1 Kings 12:28

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.

Whereupon the king {H4428} took counsel {H3289}, and made {H6213} two {H8147} calves {H5695} of gold {H2091}, and said {H559} unto them, It is too much {H7227} for you to go up {H5927} to Jerusalem {H3389}: behold thy gods {H430}, O Israel {H3478}, which brought thee up {H5927} out of the land {H776} of Egypt {H4714}.

After seeking advice, the king made two calves of gold and said to the people, "You have been going up to Yerushalayim long enough! Here are your gods, Isra'el, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!"

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.”

Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold; and he 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.

Commentary

1 Kings 12:28 KJV Commentary

Context

Following the death of King Solomon, the united kingdom of Israel experienced a dramatic division into two separate kingdoms. Ten tribes formed the Northern Kingdom of Israel, with Jeroboam I as their king, while the tribes of Judah and Benjamin formed the Southern Kingdom of Judah under Rehoboam. Jeroboam, fearing that his people's continued pilgrimage to Jerusalem (the capital of Judah and the site of the Temple) would lead to their defection back to Rehoboam, sought a political and religious solution to consolidate his power and prevent such a shift in loyalty. This verse describes his drastic and religiously catastrophic action.

Key Themes

  • Idolatry and False Worship: Jeroboam's creation of the golden calves was a direct and blatant violation of the first two commandments: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me" and "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image." This act established a pattern of syncretistic and idolatrous worship that would plague the Northern Kingdom for centuries.
  • Echo of Sinai: The most chilling aspect of Jeroboam's proclamation, "behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt," is its direct and intentional echo of the words spoken by Aaron during the golden calf incident at Mount Sinai. This deliberate repetition underscores the deep-seated spiritual rebellion and forgetfulness of God's true deliverance.
  • Political Expediency Over Divine Command: Jeroboam's actions were driven by pragmatic political concerns rather than genuine spiritual devotion. He prioritized maintaining his earthly kingdom and power over obedience to the God who had established Israel and delivered them from slavery. His statement "It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem" was a thinly veiled excuse to prevent the people from worshipping at the divinely ordained center of worship.

Linguistic Insights

The Hebrew word for "calves" is ‘egel, which refers to young bulls or steers. In ancient Near Eastern cultures, bulls were often symbols of strength, fertility, and deity. By creating these images, Jeroboam was not necessarily replacing Yahweh with entirely new gods, but rather attempting to represent Yahweh in a forbidden form, blending true worship with pagan religious symbols and practices. This was a common form of syncretism and a profound affront to God's nature as an invisible, transcendent Spirit.

Practical Application

This passage serves as a powerful warning for all generations:

  • The Danger of Compromise: We must be vigilant against compromising our faith for convenience, popularity, or perceived security. True worship often requires effort and may go against popular opinion or personal comfort.
  • Beware of False Idols: Idolatry is not just about physical statues. Anything we elevate above God – whether it be power, wealth, comfort, career, or even political allegiance – can become a "golden calf" that demands our ultimate loyalty and distracts us from the one true God.
  • The Importance of True Worship: God has established how He is to be worshipped. We cannot invent our own ways of approaching Him or redefine His nature to suit our preferences. Authentic faith requires submission to God's revealed will and a commitment to worship Him "in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24).

Note: Commentary was generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash, utilizing a prompt that emphasized Biblical fidelity over bias. We've found these insights to be consistently reliable, yet we always encourage prayerful discernment through the Holy Spirit.

Please remember that only the commentary section is AI-generated. The main Scripture and cross-references are stored on the site and are sourced from trusted and verified materials.

Cross-References

  • 2 Kings 10:29

    ¶ Howbeit [from] the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin, Jehu departed not from after them, [to wit], the golden calves that [were] in Bethel, and that [were] in Dan.

  • Exodus 32:8

    They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These [be] thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

  • Exodus 32:4

    And he received [them] at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These [be] thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

  • 2 Kings 17:16

    And they left all the commandments of the LORD their God, and made them molten images, [even] two calves, and made a grove, and worshipped all the host of heaven, and served Baal.

  • Hosea 8:4

    They have set up kings, but not by me: they have made princes, and I knew [it] not: of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, that they may be cut off.

  • Hosea 8:7

    For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: it hath no stalk: the bud shall yield no meal: if so be it yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.

  • 2 Chronicles 11:15

    And he ordained him priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made.
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