |
| 2 Chron 11:15 | He appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat-idols and for the calves that he had made. | Confirms Jeroboam's illegitimate priesthood. |
| 1 Ki 13:33-34 | After this thing Jeroboam did not turn from his evil way, but made priests again from among all the people... This thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, so as to cut it off. | God's judgment pronounced against Jeroboam's apostasy. |
| 2 Ki 17:21 | When he tore Israel from the house of David, they made Jeroboam the son of Nebat king; and Jeroboam drove Israel from following the Lord and made them commit great sin. | Highlights the long-term devastating spiritual impact of Jeroboam's actions. |
| Hos 8:5-6 | He has rejected your calf, O Samaria! My anger burns against them... For from Israel comes this thing; a craftsman made it... For it will be broken in pieces. | Prophetic condemnation of the calf worship initiated by Jeroboam. |
| Hos 10:5-6 | The inhabitants of Samaria tremble for the calf of Beth-aven. Its people mourn for it... Its splendor has departed... | Further prophetic judgment on the calf cults in Bethel ("Beth-aven"). |
| Isa 1:13-14 | Bring no more vain offerings... Your New Moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me... I am weary of bearing them. | God rejects worship that is outwardly ritualistic but internally corrupt/false. |
| Amos 7:13 | But never again prophesy at Bethel, for it is the king's sanctuary, and it is a temple of the kingdom. | Shows Bethel becoming a center of state-sanctioned apostasy. |
| Neh 8:1-2 | All the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate... they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses... on the first day of the seventh month. | Example of correct adherence to the seventh month feasts post-exile. |
| Num 3:10 | You shall appoint Aaron and his sons, and they shall guard their priesthood. Any outsider who comes near shall be put to death. | God's strict command regarding the Levitical priesthood. |
| Num 18:7 | But you and your sons with you shall guard your priesthood for all that concerns the altar... and no outsider shall come near you. | Emphasizes the exclusive role of Levites/Aaronic priests. |
| Matt 15:9 | In vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. | Christ's teaching on human traditions replacing divine commands. |
| Mark 7:7 | In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' | Echoes Matt 15:9 regarding man-made religious rules. |
| Gal 1:8-9 | But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. | Warnings against departing from established divine truth/ordinances. |
| Col 2:16 | Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. | Contrast: Jeroboam invents a false feast; Christians are free from ceremonial law's judgment (not to invent). |
| Heb 7:11-14 | If perfection were attainable through the Levitical priesthood... what further need would there have been for another priest to arise after the order of Melchizedek... | The changing of the priesthood highlights its imperfection; God establishes His new order. |
| Rom 1:21-23 | For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God... but became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools... | Applies to the nature of idolatry and self-conceived worship. |
| Rev 22:18-19 | I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away... | Divine warning against altering God's word or institutions. |
1 Kings 12 verses
1 Kings 12 32 Meaning
This verse details Jeroboam's further innovations in the northern kingdom of Israel, establishing a new, unauthorized religious system distinct from the divinely ordained worship in Jerusalem. He changed the national feast day from the seventh month to the eighth month, ordained it as a pilgrimage festival similar to the Feast of Booths, and offered sacrifices upon the altar he had built in Bethel. Additionally, he appointed non-Levitical priests for the high places he had made, effectively solidifying an apostate religion centered on golden calves in Bethel and Dan.
1 Kings 12 32 Context
Following the division of the united kingdom of Israel after Rehoboam's folly (1 Ki 12:1-19), Jeroboam became king of the northern ten tribes (Israel). His primary concern was maintaining political control and preventing his new subjects from returning to the legitimate capital and spiritual center in Jerusalem, where Rehoboam reigned and the temple stood (1 Ki 12:26-27). To counteract this potential allegiance shift, Jeroboam strategically introduced religious reforms. First, he erected two golden calves in Bethel and Dan (1 Ki 12:28-29) and declared them the gods who brought Israel out of Egypt, mimicking the wilderness apostasy (Exod 32). This verse, 1 Kings 12:32, then describes a further step in this religious deviation: establishing an alternative festival, altar, and priesthood to solidify his kingdom's break from true Yahweh worship. These actions were a deliberate and systemic attempt to sever all religious ties to Judah and the Mosaic Law, designed to ensure political stability but resulting in profound spiritual corruption for the entire northern kingdom.
1 Kings 12 32 Word analysis
- And ordained (וַיַּעַשׂ): The Hebrew verb here is vayya'as, from the root 'asah (עשׂה), meaning "to do, make, create, perform, carry out." While it can mean "to make" or "to do," in this context, when referring to the establishment of a feast, it carries the strong sense of ordaining or instituting. It highlights Jeroboam's agency in inventing a religious custom, in contrast to feasts that God "made" or "ordained" (Lev 23). This verb is deliberately used to emphasize his self-authorization, an act of usurpation of God's authority in religious matters.
- Jeroboam (יָרָבְעָם): Meaning "the people increase" or "contender of the people." Ironically, despite a promising start as an industrious servant, he led the people into great sin and eventual spiritual decline.
