Jeroboam and the Golden Calves

The words

1. Adoram

   Supervisor of work crews, named Adoniram in the NET Bible.

   Rehoboam sends Adoram, the KJV’s tribute officer; Israel stones him to death, and Rehoboam escapes by chariot to Jerusalem.

   1 Kings 12:18 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: 1 Kings 12:18 (opens a new tab)

2. Ahijah

   Ahijah tears a new garment into twelve pieces and tells Jeroboam to take ten, promising him rule over ten tribes.

   1 Kings 11:29–31 (opens a new tab)

3. Calves

   Fearing that Jerusalem worship will restore loyalty to Rehoboam, Jeroboam makes two golden calves and places one at Bethel and one at Dan.

   Did you know?

   Jeroboam’s speech echoes words spoken over the golden calf in Exodus, including “O Israel” and the claim of bringing Israel out of Egypt.

   1 Kings 12:26–29 (opens a new tab) · Exodus 32:4 (opens a new tab)

4. Eighth Month

   Jeroboam fixes his feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month; Kings says he devised the month himself.

   Did you know?

   Leviticus places the Feast of Tabernacles on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, rather than the eighth.

   1 Kings 12:32–33 (opens a new tab) · Leviticus 23:34 (opens a new tab)

5. Incense

   Jeroboam burns incense on the altar he has made at Bethel, during the feast he establishes for Israel.

   1 Kings 12:33 (opens a new tab)

6. Jeroboam

   Israel’s assembly makes Jeroboam king after Rehoboam’s refusal; Jeroboam then fears that worship in Jerusalem will restore loyalty to Rehoboam.

   1 Kings 12:13–20 (opens a new tab) · 1 Kings 12:20–25 (opens a new tab) · 1 Kings 12:26–27 (opens a new tab)

7. Little Finger

   Rehoboam’s young advisers urge him to boast that his little finger is thicker than his father’s loins, threatening a heavier burden.

   1 Kings 12:10–11 (opens a new tab)

8. Lowest

   “Common people,” in the NET Bible.

   Jeroboam appoints priests whom the KJV calls “the lowest of the people”; the passage specifies that they are not Levites.

   1 Kings 12:31 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: 1 Kings 12:31 (opens a new tab)

9. Nebat

   First Kings calls Jeroboam the son of Nebat and a man of Zereda, then describes Solomon giving him responsibility over Joseph’s house.

   1 Kings 11:26–28 (opens a new tab)

10. Penuel

    Jeroboam builds Shechem in mount Ephraim and lives there, then goes out and builds Penuel.

    1 Kings 12:20; 1 Kings 12:25 (opens a new tab)

11. Rehoboam

    Solomon’s son rejects the elders’ advice to serve the people and instead promises to increase the burden they asked him to lighten.

    1 Kings 12:4 (opens a new tab) · 1 Kings 12:6–14 (opens a new tab) · 1 Kings 12:12–19 (opens a new tab) · 1 Kings 12:21 (opens a new tab)

12. Scorpions

    Probably a harsher kind of whip, according to the NET note.

    Following his young advisers, Rehoboam threatens to punish the people with “scorpions,” contrasting his promised severity with his father’s whips.

    1 Kings 12:11 (opens a new tab) · 1 Kings 12:14 (opens a new tab) · NET Bible: 1 Kings 12:11 (opens a new tab)

13. Shemaiah

    Speaking in the LORD’s name, Shemaiah forbids Rehoboam’s army to fight their Israelite brethren; the men obey and return home.

    1 Kings 12:21–24 (opens a new tab)

14. Tirzah

    Jeroboam’s wife returns to Tirzah after visiting Ahijah; their son Abijah dies as she reaches the doorway, and Israel mourns him.

    1 Kings 14:1–6 (opens a new tab) · 1 Kings 14:17–18 (opens a new tab)

15. Whips

    Rehoboam tells the people his father chastised them with whips, then threatens harsher punishment rather than lightening their burden.

    1 Kings 12:4 (opens a new tab) · 1 Kings 12:14 (opens a new tab)