1 Kings 14:1-20

Disaster on the House of Jeroboam

1 At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became sick.
2 Jeroboam said to his wife, "Go disguise yourself, so they won't know that you're Jeroboam's wife, and go to Shiloh. Ahijah the prophet is there; it was he who told about me becoming king over this people.
3 Take with you 10 loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy."
4 Jeroboam's wife did that: she went to Shiloh and arrived at Ahijah's house. Ahijah could not see; his gaze was fixed[a] due to his age.
5 But the Lord had said to Ahijah, "Jeroboam's wife is coming soon to ask you about her son, for he is sick. You are to say such and such to her. When she arrives, she will be disguised."
6 When Ahijah heard the sound of her feet entering the door, he said, "Come in, wife of Jeroboam! Why are you disguised? I have bad news for you.
7 Go tell Jeroboam, 'This is what the Lord God of Israel says: I raised you up from among the people, appointed you ruler over My people Israel,
8 tore the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to you. But you were not like My servant David, who kept My commandments and followed Me with all of his heart, doing only what is right in My eyes.
9 You behaved more wickedly than all who were before you. In order to provoke Me, you have proceeded to make for yourself other gods and cast images, but you have flung Me behind your back.
10 Because of all this, I am about to bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam: I will eliminate all of Jeroboam's males,[b] both slave and free,[c] in Israel; I will sweep away the house of Jeroboam as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone!
11 Anyone who belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city, the dogs will eat, and anyone who dies in the field, the birds of the sky will eat,[d] for the Lord has said it!'
12 "As for you, get up and go to your house. When your feet enter the city, the boy will die.
13 All Israel will mourn for him and bury him, for this one alone out of Jeroboam's [sons] will come to the grave, because in him [alone] out of the house of Jeroboam something was found pleasing to the Lord God of Israel.
14 The Lord will raise up for Himself a king over Israel, who will eliminate the house of Jeroboam.[e] This is the day, yes,[f] even today!
15 For the Lord will strike Israel [and the people will shake] as a reed shakes in water. He will uproot Israel from this good soil that He gave to their forefathers. He will scatter them beyond the Euphrates because they made their Asherah poles, provoking the Lord.
16 He will give up Israel, because of Jeroboam's sins that he committed and caused Israel to commit."
17 Then Jeroboam's wife got up and left and went to Tirzah. As she was crossing the threshold of the house, the boy died.
18 He was buried, and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord He had spoken through His servant Ahijah the prophet.
19 As for the rest of the events of Jeroboam's [reign], how he waged war and how he reigned, note that they are written about in the Historical Record of Israel's Kings.
20 The length of Jeroboam's reign was 22 years. He rested with his fathers, and his son Nadab became king in his place.

1 Kings 14:1-20 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 14

This chapter relates the sickness of Jeroboam's son, the application of his wife, at his instance, to the prophet Ahijah, in the child's favour, 1Ki 14:1-6, the prophecy of the prophet concerning the ruin of Jeroboam's house, and the death of the child, which came to pass, 1Ki 14:7-18, an account of the years of Jeroboam's reign, and also of Rehoboam's, 1Ki 14:19-21, and of the evil things done and suffered by the latter in his kingdom, and the calamities that came upon him for it, 1Ki 14:22-28 and the conclusion of his reign, 1Ki 14:29-31.

Footnotes 6

  • [a]. Lit see, for his eyes stood; 1 Sm 4:15
  • [b]. Lit eliminate Jeroboam's one who urinates against the wall
  • [c]. Hb obscure
  • [d]. 1 Kg 16:4; 21:24
  • [e]. 1 Kg 15:27-29
  • [f]. Hb obscure
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