1 Kings 14

King James Version

Full text for 1 Kings Chapter 14

1¶ At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.

2And Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh: behold, there [is] Ahijah the prophet, which told me that [I should be] king over this people.

3And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, and go to him: he shall tell thee what shall become of the child.

4And Jeroboam's wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age.

5And the LORD said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son; for he [is] sick: thus and thus shalt thou say unto her: for it shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign herself [to be] another [woman].

6And it was [so], when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself [to be] another? for I [am] sent to thee [with] heavy [tidings].

7¶ Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel,

8And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee: and [yet] thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do [that] only [which was] right in mine eyes;

9But hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back:

10Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, [and] him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.

11Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat: for the LORD hath spoken [it].

12Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: [and] when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.

13And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found [some] good thing toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.

14Moreover the LORD shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now.

15For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger.

16And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.

17And Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: [and] when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died;

18And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet.

19And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they [are] written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.

20And the days which Jeroboam reigned [were] two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.

21¶ And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam [was] forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother's name [was] Naamah an Ammonitess.

22And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD, and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done.

23For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.

24And there were also sodomites in the land: [and] they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.

25And it came to pass 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 even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.

27And king Rehoboam made in their stead brasen shields, and committed [them] unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which kept the door of the king's house.

28And it was [so], when the king went into the house of the LORD, that the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard chamber.

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.

31And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother's name [was] Naamah an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.

AI Analysis

AI Summaries

Short Summary

King Jeroboam's son, Abijah, falls ill, prompting Jeroboam to send his disguised wife to the prophet Ahijah. Ahijah, divinely informed, reveals Jeroboam's severe judgment for his idolatry, prophesying the destruction of his house and Abijah's immediate death. The chapter concludes with Rehoboam's reign in Judah, marked by similar idolatry and an invasion by Shishak of Egypt, who plunders Jerusalem.

Medium Summary

When King Jeroboam's son, Abijah, becomes sick, Jeroboam instructs his wife to disguise herself and consult the prophet Ahijah in Shiloh. Despite her disguise and Ahijah's blindness, the LORD reveals her identity and purpose to the prophet. Ahijah then delivers a harsh prophecy, condemning Jeroboam for forsaking the LORD and introducing idolatry, stating that his entire male lineage will be cut off. He foretells Abijah's death upon his mother's return, noting that Abijah alone will receive a proper burial due to some good found in him towards the LORD. Furthermore, Ahijah declares that Israel will be smitten and scattered because of Jeroboam's sins. The prophecy concerning Abijah is immediately fulfilled. The chapter then transitions to Rehoboam's reign in Judah, where the people also engage in widespread idolatry, building high places and groves. Consequently, Shishak, king of Egypt, invades Jerusalem, plundering the temple and royal treasures, which Rehoboam replaces with brazen shields. The reigns of Jeroboam and Rehoboam are characterized by continuous warfare between their kingdoms.

Long Summary

The chapter begins with King Jeroboam's son, Abijah, falling gravely ill. Jeroboam, seeking divine counsel, sends his wife in disguise to the aged and blind prophet Ahijah in Shiloh, who had previously prophesied Jeroboam's kingship. However, the LORD reveals the wife's true identity and purpose to Ahijah before her arrival. Ahijah, acting on divine instruction, confronts Jeroboam's wife, delivering a severe message of judgment against Jeroboam and his household. The prophet condemns Jeroboam for his profound apostasy, specifically for making other gods and molten images, thereby provoking the LORD to anger, despite having been exalted by God. As a consequence, Ahijah prophesies the complete eradication of Jeroboam's male descendants, whose bodies will be left unburied, likened to the removal of dung. He specifically foretells that Abijah will die the moment his mother re-enters their city, Tirzah, yet he alone will be mourned and buried because "in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel." The prophecy extends to Israel itself, stating that the LORD will smite and scatter them beyond the river due to Jeroboam's sins, which caused Israel to sin. Upon the wife's return to Tirzah, Abijah dies precisely as prophesied, and all Israel mourns him. Jeroboam reigns for twenty-two years before his son Nadab succeeds him. The narrative then shifts to Rehoboam's seventeen-year reign in Judah, beginning when he was forty-one. Judah, like Israel, commits evil, provoking the LORD to jealousy through their sins, including building high places, images, and groves, and allowing sodomites in the land, mirroring the abominations of the nations dispossessed by Israel. In Rehoboam's fifth year, Shishak, king of Egypt, invades Jerusalem, seizing the treasures from both the LORD's house and the king's house, including the golden shields made by Solomon. Rehoboam replaces these valuable shields with brazen ones. Throughout their reigns, there was constant warfare between Rehoboam and Jeroboam. Rehoboam eventually dies and is buried in the city of David, succeeded by his son Abijam.

Core Concepts

  • Divine JudgmentThe LORD's severe condemnation of Jeroboam's house and Israel due to widespread idolatry and disobedience, leading to the destruction of Jeroboam's lineage and the scattering of Israel.
  • Prophetic AuthorityAhijah the prophet, though blind, is supernaturally empowered by the LORD to discern Jeroboam's wife's disguise and deliver a precise, unalterable divine message.
  • Consequences of IdolatryJeroboam's sin of making other gods and molten images directly results in the complete downfall of his dynasty and brings punishment upon the entire nation of Israel.
  • Individual RighteousnessAbijah, Jeroboam's son, is singled out for a proper burial and mourning because "in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel," contrasting with the general wickedness of his family.
  • Foreign Invasion as ConsequenceShishak's invasion of Jerusalem and the plundering of the temple and royal treasures serve as a tangible consequence of Judah's sins and their provocation of the LORD.
  • Succession and DeclineThe chapter details the succession of kings in both Israel (Jeroboam to Nadab) and Judah (Rehoboam to Abijam), highlighting the continued moral decline and conflict between the two kingdoms.
  • Kings' ChroniclesThe repeated reference to the "book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel" and "book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah" indicates the existence of historical records beyond the biblical narrative.