מלכים א, פרק י״ד, פסוק ד׳

Following her husband's instructions, Jeroboam's wife journeys to Shiloh to visit the prophet Ahijah. Upon her arrival, the focus shifts to the prophet's frail physical state, specifically noting that he has completely lost his vision due to his advanced age.

The primary approach among commentators is that this blindness is a natural result of the aging process, though they offer different perspectives on the exact physical changes involved. [רד ק ואברבנאל] explain that as a person reaches old age, the body's natural moisture dries up. This causes the muscles of the eye to harden, leading the eyeball to sink deeply into its socket. On the other hand, [מצודת דוד] views the condition as a loss of motion. While a healthy eye constantly moves and reacts, a blind eye becomes entirely still, frozen permanently in place.

Beyond the natural physical decline, there is also a profound moral dimension to the prophet's blindness. [רד ק ואברבנאל] share a rabbinic tradition teaching that any person who raises an unworthy or corrupt student will eventually suffer the loss of their own eyesight. Ahijah lost his vision as a direct spiritual consequence of being the teacher of Jeroboam, a king who ultimately chose a path of deep moral corruption.