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From: 1 Kings 11:29-32; 12:19

Jeroboam Revolts and Becomes King of Israel (Continuation)

[29] And at that time, when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah
the Shilonite found him on the road. Now Ahijah had clad himself with a new gar-
ment; and the two of them were alone in the open country. [30] Then Ahijah laid
hold of the new garment that was on him, and tore it into twelve pieces. [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,
and will give you ten tribes [32] (but he shall have one tribe, for the sake of my
servant David and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of
all the tribes of Israel).

Ten Tribes Withdraw (Continuation)

[19] So Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David to this day.

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Commentary:

11:26-40. Jeroboam’s revolt is the will of the Lord God of Israel. Through the pro-
phet Ahijah, he makes Jeroboam, who was not a descendant of Solomon, king
of the ten tribes of the North, of which Ephraim was the most important. In the
past, it was God, too, who designated the king of Israel, as in the case of Saul
(cf. 1 Sam 10:22-24) and David (cf. 1 Sam 16:1-12). Now God decides who is to
rule each of the two kingdoms (Israel and Judah) that come into being as a pu-
nishment for Solomon’s sin—and in keeping with God’s promise. On account of
the sin, the kingdom ought to be taken away from Solomon’s line, but because
God is faithful to his promise to David he will keep a member of David’s house
on the throne. So, two kingdoms come into being.

St Cyprian sees the prophet Ahijah’s gesture of tearing his cloak into twelve
pieces as a counter-symbol to the unity of the Church as symbolized by Christ’s
tunic. “Christ carried within him the unity which exists on high, the unity of hea-
ven and the Father; this unity can never be sundered by anyone who acquires or
possesses it; rather, it always retains as its indivisible character all the solidity
and stability of unity. No one who breaks and divides his Church can put on the
garment of Christ. What happens is the opposite of what took place at the death
of Solomon, when his kingdom and his people were divided up. At that time, the
prophet Ahijah, on his way out to meet Jeroboam in the fields, tore his cloak into
twelve parts, saying: ‘Take ten pieces...’. Just as the twelve tribes of Israel were
separated, Ahijah tore his cloak. But since the people of Christ cannot be divi-
ded, the Lord’s tunic, woven in a single piece without seam, was not torn up by
those who fought to take possession of it: undivided, close-knit and united, the
tunic is a symbol of the harmony that ought to exist among our people, we who
have submitted ourselves to the service of Christ. Christ prefigures the unity of
the Church in the mystery and symbolism of his tunic” (”De Unilate Ecclesiae”,
7).

12:16-19. The cry “To your tents, O Israel” (v. 16) is not so much a declaration
of independence as an act of treachery, as when Sheba rebelled against David
(cf. 2 Sam 20:1). The situation that the Northern tribes want to recreate by cut-
ting themselves off from the house of David, is interpreted by the sacred writer
as a crime and not a right. They call themselves “Israel”, which will be the name
of the kingdom of the North, whereas that of the South, where David’s line will
continue, will be called “Judah”, after the tribe that made it up. The observation
“to this day” (v. 19) shows that this history was written at a time when those
two kingdoms still existed but it also denotes hope of a future reunification.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.