Then Ahijah said to Jeroboam’s wife, “Go on home, and when you enter the city, the child will die.
Parallel translations
- WEB Arise therefore, and go to your house. When your feet enter into the city, the child will die.
- KJV Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house: and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die.
- BSB As for you, get up and go home. When your feet enter the city, the child will die.
- NKJV Arise therefore, go to your own house. When your feet enter the city, the child shall die.
- NASB Now you, arise, go to your house. When your feet enter the city the child will die.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Ahijah tells the wife that the child will die the moment she returns home. The word of judgment is precise and certain.
Overview
The death of the child is presented as part of God's judgment on Jeroboam's house, yet also, as the next verse shows, a measure of mercy to the boy. The exact timing confirms the prophet speaks truly. It reminds readers that God's word is fulfilled to the letter.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- 1 Kgs 14:16–17He will give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, which he has sinned, and with which he has made Israel to sin.”
- 2 Kgs 1:16He said to him, “Yahweh says, ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron, is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word? Therefore you will not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but you will surely die.’”
- 1 Kgs 14:3Take with you ten loaves of bread, some cakes, and a jar of honey, and go to him. He will tell you what will become of the child.”
- 2 Kgs 1:6They said to him, “A man came up to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go, return to the king who sent you, and tell him, “Yahweh says, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel, that you send to inquire of Baal Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not come down from the bed where you have gone up, but you will surely die.’”’”
- John 4:50–52Jesus said to him, “Go your way. Your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
How 1 Kings 14:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.