1 Kings 11:30

30 Ahijah took his new coat and tore it into twelve pieces.

1 Kings 11:30 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 11:30

And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him
This looks as if it was Jeroboam's garment, having got a new one to appear before the king in; though the sense may be this, that the prophet took hold of his own garment that was upon himself:

and rent it in twelve pieces;
as symbolical of the twelve tribes of Israel.

1 Kings 11:30 In-Context

28 Jeroboam was a capable man, and Solomon saw that this young man was a good worker. So Solomon put him over all the workers from the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.

29 One day as Jeroboam was leaving Jerusalem, Ahijah, the prophet from Shiloh, who was wearing a new coat, met him on the road. The two men were alone out in the country.

30 Ahijah took his new coat and tore it into twelve pieces.

31 Then he said to Jeroboam, "Take ten pieces of this coat for yourself. The Lord, the God of Israel, says: 'I will tear the kingdom away from Solomon and give you ten tribes.

32 But I will allow him to control one tribe. I will do this for the sake of my servant David and for Jerusalem, the city I have chosen from all the tribes of Israel.