person · P0034
Achiyah HaShiloni אחיה השילוני
Prophet of Shilo who foretold the split of the kingdom to Yeravam ben Nevat. The Rambam records that he was a Levite of the Exodus generation who heard from Moshe as a child, and received the Oral Torah from David and his court — an extraordinary lifespan that is itself part of the tradition.
I. Who
- Hebrew
- אחיה השילוני
- Also known as
- Ahijah the Shilonite
- Era
- bible
- Received the mesorah from
- David
- Transmitted the mesorah to
- Eliyahu
II. When
- Traditional
- c. 2440–2985 AM (per the tradition of his extraordinary lifespan)
- Lifespan (traditional)
- ≈545 years
- Precision
- disputed
V. How do we know
| Claim | Evidence | Confidence | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| Received the Oral Torah from David and his court and transmitted it to Eliyahu — the seventh link in Rambam's chain. The Rambam adds that he was of those who left Egypt, a Levite, and heard from Moshe while young.
Confidence is for the chain as stated by the Rambam. |
rabbinic | ★★★★★ | |
| Tore a new garment into twelve pieces and gave ten to Yeravam, foretelling the tearing of the kingdom from the house of Shlomo.
Confidence is for what the biblical text states. |
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| The Gemara counts Achiyah HaShiloni among seven figures whose overlapping lifespans span all of history — he saw Amram, and Eliyahu saw him.
Aggadic account; it is the basis of the long lifespan shown. |
rabbinic | ★★★☆☆ | |
| Achiyah was identified as a prophet from Shilo. | biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| Late in life he lived at Shilo, had become old, and could no longer see because of age. | biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| Divrei HaYamim names "the prophecy of Achiyah the Shilonite" among its stated sources for the reign of Shlomo.
The verse attests a work or source bearing his name; it does not describe its physical form or prove that the surviving text was written directly by him.
|
biblical | ★★★★★ | |
| The date band c. 2440–2985 AM follows the aggadic tradition of his lifespan from the Exodus generation to the days of Yeravam; it is not a biographical datum in the biblical text, which places him only in the era of Shlomo and Yeravam.
Schematic traditional dating; precision marked disputed. |
tradition reconstruction | ★☆☆☆☆ |