Ephrem the Syrian, on 1Kgs 12:28

“And finding out a device he made two golden calves, and said to them: Go ye up no more to Jerusalem: Behold thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt.”

“While he prepared to establish the reign which was reserved to him by God according to the predictions of the prophets Shemaiah and Ahijah, Jeroboam thought that nothing could be more useful for his purpose than kindling the hatred of the two opposite parties to the highest possible degree, so that he might preclude any chance of reconciliation and peace. Therefore, in order that those who already distrusted each other might be removed from each other even further, he introduced a new reason for dissension concerning the worship of God. He persuaded his party to leave behind their Jewish rites and to take up the religion of the Egyptians which was superior to all other religions, just as Egyptian wisdom and power were greater that those of the Canaanites and the Jews. Since the majority of the tribes agreed, he proposed to worship the ancient idols of the Hebrews, namely, two calves of gold, and dedicated them by using, according to the old custom, the formula "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt."”

Imported from an open dataset — not yet checked against the printed edition.