Jeroboam and his wife had concerns for their son. One commentator writes, Even calf worshipers love their kids.
1 The same commentator, however, acknowledges that parental concern is only one of two issues involved. There was also concern for the orderly succession of the monarchy.
These two matters led Jeroboam to send his wife, whose name we are never given, to consult Ahijah the prophet. He was the one who had delivered Jeroboam the promise that he would become king of Israel. Ahijah resided in Shiloh, where the tabernacle stood, before the temple in Jerusalem was built. Consulting a supposed source of revelation was consistent with ancient practice, not only in Israel, but also in the wider world.
We may be puzzled as to the reason that, according to the literal translation of the Hebrew, the king instructed his wife to disguise herself so that they
would not recognize her as Jeroboam’s wife. Because of the plural pronoun that indicates that it was not only Ahijah whom Jeroboam wished to deceive, it is possible that the king did not want any idea to circulate that something of importance was taking place. No matter what the reason was for deceiving those she might meet on the way, it is clear that the chief person that Jeroboam wanted to deceive was Ahijah the prophet. Yet, that does not tell us why he wished that.
At this point we must remember that when Ahijah delivered God’s promise that Jeroboam would be king, the prophecy also made it clear that the continuation of his dynasty would be granted upon Jeroboam’s obedience in the likeness of David’s. We may assume that Ahijah knew of Jeroboam’s disobedience. Yahweh’s prophet might have wanted to give a favourable answer if he knew that it was Jeroboam who was behind the inquiry, but why should that matter? Ahijah might be fooled, but surely God who gave the answer could not be.
This consideration produces another consideration. On display here are the depths of Jeroboam's apostasy and unbelief. As many commentators have written, Jeroboam’s view of Ahijah was not as the prophetic instrument of God to pronounce his revelation. It was more the view of Ahijah as a sort of magician, who had the mysterious power to speak a word that would magically come true. The king believed that by disguise and by the offering of presents, the outcome of the consultation could be manipulated to result in a favourable conclusion. He believed that he was only deceiving a mere human being. Yet, God is not mocked.
This we shall see presently.
Before we move ahead to the next verses, it is well to say a little about the presents that she brought. For an average person, the present might be looked upon as a sufficient one. For a king it would seem rather miserly. We have only to compare the ten loaves of bread, cakes, and a jar of honey, which were the presents here, with the ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels of gold and ten changes of clothes, which were the presents that the king of Syria sent with Naaman to Elisha in 2 Kings 5:1–27. If Jeroboam had sent a similar gift, it would have compromised the disguise, but, if Ahijah saw through the disguise (as he did), the gift would appear almost insultingly small.
2 Et Jéroboam dit à sa femme: Lève-toi, je te prie, et déguise-toi pour qu'on ne sache pas que tu es la femme de Jéroboam, et va à Silo. Voici, là est Achija, le prophète; c'est lui qui m'a dit que je serais roi de ce peuple.