141 At that time was Abijah son of Jeroboam sick, 2 and Jeroboam saith to his wife, 'Rise, I pray thee, and change thyself, and they know not that thou 'art' wife of Jeroboam, and thou hast gone to Shiloh; lo, there 'is' Ahijah the prophet; he spake unto me of 'being' king over this people; 3 and thou hast taken in thy hand ten loaves, and crumbs, and a bottle of honey, and hast gone in unto him; he doth declare to thee what becometh of the youth.' 4 And the wife of Jeroboam doth so, and riseth, and goeth to Shiloh, and entereth the house of Ahijah, and Ahijah is not able to see, for his eyes have stood because of his age. 5 And Jehovah said unto Ahijah, 'Lo, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to seek a word from thee concerning her son, for he is sick; thus and thus thou dost speak unto her, and it cometh to pass at her coming in, that she is making herself strange.' 6 And it cometh to pass, at Ahijah's hearing the sound of her feet 'as' she came in to the opening, that he saith, 'Come in, wife of Jeroboam, why is this—thou art making thyself strange? and I am sent unto thee 'with' a sharp thing:
7 Go, say to Jeroboam, Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, Because that I have made thee high out of the midst of the people, and appoint thee leader over my people Israel, 8 and rend the kingdom from the house of David, and give it to thee,—and thou hast not been as My servant David who kept My commands, and who walked after Me with all his heart, to do only that which 'is' right in Mine eyes, 9 and thou dost evil above all who have been before thee, and goest, and makest to thee other gods and molten images to provoke Me to anger, and Me thou hast cast behind thy back: 10 'Therefore, lo, I am bringing in evil unto the house of Jeroboam, and have cut off to Jeroboam those sitting on the wall—shut up and left—in Israel, and have put away the posterity of the house of Jeroboam, as one putteth away the dung till its consumption; 11 him who dieth of Jeroboam in a city do the dogs eat, and him who dieth in a field do fowl of the heavens eat, for Jehovah hath spoken. 12 'And thou, rise, go to thy house; in the going in of thy feet to the city—hath the lad died; 13 and all Israel have mourned for him, and buried him, for this one—by himself—cometh of Jeroboam unto a grave, because there hath been found in him a good thing towards Jehovah, God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. 14 'And Jehovah hath raised up for Him a king over Israel who cutteth off the house of Jeroboam this day—and what?—even now! 15 And Jehovah hath smitten Israel as the reed is moved by the waters, and hath plucked Israel from off this good ground that He gave to their fathers, and scattered them beyond the River, because that they made their shrines, provoking Jehovah to anger; 16 and He giveth up Israel because of the sins of Jeroboam that he sinned, and that he caused Israel to sin.' 17 And the wife of Jeroboam riseth, and goeth, and cometh to Tirzah; she hath come in to the threshold of the house, and the youth dieth; 18 and they bury him, and mourn for him do all Israel, according to the word of Jehovah, that he spake by the hand of His servant Ahijah the prophet.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Kings 14:1-18
Commentary on 1 Kings 14:1-6
(Read 1 Kings 14:1-6)
"At that time," when Jeroboam did evil, his child sickened. When sickness comes into our families, we should inquire whether there may not be some particular sin harboured in our houses, which the affliction is sent to convince us of, and reclaim us from. It had been more pious if he had desired to know wherefore God contended with him; had begged the prophet's prayers, and cast away his idols from him; but most people would rather be told their fortune, than their faults or their duty. He sent to Ahijah, because he had told him he should be king. Those who by sin disqualify themselves for comfort, yet expect that their ministers, because they are good men, should speak peace and comfort to them, greatly wrong themselves and their ministers. He sent his wife in disguise, that the prophet might only answer her question concerning her son. Thus some people would limit their ministers to smooth things, and care not for having the whole counsel of God declared to them, lest it should prophesy no good concerning them, but evil. But she shall know, at the first word, what she has to trust to. Tidings of a portion with hypocrites will be heavy tidings. God will judge men according to what they are, not by what they seem to be.
Commentary on 1 Kings 14:7-20
(Read 1 Kings 14:7-20)
Whether we keep an account of God's mercies to us or not, he does; and he will set them in order before us, if we are ungrateful, to our greater confusion. Ahijah foretells the speedy death of the child then sick, in mercy to him. He only in the house of Jeroboam had affection for the true worship of God, and disliked the worship of the calves. To show the power and sovereignty of his grace, God saves some out of the worst families, in whom there is some good thing towards the Lord God of Israel. The righteous are removed from the evil to come in this world, to the good to come in a better world. It is often a bad sign for a family, when the best in it are buried out of it. Yet their death never can be a loss to themselves. It was a present affliction to the family and kingdom, by which both ought to have been instructed. God also tells the judgments which should come upon the people of Israel, for conforming to the worship Jeroboam established. After they left the house of David, the government never continued long in one family, but one undermined and destroyed another. Families and kingdoms are ruined by sin. If great men do wickedly, they draw many others, both into the guilt and punishment. The condemnation of those will be severest, who must answer, not only for their own sins, but for sins others have been drawn into, and kept in, by them.