1 Kings 11:30

30 Then Ahi'jah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, 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 The man Jerobo'am was very able, and when Solomon saw that the young man was industrious he gave him charge over all the forced labor of the house of Joseph.

29 And at that time, when Jerobo'am went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahi'jah the Shi'lonite found him on the road. Now Ahi'jah had clad himself with a new garment; and the two of them were alone in the open country.

30 Then Ahi'jah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces.

31 And he said to Jerobo'am, "Take for yourself ten pieces; for thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, 'Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon, and will give you ten tribes

32 (but he shall have one tribe, for the sake of my servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel),