1 Kings 12:29

1Ki 12:29 And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan.

Ver. 29. And he set the one in Bethel.] At both ends of the land.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ki 12:29. He set the one in Beth-el, &c. — Which two places he chose for the people’s convenience, Beth-el being in the southern, and Dan in the northern part of his kingdom. Add to this, that as Bethel was in every body’s opinion a sacred place, having been consecrated by God’s appearing there more than once to Jacob; so Dan had been famous for the teraphim of Micah, unto which there had been great resort for a long time, Jdg 18:30. For such reasons as these it is likely he waived his royal city, which was Shechem, and chose these two places for the worship of the Divine Majesty, whom he pretended he did not forsake, but worshipped by these symbols of his presence.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

12:29-30 By placing the calf idols in Bethel (the southern part of Israel) and in Dan (the far northern section) Jeroboam gave his people two choice sites with long religious traditions (see Gen 12:8; 28:11-19; Judg 18:30-31). Archaeological excavations confirm the existence of a high place—an altar for pagan worship—in Dan. Bethel was where Jacob had his dream (Gen 28:10-22), and it was the resting place of the Ark of the Covenant in the days of the judges (Judg 20:18-28) and a sanctuary in Samuel’s time (1 Sam 7:16; 10:3).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 29. One in Beth-el, and the other - in Dan.] One at the southern and the other at the northern extremity of the land. Solomon's idolatry had prepared the people for Jeroboam's abominations!

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(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 (Gen_28:19; Gen_35:14-15)—had been (see Jdg_20:18; Jdg_20:26; Jdg_20:31; Jdg_21:2; 1Sa_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 Jdg_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.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

29. in Beth-el] The well-known city in the extreme south of the tribe of Ephraim, and so just on the southern border of the new kingdom of Israel.

in Dan] The town, formerly called Laish, in the very north of Palestine, and always mentioned as a limit of the land in the phrase ‘from Dan to Beersheba.’ It was so remote from the influence of the rest of the nation that its inhabitants lived ‘after the manner of the Zidonians.’ They were, that is, sea-faring people, rather than shepherds and husbandmen like the rest of their brethren. The places chosen by Jeroboam were at either limit of his kingdom, and had been associated with religious worship in ancient times. See Jdg_18:30; Jdg_20:18; Jdg_20:26; 1Sa_10:3.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he made an house of high places,.... Or "altars" (s), built a temple at Dan, and set up several altars in it for sacrifice, both for burnt offerings, and for incense, as at Jerusalem:

and made priests of the lowest of the people; this clause seems not so well rendered; for this would have been very unpopular, and brought his new form of worship into contempt, to make the dregs of the people priests, which was not only a very sacred office, but of great honour; it was usual in some nations for kings to be priests also (t), and Jeroboam himself exercised this office, Kg1 12:33 and therefore would never put the meanest of the people into it, but rather those of higher rank: the words may be literally rendered, "from the extremities" or "ends of the people" (u); meaning not merely from the extremist parts of his country, but rather out of the whole of the people; out of all sorts of them, out of any of them, without any distinction of tribe: for so it follows,

which were not of the sons of Levi; and as by this means he enriched himself, by taking the cities that belonged to the priests and Levites, which they were obliged to leave, and from whence he drove them, Ch2 11:14 so he pleased the people by laying open the priesthood common to them, and freeing them from the payment of tithes, and the like.

(s) "altarium", Vatablus. (t) Rex Anius, &c. Virgil. l. 3. Vid. Servium in ib. (u) "de extremitatibus populi", Vatablus, Piscator.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

In the first place, Jeroboam consulted the convenience of his subjects, who would thus in no case have very far to go in order to reach one or the other sanctuary. Further, he avoided the danger of reminding them continually that they had no ark - a danger which would have been imminent, had the two cherubs been placed together in one shrine.

He selected Bethel (in the south) for one of his seats of worship, on account of its pre-eminent sanctity. (See the marginal reference; Jdg 20:26-28; 1Sa 7:16.)

The north of Palestine did not furnish a spot possessing an equally sacred character, but still Dan had to some extent the character of a “holy city” (marginal reference).

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Bethel and Dan. Bethel was a city of the tribe of Ephraim, in the southern parts of the dominions of Jeroboam, about six leagues from Jerusalem: Dan was in the extremity of his dominions, to the north, on the confines of Syria. (Challoner) --- The Israelites did not hesitate to travel so far, ver. 30. (Calmet) --- Those who lived nearer Bethel, went thither along with their king. (Salien) --- The latter city was assigned to Benjamin, Josue xviii. 22. (Menochius) --- But probably many of the subjects of Jeroboam dwelt in it; so that it was the most southern city of his dominions. It had been consecrated by Jacob, (Genesis xxviii. 19.) and was a famous place of devotion, 1 Kings x. 3. Septuagint (Alexandrian) and St. Cyril (in Osee, p. 5.) read Galgal. Dan had been long before infected with idolatry, Judges xviii. 30.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Which two places he chose for his people’s conveniency;

Beth-el being in the southern, and

Dan in the northern parts of his kingdom.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

29. Beth-el… Dan — Since one of the objects he professed to seek was the convenience of the people, two places of worship would of course be better than one — Beth-el in the southern and Dan in the northern part of the kingdom. Perhaps, also, here was a still closer imitation of the Egyptian calf-worship, in that the two calves might resemble, the one Apis, who was worshipped at Memphis, and the other Mne, who was worshipped at On. There was reason, and policy too, in fixing on Beth-el and Dan. The one was consecrated in the traditions of the people as the place where God appeared to Jacob, and that patriarch had himself called it the house of God. Gen_28:11-22. There, too, the people had formerly been wont to go up to worship God. 1Sa_10:3. And at Dan the teraphim of Micah had been set up, and a religious service established in connexion with it in the days of the judges. Jdg_18:30.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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, (Gen_28:11-19 Gen_31:13 Gen_35:1, Gen_35:7, Gen_35:15) and by the ark having been there (Jud 20:26-28, Hebrews; cf. Jos., Ant., 5:2. 10). And though Dan (Joshua Jud_1:18:29 20:1) can hardly have had as sacred a character as the "house of God and the gate of heaven" (Gen_28:17) had, still it had its shrine and its schismatic priesthood. A grandson of Moses (Jud_1:18:13, 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, (Jos_18:13, Jos_18:22) 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. (Jud_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 a sacred place merely, (Gen_28:11) and distinct from the adjoining city of Luz (ver. 19).

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Beth-el, &c. - Which two places he chose for his peoples conveniency; Beth-el being in the southern, and Dan. in the northern parts of his kingdom.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.