1 Kings 11:30 kjv
And Ahijah caught the new garment that was on him, and rent it in twelve pieces:
1 Kings 11:30 nkjv
Then Ahijah took hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces.
1 Kings 11:30 niv
and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces.
1 Kings 11:30 esv
Then Ahijah laid hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces.
1 Kings 11:30 nlt
and Ahijah took hold of the new cloak he was wearing and tore it into twelve pieces.
1 Kings 11 30 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Kgs 11:31 | And he said to Jeroboam, “Take for yourself ten pieces, for thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Behold, I am about to tear the kingdom from the hand of Solomon...’" | Prophecy of kingdom division given by God |
| 1 Kgs 11:35 | "But I will take the kingdom from his son’s hand and will give it to you, ten tribes." | Specific allocation of tribes to Jeroboam |
| 1 Kgs 12:16 | And when all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, the people answered the king, “What portion do we have in David?... to your tents, O Israel!..." | Fulfillment: Israel's rebellion from Rehoboam |
| 1 Kgs 12:20 | When all Israel heard that Jeroboam had returned, they sent and called him to the assembly and made him king over all Israel. There was none who followed the house of David but the tribe of Judah only. | Fulfillment: Jeroboam crowned, Judah isolated |
| 1 Kgs 14:8 | "and tore the kingdom away from the house of David and gave it to you." | God confirms Jeroboam's rise, links to tearing |
| 1 Sam 15:28 | And Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you.” | Previous prophetic garment tearing; Saul's fate |
| Isa 64:1 | Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence... | God's powerful rending/tearing action |
| Hos 6:1 | "Come, let us return to the Lord; for he has torn us, that he may heal us; he has struck us down, and he will bind us up." | God's judgment and eventual restoration |
| Gen 37:29 | When Reuben returned to the pit and saw that Joseph was not in the pit, he tore his clothes. | Tearing clothes in distress/grief |
| Gen 37:34 | Then Jacob tore his garments and put sackcloth on his loins and mourned for his son many days. | Jacob's deep mourning |
| Job 1:20 | Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. | Tearing in grief and worship |
| Joel 2:13 | Rend your hearts and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful... | Distinction between external and internal sorrow |
| Mt 26:65 | Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need?..." | Tearing in shock/condemnation |
| Acts 14:14 | But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out... | Tearing in distress/outrage |
| Jer 13:1-11 | The Lord said to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth, and put it on your loins, but do not put it in water.” ... So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the Lord and put it on my loins. And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, “Take the loincloth that you have bought... and bury it in a cleft of the rock.” ...Then after many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take the loincloth from there.” Then I went to the Euphrates and dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had buried it. And behold, the loincloth was spoiled; it was good for nothing. Then the word of the Lord came to me: “Thus says the Lord: Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. This evil people... will be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing.” | Prophetic act of decayed loincloth symbolizing Israel's corruption |
| Jer 19:1-11 | Thus says the Lord, “Go, buy a potter's earthen flask... And you shall break the flask... and shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: So will I break this people and this city...’" | Prophetic act of breaking a jar symbolizing destruction |
| Eze 4:1-3 | “As for you, son of man, take a brick and lay it before you, and engrave on it a city, Jerusalem... Then set your face against it, and it shall be besieged..." | Prophetic act of a siege model |
| Acts 21:10-11 | While we were staying there for a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. And coming to us, he took Paul’s belt and bound his own feet and hands and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘This is how the Jews at Jerusalem will bind the man who owns this belt and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.’” | Prophetic act of Agabus's belt |
| Num 1:44-47 | These are those who were numbered, whom Moses and Aaron numbered with the chiefs of Israel, twelve men, each for his fathers’ house... But the Levites were not numbered among them by their fathers’ tribe. | Establishment of the twelve tribes |
| Josh 13:6 | All the inhabitants of the hill country... all of whom I will drive out before the people of Israel. Only allot the land as an inheritance for Israel by lot, as I have commanded you. Now therefore divide this land for an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh.” | Division of land among twelve tribes |
| James 1:1 | James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. | NT reference to the twelve tribes |
| Rev 7:4 | And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad were sealed... | NT symbolic reference to twelve tribes |
1 Kings 11 verses
1 Kings 11 30 Meaning
Ahijah the prophet, by deliberately tearing his new garment into twelve pieces before Jeroboam, enacted a visual prophecy. This symbolic act signified God's impending judgment upon King Solomon's house due to his widespread idolatry, explicitly demonstrating that God would tear away ten of the twelve tribes of Israel from Solomon's son and give them to Jeroboam, leaving only a remnant for the Davidic line.
