1 Kings14
New King James Version
1At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick.
2And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Please arise, and disguise yourself, that they may not recognize you as the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Shiloh. Indeed, Ahijah the prophet is there, who told me that I would be king over this people.
3Also take with you ten loaves, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him; he will tell you what will become of the child.”
4And Jeroboam’s wife did so; she arose and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were glazed by reason of his age.
5Now the Lord had said to Ahijah, “Here is the wife of Jeroboam, coming to ask you something about her son, for he is sick. Thus and thus you shall say to her; for it will be, when she comes in, that she will pretend to be another woman.”
6And so it was, when Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps as she came through the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be another person? For I have been sent to you with bad news.
7Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Because I exalted you from among the people, and made you ruler over My people Israel,
8and tore the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to you; and yet you have not been as My servant David, who kept My commandments and who followed Me with all his heart, to do only what was right in My eyes;
9but you have done more evil than all who were before you, for you have gone and made for yourself other gods and molded images to provoke Me to anger, and have cast Me behind your back—
10therefore behold! I will bring disaster on the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male in Israel, bond and free; I will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as one takes away refuse until it is all gone.
11The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Jeroboam and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field; for the Lord has spoken!” ’
12Arise therefore, go to your own house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die.
13And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for he is the only one of Jeroboam who shall come to the grave, because in him there is found something good toward the Lord God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.
14“Moreover the Lord will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam; this is the day. What? Even now!
15For the Lord will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water. He will uproot Israel from this good land which He gave to their fathers, and will scatter them beyond the River, because they have made their wooden images, provoking the Lord to anger.
16And He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who sinned and who made Israel sin.”
17Then Jeroboam’s wife arose and departed, and came to Tirzah. When she came to the threshold of the house, the child died.
18And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord which He spoke through His servant Ahijah the prophet.
19Now the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he made war and how he reigned, indeed they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
20The period that Jeroboam reigned was twenty-two years. So he rested with his fathers. Then Nadab his son reigned in his place.
21And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he became king. He reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. His mother’s name was Naamah, an Ammonitess.
22Now Judah did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they provoked Him to jealousy with their sins which they committed, more than all that their fathers had done.
23For they also built for themselves high places, sacred pillars, and wooden images on every high hill and under every green tree.
24And there were also perverted persons in the land. They did according to all the abominations of the nations which the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel.
25It happened in the fifth year of King Rehoboam that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem.
26And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king’s house; he took away everything. He also took away all the gold shields which Solomon had made.
27Then King Rehoboam made bronze shields in their place, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, who guarded the doorway of the king’s house.
28And whenever the king entered the house of the Lord, the guards carried them, then brought them back into the guardroom.
29Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
30And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.
31So Rehoboam rested with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the City of David. His mother’s name was Naamah, an Ammonitess. Then Abijam his son reigned in his place.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for 1 Kings 14.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: Abijah being sick, his mother consults Ahijah. (1–6). The destruction of Jeroboam's house. (7–20). Rehoboam's wicked reign. (21–31).
vv1-6
“At that time,” when Jeroboam did evil, his child sickened. When sickness comes into our families, we should inquire whether there may not be some particular sin harboured in our houses, which the affliction is sent to convince us of, and reclaim us from. It had been more pious if he had desired to know wherefore God contended with him; had begged the prophet's prayers, and cast away his idols from him; but most people would rather be told their fortune, than their faults or their duty. He sent to Ahijah, because he had told him he should be king. Those who by sin disqualify themselves for comfort, yet expect that their ministers, because they are good men, should speak peace and comfort to them, greatly wrong themselves and their ministers. He sent his wife in disguise, that the prophet might only answer her question concerning her son. Thus some people would limit their ministers to smooth things, and care not for having the whole counsel of God declared to them, lest it should prophesy no good concerning them, but evil. But she shall know, at the first word, what she has to trust to. Tidings of a portion with hypocrites will be heavy tidings. God will judge men according to what they are, not by what they seem to be.
