Golden Calves of Jeroboam
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(1 Kings 12:28–33)—two calf images established by Jeroboam I at Bethel and Dan so that the northern tribes would not return to Jerusalem for worship. His words echoed the proclamation at Sinai: “Behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.” The source speculates that Jeroboam learned the form in Egypt, but the text does not state this. The shrines, non-Levitical priesthood, and altered festival became the enduring biblical standard for “the sin of Jeroboam” (1 Kings 14:16).