Thematic Bible
Thematic Bible
Beth-el » A city » A city north of jerusalem » Jeroboam institutes idolatrous worship at
King Jeroboam of Israel fortified the town of Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there for a while. Then he left and fortified the town of Penuel. He thought to himself: The way things are my people will go to Jerusalem and offer sacrifices to Jehovah at the Temple there. They will transfer their allegiance to King Rehoboam of Judah and will kill me. read more.
After asking for advice, the king made two golden calves. He said: You have been worshiping in Jerusalem long enough. Israel, here are your gods who brought you out of Egypt. He placed one in Bethel and the other in Dan. This became Israel's sin, worshiping the golden calves. The people went as far as Dan to worship the one calf. Jeroboam built worship sites on hilltops. He appointed men who were not descended from Levi to be priests. Jeroboam appointed a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, just like the festival in Judah. He went to the altar in Bethel to sacrifice to the calves he had made. He appointed priests from the illegal worship sites to serve in Bethel. He went to his altar in Bethel to burn an offering on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the festival he invented for the Israelites.
After asking for advice, the king made two golden calves. He said: You have been worshiping in Jerusalem long enough. Israel, here are your gods who brought you out of Egypt. He placed one in Bethel and the other in Dan. This became Israel's sin, worshiping the golden calves. The people went as far as Dan to worship the one calf. Jeroboam built worship sites on hilltops. He appointed men who were not descended from Levi to be priests. Jeroboam appointed a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, just like the festival in Judah. He went to the altar in Bethel to sacrifice to the calves he had made. He appointed priests from the illegal worship sites to serve in Bethel. He went to his altar in Bethel to burn an offering on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the festival he invented for the Israelites.
But Jehu did not keep himself from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, and the evil he made Israel do. The gold calves were still worshiped in Bethel and in Dan.
Ephraim » A tribe of israel » Revolted from house of david
King Jeroboam of Israel fortified the town of Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there for a while. Then he left and fortified the town of Penuel.
When all Israel saw that the king refused to listen to them, the people answered the king: What share do we have in David's kingdom? We will not receive an inheritance from Jesse's son. Everyone to his own tent, Israel! Now look after your own house, David! So all Israel went home to their tents.
mount Ephraim » Ephraim, in central palestine
Gideon sent messengers through all the hill country of Ephraim to say: Come down and fight the Midianites! Hold the Jordan River and the streams as far as Bethbarah, to keep the Midianites from crossing them. The men of Ephraim were called together, and they held the Jordan River and the streams as far as Bethbarah.
She held court under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim. The children of Israel came to her for judgment.
Nothing is wrong, answered Gehazi. But my master sent me to tell you that just now two members of the group of prophets in the hill country of Ephraim arrived. He would like you to give them three thousand pieces of silver and two changes of fine clothes.
King Jeroboam of Israel fortified the town of Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there for a while. Then he left and fortified the town of Penuel.
They buried him on the border of his inheritance in Timnath-Serah, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of Gaash hill.
Joshua answered: If you are a great people, then get to the wood country, and cut down for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim is too narrow for you.
They went from there to Micah's house in the mountains of Ephraim.
Jeroboam » First king of israel after the revolt » Subverts the religion of moses
It was as if he copied the evil ways of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. He took as his wife Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of Zidon, and became a servant and worshipper of Baal.
King Jeroboam of Israel fortified the town of Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there for a while. Then he left and fortified the town of Penuel. He thought to himself: The way things are my people will go to Jerusalem and offer sacrifices to Jehovah at the Temple there. They will transfer their allegiance to King Rehoboam of Judah and will kill me. read more.
After asking for advice, the king made two golden calves. He said: You have been worshiping in Jerusalem long enough. Israel, here are your gods who brought you out of Egypt. He placed one in Bethel and the other in Dan. This became Israel's sin, worshiping the golden calves. The people went as far as Dan to worship the one calf. Jeroboam built worship sites on hilltops. He appointed men who were not descended from Levi to be priests. Jeroboam appointed a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, just like the festival in Judah. He went to the altar in Bethel to sacrifice to the calves he had made. He appointed priests from the illegal worship sites to serve in Bethel. He went to his altar in Bethel to burn an offering on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the festival he invented for the Israelites.
