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.
• 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!”
• New Living Translation (NLT)So on the advice of his counselors, the king made two gold calves. He said to the people, “It is too much trouble for you to worship in Jerusalem. Look, Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of Egypt!”

Context of 1 Kings 12:28

26Jeroboam thought to himself, “The kingdom will now likely revert to the house of David. 27If these people go up to offer sacrifices at the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem, they will again give their allegiance to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah. They will kill me and return to King Rehoboam.” 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.” 29One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan. 30And this thing became a sin; the people came to worship the one at Bethel and went as far as Dan to worship the other.

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

Words taken from the KJV.

• Whereupon the kingמֶ֫לֶךְmelek · kingH4428
• took counselיָעַץyâ‛ats · to adviseH3289
• and madeעָשָׂה‛âώâh · to makeH6213
• twoשְׁנַ֫יִםshenayim shettayim · twoH8147
• calvesעֵ֫גֶל‛êgel · calfH5695
• goldזָהָבzâhâb · goldH2091
• and saidאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
• unto them, It is too muchרַבrab · manyH7227
• for you to go upעָלָה‛âlâh · to ascend: riseH5927
• to Jerusalemיְרוּשָׁלִַ֫ם, יְרוּשְׁלֵםyerûshâlaim yerûshâlayim · JerusalemH3389
• behold thy godsאֱלֹהִים'ĕlôhîym · GodH430
• O Israelיִשְׂרָאֵלyiώrâ'êl · IsraelH3478
• which brought thee 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 the elders gave him and consulted the young men who had grown up with him and were serving him.
• Exodus 1:10Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”
• Isaiah 30:1“Woe to the obstinate children,” declares the Lord, “to those who carry out plans that are not mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin;
• Exodus 20:4“You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.
• Deuteronomy 4:14And the Lord directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.
• 2 Kings 10:29However, he did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit—the worship of the golden calves at Bethel and Dan.
• 2 Kings 17:16They forsook all the commands of the Lord their God and made for themselves two idols cast in the shape of calves, and an Asherah pole. They bowed down to all the starry hosts, and they worshiped Baal.
• 2 Chronicles 11:15when he appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat and calf idols he had made.
• Hosea 8:4They set up kings without my consent; they choose princes without my approval. With their silver and gold they make idols for themselves to their own destruction.
• Hosea 10:5The people who live in Samaria fear for the calf-idol of Beth Aven. Its people will mourn over it, and so will its idolatrous priests, those who had rejoiced over its splendor, because it is taken from them into exile.
• Isaiah 30:10They say to the seers, “See no more visions!” and to the prophets, “Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions.
• 2 Peter 2:19They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.”
• Exodus 32:4He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out 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