Bible Strands
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.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jeroboam commands his wife to leave their home while their son Abijah is ill. He directs her to travel to Shiloh to locate the prophet Ahijah, who previously announced Jeroboam’s kingship over the people.
The words — The verb וַ/יֹּ֨אמֶר (va/i.Yo.mer) records Jeroboam’s spoken directive, while וְ/הִשְׁתַּ֔נִּית (ve./hish.ta.Nit) specifies the required action of altering her appearance to conceal her identity.
The thread — The text notes Jeroboam’s prior meeting with Ahijah on the road out of Jerusalem (1 Kings 11:29). This pattern of royal figures using disguise to access prophetic or divinely connected counsel also appears when Saul visits the medium at Endor (1 Samuel 28:8) and when Joab sends a mourning woman to David (2 Samuel 14:2).
Why it lands — The passage records a political leader employing deception to secure confirmation of a prior divine word. It requires the reader to note how human strategy attempts to control prophetic outcomes rather than submitting to the prophet’s established authority.
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 said to his wife, Arise, I pray thee, and disguise thyself, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam; and get thee to Shiloh: behold, there is Ahijah the prophet, which told me that I should be king over this people.
Cross-references
- 1 Samuel 28:8 So Saul disguised himself by putting on different clothes, and he set out with two of his men. They came to the woman at night, and Saul said, “Consult a spirit for me. Bring up for me the one I name.”
- 2 Samuel 14:2 So Joab sent to Tekoa to bring a wise woman from there. He told her, “Please pretend to be a mourner; put on clothes for mourning and do not anoint yourself with oil. Act like a woman who has mourned for the dead a long time.
- 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.
- 2 Chronicles 18:29 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.
- 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,
- 1 Kings 14:5 But the LORD had said to Ahijah, “Behold, the wife of Jeroboam is coming to ask you about her son, for he is ill. You are to say such and such to her, because when she arrives, she will be disguised.”
- 1 Kings 22:30 And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.
- Luke 12:2 There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, and nothing hidden that will not be made known.