1 Kings 11:30

30 Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it in 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 Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor; and Solomon saw the young man that he was industrious, and he gave him charge over all the labor of the house of Joseph.

29 It happened at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; now [Ahijah] had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field.

30 Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it in twelve pieces.

31 He said to Jeroboam, Take ten pieces; for thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to you

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