Bible Strands
1 Kings 14:17
Then Jeroboam’s wife got up and departed for Tirzah, and as soon as she stepped over the threshold of the house, the boy died.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the immediate aftermath of Ahijah’s prophecy to Jeroboam’s wife. She leaves the prophet and returns to her household just as the announced judgment begins to execute.
The words — The Hebrew וַתָּקָם (va-taqom) literally means "and she arose," marking the precise moment her departure initiates the sequence. אֵשֶׁת יָרָבְעָם (eshet yerav'am) identifies her strictly as Jeroboam’s wife, tying the event directly to his dynasty.
The thread — The text repeatedly anchors royal activity in Tirzah, identifying it as a capital where later rulers like Baasha and Zimri also established their courts (1 Kings 15:33; 1 Kings 15:21; 1 Kings 16:15).
Why it lands — The account requires the reader to acknowledge that prophetic declarations function without human delay or mediation. It demands recognition that divine speech and historical consequence operate in direct, unbroken sequence.
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 Jeroboam’s wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: and when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died;
Cross-references
- 1 Kings 15:33 In the third year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Baasha son of Ahijah became king of all Israel, and he reigned in Tirzah twenty-four years.
- 1 Kings 15:21 When Baasha learned of this, he stopped fortifying Ramah and withdrew to Tirzah.
- 1 Kings 16:15 In the twenty-seventh year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Zimri reigned in Tirzah for seven days. Now the troops were encamped against Gibbethon of the Philistines,
- 1 Kings 16:23 In the thirty-first year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned twelve years, six of them in Tirzah.
- Song of Solomon 6:4 You are as beautiful, my darling, as Tirzah, as lovely as Jerusalem, as majestic as troops with banners.
- Joshua 12:24 and the king of Tirzah, one. So there were thirty-one kings in all.
- 1 Samuel 2:20 And Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, saying, “May the LORD give you children by this woman in place of the one she dedicated to the LORD.” Then they would go home.
- 1 Samuel 4:18 As soon as the ark of God was mentioned, Eli fell backward from his chair by the city gate, and being old and heavy, he broke his neck and died. And Eli had judged Israel forty years.
- 1 Kings 14:12 As for you, get up and go home. When your feet enter the city, the child will die.
- 1 Kings 16:6 And Baasha rested with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah, and his son Elah reigned in his place.