Jeroboam
Jeroboam I was the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel after the split of the united monarchy following Solomon's reign.
Jeroboam son of Nebat was the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel after the division of Solomon's realm around 930 BCE. An able administrator under Solomon who fled to Egypt to escape Solomon's wrath (1 Kings 11:26–40), he returned after Solomon's death and led the northern tribes' secession when Rehoboam refused to reduce the labor burden. As king, Jeroboam established two golden calves at Bethel and Dan, declaring 'Behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt' (1 Kings 12:28), an act condemned as the archetypal sin of the northern kingdom throughout the books of Kings. The formula 'the sin of Jeroboam son of Nebat' recurs as the standard indictment against every subsequent northern king, making him the paradigm of religious apostasy in Israelite historiography.