Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 1 Kings 14:4
And Jeroboam’s wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age.
4. for his eyes were set ] The same expression is used of Eli, 1Sa 4:15. The idea is of one whose eye has lost its power so that the light no longer acts upon it to enlarge or contract the pupil.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Or, stood still, or were grown stiff; the nerves, by which the eyes and eye-lids are moved, being contracted and withered.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And Jeroboam’s wife did so, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Abijah,…. Disguised herself, and took this long journey, and found the prophet’s house; which she did partly in obedience to her husband, and partly from affection to her child: but Abijah could not see; her or anybody else that came into the room to him:
for his eyes were set by reason of his age; or “stood” fixed and immovable, as the eyes of blind men are; or the nerves and muscles of his eyes stood within the holes thereof, so that he could not see objects.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(4) Were set.The same word is rendered were dim in 1Sa. 4:15. The metaphor is evidently drawn from the solid opaque look of the iris, when affected by cataract or some similar disease.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. Ahijah could not see “Upon the outer world, made foul by man’s abominations, he has closed his eyes, and sees and lives by the light that shines within.” Kitto. And vainly will Jeroboam or his wife attempt, in the presence of such a divinely-illumined seer, to practice guile.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
1Ki 14:4. Ahijah could not see, for his eyes were set by reason of his age The more nearly we examine the structure of the human body, and the more attentively we consider it, the more we are struck with admiration. All, even the hardest parts, as the bones and cartilages, derive their origin from a fluid matter: but in old age the softest membranes grow hard, and the fluids themselves become subject to the laws of petrifaction. The smaller tubes, through which the fluids pass, are tender and flexible in youth, but acquire solidity till the age of perfection; and, at last, in old age harden and even ossify in several parts. Hence the long train of maladies, hence old age, which is itself a malady. The eyes, which are a real camera obscura constructed with infinite art, have not only the faculty of moving in every sense, in children, in adults, and in grown men; but by a certain subtle mechanism, the retina sometimes draws near, sometimes removes from the crystalline, according as the objects are more or less distant: and nature, without our knowing it, and even in spite of us, does in the highest perfection what art effects in a camera obscura, by drawing near, or removing, a paper or cloth from the glass through which the light enters. But in decrepid age this painting naturally goes off, the eyes grow dark, like those of Ahijah, the fibres lose their flexibility, the eyes wrinkle, and at length we see distant objects more distinctly than those which are near; and when the space which is between the retina and crystalline comes to be so blocked up, as that the rays of light can no more centre in this thin tunicle, the person then becomes blind.
Note; (1.) The ministers of God must not be courtiers, but deliver their message to the great, however disagreeable, with boldness and freedom. (2.) Disguises may pass upon men whose dim sight cannot see through the veil; but no covering can hide the hypocrite from the eye of God. (3.) They who hope to recommend themselves to God by their formal duties and services, like Jeroboam’s wife with her present, will find a terrible disappointment, when, among hypocrites, their portion shall be allotted in the outer darkness.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
(4) And Jeroboam’s wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age. (5) And the LORD said unto Ahijah, Behold, the wife of Jeroboam cometh to ask a thing of thee for her son; for he is sick: thus and thus shalt thou say unto her: for it shall be, when she cometh in, that she shall feign herself to be another woman.
What an interesting view is here given us of the Lord’s servant, and yet infinitely more of the graciousness of the Lord himself. Reader! how blessed are those who when the bodily eyes fail, have a sight by faith, and enjoy the visions of the almighty! and oh! how doubly blessed when Jesus sweetly visits them and manifests himself to them; when (as the church beautifully expresseth it) he standeth behind our wall, looketh forth at the windows and showeth himself through the lattice. Son 2:9 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
1Ki 14:4 And Jeroboam’s wife did so, and arose, and went to Shiloh, and came to the house of Ahijah. But Ahijah could not see; for his eyes were set by reason of his age.
Ver. 4. And Jeroboam’s wife did so.] Putting off her royal attire, and putting on more demure apparel; like as many hypocrites do, conforming themselves to the company they come into, and walking in a disguise, till God detect them.
For his eyes were set by reason of his age.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
were set. Compare 1Sa 4:15. One of the nine afflicted with blindness. See note on Gen 19:11.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Shiloh: 1Ki 11:29, Jos 18:1, 1Sa 4:3, 1Sa 4:4, Jer 7:12-14
for his eyes: Gen 27:1, Gen 48:10, Deu 34:7, 1Sa 3:2, 1Sa 4:15, Psa 90:10, Ecc 12:3
were set by reason of his age: Heb. stood for his hoariness
Reciprocal: Eze 14:2 – General
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Ki 14:4. But Ahijah could not see He not only lived obscure and neglected in Shiloh, but was blind through age: yet he was still blessed with the visions of the Almighty; which require not bodily eyes; but are rather favoured by the want of them, the eyes of the mind being then most intent and least diverted. His eyes were set, &c. Hebrew, , kamu misheibo, stood for his hoariness No longer performed their office, by reason of his great age. Perhaps the fibres and muscles by which the eyes and eye-lids are moved, were contracted and withered, the optic nerves become effete, or film or cataract was grown over his eyes.