Ahijah took the new garment that was on him, and tore it in twelve pieces. He said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces; for Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to you (but he shall have one tribe, for my servant David’s sake and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel);
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1 Kings 11:30-32 sits inside this longer paragraph.
God raised up an adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his lord Hadadezer king of Zobah. He gathered men to himself, and became captain over a troop, when David killed them of Zobah. They went to Damascus, and lived there, and reigned in Damascus. He was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon, in addition to the mischief of Hadad. He abhorred Israel, and reigned over Syria. Jeroboam the son of Nebat, an Ephraimite of Zeredah, a servant of Solomon, whose mother’s name was Zeruah, a widow, also lifted up his hand against the king. This was the reason why he lifted up his hand against the king: Solomon built Millo, and repaired the breach of his father David’s city. The man Jeroboam was a mighty man of valor; and Solomon saw the young man that he was industrious, and he put him in charge of all the labor of the house of Joseph. At that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite found him on the way. Now Ahijah had clad himself with a new garment; and the two of them were alone in the field. Ahijah took the new garment that was on him, and tore it in twelve pieces. He said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces; for Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to you (but he shall have one tribe, for my servant David’s sake and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel); because that they have forsaken me, and have worshiped Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, Chemosh the god of Moab, and Milcom the god of the children of Ammon. They have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in my eyes, and to keep my statutes and my ordinances, as David his father did.
Parallel Translations
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Ahijah took the new garment that was on him, and tore it in twelve pieces.
He said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces; for Yahweh, the God of Israel, says, ‘Behold, I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to you
(but he shall have one tribe, for my servant David’s sake and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel);
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And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces:
And he said to Jeroboam, Take thee ten pieces: for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel, Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee:
(But he shall have one tribe for my servant David’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:)
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And Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces.
And he said to Jeroboam: 'Take thee ten pieces; for thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel: Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to thee —
but he shall have one tribe, for My servant David's sake, and for Jerusalem's sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel —
Cross-references (6)
- 1 Kings 11:11-12 (v31) Therefore Yahweh said to Solomon, “Because this is done by you, and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes, which I have commanded…
- 1 Samuel 15:27-28 (v30) As Samuel turned around to go away, Saul grabbed the skirt of his robe, and it tore. Samuel said to him, “Yahweh has torn the kingdom of…
- 1 Kings 11:13 (v32) However I will not tear away all the kingdom; but I will give one tribe to your son, for David my servant’s sake, and for Jerusalem’s sake…
- 1 Samuel 24:4-5 (v30) David’s men said to him, “Behold, the day of which Yahweh said to you, ‘Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, and you shall do…
- 1 Kings 12:20-21 (v32) When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the congregation, and made him king over all Israel. There…
Show all 6 cross-references
- 1 Kings 14:21 (v32) Rehoboam the son of Solomon reigned in Judah. Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (14 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v30 By these visible signs the Prophets would more deeply…
By these visible signs the Prophets would more deeply print their message into their hearts to whom they were sent.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv30–32 1Ki 11:30 And Ahijah caught the new garment that…
1Ki 11:30 And Ahijah caught the new garment that [was] on him, and rent it [in] twelve pieces:
Ver. 30. And rent it.] This he did for a sign. See 1Ki 11:11, where the kingdom is likened unto a glorious mantle upon the king’s shoulders, as 1Sa 15:28.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv31–32 Take thee ten pieces; whence the kingdom of Israel…
