c Partly,becauſe he would truſt none elſe with this ſecret ; part- ly, becauie ſhe might, without ſuſpicion enquire concerning her own Child ; and partly, becauſe ſhe would enquire moſt exaQly, and diligently, and faithfully acquaint him with the whole truth. d Change thy habit, and voice, and go like a private and obſcure Perſon. e This caution proceeded : Firſt, From the pride of his heart, which made him loth to confeſs his folly in worthipping ſuch ignorant and helpleſs Idols,& to give Glory to the God whom he had forſaken. Secondly, From jealoutie and ſuſpicion, leit the Prophet knowing this, ſhould either give her no Anſwer,or make it worſe than indeed it was. Thirdly, From Policy,eſt his Peo- ple ſhould by his example be drawn to forſake the ſenſleſs Calves, and to return to the God of Juaah,whom they had raſhly forſsken.
2 And take | with thee ten loaves, and || cracknels, and a || cruſe of honey f, and go to him & : he ſhall —_— hat ſhall become of the child [Or borcle. £18 thee what iba
E ff A- preſent, - after the manner, Jaz. 13. 17. 1 Sam. 9. 7,8. :2 Kings 5. 15. and 8. 8. but mean, as became an ordinar Country Woman, which ſhe perſonated. g To enquire the event of this ſickneſs, as the following words imply.
| Chap. 1. 3b
+ Heb: hine hand.
to Shiloh, and came to the houſe of Ahijah : but Ahi-
F 7% jah conld not ſee, for his eyes | were ſet þ by reaſon of
Jr002J9. his age.
heavineſs. h Or, ford ftill, or were grown ſliff; the Nerves, by which the Eyes and Eye-lids are moved, being contraQted and withered.
5 And tne LORD faid unco Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee for her ſon, for he 3s ſick : thus and thus ſhalt chou ſay unto
| her : for it ſhall be, when ſhe cometh in, that ſhe ſhal; feign her ſelf :o be another woman.
6 And it was /o, when Ahijah heard the ſound of her feet, as ſhe came in at the door, that he ſaid, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam z, why feigneſt thou thy ſelf ro be another ? for I em ſent to thee with + heavy tidings.
; By which diſcovery he both reproves their folly,who thought to conceal themſelves or their deſigns from that God from whom they expe&cd and deſired the diſcovery of the moſt ſecret things; and withal gives her aſſurance of the truth and certainty of that Meſſage which he was to deliver. ]
7 Go, tell Jeroboam, "Thus ſaith the LOR D God of Iſrael, Foraſmuch as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people k 1ſrael :
k For ſo they were when Jeroboam was firſt ſet over them.
' $8 And rent the kingdom away from the houſe of David, and gave it thee : and yer thou haſt not been as
- my ſervant David /,who kept my commandments, and who followed me with all his heart, to do hat only which was right in mine eyes,
#F Who though he fell into ſome ſins, yet,firft,he conſtantly per- ſevered in the true Worſhip of God ; from which thou art revolt- ed. Secondly, He heartily repented of, and turned from all his ſins whereas thou art obſtinate and incorrigible.
9 But haſt done evil above all that were before thee »- : for thou haſt gone and made thee other gods and molten images », to provoke me to anger s, and haft caſt me behind thy back p :
m Above all the former Kings of my People, as Sa», and S0- lemon, and Rehoboam. n Or, other Gods, to wit, ( for ſo and oft ſignifies among the Hebrews, as hath been formerly noted ) molten images, namely, the Golden Calves : which he calls other gods, not as if the Iſraelites eſteemed the Calves made of their own Gold, to be gods indeed, which it is incredible ſhould find belief with any man 1n his wits, eſpecially with the whole Body of the 1/r4- elites,vrho knew that the Ark and Cherubims, though made by Gods ſpecial dire&ion, were not Gods, but only Pledges of God's Pre- ſence, &c Nor as if they thought them to be other gods in a tri and proper ſenſe ; for it is apparent that they ſtill pretended to
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4 And Jeroboam's wife did fo, and aroſe, and went |
Chap. XIy Worſhip the God of their Fathers, as the Fews at Jeruſalem: OI though in a differing manner ; but only becauſe God-rejetted their whole Worſhip, and, howſoever they calicd or accounted it, he reckoned it a manifeſt defeC&tion from him,and a betaking of them. ſelves to other gods, or devils, as they are called, 2 Chron, 11, 15.
by whoſe Inſtigation they were led to ſuch Idolatrous praQices,and whom alone they ſerved and worſhipped therein, whatſoever pre- tences they had to the contrary. 0 z. e. Whereby thou didit pro. voke me. For otherwiſe this was not Jeroboarm's defign in it, bur only to eſtabliſh himſelf in the Throne. p Delpiſed, and dijree garded, and forſaken me, and my Commands, and my Worſhip,
as we do things which we caſt behind our backs.
Io Therefore behold, I * will bring evil upon the + c1,,., houſe of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam 1+. 2g. * him that pifſeth againſt the wall q, and him that is * Chip, ſhut up and left y in Iſrael, and will take away the {1
,
oy
remnant of the houſe of Jeroboam, as a man taketh yg, g, away dung /, till it be all gone.
q Either, ſo much as a Dog : or, any male Children. Of which Phraſe ſee the Notcs on 1 Sam. 25- 22. r Thofe who had eſcaped the fury of their Encmics invading them,ceither becauſe they were ſhut up in Caves, or Caſtles, or ſtrong Towns : or, becaule they were left, over-Jooked or neglected by them, or ſpared as poor, 1mpotent, helpleſs Creatures- But now, faith he, "They ſhall be a'1 ſearched out, and brought to deitruftion. Sce more on Deut. 32, 36. / Which they remove,as a loathiom thing,out of their Floults, and that throughly and univerſally. :
11 Him that diecth of Jerobam in the city, ſhall the dogs eat: and him that dieth in the field, ſhall che
fowls of the air eat : for the LORD hath ſpoken zz.
t So both ſorts ſhall die unburied.
I2 Ariſe thou therefore, get thee to thine own houſe ; and when thy feet enter into the City «, the child thall die.
u Preſently upon thy entrance into the City ; when thou art gone but alittle way in it, even as far as 70 the threſhold of the Kings door, v. 17. which poflibly was near the Gates of the Ciry. And by the event of this branch, judge of the Truth of the reſt of my Prophecy.
13 And all Ifracl ſhall mourn for him x, and bury him ; for he only of Jercboam ſhall come to the grave y, + becauſe in him * there is found ſome good thing toward ,,;., .. the LORD God of [fracl z, in the houſe of Jes 1g: ;. roboam 43.