The big picture
1 Kings 14 opens in verse 1 with “At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.”, reaches its middle movement near verse 16 with “And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made…”, and closes in verse 31 with “And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of…” Repeated or prominent terms include Jeroboam, Israel, LORD, house, Rehoboam. Together, those details trace this chapter’s own movement from its opening to its conclusion.
Scripture beside the summary
1 Kings · King James Version · 311 Kings 14:1-8
1–8: At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.
1 Kings 14:1–8 opens with “At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.” and reaches “And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee: and yet thou hast not been…” by its final verse. That movement develops the focus on 1 Kings 14 develops its own movement around Jeroboam, Israel, LORD, house, Rehoboam, with particular weight carried by Jeroboam, Ahijah, wife.
Context that brings the passage to life
This block contains 1 explicit questions. They are more than punctuation: they reveal where a voice is searching, challenging, afraid, or trying to understand.
“At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.” Naming Abijah and Jeroboam keeps the account rooted in particular people or places. Follow where the name returns and what changes around it.
“And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, and go to him: he shall tell thee what shall…” The command cannot be understood from the verb alone. Its recipient, purpose, and place in the larger covenant or argument define the responsibility.
“And the LORD said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son; for he is sick…” The command cannot be understood from the verb alone. Its recipient, purpose, and place in the larger covenant or argument define the responsibility.
“Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee…” Naming Israel and Forasmuch keeps the account rooted in particular people or places. Follow where the name returns and what changes around it.
1 Kings 14:1-8
King James Version1At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.
2And 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.
3And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, and go to him: he shall tell thee what shall become of the child.
4And 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.
5And the LORD said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shalt thou say unto her: for it shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign herself to be another woman.
6And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself to be another? for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.
7Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Forasmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel,
8And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it thee: and yet thou hast not been as my servant David, who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do that only which was right in mine eyes;
1 Kings 14:9-16
9–16: Hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou hast gone and…
1 Kings 14:9–16 opens with “But hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods…” and reaches “And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to…” by its final verse. That movement develops the focus on 1 Kings 14 develops its own movement around Jeroboam, Israel, LORD, house, Rehoboam, with particular weight carried by Israel, Jeroboam, house.
Context that brings the passage to life
This block contains 1 explicit questions. They are more than punctuation: they reveal where a voice is searching, challenging, afraid, or trying to understand.
“But hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to…” The line’s distinctive content terms include anger, back, behind. Its relationship to verses 10 shows what work it does in this passage.
“Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air…” The command cannot be understood from the verb alone. Its recipient, purpose, and place in the larger covenant or argument define the responsibility.
“And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him…” The command cannot be understood from the verb alone. Its recipient, purpose, and place in the larger covenant or argument define the responsibility.
1 Kings 14:9-16
King James Version9But hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back:
10Therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone.
11Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat: for the LORD hath spoken it.
12Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.
13And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam.
14Moreover the LORD shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now.
15For the LORD shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger.
16And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.
1 Kings 14:17-24
17–24: Jeroboam’s wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: and when she…
1 Kings 14:17–24 opens with “And Jeroboam’s wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: and when she came to the threshold…” and reaches “And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the…” by its final verse. That movement develops the focus on 1 Kings 14 develops its own movement around Jeroboam, Israel, LORD, house, Rehoboam, with particular weight carried by reigned, Israel, LORD.
Context that brings the passage to life
“And Jeroboam’s wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: and when she came to the threshold of the door, the child…” Naming Jeroboam and Tirzah keeps the account rooted in particular people or places. Follow where the name returns and what changes around it.
“And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the…” Naming Israel and Jeroboam keeps the account rooted in particular people or places. Follow where the name returns and what changes around it.
“And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he…” The number forty makes the report concrete. Ask whether it measures time, people, distance, repetition, or completeness before deciding what weight it carries.
1 Kings 14:17-24
King James Version17And Jeroboam’s wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah: and when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died;
18And they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the LORD , which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet.
19And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he warred, and how he reigned, behold, they are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
20And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers, and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.
21And Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty and one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the LORD did choose out of all the tribes of Israel, to put his name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah an Ammonitess.
22And Judah did evil in the sight of the LORD , and they provoked him to jealousy with their sins which they had committed, above all that their fathers had done.
23For they also built them high places, and images, and groves, on every high hill, and under every green tree.
24And there were also sodomites in the land: and they did according to all the abominations of the nations which the LORD cast out before the children of Israel.
1 Kings 14:25-31
25–31: It came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of…
1 Kings 14:25–31 opens with “And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up…” and reaches “And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And…” by its final verse. That movement develops the focus on 1 Kings 14 develops its own movement around Jeroboam, Israel, LORD, house, Rehoboam, with particular weight carried by Rehoboam, house, king.
Context that brings the passage to life
This block contains 1 explicit questions. They are more than punctuation: they reveal where a voice is searching, challenging, afraid, or trying to understand.
“And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem:” This familiar narrative signal moves the clock forward. What follows is a new scene, consequence, or answer to an earlier tension.
“And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD , and the treasures of the king’s house; he even took away…” Naming Solomon keeps the account rooted in particular people or places. Follow where the name returns and what changes around it.
1 Kings 14:25-31
King James Version25And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem:
26And he took away the treasures of the house of the LORD , and the treasures of the king’s house; he even took away all: and he took away all the shields of gold which Solomon had made.
27And king Rehoboam made in their stead brasen shields, and committed them unto the hands of the chief of the guard, which kept the door of the king’s house.
28And it was so, when the king went into the house of the LORD , that the guard bare them, and brought them back into the guard chamber.
29Now the rest of the acts of Rehoboam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah?
30And there was war between Rehoboam and Jeroboam all their days.
31And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother’s name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And Abijam his son reigned in his stead.
Details worth noticing
The opening image
1 Kings 14:1 begins with “At that time Abijah the son of Jeroboam fell sick.”
Where the chapter turns
1 Kings 14:14 forms a natural hinge: “Moreover the LORD shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day: but what? even now.”
The final note
1 Kings 14:31 leaves the reader with “And Rehoboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David. And his mother’s name was Naamah an Ammonitess. And Abijam his…”
A word trail through the chapter
The words Jeroboam, Israel, LORD, house, Rehoboam, Ahijah help reveal the chapter’s repeated concerns.
What contrasts the two royal encounters?
Melchizedek blesses God as the source of victory; Abram refuses a financial arrangement that would let Sodom claim credit for his wealth.
How does Abram treat Lot after their separation?
He risks resources to rescue him rather than treating earlier disagreement as a reason for abandonment.
KJV words made clear
- behold
- look, or pay close attention
- unto
- to
- thee
- you
- thou
- you
- thy
- your
Text first
Where readers differ
The chapter summary begins with what the passage says and how its parts fit together. It does not assume one denomination has already settled every question. Where a conclusion depends on a tradition, literary theory, or historical reconstruction, that dependence is named openly.
The KJV text is presented first. Interpretive conclusions are labeled, and differences are introduced only when they help a reader understand why serious communities do not always reach the same answer.
Comparative interpretive notes for this chapter are in preparation. Until reviewed notes are ready, this page separates the KJV text from summary and application without claiming that serious readers agree on every question.
