1 Kings 14:6
in 1 Kings 14So when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet entering the door, he said, “Come in, wife of Jeroboam! Why are you disguised? For I have been sent to you with bad news.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And 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.
KJV
And 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.
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This verse in 1 Kings 14
Commentary
9 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
For I am sent to thee - Rather, “I also am sent to thee.” As thou hast a message to me from thy husband, so have I a message to thee from the Lord.
This site's exposition
Ahijah could not see
on 1 Kings 14:4-6
Ahijah is blind with age. The Lord tells him who is coming, and he knows her by “the sound of her feet entering the door”. The prophet who tore a new cloak into twelve pieces, at 11:29-31, cannot be fooled by a disguise made for eyes he no longer has.
This site's exposition
Why are you disguised?
Albert Barnes reads the Hebrew as a matching commission: she carries a question from her husband, and Ahijah carries an answer from the LORD. Charles Spurgeon draws from the blind prophet a lesson that God's servants can have joy without the light of the sun. The bad news comes first.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
But when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet as she came in at the door, he said, "Come in, wife of Jeroboam; why do you pretend to be another?" He heard her coming in, [the text] says, because he could not see anymore after …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam, why feignest thou thyself to be another? She was a queen, but what was that to him, who had a message to deliver to her immediately from God, before whom all the children of men stand upon the same level? It was usual for those who consulted prophets to bring them tokens of respect, which they accepted, and yet were no hirelings.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
AHIJAH the Prophet was blind. Did I not tell you this morning that God's servants could be happy without the light of the sun? If God should be pleased to deprive their natural eyes of the pleasures of light their souls would not be without joy, for as in the New Jerusalem, so in the renewed heart—"the glory of God does lighten it and the Lamb is its Light. " Doubtless this was the case with that venerable Prophet. He was not like Moses, whose eyes did not wax dim and whose natural strength did not abate.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
And take with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a cruse of honey, and go to him--This was a present in unison with the peasant character she assumed. Cracknels are a kind of sweet seed-cake.
1 more voice on this verse
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
AHIJAH the Prophet was blind. Did I not tell you this morning that God's servants could be happy without the light of the sun? If God should be pleased to deprive their natural eyes of the pleasures of light their souls would not be without joy, for as in the New Jerusalem, so in the renewed heart—"the glory of God does lighten it and the Lamb is its Light. " Doubtless this was the case with that venerable Prophet. He was not like Moses, whose eyes did not wax dim and whose natural strength did not abate. But his eyes were set with age. The organs of vision had so decayed through the multitude of his years that he could not see so much as a ray of light. Yet doubtless when he could not look out of the windows, God looked in. And when there was no beam coming in from the sun, much light was darted in from Heaven. What man of modern times saw more than blind Milton? It were well for us to feel the influence of that "drop serene," and close our eyes forever if we could but see such visions of God as Milton has penned in his Paradise Lost and Paradise Regained. Here is a fine picture for you. Behold the venerable Prophet sitting alone in his humble cottage. And yet not alone, because his God is with him. Blind, but yet in the highest sense a Seer, looking into the invisible and by faith beholding things which we blind men who have our sight can never see! Ahijah beheld what eye has not seen and heard what ear has never heard. This, then, may furnish a word of comfort at the outset to any who are suffering under infirmity—Jesus can mend you. You are not the only persons who have been called to suffer. Full many of your humble guild—the company of the blind—have been gifted with spiritual sight. If you have lost hearing, or the use of any of the members of your body, remember that no strange thing has happened to you but such as is common to man.
The words behind it
20 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִי֩ | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| כִשְׁמֹ֨עַ | khishmoa' | when heard | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֲחִיָּ֜הוּ | ʾachiyahu | Ahijah | H281 → | 24 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| ק֤וֹל | kol | [the] sound of | H6963 → | 506 times |
| רַגְלֶ֙יהָ֙ | ragleiha | feet her | H7272 → | 247 times |
| בָּאָ֣ה | baah | coming | H935 → | 2568 times |
| בַפֶּ֔תַח | vapetach | in the entrance | H6607 → | 164 times |
| וַיֹּ֕אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| בֹּ֖אִי | boi | come | H935 → | 2568 times |
| אֵ֣שֶׁת | ʾeshet | O wife of | H802 → | 781 times |
| יָרָבְעָ֑ם | yaraveam | Jeroboam | H3379 → | 104 times |
| לָ֣מָּה | lamah | <to> why? | H4100 → | 752 times |
| זֶּ֗ה | zeh | this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
| אַ֚תְּ | ʾat | [are] you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| מִתְנַכֵּרָ֔ה | mitnakerah | acting as a stranger | H5234 → | 49 times |
| וְאָ֣נֹכִ֔י | veanokhi | and I | H595 → | 359 times |
| שָׁל֥וּחַ | shaluach | [have been] sent | H7971 → | 845 times |
| אֵלַ֖יִךְ | ʾelayikh | to you | H413 → | 5510 times |
| קָשָֽׁה׃ | kashah | hard | H7186 → | 36 times |
וַיְהִי֩and it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
כִשְׁמֹ֨עַwhen heard
khishmoa'H8085 →1159 times
אֲחִיָּ֜הוּAhijah
ʾachiyahuH281 →24 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
ק֤וֹל[the] sound of
kolH6963 →506 times
רַגְלֶ֙יהָ֙feet her
ragleihaH7272 →247 times
בָּאָ֣הcoming
baahH935 →2568 times
בַפֶּ֔תַחin the entrance
vapetachH6607 →164 times
וַיֹּ֕אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
בֹּ֖אִיcome
boiH935 →2568 times
אֵ֣שֶׁתO wife of
ʾeshetH802 →781 times
יָרָבְעָ֑םJeroboam
yaraveamH3379 →104 times
לָ֣מָּה<to> why?
lamahH4100 →752 times
זֶּ֗הthis
zehH2088 →1180 times
אַ֚תְּ[are] you
ʾatH859 →1094 times
מִתְנַכֵּרָ֔הacting as a stranger
mitnakerahH5234 →49 times
וְאָ֣נֹכִ֔יand I
veanokhiH595 →359 times
שָׁל֥וּחַ[have been] sent
shaluachH7971 →845 times
אֵלַ֖יִךְto you
ʾelayikhH413 →5510 times
קָשָֽׁה׃hard
kashahH7186 →36 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 33:10The LORD frustrates the plans of the nations; He thwarts the devices of the peoples.
it leads to
- Psalms 21:11
Though they intend You harm, the schemes they devise will not prevail.
- Job 5:12–13
He thwarts the schemes of the crafty, so that their hands find no success.
- Isaiah 44:25
who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who confounds the wise and turns their knowledge into nonsense,
- Proverbs 21:30
There is no wisdom, no understanding, no counsel that can prevail against the LORD.
- 2 Samuel 15:31
Now someone told David: “Ahithophel is among the conspirators with Absalom.” So David pleaded, “O LORD, please turn the counsel of Ahithophel into foolishness!”
- Psalms 21:11
Through
Hebrews 4:13Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight; everything is uncovered and exposed before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 4:5
Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each…
- Psalms 33:13–15
The LORD looks down from heaven; He sees all the sons of men.
- Proverbs 15:3
The eyes of the LORD are in every place, observing the evil and the good.
- 1 Corinthians 4:5
Where this verse is studied
About 1 Kings
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Charles Spurgeon, The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, Sermon No. 584: “A Hearer In Disguise” (lightly modernized text, CCEL edition); Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 14:6; F. W. Farrar, The First Book of Kings (Expositor's Bible); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.