1 Kings 13:31
in 1 Kings 13After 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,
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones.
KJV
And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones:
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This verse in 1 Kings 13
Commentary
7 notes on this verseLay my bones beside his bones - This argues a strong conviction in the mind of the old prophet, that the deceased was a good and holy man of God; and he is willing to have place with him in the general resurrection.
This site's exposition
lay my bones beside his bones
on 1 Kings 13:31-32
The old prophet asks to be buried in the same grave, and Henry reads his reason as plainly stated: what the man of God cried against Bethel's altar will surely come to pass, and he wants his own bones lying where they will be safe when it does. Three centuries later at 2 Ki 23:16-18, Josiah burns the bones of Bethel's priests on that same altar and, seeing the marker, spares this one grave by name, both men's bones inside it. The old prophet's request outlives his lie and secures what his disobedient guest's own obedience could not.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
Well did the man who had deceived the man of God bury him with honor in his own tomb and give orders that he himself should be buried next to his bones, hoping thus to spare his own bones. He knew that the time would come according to the prophecy of that man of God when Josiah, king of the Jews, would dig up in the land the bones of many dead and with them defile the sacrilegious altars that had been set up for graven images. He spared that tomb where the prophet lay who more than three hundred years before had predicted these things. And because of him the burying place of the man who deceived him was not violated. By that love because of which no one ever hated his own flesh, he provided for his own corpse, while he had slain his soul by deceit. From this fact, then, because each one naturally loves his own flesh, it was punishment for him to learn that he would not be in the tomb of his fathers. So he took care that his bones be spared by burying them next to him whose tomb no one would violate.
While this old man insists in saying to his sons that he wants them to bury him, their father, in the grave of the prophet Shemaiah and hopes that his bones will find peace, he represents the allegorical type of an ancient Adam who exhorts …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
"Gather not my soul with the sinners of Beth-el, but with the man of God." The reason he gives is because what he cried against the altar of Beth-el, that men's bones should be burnt upon it, shall surely come to pass,
And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons, saying,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried--His motive in making this request was either that his remains might not be disturbed when the predicted events took place (see 2Ki 23:18), or he had some superstitious hope of being benefited at the resurrection by being in the same cave with a man of God.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
22 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיְהִי֮ | vayhi | and it was | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| אַחֲרֵ֣י | ʾacharei | after | H310 → | 715 times |
| קָבְר֣וֹ | kavero | buried he | H6912 → | 133 times |
| אֹתוֹ֒ | ʾoto | <obj.> him | H853 → | 10935 times |
| וַיֹּ֤אמֶר | vaiyomer | and he said | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בָּנָיו֙ | banav | sons his | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| לֵאמֹ֔ר | lemor | <to> saying | H559 → | 5305 times |
| בְּמוֹתִי֙ | bemoti | at death my | H4194 → | 156 times |
| וּקְבַרְתֶּ֣ם | ukevartem | and you will bury | H6912 → | 133 times |
| אֹתִ֔י | ʾoti | <obj.> me | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בַּקֶּ֕בֶר | bakever | in the grave | H6913 → | 67 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֛ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אִ֥ישׁ | ʾish | [the] man of | H376 → | 1663 times |
| הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים | haelohim | <the> God | H430 → | 2601 times |
| קָב֣וּר | kavur | [is] buried | H6912 → | 133 times |
| בּ֑וֹ | bo | in <the> it | ||
| אֵ֚צֶל | ʾetzel | beside | H681 → | 61 times |
| עַצְמֹתָ֔יו | ʾatzmotav | bones his | H6106 → | 126 times |
| הַנִּ֖יחוּ | hanichu | place | H5117 → | 142 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עַצְמֹתָֽי׃ | ʾatzmotai | bones my | H6106 → | 126 times |
וַיְהִי֮and it was
vayhiH1961 →3559 times
אַחֲרֵ֣יafter
ʾachareiH310 →715 times
קָבְר֣וֹburied he
kaveroH6912 →133 times
אֹתוֹ֒<obj.> him
ʾotoH853 →10935 times
וַיֹּ֤אמֶרand he said
vaiyomerH559 →5305 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
בָּנָיו֙sons his
banavH1121 →4930 times
לֵאמֹ֔ר<to> saying
lemorH559 →5305 times
בְּמוֹתִי֙at death my
bemotiH4194 →156 times
וּקְבַרְתֶּ֣םand you will bury
ukevartemH6912 →133 times
אֹתִ֔י<obj.> me
ʾotiH853 →10935 times
בַּקֶּ֕בֶרin the grave
bakeverH6913 →67 times
אֲשֶׁ֛רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
אִ֥ישׁ[the] man of
ʾishH376 →1663 times
הָאֱלֹהִ֖ים<the> God
haelohimH430 →2601 times
קָב֣וּר[is] buried
kavurH6912 →133 times
בּ֑וֹin <the> it
bo
אֵ֚צֶלbeside
ʾetzelH681 →61 times
עַצְמֹתָ֔יוbones his
ʾatzmotavH6106 →126 times
הַנִּ֖יחוּplace
hanichuH5117 →142 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עַצְמֹתָֽי׃bones my
ʾatzmotaiH6106 →126 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Numbers 23:10Who can count the dust of Jacob or number even a fourth of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous; let my end be like theirs!”
it leads to
- Genesis 13:16
I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if one could count the dust of the earth, then your offspring could be counted.
- Psalms 37:37
Consider the blameless and observe the upright, for posterity awaits the man of peace.
- Psalms 116:15
Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His saints.
- Revelation 14:13
And I heard a voice from heaven telling me to write, “Blessed are the dead—those who die in the Lord from this moment on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors,…
- Genesis 22:17
I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
- Genesis 13:16
Through
Ecclesiastes 8:10Then too, I saw the burial of the wicked who used to go in and out of the holy place, and they were praised in the city where they had done so. This too…
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 2:16
For there is no lasting remembrance of the wise, just as with the fool, seeing that both will be forgotten in the days to come. Alas, the wise man will die just like the…
- Proverbs 10:7
The memory of the righteous is a blessing, but the name of the wicked will rot.
- Ecclesiastes 9:5
For the living know that they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no further reward, because the memory of them is forgotten.
- Ecclesiastes 2:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Kings
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, On the Care of the Dead 7.9; Ephrem the Syrian, ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 13:20; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.