Bible Strands
1 Kings 14:4
Jeroboam’s wife did as instructed; she arose and went to Shiloh and arrived at Ahijah’s house. Now Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were dim because of his age.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jeroboam’s wife follows his command to travel to Shiloh and enter Ahijah’s house. She arrives at the prophet’s door while his vision has failed due to advanced age.
The words — The Hebrew verb וַתַּעַשׂ (va.ta‘as) means “she did,” marking her direct compliance with the earlier instruction. The adverb כֵּן (ken) translates “thus,” underscoring the exact execution of Jeroboam’s plan.
The thread — The description of an aging prophet’s failing sight aligns with the accounts of Eli in 1 Samuel 3:2 and 1 Samuel 4:15. Ahijah’s prior prophetic meeting with Jeroboam appears in 1 Kings 11:29.
Why it lands — The text records physical blindness while the surrounding context confirms God already knew the wife would arrive disguised. The passage requires the reader to note that human sensory decline does not prevent the delivery of divine judgment.
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 did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age.
Cross-references
- 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.
- 1 Samuel 3:2 And at that time Eli, whose eyesight had grown so dim that he could not see, was lying in his room.
- 1 Samuel 4:15 Now Eli was ninety-eight years old, and his gaze was fixed because he could not see.
- Genesis 27:1 When Isaac was old and his eyes were so weak that he could no longer see, he called his older son Esau and said to him, “My son.” “Here I am,” Esau replied.
- Genesis 48:10 Now Israel’s eyesight was poor because of old age; he could hardly see. Joseph brought his sons to him, and his father kissed them and embraced them.
- Deuteronomy 34:7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak, and his vitality had not diminished.
- 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 Samuel 4:3 When the troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why has the LORD brought defeat on us before the Philistines today? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from Shiloh, so that it may go with us to save us from the hand of our enemies.”
- 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.
- Psalms 90:10 The length of our days is seventy years—or eighty if we are strong—yet their pride is but labor and sorrow, for they quickly pass, and we fly away.