After asking for advice, the king made two golden calves. He said: You have been worshiping in Jerusalem long enough. Israel, here are your gods who brought you out of Egypt. He placed one in Bethel and the other in Dan. This became Israel's sin, worshiping the golden calves. The people went as far as Dan to worship the one calf. Jeroboam built worship sites on hilltops. He appointed men who were not descended from Levi to be priests. Jeroboam appointed a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, just like the festival in Judah. He went to the altar in Bethel to sacrifice to the calves he had made. He appointed priests from the illegal worship sites to serve in Bethel. He went to his altar in Bethel to burn an offering on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the festival he invented for the Israelites.
He lived exactly like Jeroboam, Nebat's son. He sinned and led Israel to sin with worthless idols. The Israelites made Jehovah the God of Israel furious.
You have committed far greater sins than those who ruled before you. You have rejected me and have aroused my anger by making idols and metal images to worship.
Jehovah will abandon Israel because Jeroboam sinned and led the people of Israel into sin.
King Jeroboam of Israel still did not turn from his evil ways. He continued to choose priests from ordinary families to serve at the altars he had built. He ordained as priest anyone who wanted to be one. This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam. It brought about its ruin and total destruction from the face of the earth.
I lifted you out of the dust and made you ruler over my people Israel. You have gone the way of Jeroboam. You made my people Israel do evil, moving me to wrath by their sins.
The priests abandoned their land and property and went to Judah and Jerusalem because Jeroboam and his descendants rejected them as Jehovah's priests.
Now you plan to fight against the royal authority Jehovah gave to David's descendants. You have a huge army! You have with you the golden calves that Jeroboam made to be your gods. You drove out Jehovah's priests! You evicted the descendants of Aaron and the Levites. In their place you appointed priests in the same way that other nations do. Anybody who comes along with a bull or seven sheep can get himself consecrated as a priest of those so-called gods of yours.
Kings » Who reigned over israel » Jeroboam
When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had come back, they requested a meeting of the people. At that meeting they made him king over Israel. There was none who followed the house of David except the tribe of Judah.
King Jeroboam of Israel fortified the town of Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there for a while. Then he left and fortified the town of Penuel. He thought to himself: The way things are my people will go to Jerusalem and offer sacrifices to Jehovah at the Temple there. They will transfer their allegiance to King Rehoboam of Judah and will kill me. read more.
After asking for advice, the king made two golden calves. He said: You have been worshiping in Jerusalem long enough. Israel, here are your gods who brought you out of Egypt. He placed one in Bethel and the other in Dan. This became Israel's sin, worshiping the golden calves. The people went as far as Dan to worship the one calf. Jeroboam built worship sites on hilltops. He appointed men who were not descended from Levi to be priests. Jeroboam appointed a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, just like the festival in Judah. He went to the altar in Bethel to sacrifice to the calves he had made. He appointed priests from the illegal worship sites to serve in Bethel. He went to his altar in Bethel to burn an offering on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the festival he invented for the Israelites. A man of God from Judah went to Bethel. He arrived there while Jeroboam was at the altar ready to offer a sacrifice. He actually spoke against the altar: O altar, altar, this is what Jehovah says: 'A child, whose name will be Josiah, will be born to the family of David. He will slaughter the priests serving at the pagan altars who offer sacrifices on you. He will burn human bones on you.' The prophet went on to say: This altar will fall apart. The ashes on it will be scattered. Then you will know that Jehovah has spoken through me. King Jeroboam heard this. He pointed his outstretched hand at him and ordered: Seize that man! At once the king's arm became paralyzed so that he could not pull it back. The altar suddenly fell apart and the ashes spilled to the ground. This is what the prophet predicted in the name of Jehovah. King Jeroboam said to the prophet: Please pray to Jehovah your God for me, and ask him to heal my arm! The prophet prayed to Jehovah and the king's arm was healed. Then the king said to the prophet: Come home with me and have something to eat. I will reward you for what you have done. The prophet answered: Even if you gave me half of your wealth, I would not go with you or eat or drink anything with you. I was ordered by the word of Jehovah, he said: You are not to take food or a drink of water, and you are not to go back the way you came. So he went another way, and not by the way he came to Bethel. There was an old prophet living in Bethel. His sons told him what the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They reported what he said to the king. Their father asked: Which way did he go? His sons saw which way the man of God went. So the prophet said to his sons: Saddle the donkey for me. So they saddled