AHIJAH THE SHILONITE, THE PROPHET OF SHILOH · UNITED KINGDOM

Ahijah. Tore a new garment into twelve pieces, and later sent Jeroboam's wife home with heavy tidings.

SCRIPTURE CALLS

Prophet

ERA

United kingdom c. 1050–930 BC

IN THE DAYS OF

Solomon · Jeroboam I · Rehoboam

BOOK

None bears the name

HOW THE WORD CAME

He acted the word out: he took hold of the new garment, tore it in twelve pieces and told Jeroboam to take ten.

THE CALL

How the word came

  • He acted the word out: he took hold of the new garment, tore it in twelve pieces and told Jeroboam to take ten. 1 Kings 11:29–31
  • When Jeroboam's wife came disguised, “the LORD said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh”, though Ahijah “could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age”. 1 Kings 14:4–5
  • Chronicles names “the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite” as a record of Solomon's acts. 2 Chronicles 9:29

BEFORE THE KINGS

Before three kings

KING OF ALL ISRAEL

Solomon

KING OF ISRAEL

Jeroboam I

“Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:”

1 Kings 11:31 (KJV) →

KING OF JUDAH

Rehoboam

THE MESSAGE

The word in its main themes

The kingdom torn

“that David my servant may have a light alway before me in Jerusalem”

1 Kings 11:36 (KJV) →

A sure house, on a condition

Judgment on Jeroboam's house

“will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.”

1 Kings 14:10 (KJV) →

Israel scattered

“he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river”

1 Kings 14:15 (KJV) →

The sick child

THE WORD TO …

To whom the word was spoken

TO JEROBOAM, IN THE FIELD

“Take thee ten pieces”

1 Kings 11:31 (KJV) →

TO JEROBOAM'S WIFE, AT HIS DOOR IN SHILOH

“Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself to be another? for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.”

1 Kings 14:6 (KJV) →

SIGNS

Signs and wonders

SIGN-ACT

The garment torn in twelve

SIGN

Jeroboam's wife known in disguise

WHAT CAME OF THE WORD

As Scripture reports it

THE WORD

SCRIPTURE REPORTS

THE WORD

SCRIPTURE REPORTS

THE WORD

SCRIPTURE REPORTS

COMPANIONS AND OPPONENTS

Who stood with him, and against him

Jeroboam's wife

Abijah son of Jeroboam

HOW THE STORY ENDS

Scripture says, tradition says

SCRIPTURE SAYS

  • From the textKings last shows Ahijah old and unable to see; it does not tell of his death. 1 Kings 14:4

TRADITION SAYS

  • Rabbinic tradition identified him with Ahiah son of Ahitub, the priest at Shiloh in Saul's time (1 Samuel 14:3), and counted him among seven long-lived saints whose lives span the history of mankind; on this reckoning “Ahijah lived over six hundred years”. 1 Samuel 14:3 [41] Who says so: The Midrash and the Talmud (Baba Batra 121b), as reported in the Jewish Encyclopedia, rabbinic writings; reported 1901

OPEN QUESTIONS

Where readers have differed

Ahijah's own

C. F. Keil (1872); John Gill (1748–1763); the Pulpit Commentary (1880–1897)

Keil: “he rent the new garment, that is to say, his own, not Jeroboam's”; Gill: “not Jeroboam, but the prophet”. 1 Kings 11:29–30 [64][29][86]

Jeroboam's

H. Ewald, as reported by Keil and the Pulpit Commentary

Ewald took “he had clad himself” to mean Jeroboam, and saw in the new garment his “splendid robe of office”. 1 Kings 11:29 [64][86]

IN SCRIPTURE

Every passage

CHAPTERS · 6

1 Kings 11 1 Kings 12 1 Kings 14 1 Kings 15 2 Chronicles 9 2 Chronicles 10

PASSAGES · 6

1 Kings 11:29–40 1 Kings 12:15 1 Kings 14:1–18 1 Kings 15:29–30 2 Chronicles 9:29 2 Chronicles 10:15

WHAT SCRIPTURE DOES NOT SAY

  • Scripture gives no father for Ahijah and does not tell how he became a prophet.
  • Kings does not give the name of Jeroboam's wife.
  • “The prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite” (2 Chronicles 9:29) is not among the books of the Bible.

SOURCES

Where this page comes from

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  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818), note on 2 Chr 15:8 (read on Bible Hub).
  • Joseph Benson, Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818), note on 2 Chr 26:5 (read on Bible Hub).
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