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Son of Nebat, of the tribe of Ephraim, and king of Israel. He reigned
twenty-two years: B.C. 975-954. He had been an officer under Solomon, but Ahijah the prophet, having found him, tore his new garment into twelve pieces, and gave him ten of them, telling him that he should be king over ten of the tribes. Solomon thereupon sought to kill him, but he fled to Egypt and stayed there till the death of Solomon. On the division of the kingdom, Jeroboam was made king of the ten tribes. Fearing that his subjects, if they went up to Jerusalem to worship, would be alienated from him, he made two golden calves, placing one in Beth-el in the south, and the other in Dan in the north; and declared that these were the gods that had brought Israel out of Egypt. Priests of the common people were ordained by him, sacrifices were offered, and feast days devised. Thus the nation through their king sank at once into open idolatry: a warning to those in Christendom who devise out of their own heart their forms of worship, etc.
A man of God came from Judah to cry against the altar at Beth-el, and the king's hand, on being put forth to seize him, was dried up. On the prophet entreating the Lord his hand was restored, but he repented not of his idolatry. He had been told that if he would follow the Lord as David had done, his house should be established; but his dynasty extended only to his son Nadab. Jeroboam is charged with doing evil above all that had been before him, and his doings became a proverb. For Israel to sin "as Jeroboam the son of Nebat," was a mark of consummate wickedness. 1 Kings 11: 26-40; 1 Kings
12.- 1 Kings 14., etc.