the donkey and he mounted it. He rode after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree. Are you the man of God who came from Judah? He asked. I am. Came his reply. He said: Come back to the house with me and have a meal. But the man of God from Judah replied: I may not go back with you or go into your house. I will not take food or a drink of water with you in this place. Jehovah said to me: 'You are not to take food or water there, or go back again by the way you came.' Then he said: I am a prophet like you. An angel said to me by the word of Jehovah, Take him back with you and give him food and water. But he lied to him. So he went back with him, and had a meal in his house and a drink of water. But while they were seated at the table, the word of Jehovah came to the old prophet who had brought him back. Crying out to the man of God who came from Judah, he said: Jehovah says, 'because you have gone against the voice of Jehovah, and have not done as Jehovah ordered you, but have come back, and have taken food and water in this place where he said you were to take no food or water; your dead body will not be put to rest with your fathers.' After the meal he made the donkey ready for the prophet whom he had taken back. He went on his way. A lion met him on the road and jumped him and killed him. His dead body was stretched in the road with the donkey by its side. The lion was by the body. Some people who passed by saw the body stretched out in the road with the lion by its side. They brought the news to the town where the old prophet lived. The old prophet heard about it and said: That is the prophet who disobeyed Jehovah's command! Jehovah sent the lion to attack and kill him, just as Jehovah said he would. He said to his sons: Saddle my donkey for me. They did so. He rode away to find the prophet's body lying on the road. The donkey and the lion were still standing by it. The lion had not eaten the body or attacked the donkey. The old prophet picked up the body and brought it back to Bethel on the donkey. There he mourned over it and buried it. He buried it in his own family grave. He and his sons mourned over it, saying: Oh my brother, my brother! After the burial the prophet said to his sons: When I die, bury me in this grave and lay my body next to his. The words that he spoke at Jehovah's command against the altar in Bethel and against all the places of worship in the towns of Samaria will surely come true. King Jeroboam of Israel still did not turn from his evil ways. He continued to choose priests from ordinary families to serve at the altars he had built. He ordained as priest anyone who wanted to be one. This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam. It brought about its ruin and total destruction from the face of the earth. King Jeroboam's son Abijah became sick. Jeroboam said to his wife: Disguise yourself so that no one will recognize you, and go to Shiloh. That is where the prophet Ahijah lives. He is the one who said I would be king of Israel. Take him ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey. Ask him what is going to happen to our son. He will tell you. She went to Ahijah's home in Shiloh. Old age had made Ahijah blind. Jehovah told him: Jeroboam's wife is coming to ask you about her son, for he is sick. Jehovah told Ahijah what to say. Jeroboam's wife pretended to be someone else when she arrived there. Ahijah heard her coming in the door and said: Come in. I know you are Jeroboam's wife. Why do you pretend to be someone else? I have bad news for you. Go and tell Jeroboam that this is what Jehovah, the God of Israel, says to him: I chose you from among the people and made you the ruler of my people Israel. I took the kingdom away from David's descendants and gave it to you. You have not been like my servant David. He was completely loyal to me. He obeyed my commands, and did only what I approve of. You have committed far greater sins than those who ruled before you. You have rejected me and have aroused my anger by making idols and metal images to worship. I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam. I will kill all your male descendants, young and old alike. I will get rid of your family. They will be swept away like dung. Dogs will eat members of your family who die in the city. Vultures will eat any who die in the open country. I, Jehovah, have spoken! Ahijah went on to say to Jeroboam's wife: Go back home. As soon as you enter the town, your son will die. All the people of Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He will be the only member of Jeroboam's family who will be properly buried for he is the only one with whom Jehovah, the God of Israel, is pleased. Jehovah will place a king over Israel who will put an end to Jeroboam's house. Jehovah will punish Israel, and she will shake like a reed shaking in a stream. He will uproot the people of Israel from this good land that he gave to their ancestors. He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they have aroused his anger by making idols of the goddess Asherah. Jehovah will abandon Israel because Jeroboam sinned and led the people of Israel into sin. Jeroboam's wife went back to Tirzah. Just as she entered her home, the child died. The people of Israel mourned for him and buried him. This is as Jehovah said through his servant, the prophet Ahijah. Everything else that King Jeroboam did, the wars he fought and how he ruled, are all recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. Jeroboam ruled as king for twenty-two years. He died and was buried. His son Nadab succeeded him as king.
