And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself to be another? for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.

Ahias heard the sound of her feet coming in at the door, and said: Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam: why dost thou feign thyself to be another? But I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.

And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou to be another? But I am sent to thee with a hard message.

And it cometh to pass, at Ahijah's hearing the sound of her feet as she came in to the opening, that he saith, 'Come in, wife of Jeroboam, why is this, thou art making thyself strange? and I am sent unto thee with a sharp thing:

And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, you wife of Jeroboam; why feign you yourself to be another? for I am sent to you with heavy tidings.

Then Ahijah, hearing the sound of her footsteps coming in at the door, said, Come in, O wife of Jeroboam; why do you make yourself seem like another? for I am sent to you with bitter news.

Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, entering through the door. And he said: "Enter, O wife of Jeroboam. Why do you pretend to be someone you are not? But I have been sent to you with harsh news.

For I am sent to thee - Rather, "I also am sent to thee." As thou hast a message to me from thy husband, so have I a message to thee from the Lord.

And it was [so], when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door, that he said, Come in, thou (d) wife of Jeroboam; why feignest thou thyself [to be] another? for I [am] sent to thee [with] heavy [tidings].
(d) For God often discloses to his own the craft and subtilty of the wicked.

And it was so, when Ahijah heard the sound of her feet, as she came in at the door,.... Of the room where the prophet was:
that he said, come in, thou wife of Jeroboam, why feignest thou thyself to be another? which must greatly surprise and confound her, as well as lay open to her the folly of her and her husband to imagine that she could be secreted from God, and a prophet of his; or that a prophet could tell her what was future, and yet not know her that was present; and this might serve to assure her, and so her husband, that what the prophet after delivered would certainly come to pass:
for I am sent to thee with heavy tidings; or hard things, such as would be very disagreeable to her and her husband.

When Ahijah heard the sound of her feet entering the door (the participle בּאה, according to the number and gender, refers to the אשּׁה implied in רגליה, vid., Ewald, 317, c.), he addressed her by her name, charged her with her disguise of herself, and told her that he was entrusted with a hard saying to her. קשׁה (cf., 1-Kings 12:13) is equivalent to קשׁה חזוּת; for the construction, compare Ewald, 284, c.

Thou wife - By which discovery he both reproves their folly, who thought to conceal themselves from God, and withal gives her assurance of the truth, and certainty of that message which he was to deliver.