1 Kings 12:28

1 Kings 12:28 in other versions

• King James Version (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.
• New International Version (NIV)After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”
• English Standard Version (ESV)So the king took counsel and made two calves of gold. And he said to the people, "You have gone up to Jerusalem long enough. Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt."
• New King James Version (NKJV)Therefore the king asked advice, made two calves of gold, and said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, O Israel, which brought you up from the land of Egypt!”

Context of 1 Kings 12:28

26Jeroboam said in his heart, “Now the kingdom might revert to the house of David. 27If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, their hearts will return to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah; then they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.” 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 of the land of Egypt.” 29One calf he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. 30And this thing became a sin; the people walked as far as Dan to worship before one of the calves.

1 Kings 12:28 word by word

וַיִּוָּעַ֣ץ הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ וַיַּ֕עַשׂ שְׁנֵ֖י עֶגְלֵ֣י זָהָ֑ב וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֲלֵהֶ֗ם רַב־לָכֶם֙ מֵעֲל֣וֹת יְרוּשָׁלִַ֔ם הִנֵּ֤ה אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר הֶעֱל֖וּךָ מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרָֽיִם׃Read the interlinear

• After seeking adviceיָעַץyâ‛ats · to adviseH3289
• the kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• madeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• twoשְׁנַ֫יִםshenayim shettayim · twoH8147
• goldenזָהָבzâhâb · goldH2091
• calvesעֵ֫גֶל‛êgel · calfH5695
• and saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• to the peopleאֶל'êl 'el · to(wards)H413
• Going upעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
• to Jerusalemיְרוּשָׁלִַ֫ם, יְרוּשְׁלֵםyerûshâlaim yerûshâlayim · JerusalemH3389
• is too muchרַבrab · manyH7227
• Hereהִנֵּהhinnêh · beholdH2009
• O Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
• are your godsאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• whoאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
• brought you upעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: establishH5927
• out of the landאֶ֫רֶץ'erets · land: country/planetH776
• of Egyptמִצְרַ֫יִםmitsrayim · EgyptH4714

Cross-references for 1 Kings 12:28

• 1 Kings 12:8But Rehoboam rejected the advice of the elders; instead, he consulted the young men who had grown up with him and served him.
• Exodus 1:10Come, let us deal shrewdly with them, or they will increase even more; and if a war breaks out, they may join our enemies, fight against us, and leave the country.”
• Isaiah 30:1“Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin.
• Exodus 20:4You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.
• Deuteronomy 4:14At that time the LORD commanded me to teach you the statutes and ordinances you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.
• 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.
• 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 Baal.
• 2 Chronicles 11:15And Jeroboam appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat demons and calf idols he had made.
• Hosea 8:4They set up kings, but not by Me. They make princes, but without My approval. With their silver and gold they make themselves idols, to their own destruction.
• Hosea 10:5The people of Samaria will fear for the calf of Beth-aven. Indeed, its people will mourn over it with its idolatrous priests— those who rejoiced in its glory— for it has been taken from them into exile.
• Isaiah 30:10They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions.
• 2 Peter 2:19They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
• 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 the land of Egypt!”

Commentaries on 1 Kings 12:28

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 28Made 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. It is strange that in pointing out his calves to the people, he…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 28The “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…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 25-33Verses 25-33 Jeroboam distrusted the providence of God; he would contrive ways and means, and sinful ones too, for his own safety. A practical disbelief of God's all-sufficiency is at the bottom of all our departures from him. Though it is probable he meant his worship for Jehovah the God of Israel, it was contrary to the Divine law, and dishonourable to the Divine majesty to be thus represented. The people might be less shocked at worshipping the God of…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 28Two gold calves would resonate with Israel's history (see Exodus 32; especially 32:4). Similar religious practices linked to the Canaanite god Baal-Hadad also attracted the remaining Canaanite people in the northern kingdom. Jeroboam's actions undermined true worship and led to religious confusion (see 1 Kings 14:9; Hosea 8:6).Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 26-3226-32. Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David--Having received the kingdom from God, he should have relied on the divine protection. But he did not. With a view to withdraw the people from the temple and destroy the sacred associations connected with Jerusalem, he made serious and unwarranted innovations on the religious observances of the country, on pretext of saving the people the trouble and expense of a distant…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 Kings 12:28

• Beth-El
• Calf
• Church and State
• Dan
• Jeroboam
• Religion
• Rulers
• Statecraft

In the dictionaries

• Egypt
• Israel
• Jerusalem
• Add
• Aholah
• Aven
• Bethel
• Bullock
• Consult
• Ephraim, The tribe of

Commentaries on 1 Kings 12

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings