Skip to main content

Biblical Person · Old · Divided Monarchy · -1000-01-0 – -0909-01-0

Jeroboam

Jeroboam

via Wikimedia Commons

Jeroboam, son of Nebat, was the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel after the division of the united monarchy, known for establishing alternative worship centers at Bethel and Dan.

AI-assisted summary — may contain inaccuracies.

From Wikidata

Biographical facts

Born
-1000-01-0
Died
-0909-01-0
More
Wikipedia →

Family

Children
Nadab

Key events

  • Jeroboam's Golden Calves c. 930 BC — 1Kgs 12:28

Where Jeroboam appears

95 verses across 6 books.

1Kgs48×2Kgs23×2Chr18×Amos4×1Chr1×Hos1×

Verses mentioning Jeroboam

  • 1Chr 5:17 — All these were reckoned by genealogies in the days of Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel.
  • 1Kgs 11:26 — And Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephrathite of Zereda, Solomon’s servant, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow woman, even he lifted up his hand against the king.
  • 1Kgs 11:28 — And the man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valour: and Solomon seeing the young man that he was industrious, he made him ruler over all the charge of the house of Joseph.
  • 1Kgs 11:29 — And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in
  • 1Kgs 11:31 — And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:
  • 1Kgs 11:40 — Solomon sought therefore to kill Jeroboam. And Jeroboam arose, and fled into Egypt, unto Shishak king of Egypt, and was in Egypt until the death of Solomon.
  • 1Kgs 12:2 — And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was yet in Egypt, heard of it, (for he was fled from the presence of king Solomon, and Jeroboam dwelt in Egypt;)
  • 1Kgs 12:3 — That they sent and called him. And Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came, and spake unto Rehoboam, saying,
  • 1Kgs 12:12 — So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying, Come to me again the third day.
  • 1Kgs 12:15 — Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people; for the cause was from the LORD, that he might perform his saying, which the LORD spake by Ahijah the Shilonite unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
  • 1Kgs 12:20 — And it came to pass, when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they sent and called him unto the congregation, and made him king over all Israel: there was none that followed the house
  • 1Kgs 12:25 — Then Jeroboam built Shechem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt therein; and went out from thence, and built Penuel.
  • 1Kgs 12:26 — And Jeroboam said in his heart, Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David:
  • 1Kgs 12:32 — 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 cal
  • 1Kgs 13:1 — And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.
  • 1Kgs 13:4 — And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his han
  • 1Kgs 13:33 — After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests o
  • 1Kgs 13:34 — And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth.
  • 1Kgs 14:1 — At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.
  • 1Kgs 14:2 — And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh: behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, which told me t
  • 1Kgs 14:4 — And Jeroboam’s wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age.
  • 1Kgs 14:5 — And the LORD said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shalt thou say unto her: for it shall be, when she cometh in, that
  • 1Kgs 14:6 — And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself to be another? for I am sent to thee with he
  • 1Kgs 14:7 — Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel,
  • 1Kgs 14:10 — Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the re
  • 1Kgs 14:11 — Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat: for the LORD hath spoken it.
  • 1Kgs 14:13 — And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.
  • 1Kgs 14:14 — Moreover the LORD shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now.
  • 1Kgs 14:16 — And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.
  • 1Kgs 14:17 — And Jeroboam’s wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: and when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died;
  • 1Kgs 14:19 — And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
  • 1Kgs 14:20 — And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.
  • 1Kgs 14:30 — And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.
  • 1Kgs 15:1 — Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam the son of Nebat reigned Abijam over Judah.
  • 1Kgs 15:6 — And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all the days of his life.
  • 1Kgs 15:7 — Now the rest of the acts of Abijam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? And there was war between Abijam and Jeroboam.
  • 1Kgs 15:9 — And in the twentieth year of Jeroboam king of Israel reigned Asa over Judah.
  • 1Kgs 15:25 — And Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned over Israel two years.
  • 1Kgs 15:29 — And it came to pass, when he reigned, that he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according unto the saying of the LORD, which he sp
  • 1Kgs 15:30 — Because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin, by his provocation wherewith he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger.
  • 1Kgs 15:34 — And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.
  • 1Kgs 16:2 — Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust, and made thee prince over my people Israel; and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with
  • 1Kgs 16:3 — Behold, I will take away the posterity of Baasha, and the posterity of his house; and will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
  • 1Kgs 16:7 — And also by the hand of the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came the word of the LORD against Baasha, and against his house, even for all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD, in provoking him
  • 1Kgs 16:19 — For his sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of the LORD, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, to make Israel to sin.
  • 1Kgs 16:26 — For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin, to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger with their vanities.
  • 1Kgs 16:31 — And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and
  • 1Kgs 21:22 — And will make thine house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, for the provocation wherewith thou hast provoked me to anger, and made Israel to
  • 1Kgs 22:52 — And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in the way of his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin:
  • 2Chr 9:29 — Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, first and last, are they not written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Je
  • 2Chr 10:2 — And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who was in Egypt, whither he had fled from the presence of Solomon the king, heard it, that Jeroboam returned out of Egypt.
  • 2Chr 10:3 — And they sent and called him. So Jeroboam and all Israel came and spake to Rehoboam, saying,
  • 2Chr 10:12 — So Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day, as the king bade, saying, Come again to me on the third day.
  • 2Chr 10:15 — So the king hearkened not unto the people: for the cause was of God, that the LORD might perform his word, which he spake by the hand of Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
  • 2Chr 11:4 — Thus saith the LORD, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren: return every man to his house: for this thing is done of me. And they obeyed the words of the LORD, and returned from going ag
  • 2Chr 11:14 — For the Levites left their suburbs and their possession, and came to Judah and Jerusalem: for Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off from executing the priest’s office unto the LORD:
  • 2Chr 12:15 — Now the acts of Rehoboam, first and last, are they not written in the book of Shemaiah the prophet, and of Iddo the seer concerning genealogies? And there were wars between Rehoboam and Jeroboam conti
  • 2Chr 13:1 — Now in the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam began Abijah to reign over Judah.
  • 2Chr 13:2 — He reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name also was Michaiah the daughter of Uriel of Gibeah. And there was war between Abijah and Jeroboam.
  • 2Chr 13:3 — And Abijah set the battle in array with an army of valiant men of war, even four hundred thousand chosen men: Jeroboam also set the battle in array against him with eight hundred thousand chosen men,
Voices from the tradition

