1 Kings 12:29
New International Version
One he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan.

New Living Translation
He placed these calf idols in Bethel and in Dan—at either end of his kingdom.

English Standard Version
And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.

Berean Standard Bible
One calf he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan.

King James Bible
And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.

New King James Version
And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.

New American Standard Bible
And he set up one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.

NASB 1995
He set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.

NASB 1977
And he set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.

Legacy Standard Bible
And he set one in Bethel, and one he put in Dan.

Amplified Bible
He set the one [golden calf] in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.

Christian Standard Bible
He set up one in Bethel, and put the other in Dan.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
He set up one in Bethel, and put the other in Dan.

American Standard Version
And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan.

Contemporary English Version
Then he put one of the gold calves in the town of Bethel and the other in the town of Dan.

English Revised Version
And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
He put one in Bethel and the other in Dan.

Good News Translation
He placed one of the gold bull-calves in Bethel and the other in Dan.

International Standard Version
He set one of them in Bethel and placed the other one in Dan.

Majority Standard Bible
One calf he set up in Bethel, and the other in Dan.

NET Bible
He put one in Bethel and the other in Dan.

New Heart English Bible
He set the one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.

Webster's Bible Translation
And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other he placed in Dan.

World English Bible
He set the one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And he sets the one in Beth-El, and the other he has put in Dan,

Young's Literal Translation
And he setteth the one in Beth-El, and the other he hath put in Dan,

Smith's Literal Translation
And he will set up the one in the house of God, and the one he gave in Dan.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
And he set the one in Bethel, and the other in Dan:

Catholic Public Domain Version
And he stationed one in Bethel, and the other in Dan.

New American Bible
And he put one in Bethel, the other in Dan.

New Revised Standard Version
He set one in Bethel, and the other he put in Dan.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other he put in Dan.And the prophet took up the corpse of the prophet of God, and laid it upon the ass and brought it back to the city where the old prophet dwelt, to mourn over him and to bury him.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And he put one in Bayth Eil and one he put in Dan.
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
And he set the one in Beth-el, and the other put he in Dan.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And he put one in Bethel, and he put the other in Dan.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Jeroboam's Idolatry
28After 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.…

Cross References
Exodus 32:4-8
He 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!” / When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before the calf and proclaimed: “Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD.” / So the next day they arose, offered burnt offerings, and presented peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry. ...

2 Kings 10:29
but 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.

Hosea 8:5-6
He has rejected your calf, O Samaria. My anger burns against them. How long will they be incapable of innocence? / For this thing is from Israel—a craftsman made it, and it is not God. It will be broken to pieces, that calf of Samaria.

Amos 8:14
Those who swear by the guilt of Samaria and say, ‘As surely as your god lives, O Dan,’ or, ‘As surely as the way of Beersheba lives’—they will fall, never to rise again.”

2 Chronicles 11:15
And Jeroboam appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat demons and calf idols he had made.

2 Kings 17:16
They 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.

Hosea 13:2
Now they sin more and more and make for themselves cast images, idols skillfully made from their silver, all of them the work of craftsmen. People say of them, “They offer human sacrifice and kiss the calves!”

2 Chronicles 13:8-9
And now you think you can resist the kingdom of the LORD, which is in the hands of David’s descendants. You are indeed a vast army, and you have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made for you as gods. / But did you not drive out the priests of the LORD, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites? And did you not make priests for yourselves as do the peoples of other lands? Now whoever comes to consecrate himself with a young bull and seven rams can become a priest of things that are not gods.

Deuteronomy 12:5-14
Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go. / To that place you are to bring your burnt offerings and sacrifices, your tithes and heave offerings, your vow offerings and freewill offerings, as well as the firstborn of your herds and flocks. / There, in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your households shall eat and rejoice in all you do, because the LORD your God has blessed you. ...

1 Kings 14:9
You have done more evil than all who came before you. You have proceeded to make for yourself other gods and molten images to provoke Me, and you have flung Me behind your back.

1 Kings 13:33-34
Even after these events, Jeroboam did not repent of his evil ways, but again he appointed priests for the high places from every class of people. He ordained anyone who desired to be a priest of the high places. / And this was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its extermination and destruction from the face of the earth.

2 Kings 23:15
He even pulled down the altar at Bethel, the high place set up by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin. Then he burned the high place, ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole.

John 4:20-24
Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews say that the place where one must worship is in Jerusalem.” / “Believe Me, woman,” Jesus replied, “a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. / You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. ...

Acts 7:41-43
At that time they made a calf and offered a sacrifice to the idol, rejoicing in the works of their hands. / But God turned away from them and gave them over to the worship of the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets: ‘Did you bring Me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel? / You have taken along the tabernacle of Molech and the star of your god Rephan, the idols you made to worship. Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Babylon.’

1 Corinthians 10:7
Do not be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written: “The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.”


Treasury of Scripture

And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.

Beth-el

Genesis 12:8
And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.

Genesis 28:19
And he called the name of that place Bethel: but the name of that city was called Luz at the first.

Genesis 35:1
And God said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Bethel, and dwell there: and make there an altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau thy brother.

Dan

Genesis 14:14
And when Abram heard that his brother was taken captive, he armed his trained servants, born in his own house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued them unto Dan.

