1 Kings 14:1-18
New English Translation
14 [a] At that time Jeroboam’s son Abijah became sick. 2 Jeroboam told his wife, “Disguise[b] yourself so that people cannot recognize you are Jeroboam’s wife. Then go to Shiloh; Ahijah the prophet, who told me I would rule over this nation, lives there.[c] 3 Take[d] ten loaves of bread, some small cakes, and a container of honey and visit him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”
4 Jeroboam’s wife did as she was told. She went to Shiloh and visited Ahijah.[e] Now Ahijah could not see; he had lost his eyesight in his old age.[f] 5 But the Lord had told Ahijah, “Look, Jeroboam’s wife is coming to find out from you what will happen to her son, for he is sick. Tell her such and such.[g] When she comes, she will be in a disguise.” 6 When Ahijah heard the sound of her footsteps as she came through the door, he said, “Come on in, wife of Jeroboam! Why are you pretending to be someone else? I have been commissioned to give you bad news.[h] 7 Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel has said: “I raised you up[i] from among the people and made you ruler over my people Israel. 8 I tore the kingdom away from the Davidic dynasty and gave it to you. But you are not like my servant David, who kept my commandments and followed me wholeheartedly by doing only what I approve.[j] 9 You have sinned more than all who came before you. You went and angered me by making other gods, formed out of metal; you have completely disregarded me.[k] 10 So I am ready to bring disaster[l] on the dynasty[m] of Jeroboam. I will cut off every last male belonging to Jeroboam in Israel, including even the weak and incapacitated.[n] I will burn up the dynasty of Jeroboam, just as one burns manure until it is completely consumed.[o] 11 Dogs will eat the members of your family[p] who die in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat the ones who die in the country.”’ Indeed, the Lord has announced it!
12 “As for you, get up and go home. When you set foot in the city, the boy will die. 13 All Israel will mourn him and bury him. He is the only one in Jeroboam’s family[q] who will receive a decent burial, for he is the only one in whom the Lord God of Israel found anything good. 14 The Lord will raise up a king over Israel who will cut off Jeroboam’s dynasty.[r] It is ready to happen![s] 15 The Lord will attack Israel, making it like a reed that sways in the water.[t] He will remove Israel from this good land he gave to their ancestors[u] and scatter them beyond the Euphrates River,[v] because they angered the Lord by making Asherah poles.[w] 16 He will hand Israel over to their enemies[x] because of the sins which Jeroboam committed and which he made Israel commit.”
17 So Jeroboam’s wife got up and went back to[y] Tirzah. As she crossed the threshold of the house, the boy died. 18 All Israel buried him and mourned for him, in keeping with the Lord’s message that he had spoken through his servant, the prophet Ahijah.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Kings 14:1 tc Some mss of the Old Greek lack vv. 1-20.
- 1 Kings 14:2 tn Heb “Get up, change yourself.”
- 1 Kings 14:2 tn Heb “look, Ahijah the prophet is there; he spoke about me as king over this nation.”
- 1 Kings 14:3 tn Heb “take in your hand.”
- 1 Kings 14:4 tn Heb “and the wife of Jeroboam did so; she arose and went to Shiloh and entered the house of Ahijah.”
- 1 Kings 14:4 tn Heb “his eyes were set because of his old age.”
- 1 Kings 14:5 tn Heb “like this and like this.”sn Tell her such and such. Certainly the Lord gave Ahijah a specific message to give to Jeroboam’s wife (see vv. 6-16), but the author of Kings here condenses the Lord’s message with the words “so-and-so.” For dramatic effect he prefers to have us hear the message from Ahijah’s lips as he speaks to the king’s wife.
- 1 Kings 14:6 tn Heb “I am sent to you [with] a hard [message].”
- 1 Kings 14:7 tn The Hebrew text has “because” at the beginning of the sentence. In the Hebrew text vv. 7-11 are one long sentence comprised of a causal clause giving the reason for divine punishment (vv. 7-9) and the main clause announcing the punishment (vv. 10-11). The translation divides this lengthy sentence for stylistic reasons.
- 1 Kings 14:8 tn Heb “what was right in my eyes.”
- 1 Kings 14:9 tn Heb “you went and you made for yourself other gods, and metal [ones], angering me, and you threw me behind your back.”
- 1 Kings 14:10 sn Disaster. There is a wordplay in the Hebrew text. The word translated “disaster” (רָעָה, raʿah) is from the same root as the expression “you have sinned” in v. 9 (וַתָּרַע [vattaraʿ], from רָעַע, [raʿaʿ]). Jeroboam’s sins would receive an appropriate punishment.
- 1 Kings 14:10 tn Heb “house.”
- 1 Kings 14:10 tn Heb “and I will cut off from Jeroboam those who urinate against a wall (including both those who are) restrained and let free (or “abandoned”) in Israel.” The precise meaning of the idiomatic phrase עָצוּר וְעָזוּב (ʿatsur veʿazuv) is uncertain. For various options see HALOT 871 s.v. עצר 6 and M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 107. The two terms are usually taken as polar opposites (“slaves and freemen” or “minors and adults”), but Cogan and Tadmor, on the basis of contextual considerations (note the usage with אֶפֶס [ʾefes], “nothing but”) in Deut 32:36 and 2 Kgs 14:26, argue convincingly that the terms are synonyms, meaning “restrained and abandoned,” and refer to incapable or incapacitated individuals.