After asking for advice, the king made two golden calves. He said: You have been worshiping in Jerusalem long enough. Israel, here are your gods who brought you out of Egypt. He placed one in Bethel and the other in Dan. This became Israel's sin, worshiping the golden calves. The people went as far as Dan to worship the one calf. Jeroboam built worship sites on hilltops. He appointed men who were not descended from Levi to be priests. Jeroboam appointed a festival on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, just like the festival in Judah. He went to the altar in Bethel to sacrifice to the calves he had made. He appointed priests from the illegal worship sites to serve in Bethel. He went to his altar in Bethel to burn an offering on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, the festival he invented for the Israelites. A man of God from Judah went to Bethel. He arrived there while Jeroboam was at the altar ready to offer a sacrifice. He actually spoke against the altar: O altar, altar, this is what Jehovah says: 'A child, whose name will be Josiah, will be born to the family of David. He will slaughter the priests serving at the pagan altars who offer sacrifices on you. He will burn human bones on you.' The prophet went on to say: This altar will fall apart. The ashes on it will be scattered. Then you will know that Jehovah has spoken through me. King Jeroboam heard this. He pointed his outstretched hand at him and ordered: Seize that man! At once the king's arm became paralyzed so that he could not pull it back. The altar suddenly fell apart and the ashes spilled to the ground. This is what the prophet predicted in the name of Jehovah. King Jeroboam said to the prophet: Please pray to Jehovah your God for me, and ask him to heal my arm! The prophet prayed to Jehovah and the king's arm was healed. Then the king said to the prophet: Come home with me and have something to eat. I will reward you for what you have done. The prophet answered: Even if you gave me half of your wealth, I would not go with you or eat or drink anything with you. I was ordered by the word of Jehovah, he said: You are not to take food or a drink of water, and you are not to go back the way you came. So he went another way, and not by the way he came to Bethel. There was an old prophet living in Bethel. His sons told him what the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They reported what he said to the king. Their father asked: Which way did he go? His sons saw which way the man of God went. So the prophet said to his sons: Saddle the donkey for me. So they saddled the donkey and he mounted it. He rode after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree. Are you the man of God who came from Judah? He asked. I am. Came his reply. He said: Come back to the house with me and have a meal. But the man of God from Judah replied: I may not go back with you or go into your house. I will not take food or a drink of water with you in this place. Jehovah said to me: 'You are not to take food or water there, or go back again by the way you came.' Then he said: I am a prophet like you. An angel said to me by the word of Jehovah, Take him back with you and give him food and water. But he lied to him. So he went back with him, and had a meal in his house and a drink of water. But while they were seated at the table, the word of Jehovah came to the old prophet who had brought him back. Crying out to the man of God who came from Judah, he said: Jehovah says, 'because you have gone against the voice of Jehovah, and have not done as Jehovah ordered you, but have come back, and have taken food and water in this place where he said you were to take no food or water; your dead body will not be put to rest with your fathers.' After the meal he made the donkey ready for the prophet whom he had taken back. He went on his way. A lion met him on the road and jumped him and killed him. His dead body was stretched in the road with the donkey by its side. The lion was by the body. Some people who passed by saw the body stretched out in the road with the lion by its side. They brought the news to the town where the old prophet lived. The old prophet heard about it and said: That is the prophet who disobeyed Jehovah's command! Jehovah sent the lion to attack and kill him, just as Jehovah said he would. He said to his sons: Saddle my donkey for me. They did so. He rode away to find the prophet's body lying on the road. The donkey and the lion were still standing by it. The lion had not eaten the body or attacked the donkey. The old prophet picked up the body and brought it back to Bethel on the donkey. There he mourned over it and buried it. He buried it in his own family grave. He and his sons mourned over it, saying: Oh my brother, my brother! After the burial the prophet said to his sons: When I die, bury me in this grave and lay my body next to his. The words that he spoke at Jehovah's command against the altar in Bethel and against all the places of worship in the towns of Samaria will surely come true. King Jeroboam of Israel still did not turn from his