1 Kings 14:3

3 And take with thee ten loaves and cracknels and a cruse of honey and go to him, that he shall tell thee what shall become of this child.

1 Kings 14:3 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 14:3

And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse
of honey, and go to him
It being usual to carry a present to a prophet when he was inquired of on any account, see ( 1 Samuel 9:7 ) and this being a plain present, and of such things as the country afforded, she might be taken for a plain countrywoman, and not for such a personage as she was: the ten loaves could not be large for a woman to carry, most probably made of wheat; the cracknels, according to the Greek version in Drusius, were for the prophet's children; they very likely were spiced, or were sweetened with honey, and might be somewhat like our simnels; they seem to have their name in Hebrew from having points and pricks in them for the sake of ornament; such as Plautus F8 calls "scribilitae", because as Turnebus F9 says, they were marked and pricked, and seemed as if they were written:

he shall tell thee what shall become of the child;
whether it should live or die, for that was all he wanted to know; he did not desire to know what should be done to the child for its recovery, nor to request the prophet's prayers for it.


FOOTNOTES:

F8 Prolog. Poenulo, ver. 43.
F9 Adversar. l. 23. c. 10.

1 Kings 14:3 In-Context

1 At that time Abijah, the son of Jeroboam, fell sick.
2 And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou not be known to be the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh, for Ahijah the prophet is there, who told me that I should be king over this people.
3 And take with thee ten loaves and cracknels and a cruse of honey and go to him, that he shall tell thee what shall become of this child.
4 And Jeroboam’s wife did so and arose and went to Shiloh and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were set by reason of his age.
5 But the LORD had said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam shall come to consult thee regarding her son, who is sick; thus and thus shalt thou say unto her, for it shall be, when she comes, that she shall come in disguise.
The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010