Prophet
Ahijah
Ahijah the Shilonite
c. 960-900 BC
Biography
Ahijah was from Shiloh, the ancient sanctuary site. In Solomon's final years, he met Jeroboam the Ephraimite outside Jerusalem, tore his new cloak into twelve pieces, gave ten to Jeroboam, and declared: "Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and will give you ten tribes" (1 Kgs 11:31). Jeroboam did receive the ten northern tribes after Solomon's death, but he immediately established the golden-calf shrines at Dan and Bethel to prevent pilgrimage to Jerusalem. When Jeroboam's son fell sick, Jeroboam sent his wife in disguise to consult the (now blind) Ahijah. Ahijah saw through the disguise and pronounced the dynasty's destruction (1 Kgs 14). Ahijah is a case study in prophetic consistency: the one who anointed the future king later pronounced his judgment when he proved faithless.
Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon and will give you ten tribes
More key verses
“Go, tell Jeroboam, Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel”
What they got right, and what they got wrong
Strengths
Symbolic-action prophecy; integrity across both anointing and judgment oracles.
Weaknesses
None recorded.
Lessons
Divine purposes can be enacted through divided kingdoms. Prophetic consistency requires declaring judgment even on those previously anointed.
Spiritual significance
Ahijah's sign-act (tearing the cloak) inaugurates the divided kingdom as divinely ordained discipline. His consistency in pronouncing judgment on the one he had previously anointed models prophetic integrity.
Ahijah in Scripture
22 verses use this name, in 6 books. Open a book to read its mentions here. Text: Berean Standard Bible. Names repeat in Scripture, some of these verses may speak of another person called Ahijah.
Old TestamentNew Testamentsegment width = share of mentions
Old Testament6 books · 22 mentions
1 Samuel2 mentions
- 1 Samuel 14:3including Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod. He was the son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub son of Phinehas, the son of Eli the priest of the LORD in Shiloh. But the troops did not know that Jonathan had left.
- 1 Samuel 14:18Then Saul said to Ahijah, “Bring the ark of God.” (For at that time it was with the Israelites.)
1 Kings13 mentions
- 1 Kings 4:3Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha, were secretaries; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was the recorder;
- 1 Kings 11:29During 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 Kings 11:30And Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing, tore it into twelve pieces,
- 1 Kings 12:15So the king did not listen to the people, and indeed this turn of events was from the LORD, to fulfill the word He had spoken to Jeroboam son of Nebat through Ahijah the Shilonite.
- 1 Kings 14:2and 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.
8 further mentions in 1 Kings — read them in the book.
2 Kings1 mention
1 Chronicles3 mentions
- 1 Chronicles 2:26Ram his firstborn, Bunah, Oren, Ozem, and Ahijah. Jerahmeel had another wife named Atarah, who was the mother of Onam.
- 1 Chronicles 8:7Naaman, Ahijah, and Gera, who carried them into exile and who was the father of Uzza and Ahihud.
- 1 Chronicles 11:36Hepher the Mecherathite, Ahijah the Pelonite,
2 Chronicles2 mentions
- 2 Chronicles 9:29As for the rest of the acts of Solomon, from beginning to end, are they not written in the Records of Nathan the Prophet, in the Prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the Visions of Iddo the Seer concerning Jeroboam son of Nebat?
- 2 Chronicles 10:15So the king did not listen to the people, and indeed this turn of events was from God, in order that the LORD might fulfill the word that He had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam son of Nebat.
Nehemiah1 mention
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