evil ways. He continued to choose priests from ordinary families to serve at the altars he had built. He ordained as priest anyone who wanted to be one. This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam. It brought about its ruin and total destruction from the face of the earth. King Jeroboam's son Abijah became sick. Jeroboam said to his wife: Disguise yourself so that no one will recognize you, and go to Shiloh. That is where the prophet Ahijah lives. He is the one who said I would be king of Israel. Take him ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey. Ask him what is going to happen to our son. He will tell you. She went to Ahijah's home in Shiloh. Old age had made Ahijah blind. Jehovah told him: Jeroboam's wife is coming to ask you about her son, for he is sick. Jehovah told Ahijah what to say. Jeroboam's wife pretended to be someone else when she arrived there. Ahijah heard her coming in the door and said: Come in. I know you are Jeroboam's wife. Why do you pretend to be someone else? I have bad news for you. Go and tell Jeroboam that this is what Jehovah, the God of Israel, says to him: I chose you from among the people and made you the ruler of my people Israel. I took the kingdom away from David's descendants and gave it to you. You have not been like my servant David. He was completely loyal to me. He obeyed my commands, and did only what I approve of. You have committed far greater sins than those who ruled before you. You have rejected me and have aroused my anger by making idols and metal images to worship. I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam. I will kill all your male descendants, young and old alike. I will get rid of your family. They will be swept away like dung. Dogs will eat members of your family who die in the city. Vultures will eat any who die in the open country. I, Jehovah, have spoken! Ahijah went on to say to Jeroboam's wife: Go back home. As soon as you enter the town, your son will die. All the people of Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He will be the only member of Jeroboam's family who will be properly buried for he is the only one with whom Jehovah, the God of Israel, is pleased. Jehovah will place a king over Israel who will put an end to Jeroboam's house. Jehovah will punish Israel, and she will shake like a reed shaking in a stream. He will uproot the people of Israel from this good land that he gave to their ancestors. He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they have aroused his anger by making idols of the goddess Asherah. Jehovah will abandon Israel because Jeroboam sinned and led the people of Israel into sin. Jeroboam's wife went back to Tirzah. Just as she entered her home, the child died. The people of Israel mourned for him and buried him. This is as Jehovah said through his servant, the prophet Ahijah. Everything else that King Jeroboam did, the wars he fought and how he ruled, are all recorded in The History of the Kings of Israel. Jeroboam ruled as king for twenty-two years. He died and was buried. His son Nadab succeeded him as king.
Mountains » Names of » Ephraim, in central palestine
Gideon sent messengers through all the hill country of Ephraim to say: Come down and fight the Midianites! Hold the Jordan River and the streams as far as Bethbarah, to keep the Midianites from crossing them. The men of Ephraim were called together, and they held the Jordan River and the streams as far as Bethbarah.
She held court under the palm tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim. The children of Israel came to her for judgment.
Nothing is wrong, answered Gehazi. But my master sent me to tell you that just now two members of the group of prophets in the hill country of Ephraim arrived. He would like you to give them three thousand pieces of silver and two changes of fine clothes.
King Jeroboam of Israel fortified the town of Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there for a while. Then he left and fortified the town of Penuel.
They buried him on the border of his inheritance in Timnath-Serah, in the mount of Ephraim, on the north side of Gaash hill.
Joshua answered: If you are a great people, then get to the wood country, and cut down for yourself there in the land of the Perizzites and of the giants, if mount Ephraim is too narrow for you.
They went from there to Micah's house in the mountains of Ephraim.
Penuel » Also called peniel » City built where jacob wrestled with the angel
King Jeroboam of Israel fortified the town of Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there for a while. Then he left and fortified the town of Penuel.
He went up to Penuel and made the same request of them. The men of Penuel gave the same answer as the men of Succoth. He spoke to the men of Penuel: When I come again in peace, I will break down this tower.
Shechem » Also called sychar, a city of refuge in mount ephraim » Rebuilt by jeroboam
King Jeroboam of Israel fortified the town of Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim and lived there for a while. Then he left and fortified the town of Penuel.