Deuteronomy 34:1
And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho. And the LORD shewed him all the land of Gilead, unto Dan,

Judges 18:29-31
And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born unto Israel: howbeit the name of the city was Laish at the first…

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Bethel Beth-El Dan Placed
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Bethel Beth-El Dan Placed
1 Kings 12
1. The Israelites, assembled at Shechem to crown Rehoboam,
4. by Jeroboam make a suit of relaxation unto him
6. Rehoboam, refusing the old men's counsel, answers them roughly
16. Ten tribes revolting, kill Adoram, and make Rehoboam flee
21. Rehoboam, raising an army, is forbidden by Shemaiah
25. Jeroboam strengthens himself by cities
26. and by idolatry of the two calves














One calf
The term "calf" here refers to a young bull, which in ancient Near Eastern cultures, including Israel, was often associated with strength and fertility. The Hebrew word for calf is "עֵגֶל" (egel), which is the same term used in the infamous incident of the golden calf in Exodus 32. This connection highlights the recurring temptation of idolatry among the Israelites, despite their covenant with Yahweh. The choice of a calf as an idol reflects a syncretism with Canaanite religious practices, where bulls were symbols of the god Baal.

he set up
The act of setting up these idols was a deliberate and rebellious move by King Jeroboam. The Hebrew verb "שׂוּם" (sum) means to place or set, indicating a purposeful establishment of these idols as objects of worship. This action was a direct violation of the first two commandments given to Israel, which prohibited the making of graven images and the worship of other gods (Exodus 20:3-4). Jeroboam's decision to set up these calves was politically motivated, aiming to prevent the people from returning to Jerusalem for worship, thereby consolidating his own power.

in Bethel
Bethel, meaning "house of God" in Hebrew, was a significant religious site in Israel's history. It was the place where Jacob had his vision of the ladder reaching to heaven (Genesis 28:19). By setting up a calf in Bethel, Jeroboam was corrupting a site that had been associated with genuine encounters with God. This act of desecration turned a place of divine revelation into a center of idolatry, illustrating how political expediency can lead to spiritual compromise.

and the other in Dan
Dan was located in the northernmost part of the kingdom, making it geographically strategic for Jeroboam's religious reforms. The city of Dan had a history of idolatry, as seen in Judges 18, where the tribe of Dan set up a carved image. By placing a calf in Dan, Jeroboam was tapping into existing pagan practices, making it easier for the people to accept this new form of worship. This decision reflects a pragmatic but spiritually disastrous approach to leadership, prioritizing political stability over faithfulness to God.

(29) Bethel and Dan, chosen as the frontier towns of the kingdom, had, however, associations of their own, which lent themselves naturally to Jeroboam's design. Bethel--preserving in its name the memory of Jacob's vision, and of his consecration of the place as a sanctuary (Genesis 28:19; Genesis 35:14-15)--had been (see Judges 20:18; Judges 20:26; Judges 20:31; Judges 21:2; 1Samuel 7:16) a place of religious assembly, and, possibly, of occasional sojourn of the Ark. At Dan, it is not unlikely that the use of the local sanctuary, set up at the conquest of the city by the Danites, still lingered; and from the notice in Judges 18:30, that the posterity of Jonathan, the grandson of Moses, were priests till "the day of the captivity of the land," it seems as if these priests of this old worship became naturally the appointed ministers of the new. . . . Verse 29. - And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Daniel [Two considerations seem to have influenced Jeroboam in his choice of these sites. First, both these places were in some sort sanctuaries already. Bethel was already a makom, or holy place, in the days of Abraham; was consecrated by the visions and altar of Jacob (Genesis 28:11-19; Genesis 31:13; Genesis 35:1, 7, 15), and by the ark having been there (Judges 20:26-28, Hebrews; cf. Jos., Ant., 5:02.10). And though Dan (Joshua 19:47; Judges 18:29; Judges 20:1) can hardly have had as sacred a character as the "house of God and the gate of heaven" (Genesis 28:17) had, still it had its shrine and its schismatic priesthood. A grandson of Moses (Judges 18:13, true reading) had ministered there, and his sons were the priests of Dan still. Secondly, these localities would suit the convenience of his subjects, being respectively at the southern and northern extremities of the kingdom. And this, no doubt, was one reason why Dan was chosen in preference to other places, such as Shiloh, which, though more sacred, were less conveniently situated. A sanctuary at Dan would save the northern tribes many tedious journeys. It should be remarked that Bethel properly belonged to Benjamin (Joshua 18:13, 22), though it was also on the border of Ephraim; and it has been suggested that it was Jeroboam's selection of this place as a seat of the calf worship decided the tribe of Benjamin to follow the lead of Judah. But the narrative seems to imply that their choice had been made at an earlier period (ver. 21), and the city would seem to have been long in the possession of the house of Joseph (Judges 1:22). It is now known as Beitin, and is one of the most naked and dreary spots in Palestine. "The place seems, as it were, turned to stone; and we can well imagine that the patriarch found nothing softer than a stone for his pillow." Conder, p. 252, who suggests that from the time of Abraham Bethel was a מָקום, a sacred place merely (Genesis 28:11), and distinct from the adjoining city of Luz (ver. 19).]

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
One [calf]
הָאֶחָ֖ד (hā·’e·ḥāḏ)
Article | Number - masculine singular
Strong's 259: United, one, first

he set up
וַיָּ֥שֶׂם (way·yā·śem)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Consecutive imperfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 7760: Put -- to put, place, set

in Bethel,
אֵ֑ל (’êl)
Preposition | Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 1008: Bethel -- 'house of God', a city in Ephraim, also a place in southern Judah

[and]
נָתַ֥ן (nā·ṯan)
Verb - Qal - Perfect - third person masculine singular
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

the other
הָאֶחָ֖ד (hā·’e·ḥāḏ)
Article | Number - masculine singular
Strong's 259: United, one, first

in Dan.
בְּדָֽן׃ (bə·ḏān)
Preposition-b | Noun - proper - masculine singular
Strong's 1835: Dan -- 'judge', a son of Jacob, also a place in Northern Israel


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OT History: 1 Kings 12:29 He set the one in Bethel (1Ki iKi i Ki 1 Kg 1kg)
1 Kings 12:28
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