1 Kings 14:1-8

14:1 ¹ At that time Jeroboam’s son Abijah became sick. 14:2 Jeroboam told his wife, “Disguise ²  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. ³  14:3 Take ⁴  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.”

14:4 Jeroboam’s wife did as she was told. She went to Shiloh and visited Ahijah. ⁵  Now Ahijah could not see; he had lost his eyesight in his old age. ⁶  14:5 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 so-and-so. ⁷  When she comes, she will be in a disguise.” 14:6 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. ⁸  14:7 Go, tell Jeroboam, ‘This is what the Lord God of Israel says: “I raised you up ⁹  from among the people and made you ruler over my people Israel. 14:8 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. ¹⁰ 

[14:1]  ¹ tc Some mss of the Old Greek lack vv. 1-20.

[14:2]  ² tn Heb “Get up, change yourself.”

[14:2]  ³ tn Heb “look, Ahijah the prophet is there, he told me [I would be] king over this nation.”

[14:3]  ³ tn Heb “take in your hand.”

[14:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “and the wife of Jeroboam did so; she arose and went to Shiloh and entered the house of Ahijah.”

[14:4]  ⁵ tn Heb “his eyes were set because of his old age.”

[14:5]  ⁵ sn Tell her so-and-so. 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.

[14:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “I am sent to you [with] a hard [message].”

[14:7]  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.

[14:8]  ⁸ tn Heb “what was right in my eyes.”