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1 Kings 13:18

in 1 Kings 13

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,

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And he said unto him, I also am a prophet as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of Jehovah, saying, Bring him back with thee into thy house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.

KJV

He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him.

This verse in 1 Kings 13

Commentary

6 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

An angel spake unto me - That he lied unto him is here expressly asserted, and is amply proved by the event. But why should he deceive him? The simple principle of curiosity to know all about this prediction, and the strange facts which had taken place, of which he had heard at second hand by means of his sons, was sufficient to induce such a person to get the intelligence he wished by any means.

This site's exposition

I may not return with thee

on 1 Kings 13:16-18

The man of God repeats to the old prophet the exact refusal he gave the king, bread and water withheld from Bethel by direct charge from the Lord. The old prophet answers with a claim to his own angelic message countermanding it, and the text stops to tell the reader what the man of God is not told: but he lied unto him. Clarke and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown both weigh why an established prophet would deceive a stranger over so small a matter, and neither settles it beyond calling it a strange and costly lie.

This site's exposition

I too am a prophet like you

Jamieson, Fausset and Brown read the angel as a messenger and name the messenger as the old prophet's own sons. Adam Clarke notes that the text says outright he was lying. Paul sets the same test at Galatians 1:8, where even an angel who brings a contrary word is to be under a curse.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And he said unto him,....

The Nineteenth Century2 voices

A commentator

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown

1802–1910

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)

The "angel," that is, "messenger," was his own sons, who were worshippers, perhaps priests, at Beth-el.
But he lied unto him - It is always to be remembered that the prophetic gift might co-exist with various degrees of moral imperfection in the person possessing it. Note especially the case of Balaam.

The words behind it

22 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיֹּ֣אמֶרand he said

    vaiyomerH5595305 times

  • ל֗וֹto him

    lo

  • גַּם־also

    gam-H1571769 times

  • אֲנִ֣יI

    ʾaniH589874 times

  • נָבִיא֮[am] a prophet

    navi'H5030314 times

  • כָּמוֹךָ֒like you

    kamokhaH3644143 times

  • וּמַלְאָ֡ךְand an angel

    umalakhH4397213 times

  • דִּבֶּ֣רit has spoken

    diberH16961141 times

  • אֵלַי֩to me

    ʾelaiH4135510 times

  • בִּדְבַ֨רby [the] word of

    bidvarH16971440 times

  • יְהוָ֜הYahweh

    yahwehH30686520 times

  • לֵאמֹ֗ר<to> saying

    lemorH5595305 times

  • הֲשִׁבֵ֤הוּbring back him

    hashivehuH77251056 times

  • אִתְּךָ֙with you

    ʾitekhaH854929 times

  • אֶל־to

    ʾel-H4135510 times

  • בֵּיתֶ֔ךָhouse your

    beitekhaH10042046 times

  • וְיֹ֥אכַלso he may eat

    veyokhalH398810 times

  • לֶ֖חֶםbread

    lechemH3899298 times

  • וְיֵ֣שְׁתְּso he may drink

    veyeshetH8354217 times

  • מָ֑יִםwater

    mayimH4325581 times

  • כִּחֵ֖שׁhe lied

    kicheshH3584

  • לֽוֹ׃to him

    lo

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    Matthew 7:15

    Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

    it leads to

    • Matthew 24:11

      and many false prophets will arise and mislead many.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 1 John 4:1

      Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.

    • 2 Peter 2:1–3

      Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on…

  • Through

    1 John 4:1

    Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world.

    it leads to

    • 1 Thessalonians 5:21

      but test all things. Hold fast to what is good.

    • 2 Peter 2:1

      Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on…

    • 1 Timothy 4:1

      Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,

    • 2 John 1:7

      For many deceivers have gone out into the world, refusing to confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist.

  • Through

    2 Peter 2:1

    Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on…

    it leads to

    • Matthew 7:15

      Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

Where this verse is studied

About 1 Kings

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

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).