Bible Strands
1 Kings 12:27
If these people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the LORD at Jerusalem, their hearts will return to their lord, Rehoboam king of Judah; then they will kill me and return to Rehoboam king of Judah.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Jeroboam voices this warning to himself and his court immediately after the northern tribes separate from Judah. He anticipates that the people's religious pilgrimages will trigger a political defection to Rehoboam.
The words — The Hebrew עֲשׂוֹת ('a.Sot) means to make or perform, paired here with זְבָחִים (ze.va.Chim) for sacrifices. Jeroboam ties these verbs to the house of יְהוָה (Yahweh) in Jerusalem as the direct cause of his anticipated overthrow.
The thread — The verse directly confronts the Deuteronomic mandate that sacrifices must occur only at the place the LORD chooses (Deuteronomy 12:5; Deuteronomy 12:14; Deuteronomy 16:6). Jeroboam's calculated fear runs opposite to the established covenant requirement for centralized worship.
Why it lands — The text requires the reader to acknowledge that worship practices establish political loyalty and national identity. It demands an assessment of how institutionalizing rival sanctuaries fractures covenant allegiance and guarantees rebellion.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
If this people go up to do sacrifice in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem, then shall the heart of this people turn again unto their lord, even unto Rehoboam king of Judah, and they shall kill me, and go again to Rehoboam king of Judah.
Cross-references
- Deuteronomy 12:5 Instead, you must seek the place the LORD your God will choose from among all your tribes to establish as a dwelling for His Name, and there you must go.
- Deuteronomy 12:14 you must offer them only in the place the LORD will choose in one of your tribal territories, and there you shall do all that I command you.
- Deuteronomy 16:6 You must only offer the Passover sacrifice at the place the LORD your God will choose as a dwelling for His Name. Do this in the evening as the sun sets, at the same time you departed from Egypt.
- Proverbs 29:25 The fear of man is a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is set securely on high.
- Genesis 12:12 and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live.
- Genesis 26:7 But when the men of that place asked about his wife, he said, “She is my sister.” For he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” since he thought to himself, “The men of this place will kill me on account of Rebekah, because she is so beautiful.”
- Deuteronomy 16:2 You are to offer to the LORD your God the Passover sacrifice from the herd or flock in the place the LORD will choose as a dwelling for His Name.
- 1 Kings 8:29 May Your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that You may hear the prayer that Your servant prays toward this place.
- 1 Kings 8:44 When Your people go to war against their enemies, wherever You send them, and when they pray to the LORD in the direction of the city You have chosen and the house I have built for Your Name,
- 1 Kings 11:32 But one tribe will remain for the sake of My servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.