- a feast (חַג): Hebrew khag. This term refers to a pilgrimage festival where people gathered, celebrated, and offered sacrifices. It specifically points to a major annual feast, in contrast to monthly new moons or weekly Sabbaths. Jeroboam chose to emulate the Feast of Booths (Sukkot), one of the three prescribed annual pilgrimage feasts (Deut 16:16). This was a deliberate attempt to create a parallel, albeit illegitimate, religious structure.
- in the eighth month (בַּחֹדֶשׁ הַשְּׁמִינִי): Hebrew ba-chodesh ha-shemini. The Mosaic Law prescribed the Feast of Booths for the seventh month (Lev 23:34, 39). Jeroboam's shifting of the feast to the eighth month, on the fifteenth day, was a significant act of deliberate defiance against God's commanded calendar. It further cemented the religious independence of the northern kingdom and made it practically impossible for the people to also observe the legitimate feasts in Jerusalem. This was not a mistake but a calculated, politically motivated act of apostasy, marking his full control over the religious calendar.
- like the feast (כֶּחָג): Implies it was patterned after God's feasts, but crucially, was not the true one. This phrase emphasizes the imitative yet fundamentally illegitimate nature of Jeroboam's worship system.
- that was in Judah (אֲשֶׁר בִּיהוּדָה): Refers to the legitimate celebration of the Feast of Booths in Jerusalem. Jeroboam desired to offer an alternative, removing the need for people to travel to the established place of worship under the Davidic king.
- and he offered sacrifices (וַיַּעַל עַל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ): Literally, "and he went up upon the altar." The verb alah (עלות) means "to go up, ascend," here indicating the act of bringing or presenting sacrifices. Jeroboam himself, not being a Levite or priest, officiating at the altar was another profound transgression of Mosaic Law (Num 18:7). This directly usurped the role of the legitimate Aaronic priesthood.
- he had made (עָשָׂה): Again, the verb 'asah (עשׂה), emphasizing that this altar was of his own devising, not sanctioned by God (Exod 20:24-26; Deut 12:5-7).
- Bethel (בֵּית אֵל): Meaning "house of God." Ironically, a place initially associated with God's revelation to Jacob (Gen 28:10-22), it became one of the main centers of Jeroboam's idolatry, henceforth often referred to as "Beth-aven" ("house of wickedness" or "house of iniquity") by the prophets (Hos 4:15, 10:5).
- to the calves he had made (לָעֲגָלִים אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה): These are the golden calves introduced in 1 Kings 12:28. The very purpose of the feast and the altar was devoted to this idolatrous worship.
- and he appointed priests (וְעָשָׂה כֹהֲנִים): From 'asah (עשׂה) again. This implies making or appointing them, an act of creation by Jeroboam, not God. The Hebrew word for priests is kohanim.
- from among all the people (מִקְצוֹת הָעָם): Meaning "from all ends/fringes of the people." This starkly contrasts with God's command that only the tribe of Levi, specifically the sons of Aaron, could serve as priests (Num 3:10, 18:7). Jeroboam's move democratized the priesthood, effectively making it accessible to anyone, nullifying the sacred, hereditary nature of the true priesthood, and opening the door to further spiritual chaos and corruption.
1 Kings 12 32 Bonus section
Jeroboam's reforms in 1 Kings 12:32 (and 1 Kings 12:28-31) represent a carefully constructed "counter-religion" designed to appeal to the people while circumventing genuine faith. The feast chosen, Sukkot (Feast of Booths), was deeply embedded in Israel's national memory, commemorating God's provision in the wilderness. By mimicking this significant festival but changing its date and location, Jeroboam effectively secularized and corrupted a holy day. The imagery of the golden calves was a shrewd political move, connecting to a pre-Mosaic nomadic past and subtly equating them with Yahweh's presence, despite being a direct violation of the second commandment. His "priests from all the people" circumvented the theological barrier that true Levites posed by their allegiance to Jerusalem. This made his cult accessible and convenient, contrasting with the travel and expense required to worship in Judah, thus removing any obstacle to allegiance for the northern tribes.
1 Kings 12 32 Commentary
This verse encapsulates Jeroboam's complete and deliberate redefinition of Israel's faith for political gain. It details three key acts of religious subversion: altering the sacred calendar, establishing an illegitimate place of worship in Bethel (which mirrored similar illicit cults in Dan), and ordaining non-Levitical priests from any background. His actions were a comprehensive rejection of the Mosaic covenant, usurping divine authority by dictating when, where, and by whom God was to be worshiped. This was not merely a convenient alternative but a full-scale apostasy designed to create a self-contained, politically loyal religion within his kingdom. By centralizing false worship at high places like Bethel and making them kingly sanctuaries, he fostered a culture of spiritual independence from Yahweh's prescribed laws and institutions in Jerusalem. This self-serving syncretism laid the groundwork for generations of idolatry in the Northern Kingdom, leading to its eventual downfall, as warned by the prophets.