This thing became a sin; for the people went to worship before the one at Bethel and before the one at Dan — The Deuteronomistic historian's immediate pronouncement—"This thing became a sin" (הַדָּבָר הַזֶּה לְחַטָּאת, hadavar hazze lehattat)—frames Jeroboam's religious innovation as categorical transgression. The people's worship before both calves normalizes idolatry, establishing it as the religious practice of the northern kingdom. The phrase וַיֵּלְכוּ הָעָם (vayyelkhu ha-am, the people went) shows the populace's acceptance, perhaps even relief at having a local shrine. Yet this accommodation to Jeroboam's religious convenience becomes the doorway to comprehensive apostasy.

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