The Church Fathers on Jeroboam

Patristic commentary on the Scriptures that name Jeroboam.

The people were divided in those times into the kingdom of ten tribes under Jeroboam and the kingdom of two tribes under Rehoboam. And those under Jeroboam were called Israel, and those under Rehoboam Judah. And the division of the people persisted, according to the history, until today. For we know of nothing in the history that…

The Scriptures tell us that God chose a certain nation on the earth, which they call by several names. For the whole of this nation is termed Israel and also Jacob. And when it was divided in the times of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, the ten tribes subject to him were called Israel, while the remaining two, along with the tribe of Levi,…

But when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came in at the door, he said, "Come in, wife of Jeroboam; why do you pretend to be another?" He heard her coming in, [the text] says, because he could not see anymore after his eyes had become dim from his old age. Yet through divine revelation he understood that she was Jeroboam's…

"In the fifteenth year of King Amaziah son of Joash of Judah, King Jeroboam son of Joash of Israel began to reign in Samaria; he reigned forty-one years. He restored the border of Israel from Lebo-hamath as far as the Sea of the Arabah, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant Jonah son of…

For you know undoubtedly that those that are by us named bishops, and presbyters, and deacons, were made by prayer, and by the laying on of hands; and that by the difference of their names is showed the difference of their employments. For not every one that will is ordained, as the case was in that spurious and counterfeit priesthood…

But when in the temple of our God, that wicked king Jeroboam took away the gifts that his father had laid up and offered them to idols on the holy altar, did not his right hand, which he stretched, wither, and his idols, which he called on, were not able to help him? Then, turning to the Lord, he asked for pardon, and at once his hand,…

Chapter 1 - Verse 1. The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel. However, the Septuagint, wanting to add something, interpreted it as: The words of Amos, who was among the vine-dressers of Tekoa, which he saw for Jerusalem. And it should be known that this prophet saw not for Jerusalem,…

(Verses 10 onwards) And Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, 'Amos has rebelled against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land is not able to bear all his words. For thus Amos says: 'Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive from their own land.''…

Who can help but tremble at the thought of these judgments of God whereby he accomplishes whatever he pleases even in the hearts of wicked people, while yet rendering to each according to his merits? Solomon's son, Rehoboam, rejected the salutary counsel of the elders, not to deal harshly with the people, and yielded to the words of…

[The Scripture] calls "something pleasing" the fact that [Jeroboam] sent his wife to the prophet of God and not to the impostors and diviners. We must constantly admire the mercy of God, who increases many times over every good [action] performed by mortals and then returns it to them. This is quite evident from what he did for that…

"… In being like the house of Jeroboam, and also because he destroyed it." This does not mean that Elah killed Jeroboam, but that Baasha, father of Elah, killed the son of Jeroboam. And he is not threatened with evils by the prophet because he killed him but because he does not fear the punishment which was performed by his hands as a…

"Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have caused my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, therefore, I will consume the past actions of Baasha and the past actions of his house, and I will make your house like the house of…