Take thee ten pieces; whence the kingdom of Israel is oft called the kingdom of the ten tribes; by which expression it may seem that David’s posterity should have one tribe reserved out of the kingdom of Israel besides that of Judah, which because of its greatness and eminency, is commonly distinguished from Israel, and that not only after the division of the two kingdoms, but even before it, as 1Sa 11:8; 2Sa 5:5.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv30–32 And he said to Jeroboam, take thee ten pieces,....…
And he said to Jeroboam, take thee ten pieces,.... Of the twelve, an emblem of the ten tribes he was to have:
for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon; that is, out of his family:
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and will give ten tribes unto thee; to rule over.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v31 Verse 31. Take thee ten pieces] The garment was…
Verse 31. Take thee ten pieces] The garment was the symbol of the kingdom of Israel; the twelve pieces the symbol of the twelve tribes; the ten pieces given to Jeroboam, of the ten tribes which should be given to him, and afterwards form the kingdom of Israel, ruling in Samaria, to distinguish it from the kingdom of Judah, ruling in Jerusalem.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v30 1Ki 11:30-32. And rent it in twelve pieces —…
1Ki 11:30-32. And rent it in twelve pieces — An emblem of what he was to acquaint him with; or rather a prediction of it. For there were two ways, in those ancient times, of foretelling future events; one in express words, the other by signs and resemblances, many instances of which we have often after this of Ahijah. And will give ten tribes to thee — Hence it is generally called, the kingdom of the ten tribes. But he shall have one tribe — Besides his own. Or Benjamin and Judah may, be looked upon as but one tribe, both of them having a share in the city of Jerusalem, and lying near one another.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On v30 The first instance of the “acted parable.” Generally this…
The first instance of the “acted parable.” Generally this mode was adopted upon express divine command (see Jer 13:1-11; Eze 3:1-3). A connection may be traced between the type selected and the words of the announcement to Solomon (1Ki 11:11-13. Compare 1Sa 15:26-28).
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On v30 Parts. He speaks by his actions, (Menochius) thus foretelling…
Parts. He speaks by his actions, (Menochius) thus foretelling what should happen, as was customary with the prophets, Osee i. 2., Jeremias xxvii. 2., Ezechiel xii. 7., and Acts xxi. 11. (Calmet) --- This tended to make a deeper impression on the mind, (Haydock) and convince all, that what was spoken, was not in jest. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On v30 30. Twelve pieces — The numbers used in this…
30. Twelve pieces — The numbers used in this symbolical prophecy have themselves a sacred symbolism; and yet, like all symbols, must not be supposed capable of being pressed into a relation to all possible aspects of the case to which they are made to refer. Thus “twelve” is a sacred number, (see supplementary note on Luke 6, at the end,) and the twelve pieces here represented the twelve tribes, though, counting the two sons of Joseph, there were actually thirteen. So, too, the ten pieces represented the revolting tribes, not altogether because exactly ten tribes revolted, for it is doubtful whether those on the east of the Jordan, and Simeon in the south, had much to do with the matter, but rather because “ten” is the number of totality, and indicated that substantially all Israel would fall away from Rehoboam, as is in fact asserted in 1Ki_12:20. Then, further, the prophet does not follow out the matter as we might suppose by making the two remaining pieces represent Judah and Benjamin, but says that one tribe should cleave to the house of David, that is, only a single part of the sovereignty of Israel. But besides Judah, it seems that the tribe of Benjamin, and a part of Simeon, adhered to Rehoboam. 1Ki_12:21; 1Ki_19:3. But the symbolism was sufficiently exact for the prophetic purpose, and it made an announcement never to be forgotten.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv30–32 30. and Ahijah caught] R.V. laid hold of. The…
30. and Ahijah caught] R.V. laid hold of. The word is frequently used of the taking prisoners captive.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv30–31 (30) Rent it in twelve pieces.—The use of symbolical…
(30) Rent it in twelve pieces.—The use of symbolical acts is frequent in subsequent prophecy (especially see Jer_13:1; Jer_19:1; Jer_27:2; Ezekiel 4, 5, Eze_12:1-7; Eze_24:3; Eze_24:15), often alternating with symbolical visions and symbolical parables or allegories. The object is, of course, to arrest attention, and call out the inquiry (Eze_24:19): “Wilt thou not tell us what these things are to us?” Ahijah’s rending of his own new garment is used, like Saul’s rending of Samuel’s mantle (1Sa_15:27-28), to symbolise the rending away of the kingdom. (See 1Ki_11:11-13.)
