King Nadab (Israel)

Nadab, son of Jeroboam I, became king of Israel in the second year of Asa of Judah and reigned about two years (1 Kings 15:25–31). He "walked in the way of his father" and kept the golden calves. While he and the army were besieging Gibbethon, a Philistine town on the coastal plain, Baasha son of Ahijah of the tribe of Issachar conspired against him and killed him. Baasha took the throne and wiped out the entire house of Jeroboam, leaving no one alive, fulfilling the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite (1 Kings 14:10–11).

Nadab's death ended Israel's first dynasty after a single generation and began the pattern of coups that marked the northern kingdom. Scholars note that Jeroboam's sons Nadab and Abijah bear nearly the same names as Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu, who also died young, another echo between Jeroboam's calves and Aaron's Golden Calf. The capital in his time, Tirzah, is identified with Tell el-Far'ah North, excavated by Roland de Vaux.