The name Nebat means "regard" or "aspect," derived from the root nabat (H5027, to look). He was the father of Jeroboam I, the first king of the northern kingdom of Israel after the division of Solomon's kingdom. Nebat is invariably mentioned as part of the formulaic phrase identifying his son: "Jeroboam son of Nebat."
The phrase "Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin" becomes the most repeated formula of condemnation in the books of Kings. Nearly every subsequent king of the northern kingdom is measured against this standard. Nebat's name thus becomes permanently linked with the original sin of the divided kingdom — the establishment of idolatrous worship at Dan and Bethel — serving as a perpetual warning against leading God's people into false worship.