1 Kings 14:1-18

Ahijah’s Prophecy Against Jeroboam

1 At that time Abijah son of Jeroboam became ill,
2 and Jeroboam said to his wife, “Go, disguise yourself, so you won’t be recognized as the wife of Jeroboam. Then go to Shiloh. Ahijah the prophet is there—the one who told me I would be king over this people.
3 Take ten loaves of bread with you, some cakes and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”
4 So Jeroboam’s wife did what he said and went to Ahijah’s house in Shiloh. Now Ahijah could not see; his sight was gone because of his age.
5 But the LORD had told Ahijah, “Jeroboam’s wife is coming to ask you about her son, for he is ill, and you are to give her such and such an answer. When she arrives, she will pretend to be someone else.”
6 So when Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps at the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why this pretense? I have been sent to you with bad news.
7 Go, tell Jeroboam that this is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘I raised you up from among the people and appointed you ruler over my people Israel.
8 I tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you, but you have not been like my servant David, who kept my commands and followed me with all his heart, doing only what was right in my eyes.
9 You have done more evil than all who lived before you. You have made for yourself other gods, idols made of metal; you have aroused my anger and turned your back on me.
10 “ ‘Because of this, I am going to bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam. I will cut off from Jeroboam every last male in Israel—slave or free.[a] I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns dung, until it is all gone.
11 Dogs will eat those belonging to Jeroboam who die in the city, and the birds will feed on those who die in the country. The LORD has spoken!’
12 “As for you, go back home. When you set foot in your city, the boy will die.
13 All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. He is the only one belonging to Jeroboam who will be buried, because he is the only one in the house of Jeroboam in whom the LORD, the God of Israel, has found anything good.
14 “The LORD will raise up for himself a king over Israel who will cut off the family of Jeroboam. Even now this is beginning to happen.[b]
15 And the LORD will strike Israel, so that it will be like a reed swaying in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land that he gave to their ancestors and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River, because they aroused the LORD’s anger by making Asherah poles.[c]
16 And he will give Israel up because of the sins Jeroboam has committed and has caused Israel to commit.”
17 Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and left and went to Tirzah. As soon as she stepped over the threshold of the house, the boy died.
18 They buried him, and all Israel mourned for him, as the LORD had said through his servant the prophet Ahijah.

1 Kings 14:1-18 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.

Cross References 23

  • 1. 1 Samuel 28:8; 2 Samuel 14:2; S 1 Kings 11:29
  • 2. S 1 Samuel 9:7
  • 3. S 1 Samuel 28:12
  • 4. 1 Kings 15:29
  • 5. 2 Samuel 12:7-8; 1 Kings 16:2; 1 Kings 11:37
  • 6. S 1 Samuel 15:27; 1Ki 11:31,33,38
  • 7. S 2 Samuel 8:15; 1 Kings 3:3; 1 Kings 15:5; 2 Kings 14:3; 2 Kings 15:3,34; 2 Kings 16:2; 2 Kings 18:3; 2 Kings 20:3; 2 Kings 22:2
  • 8. 1 Kings 16:30,33; 1 Kings 21:25; 2 Kings 21:9,11; 2 Kings 24:3
  • 9. 1 Kings 16:2
  • 10. S Exodus 20:4; S Exodus 32:4; Exodus 34:17; 1 Kings 12:28; 2 Chronicles 11:15
  • 11. Deuteronomy 32:16; 1 Kings 16:2; Psalms 78:58; Jeremiah 7:18; Jeremiah 8:19; Jeremiah 32:32; Jeremiah 44:3; Ezekiel 8:17; Ezekiel 16:26
  • 12. Nehemiah 9:26; Psalms 50:17; Jeremiah 2:27; Jeremiah 32:33; Ezekiel 23:35
  • 13. S Joshua 23:15; S 1 Kings 13:34
  • 14. S Deuteronomy 32:36; 1 Kings 21:21; 2 Kings 9:8-9; 2 Kings 14:26
  • 15. 1 Samuel 12:25; 1 Samuel 15:26; 1 Kings 15:29; Hosea 13:11
  • 16. 1 Kings 16:4; 1 Kings 21:24
  • 17. S Genesis 40:19; S Deuteronomy 28:26
  • 18. 2 Chronicles 12:12; 2 Chronicles 19:3
  • 19. S Deuteronomy 29:28; 2 Kings 15:29; 2 Kings 17:6; S 2 Chronicles 7:20; Psalms 52:5
  • 20. Joshua 23:15-16; Jeremiah 44:3
  • 21. Exodus 34:13; S Deuteronomy 12:3
  • 22. S 1 Kings 12:30; 1 Kings 13:34; 1 Kings 15:30,34; 1 Kings 16:2; S 1 Kings 15:26
  • 23. ver 12; S Joshua 12:24; S 1 Kings 15:33; 1 Kings 16:6-9

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Or "Israel—every ruler or leader"
  • [b]. The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.
  • [c]. That is, wooden symbols of the goddess Asherah; here and elsewhere in 1 Kings
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