- 1 Kings 14:10 tn The traditional view understands the verb בָּעַר (baʿar) to mean “burn.” Manure was sometimes used as fuel (see Ezek 4:12, 15). However, an alternate view takes בָּעַר as a homonym meaning “sweep away” (HALOT 146 s.v. II בער). In this case one might translate, “I will sweep away the dynasty of Jeroboam, just as one sweeps away manure it is gone” (cf. ASV, NASB, TEV). Either metaphor emphasizes the thorough and destructive nature of the coming judgment.
- 1 Kings 14:11 tn The Hebrew text has “belonging to Jeroboam” here.
- 1 Kings 14:13 tn Heb “house.”
- 1 Kings 14:14 tn Heb “house.”
- 1 Kings 14:14 tn Heb “This is the day. What also now?” The precise meaning of the second half of the statement is uncertain.
- 1 Kings 14:15 tn The elliptical Hebrew text reads literally “and the Lord will strike Israel as a reed sways in the water.”
- 1 Kings 14:15 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 22, 31).
- 1 Kings 14:15 tn Heb “the River.” In biblical Hebrew this is a typical reference to the Euphrates River. The name “Euphrates” has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
- 1 Kings 14:15 tn Heb “because they made their Asherah poles that anger the Lord”; or “their images of Asherah”; ASV, NASB “their Asherim”; NCV “they set up idols to worship Asherah.”sn Asherah was a leading deity of the Canaanite pantheon, wife/sister of El and goddess of fertility. She was commonly worshiped at shrines in or near groves of evergreen trees, or, failing that, at places marked by wooden poles. These were to be burned or cut down (Deut 12:3; 16:21; Judg 6:25, 28, 30; 2 Kgs 18:4).
- 1 Kings 14:16 tn Heb “and he will give [up] Israel.”
- 1 Kings 14:17 tn Heb “went and entered.”
1 Kings 14:1-18
International Standard Version
God Disciplines Jeroboam’s Family
14 Right at that time, Jeroboam’s son Abijah became ill, 2 so Jeroboam suggested to his wife, “Get up, disguise yourself so that no one will know that you’re Jeroboam’s wife, and go to Shiloh where the prophet Ahijah lives. He’s the one who told me that I would be king over this people. 3 Take ten loaves with you, some[a] cakes, and a jar of honey and go visit him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”
4 So that’s what Jeroboam’s wife did. She got up, went to Shiloh, and found Ahijah’s home. Ahijah was blind, because his eyes could not focus[b] due to his age. 5 Meanwhile, the Lord had spoken to Ahijah, “Be on your guard! Jeroboam’s wife is coming to ask you about her son, because he is ill. You’re to say such and such to her. When she arrives, she will pretend to be someone else!”
6 When she arrived, Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came through the doorway. He said this to her:
“Come in, wife of Jeroboam. What is this pretension at being someone else? I have some harsh news.[c] 7 Go tell Jeroboam:
‘I raised you up from among the people.
‘I made you Commander-in-Chief[d] over my people Israel.
8 ‘I tore the kingdom away from David’s dynasty.
‘Then I gave it to you.
But you have not lived like my servant David, who kept my commands with all his heart, and did only what I considered to be right.
9 ‘Instead, you have done more evil than everyone who lived before you.
‘You have gone out and crafted other gods for yourself.
‘You made cast images.
‘You have provoked me to anger.
‘You have thrown me behind your back.
10 ‘Therefore, watch while I bring calamity on Jeroboam’s dynasty!
‘I will eliminate every male,[e] both slave and free in Israel, from Jeroboam.
‘I will burn up Jeroboam’s dynasty, as a man burns up manure until it is gone. 11 Dogs will eat anyone who dies in the city that belongs to Jeroboam’s household. The birds of the sky will eat anyone who dies in the open field, because the Lord has determined it.’
12 “Now get up and go home. When your feet cross the city line, your child will die. 13 Everyone in Israel will mourn for him and will bury him, because he alone from Jeroboam’s family will receive a decent burial, because something good was observed in him with respect to the Lord God of Israel out of all the household of Jeroboam!
14 “In addition to this, the Lord will raise up for himself a king over Israel who will eliminate Jeroboam’s dynasty, starting today and from now on. 15 The Lord will attack Israel, and Israel will shake like a reed shakes in a river current! He will uproot Israel from this good land that he gave to their ancestors and he will scatter them beyond the Euphrates[f] River, because they erected their Asherim[g] and provoked the Lord to become angry! 16 He will give up Israel because of Jeroboam’s sins that he committed and by which Jeroboam[h] caused Israel to sin.”
17 Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and left for Tirzah. As soon as she set foot over the threshold of the house, the child died. 18 All of Israel mourned him at his burial, just as the Lord had said when he spoke through Ahijah the prophet.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Kings 14:3 Lit. loaves in your hand
- 1 Kings 14:4 Lit. eyes were set
- 1 Kings 14:6 The Heb. lacks news
- 1 Kings 14:7 Lit. Nagid; i.e. a senior officer entrusted with dual roles of operational oversight and administrative authority
- 1 Kings 14:10 Lit. everyone who urinates against a wall
- 1 Kings 14:15 The Heb. lacks Euphrates
- 1 Kings 14:15 I.e. cultic pillars erected in worship to Canaanite deities
- 1 Kings 14:16 Lit. he
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