Bible Strands
1 Kings 11:29
During that time, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met Jeroboam on the road as he was going out of Jerusalem. Now Ahijah had wrapped himself in a new cloak, and the two of them were alone in the open field.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The prophet Ahijah the Shilonite intercepts Jeroboam on the road as he departs Jerusalem. The two men meet in private within an open field while Ahijah wears a newly wrapped cloak.
The words — The phrase בָּ/עֵת הַ/הִיא (ba/'et ha/hi') translates literally to "at that time," pinning the event to a specific historical moment. The verb יָצָ֣א (ya.Tza') means "he had gone out," denoting Jeroboam's active departure from the capital.
The thread — This clandestine meeting establishes the prophetic division of the kingdom, which 1 Kings 12:15 explicitly identifies as orchestrated by the LORD. The narrative thread resumes in 1 Kings 14:2 when Jeroboam's wife travels to Shiloh to consult the same prophet.
Why it lands — The text records a secret political encounter without commentary, requiring the reader to track how human movement coincides with prophetic action. It demands attention to the precise timing and isolation that frame divine intervention in royal succession.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And it came to pass at that time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, that the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him in the way; and he had clad himself with a new garment; and they two were alone in the field:
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 12:15 So the king did not listen to the people, and indeed this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word He had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.
- 1 Kings 14:2 and Jeroboam said to his wife, “Now get up, disguise yourself so they will not recognize you as my wife, and go to Shiloh. For Ahijah the prophet is there; it was he who spoke about my kingship over this people.
- 2 Chronicles 9:29 As for the rest of the acts of Solomon, from beginning to end, are they not written in the Records of Nathan the Prophet, in the Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the Visions of Iddo the Seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat?
- Genesis 4:8 Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.
- Joshua 18:1 Then the whole congregation of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. And though the land was subdued before them,
- 2 Samuel 14:6 And your maidservant had two sons who were fighting in the field with no one to separate them, and one struck the other and killed him.