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv30–32 And Ahijah caught This English word almost implies that…
And Ahijah caught This English word almost implies that it was Jeroboam"s garment; (cf. Gen_39:12) but the original simply means "laid hold of." the new garment that was on him, and rent same word as in vers. 11, 12, 13 it in twelve pieces. The first instance of an "acted parable" (Rawlinson).
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v31 Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold I…
1Ki_11:31-33
Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Behold I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon.
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The purpose of God
Nothing, we are told, succeeds like success. It is the sign of a man of transcendent genius and power that he is able to carry through all his projects, and bring his schemes to a successful issue. And yet God seems to fail. What could be a greater failure than this world, if it was made by a beneficent God, says the average observer? Why are evil, misfortune, pain, and failure so obvious in its history, and so marked upon its operations? So with Christianity itself; it is the commonplace of missionary meetings that only a small fraction of the world has as yet become Christian, after centuries of preaching and earnest effort. Even where the Church has spread, and fixed her seat, how many schisms and controversies rend her unity, how imperfect is the faith of professing Christians, how unworthy their lives, how poor the realisation of those promises to which they cling. Before we can criticise anything we must know the facts. Before we can give a worthy judgment we must be in a position to judge, and in pronouncing on the great work of God in the universe, we may well ask ourselves, are we in a position during our short visit, which we call life, when we know so imperfectly what came before, when we know absolutely nothing of what comes after--are we in a position to judge? There we stand with the vast ocean before us. Here the wave has receded and left a bare patch of sand, there it is thundering with overwhelming catastrophe against some crumbling barrier. Is the tide coming in, or is it receding? Is there a progress or a steady shrinking back? Before we can decide we have to move away. Has God failed? Is this world in any sense a mistake? Are the Chronicles of Israel and Judah an uninteresting record of a monotonous disaster, unedifying to the soul, and powerless to amuse any attention, or fire our enthusiasm? Is Christianity to alter its name to Civilisation T and to substitute the worship of the beautiful for the service of the sanctuary, the book of science for the Book of God? Is the Church to be carted away in its crumbling masses to the lumber room, where lie now covered with the dust of ages the mouldering forms of Utopias, Republics, and Cities of God, in the model room, where repose the unattainable visions of unpractical men?
I. The plan of God, regarded from the side of His wise omnipotence. Is this world a failure? Does it whirl unchecked and uncontrolled along an aimless path, where luck and fortune and chance are the apparent and only guide to its caprice? Is life a game of chess with an unknown adversary, whom we neither see nor hear--where a mistake on our part is followed by a blow, and that a blow without a word? Have vice and violence and cunning, on the whole, the upper hand in the control of the world? Have all the improvements, the luxuries, the refinements of life, only crushed off in their path a wider and a more sordid fringe of poverty, a moraine of misery, and secured the greatest happiness of the few at the expense of the happiness of the greater number? No! Just remember that God is dealing with a fallen world, a world not as He made it, but as man marred it. A child no doubt, as he lies on his bed, powerless, faint, and ill, crippled by an accident, thinks the doctor cruel as he handles his aching limb, and probes the dangerous wound, and prescribes the bitter medicine; he wishes to be free, to be active, to be playing with his fellows, to feel life in his limbs and health in his frame, to eat what is pleasant, to taste what is sweet, and to fill his life with joy. But the father or the mother, and those who have at heart his welfare, marvel the rather at the skill, the nerve, the resource of the careful physician who is bringing health out of sickness, and a wholesome life out of deformity and mishap. An orchard of trees pruned and cut back is a sorry sight to one, who does not understand the secrets of fruit-bearing, and will not be there to see the golden clusters in the rich autumn. God is dealing with a fallen world, where the measures must be largely remedial, and tending towards a future, rather than self-sufficient in the present. The world is better than it was, it has advanced, and is advancing. Although here and there men sigh over the barren sand, as the wave sighs off with a gasp and a groan, and a sound of falling and disaster. Look out over the world and you will see progress--you cannot deny it--a tending towards a renewal of that time, when in the beginning God saw everything that He had made, and behold it was very good; while by the side of progress we see the unerring punishment which overtakes sin and evil; retribution we call it; a sign that God has given us a law, which cannot be broken.
