1 Kingschapter 13

The Disobedient Prophet Is Slain by a Lion — Gustave Doré, Doré's English Bible (1866), public domain

A.A cry against the altar, and a king's hand dried upvv. 1-10

1 Suddenly, as Jeroboam was standing beside the altar to burn incense, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD. 2 And he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD, “O altar, O altar, this is what the LORD says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David, and upon you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense upon you, and human bones will be burned upon you.’” 3 That day the man of God gave a sign, saying, “The LORD has spoken this sign: ‘Surely the altar will be split apart, and the ashes upon it will be poured out.’” 4 Now when King Jeroboam, who was at the altar in Bethel, heard the word that the man of God had cried out against it, he stretched out his hand and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward him withered, so that he could not pull it back. 5 And the altar was split apart, and the ashes poured out, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. 6 Then the king responded to the man of God, “Intercede with the LORD your God and pray that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king’s hand was restored to him as it was before. 7 Then the king said to the man of God, “Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward.” 8 But the man of God replied, “If you were to give me half your possessions, I still would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place. 9 For this is what I was commanded by the word of the LORD: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’” 10 So the man of God went another way and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.

B.An old prophet's lie: an angel spake unto mevv. 11-19

11 Now a certain old prophet was living in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the deeds that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told their father the words that the man had spoken to the king. 12 “Which way did he go?” their father asked. And his sons showed him the way taken by the man of God, who had come from Judah. 13 So the prophet said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” Then they saddled the donkey for him, and he mounted it 14 and went after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?” “I am,” he replied. 15 So the prophet said to the man of God, “Come home with me and eat some bread.” 16 But the man replied, “I cannot return with you or eat bread or drink water with you in this place. 17 For I have been told by the word of the LORD: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.’” 18 Then the prophet replied, “I too am a prophet like you, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” The old prophet was lying to him, 19 but the man of God went back with him, ate bread in his house, and drank water.

C.A lion that kills but will not eatvv. 20-32

20 While they were sitting at the table, the word of the LORD came to the prophet who had brought him back, 21 and the prophet cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Because you have defied the word of the LORD and have not kept the commandment that the LORD your God gave you, 22 but you went back and ate bread and drank water in the place where He told you not to do so, your body shall never reach the tomb of your fathers.’” 23 And after the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the old prophet who had brought him back saddled the donkey for him. 24 As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left lying in the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. 25 And there were men passing by who saw the body lying in the road with the lion standing beside it, and they went and reported this in the city where the old prophet lived. 26 When the prophet who had brought him back from his journey heard this, he said, “It is the man of God who disobeyed the command of the LORD. Therefore the LORD has delivered him to the lion, and it has mauled him and killed him, according to the word that the LORD had spoken to him.” 27 Then the old prophet instructed his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled it, 28 and he went and found the body lying in the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had not eaten the body or mauled the donkey. 29 So the old prophet lifted up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and bury him. 30 Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they lamented over him, “Oh, my brother!” 31 After he had buried him, the prophet said to his sons, “When I die, you must bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones, 32 for the message that he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria will surely come to pass.”

D.Jeroboam turned not from his evil wayvv. 33-34

33 Even after these events, Jeroboam did not repent of his evil ways, but again he appointed priests for the high places from every class of people. He ordained anyone who desired to be a priest of the high places. 34 And this was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its extermination and destruction from the face of the earth.

Commentary on this chapter: read the Exposition

← Back: 1 Kings 12 Continue: 1 Kings 14 →

Chapter summary

Read the rest, the context and the outline ▾Show less ▴

A man of God out of Judah cries against the altar at Bethel while Jeroboam stands to burn incense, and names an unborn king three centuries early: Josiah, of the house of David, who will burn men's bones on it. The sign follows at once. The king's outstretched hand dries up until the man of God prays it back, and the altar is rent and the ashes poured out. But the messenger refuses the king's bread and then accepts an old prophet's lie that an angel had countermanded God's word. He eats, and a lion kills him on the road and stands by the carcass without eating it. Even so, Jeroboam does not return from his evil way.