vv7-20
Whether we keep an account of God's mercies to us or not, he does; and he will set them in order before us, if we are ungrateful, to our greater confusion. Ahijah foretells the speedy death of the child then sick, in mercy to him. He only in the house of Jeroboam had affection for the true worship of God, and disliked the worship of the calves. To show the power and sovereignty of his grace, God saves some out of the worst families, in whom there is some good thing towards the Lord God of Israel. The righteous are removed from the evil to come in this world, to the good to come in a better world. It is often a bad sign for a family, when the best in it are buried out of it. Yet their death never can be a loss to themselves. It was a present affliction to the family and kingdom, by which both ought to have been instructed. God also tells the judgments which should come upon the people of Israel, for conforming to the worship Jeroboam established. After they left the house of David, the government never continued long in one family, but one undermined and destroyed another. Families and kingdoms are ruined by sin. If great men do wickedly, they draw many others, both into the guilt and punishment. The condemnation of those will be severest, who must answer, not only for their own sins, but for sins others have been drawn into, and kept in, by them.
vv21-31
Here is no good said of Rehoboam, and much said to the disadvantage of his subjects. The abounding of the worst crimes, of the worst of the heathen, in Jerusalem, the city the Lord had chosen for his temple and his worship, shows that nothing can mend the hearts of fallen men but the sanctifying grace of the Holy Spirit. On this alone may we depend; for this let us daily pray, in behalf of ourselves and all around us. The splendour of their temple, the pomp of their priesthood, and all the advantages with which their religion was attended, could not prevail to keep them close to it; nothing less than the pouring out the Spirit will keep God's Israel in their allegiance to him. Sin exposes, makes poor, and weakens any people. Shishak, king of Egypt, came and took away the treasures. Sin makes the gold become dim, changes the most fine gold, and turns it into brass.
Key Words
עֵת: time, especially (adverb with preposition) now, when, etc.
אֲבִיָּה: Abijah, the name of several Israelite men and two Israelitesses
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
יָרׇבְעָם: Jarobam, the name of two Israelite kings
חָלָה: properly, to be rubbed or worn; hence (figuratively) to be weak, sick, afflicted; or (causatively) to grieve, make sick; also to stroke (in flattering), entreat
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
אִשָּׁה: a woman
שָׁנָה: to fold, i.e. duplicate (literally or figuratively); by implication, to transmute (transitive or intransitive)
לֹא: not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles
יָדַע: to know (properly, to ascertain by seeing); used in a great variety of senses, figuratively, literally, euphemistically and inferentially (including observation, care, recognition; and causatively, instruction, designation, punishment, etc.)
Cross References
1 Kings 14Baasha of Issachar conspires and utterly destroys the house of Jeroboam, fulfilling Ahijah's prophecy.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Parallel account detailing Rehoboam's reign, age, years in Jerusalem, and his mother Naamah.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Parallel account of Shishak of Egypt looting Jerusalem and taking Solomon's gold shields.
Supported by Matthew Henry, JFB
Jeroboam sends his wife to Ahijah, the very prophet who first promised him the kingdom.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Establishes custom of bringing a gift to a seer, though disguised as a simple peasant's offering.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Identical Hebrew idiom used to denote the complete extermination of all males in a doomed household.
Supported by JFB
Identical curse of being eaten by dogs and birds pronounced on Baasha's dynasty for similar sins.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Shishak of Egypt, who previously harbored Jeroboam, now plunders Jeroboam's rival Rehoboam.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Fulfillment of Ahijah's prophecy of captivity beyond the river Euphrates due to Assyrian exile.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Repeated biblical refrain indicting Jeroboam for his sins and for making Israel to sin.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Detailed account of the wars and acts of Jeroboam, particularly against Abijah of Judah.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Parallel account of Rehoboam replacing the stolen gold shields with inferior bronze/brazen ones.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Contrast with Saul's sinful disguise, highlighting Jeroboam's futile attempt to hide from God.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Deuteronomic law concerning the single place where the Lord chose to put His name.
Supported by JFB