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The first king of the northern kingdom — and the gold standard for bad kings
Historically Verified
A seal carved with 'Belonging to Shema, servant of Jeroboam' was dug up at Megiddo in 1904. A cast of it is at the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem.
open_in_newAfter Solomon's death, Jeroboam led the northern tribes to split from Judah (1 Kings 12). To prevent his people from going to Jerusalem's Temple, he set up golden calves at Dan and Bethel and said 'Here are your gods, O Israel.' Nearly every bad king after him is measured by the phrase 'he walked in the way of Jeroboam.' He single-handedly defined what it meant to lead Israel into sin.