Drawn from Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory, Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary and John Wesley, Notes on the Old Testament.

Context

History · Jeremiah — 1 Kings overview

A. 1–10 A cry against the altar, and a king's hand dried up
B. 11–19 An old prophet's lie: an angel spake unto me
C. 20–32 A lion that kills but will not eat
D. 33–34 Jeroboam turned not from his evil way

Top cross-references8 chapters ▾

1 Kings 136 verses
- 1 Kings 13:2And he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD, “O altar, O altar, this is what the LORD says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David, and upon you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense upon you, and human bones will be burned upon you.’”
- 1 Kings 13:3That day the man of God gave a sign, saying, “The LORD has spoken this sign: ‘Surely the altar will be split apart, and the ashes upon it will be poured out.’”
- 1 Kings 13:8But the man of God replied, “If you were to give me half your possessions, I still would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place.
- 1 Kings 13:11Now a certain old prophet was living in Bethel, and his sons came and told him all the deeds that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told their father the words that the man had spoken to the king.
- 1 Kings 13:27Then the old prophet instructed his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” So they saddled it,
- 1 Kings 13:30Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they lamented over him, “Oh, my brother!”
- Read 1 Kings 13 →
2 Kings 233 verses
- 2 Kings 23:15He even pulled down the altar at Bethel, the high place set up by Jeroboam son of Nebat, who had caused Israel to sin. Then he burned the high place, ground it to powder, and burned the Asherah pole.
- 2 Kings 23:17Then the king asked, “What is this monument I see?” And the men of the city replied, “It is the tomb of the man of God who came from Judah and pronounced these things that you have done to the altar of Bethel.”
- 2 Kings 23:18“Let him rest,” said Josiah. “Do not let anyone disturb his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed, along with those of the prophet who had come from Samaria.
- Read 2 Kings 23 →
Numbers 233 verses
- Numbers 23:4and God met with him. “I have set up seven altars,” Balaam said, “and on each altar I have offered a bull and a ram.”
- Numbers 23:5Then the LORD put a message in Balaam’s mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and give him this message.”
- Numbers 23:16And the LORD met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth, saying, “Return to Balak and speak what I tell you.”
- Read Numbers 23 →
1 Kings 142 verses
- 1 Kings 14:10Because of all this, behold, I am bringing disaster on the house of Jeroboam: I will cut off from Jeroboam every male, both slave and free, in Israel; I will burn up the house of Jeroboam as one burns up dung until it is gone!
- 1 Kings 14:13All Israel will mourn for him and bury him. For this is the only one belonging to Jeroboam who will receive a proper burial, because only in him has the LORD, the God of Israel, found any good in the house of Jeroboam.
- Read 1 Kings 14 →

4 more chapters this one speaks with

1 Kings 122 verses
- 1 Kings 12:30And this thing became a sin; the people walked as far as Dan to worship before one of the calves.
- 1 Kings 12:32And Jeroboam ordained a feast on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, like the feast that was in Judah, and he offered sacrifices on the altar; he made this offering in Bethel to sacrifice to the calves he had set up, and he installed priests in Bethel for the high places he had set up.
- Read 1 Kings 12 →
Jeremiah 222 verses
- Jeremiah 22:18Therefore this is what the LORD says concerning Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah: “They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my brother! Alas, my sister!’ They will not mourn for him: ‘Alas, my master! Alas, his splendor!’
- Jeremiah 22:29O land, land, land, hear the word of the LORD!
- Read Jeremiah 22 →
Acts 82 verses
- Acts 8:2God-fearing men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him.
- Acts 8:24Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me, so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
- Read Acts 8 →
Numbers 222 verses
- Numbers 22:18But Balaam replied to the servants of Balak, “If Balak were to give me his house full of silver and gold, I could not do anything small or great to go beyond the command of the LORD my God.
- Numbers 22:21So in the morning Balaam got up, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.
- Read Numbers 22 →

Cross-references from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge and OpenBible.info.