1 Kings 11 30 Context
This verse is part of a crucial turning point in Israel's history, immediately following God's pronouncement of judgment on King Solomon due to his unfaithfulness and idolatry (1 Kgs 11:9-13). Ahijah, a prophet from Shiloh, confronts Jeroboam, a formidable official under Solomon, and delivers God's decree through this striking visual aid. The prophetic act vividly foreshadows the imminent fragmentation of the united monarchy of Israel after Solomon's death, setting the stage for the split into the northern kingdom of Israel and the southern kingdom of Judah, which would profoundly shape the future narrative of the biblical accounts of the kings.
1 Kings 11 30 Word analysis
- Then Ahijah: (אֲחִיָּה, Akhiah) A prophet from Shiloh, as introduced in 1 Kgs 11:29. He is presented as God's direct mouthpiece and instrument, giving divine authority to his actions and words. His role underscores the truth that the subsequent political upheaval was not merely human machination but divinely orchestrated judgment.
- took hold of: This action signifies a deliberate and purposeful initiation of the event. It was not accidental but a willed, intentional grasp, indicating that the prophetic demonstration was precisely as God commanded and not left to chance or incidental happenstance.
- the new garment: (הַשַּׂלְמָה הַחֲדָשָׁה, hash-salmah hakhadashah)
Salmah(שַׂלְמָה) denotes an outer cloak or robe.Chadasha(חֲדָשָׁה) means 'new', 'fresh', or 'recent'. The 'newness' likely symbolizes the currently thriving and unified kingdom under Solomon. It was unmarred and complete, much like the freshly formed, robust monarchy. Ahijah's personal garment further emphasizes the direct involvement and spiritual authority of the prophet in delivering a divine message. - that was on him: This detail emphasizes that the garment was Ahijah's own, reinforcing that he was actively performing this prophecy with his own possession as an extension of his prophetic commission. It lent authenticity and gravity to the symbolic act.
- and tore it: (וַיִּקְרָע, vayyiqra) From the Hebrew verb קרע (qara), meaning "to tear," "to rip," or "to rend." This is a violent, irreversible, and decisive action. Unlike expressions of human grief, where clothes are torn impulsively, here it is a precise, divinely mandated, and illustrative act. It unequivocally symbolizes the violent rupture and definitive dissolution of unity.
- into twelve pieces: The number twelve is profoundly symbolic throughout the Bible, universally representing the complete and divinely ordained number of the tribes of Israel. By tearing the garment into this specific number of pieces, Ahijah graphically depicted the breaking up of the single, unified nation of Israel into separate, independent tribal entities. Specifically, this prefigured ten tribes being torn from Solomon's son and given to Jeroboam, with two tribes remaining with the house of David. This precision makes the future political reality unmistakable and emphasizes the comprehensive nature of God's judgment and the subsequent redistribution of authority.
1 Kings 11 30 Bonus section
- The symbolism of the garment tearing mirrors the prophetic action of Samuel to King Saul in 1 Samuel 15:28, where Samuel's cloak was torn, symbolizing the tearing of the kingdom from Saul. In Ahijah's case, it similarly denotes the tearing away of kingdom authority, but this time from the Davidic dynasty as a whole (except for a remnant).
- The "newness" of the garment highlights that even in a time of perceived prosperity and a "golden age" under Solomon, the underlying sin of idolatry was severe enough to warrant such a devastating divine judgment, proving that outward glory cannot compensate for inward disobedience.
- This prophetic act, occurring before Solomon's death and the succession of Rehoboam, confirms that the kingdom's division was a preordained consequence of Solomon's apostasy, not simply a reactive event to Rehoboam's poor judgment in 1 Kings 12.
1 Kings 11 30 Commentary
1 Kings 11:30 is a potent visual prophecy by the prophet Ahijah, demonstrating the Lord's absolute sovereignty over the rise and fall of nations. Through the deliberate act of tearing his own new garment into twelve distinct pieces, Ahijah made the abstract divine judgment upon Solomon's house tangible and unmistakable for Jeroboam. This action was not a mere prediction but an enacting of God's determined will to dismantle the united monarchy due to Solomon's covenant unfaithfulness. The "new" garment represented the integrity and freshness of the kingdom as established under Solomon, while its violent rending symbolized the definitive separation and fracturing of the national unity. The twelve pieces unequivocally represented the complete division among the twelve tribes, with the majority to be given to Jeroboam. This passage profoundly illustrates that political outcomes, even seemingly chaotic ones, are ultimately under God's control, serving His redemptive and judgmental purposes according to the faithfulness or unfaithfulness of His covenant people.