II. Equally shallow is the criticism which would believe the purpose of God to have failed in His church. The Church is Gods Kingdom set up for the better management of the world. And most emphatically the Church has not been a failure. We have the strange spectacle of lands, once covered with its beneficent richness, now barren and dry, and in the hands of the infidel. We see large fields of the Church, once covered with ripe grain, and rippled with the breath of Heaven, now lying fallow, untilled, apparently uncared for, and yet all waiting on the good purpose of God. If we refuse to despair of the world, much more do we refuse to despair of the Church. The purpose of God in spite of drawbacks is being worked out here. Who can deny it?
III. But there is another region where we are apt to charge God with failure. I mean the region of our own soul. God has called us through the Red Sea, and, we say, would God we had stayed in Egypt. God has led us into the promised land, and we say it is no land of milk and honey. Men turn round on the old Bible and say it has failed; on the simple life of prayer and devotion; and say that it has proved powerless to effect its purpose. It is a bitter thing, dear brethren, to look back on life and say that it has fared. To look back on a pure home and careful training only to deride it, and get away from it. To have that bitter severance in life, which owes no piety to the past, which has lost all sense of vocation, or duty, or mission, and simply lives on from day to day a life which would be bearable were it not for its pleasures, and hopeful were it not for its ambitions. It is a terrible verdict which the world records of a man when it says, He has thrown himself away. It is a terrible sense of failure, when a man owns to himself, I am not what I used to be. It is sad for the returning prodigal to think of a large portion of his life, of which the most hopeful wish would be, that it might remain a blank. It is a more awful thing for a man to feel that his early hopes and aspirations have failed, and that a brilliant morning is likely to be obliterated in a stormy sunset. What can be more sad than the complete breakdown of the moral sense in the heart once alive unto God? Wise Solomon sunk in sensuality; David, whose heart was responsive to every ripple of the Divine breath, dull and insensate; the altar of God spurned, Sunday desecrated; evil eagerly followed; the shame of vice causing no blush, the meanness of it no compunction? And yet Gods purpose survives in another way. Magdalen stands before the world to cheer it with the sight of penitent love, more deep, more utter, because like a precious flower, it has been snatched out of the abyss of sin. An Augustine stands before the world, stored with an experience written in letters of blood, and burned in with horror into his soul, invites those who have made shipwreck of youth, to hope to revive and seek Him ten times the more. Ah! my brethren, believe in the inherent vitality of all Gods good gifts to you. If ever you have been religious, when you now are cold and dead, cherish that seed of life. God means yet again to revive it if you will let Him. If ever your heart was open and responsive before sin blinded your eyes, and the ways of the world made you hard, put yourself back before the first wilful sin, and know and believe that God wishes to revive in you the promise of a better past. (W. C. E. Newbolt, M. A.)
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The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v31 He said
He said
Here the word "He" refers to Ahijah.
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tear the kingdom out
Here "tear ... out" is a metaphor that refers to the action of forcefully removing. This is like a person tears apart a piece of cloth. See how you translated this phrase in 1 Kings 11:11. AT: "forcefully take the kingdom out" (See: Metaphor)
the hand of Solomon
Here "hand" is a metonym that refers to a person's authority, control and power. AT: "Solomon's control" (See: Metonymy)
Solomon will have
The name "Solomon" here is a metonym referring to his descendants. AT: "Solomon's sons will have" or "Solomon's descendants will have" (See: Metonymy)
Ashtoreth ... Chemosh ... Molech
These are the names of false gods. (See: How to Translate Names)
Sidonians ... Moab ... Ammon
These are the names of locations and the people groups that live there. (See: How to Translate Names)
what is right in my eyes
"Eyes" here is a metonym for someone's opinion or idea. This is a commonly used idiom. AT: "what I consider to be right" (See: Metonymy and Idiom)
translationWords
Yahweh
God
Israel
kingdom
tribe
servant
Jerusalem
forsake
worship
Sidon
Moab
Ammon
walk
statute
decree
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.