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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.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 14:1 tc Some mss of the Old Greek lack vv. 1-20.
  2. 1 Kings 14:2 tn Heb “Get up, change yourself.”
  3. 1 Kings 14:2 tn Heb “look, Ahijah the prophet is there; he spoke about me as king over this nation.”
  4. 1 Kings 14:3 tn Heb “take in your hand.”
  5. 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.”
  6. 1 Kings 14:4 tn Heb “his eyes were set because of his old age.”
  7. 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.
  8. 1 Kings 14:6 tn Heb “I am sent to you [with] a hard [message].”
  9. 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.
  10. 1 Kings 14:8 tn Heb “what was right in my eyes.”
  11. 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.”
  12. 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.
  13. 1 Kings 14:10 tn Heb “house.”
  14. 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.
  15. 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.
  16. 1 Kings 14:11 tn The Hebrew text has “belonging to Jeroboam” here.
  17. 1 Kings 14:13 tn Heb “house.”
  18. 1 Kings 14:14 tn Heb “house.”
  19. 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.
  20. 1 Kings 14:15 tn The elliptical Hebrew text reads literally “and the Lord will strike Israel as a reed sways in the water.”
  21. 1 Kings 14:15 tn Heb “fathers” (also in vv. 22, 31).
  22. 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.
  23. 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).
  24. 1 Kings 14:16 tn Heb “and he will give [up] Israel.”
  25. 1 Kings 14:17 tn Heb “went and entered.”
Close LSB

1 Kings 14:1-18
Legacy Standard Bible

The House of Jeroboam Is Cut Off

14 At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam became sick. 2 And Jeroboam said to his wife, “Arise now, and (A)disguise yourself so that they will not know that you are the wife of Jeroboam, and go to (B)Shiloh; behold, Ahijah the prophet is there, who (C)spoke concerning me that I would be king over this people. 3 (D)And take ten loaves with you, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will happen to the boy.”

4 Then Jeroboam’s wife did so, and arose and went to (E)Shiloh, and came to the house of (F)Ahijah. Now Ahijah could not see, (G)for his eyes had [a]set because of his old age. 5 Now Yahweh had said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to [b]inquire of you concerning her son, for he is sick. You shall say thus and thus to her, for it will be when she arrives that (H)she will pretend to be another woman.”

6 Now it happened as Ahijah heard the sound of her feet coming in the doorway, that he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam, why do you pretend to be another woman? For I am sent to you with a harsh message. 7 Go, say to Jeroboam, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, “(I)Because I exalted you from among the people and made you ruler over My people Israel, 8 and (J)tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you—(K)yet you have not been like My servant David, who kept My commandments and who walked after Me with all his heart, (L)to do only that which was right in My sight; 9 you also have done more evil than all who were before you, and (M)have gone and made for yourself other gods and (N)molten images to provoke Me to anger, and have (O)cast Me behind your back— 10 therefore behold, I am bringing evil on the house of Jeroboam: I (P)will cut off from Jeroboam [c]every male person, (Q)both bond and free in Israel, and I (R)will make a clean sweep of the house of Jeroboam, as one sweeps away dung until it is all gone. 11 (S)Anyone belonging to Jeroboam who dies in the city the dogs will eat. And he who dies in the field the birds of the sky will eat; for Yahweh has spoken it.”’ 12 But you, arise, go to your house. (T)When your feet enter the city the child will die. 13 And all Israel shall mourn for him and bury him, for [d]he alone of Jeroboam’s family will come to the grave, because in him (U)something good was found toward Yahweh, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. 14 Moreover, (V)Yahweh will raise up for Himself a king over Israel who will cut off the house of Jeroboam this day [e]and from now on.

15 “So Yahweh will strike Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water; and (W)He will uproot Israel from (X)this good land which He gave to their fathers, and (Y)will scatter them beyond the [f]River, (Z)because they have made their [g]Asherim, provoking Yahweh to anger. 16 And He will give Israel over (AA)on account of the sins of Jeroboam, which he sinned and with which he made Israel to sin.”

17 Then Jeroboam’s wife arose and went away and came to (AB)Tirzah. (AC)As she was entering the threshold of the house, the child died. 18 (AD)And all Israel buried him and mourned for him, according to the word of Yahweh which He spoke through His servant Ahijah the prophet.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 14:4 Became dim
  2. 1 Kings 14:5 Lit seek a word from
  3. 1 Kings 14:10 Lit him who urinates against the wall, cf. 1 Sam 25:22, 34; 1 Kin 16:11; 21:21; 2 Kin 9:8
  4. 1 Kings 14:13 Lit the one
  5. 1 Kings 14:14 Lit and what even now?
  6. 1 Kings 14:15 The Euphrates River
  7. 1 Kings 14:15 Wooden symbols of a female deity
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