Deeper Commentary
1Ki 13:1 There came a man of God out of Judah by the word of Yahweh
to Beth El: and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense-
This prophet would have been tempted to reason that he need not make
this long and dangerous journey; for after all, the ten tribes had chosen to
secede from Judah. But we learn here of our responsibility to all our
brethren, even if they have separated from us wrongfully. And this prophet
was willing to risk death to do so (:4).
1Ki 13:2 He cried against the altar by the word of Yahweh and said, Altar,
altar, thus says Yahweh: ‘Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David,
Josiah by name. On you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who
burn incense on you, and they will burn men’s bones on you’-
The fulfillment came 330 years later (2 Kings 23:15,16). This is one of
the few prophecies which apparently had no short term fulfilment to validate
it; but there was therefore a dramatic sign given at the time (:3).
1Ki 13:3 He gave a sign the same day saying, This is the sign which Yahweh
has spoken: Behold, the altar will be split apart, and the ashes that are
on it will be poured out-
LXX and Hebrew "fat" instead of "ashes". "Split" is the word used for
the 'rending' of the kingdom from Judah to Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:13,30,31).
But the lesson was that Jeroboam's false religious system would now be
rent apart. The potential promised to Jeroboam of becoming king of the
'split / rent' kingdom on God's behalf, experiencing the fulfilment of
God's promises to David (1 Kings 11:38) had now in turn been rent.
1Ki 13:4 It happened, when the king heard the saying of the man of God
which he cried against the altar in Bethel, that Jeroboam put out his hand
from the altar, saying, Seize him! His hand, which he put out against him,
dried up, so that he could not draw it back again to himself-
Jeroboam's reaction to the prophet was exactly that of Saul to David
and Solomon to Jeroboam. They all thought that their action in murdering
people could somehow stop the fulfilment of God's word. Jeroboam's action
is a typical example of anger with the messenger because of the message.
And we experience this often in our preaching of God's word to others.
1Ki 13:5 The altar also was split apart, and the ashes poured out from the
altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of
Yahweh-
I noted on :2 that the prophecy about Josiah was not to be fulfilled
for 330 years. But most prophecies had a short term fulfilment, for
according to the Mosaic law, this was how a prophet could be tested and
validated. Therefore this dramatic sign was given. An earthquake or earth
tremour split the altar, and the ashes or "fat" fell to the ground.
1Ki 13:6 The king answered the man of God, Now entreat the favour of Yahweh
your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me again. The man
of God entreated Yahweh, and the king’s hand was restored him again, and
became as it was before-
The
prayer of the man of God caused Jeroboam’s hand to be healed. But he used
the words of Pharaoh to Moses: "Pray for me...". The prayers of someone else can affect the fortunes of another in a
way which would not happen if they just prayed for themselves. The
Corinthians “helped… by prayer for us” (2 Cor. 1:11)- as if Paul’s unaided
prayers had less power than when the Corinthians were praying for him too.
we note Jeroboam refers to "Yahweh your God". Despite all his
cleverly planned allusions to Yahweh worship in his new religious system,
and his awareness of Yahweh's word- Yahweh was not his God. We marvel that
a man can experience an absolute miracle- and still not be convicted of
Yahweh as his God. This is further evidence against the Pentecostal idea
that miracles are necessary in order to elicit faith. The Bible is full of
examples of where they do not do so.
1Ki 13:7 The king said to the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh
yourself, and I will give you a reward-
"Home" was presumably to Shechem. For they were at Bethel at the
time. Jeroboam still saw things in a very materialistic way, reasoning as
did Saul (1 Sam. 9:7), and had utterly failed to appreciate the great
spiritual potentials offered to him in 1 Kings 11:38. We see internal
corroboration of the record in the character presentation of Jeroboam; in
1 Kings 13:7 and also 1 Kings 14:3, Jeroboam thinks that prophets must be
paid for their services.
1Ki 13:8 The man of God said to the king, Even if you gave me half of your
house, I would not go in with you, neither would I eat bread nor drink
water in this place-
The prophet is tempted to break the commandment received not to do so
(:9), but he overcomes it. He is then to be tested in a similar way again,
and he fails it. God tests us and then repeats the test, that we might
learn; or that our apparent obedience may be tested and proven to
ourselves as real.
1Ki 13:9 for so was it commanded me by the word of Yahweh saying, ‘You
shall eat no bread, nor drink water, neither return by the way that you
came’-
There was possibly the idea that eating and drinking together with
others was a sign of religious fellowship (1 Cor. 5:11). But likely the
prophet was being empowered miraculously as Elijah was later, to make a
journey in God's strength. And the lack of food and water was to make him
closer to God through fasting. Bethel was south of Shechem, so the prophet
coming from Judah would not have travelled on this road. Perhaps the
command not to return was because God wanted the prophet not to be delayed
by people who had seen him coming wanting to congratulate him or otherwise
delay him on his return journey. His whole period outside the border of
Judah was to be without eating or drinking, so he was being told to make
the journey as quickly as possible, and not allow himself to be delayed.
1Ki 13:10 So he went another way, and didn’t return by the way that he
came to Bethel-
See on :9. However the exact reason for this is unclear. It may have
been just a simple test. The first part of the commandment, not to eat
food, he had obeyed. Now he was to be tested regarding the second part of
the commandment.
1Ki 13:11 Now there lived an old prophet in Bethel; and one of his sons
came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in
Bethel. They also told their father the words which he had spoken to the
king-
The prophet was returning to Judah, so he was moving south of Bethel.
To go back to Bethel would require him to return by the way he had come,
in spirit, although he may have argued that seeing he was travelling a
different road back home (:10), his return to Bethel by that road was not
strictly returning by "the way that he came to Bethel". But such legalism
leads into sin, as we see here. We wonder why this prophet was still in
Bethel and had not joined the Levites in going to live in Judah. Perhaps
it was because he was old. Yet his subsequent behaviour makes us wonder
whether he was in fact a prophet of Yahweh, or just a "prophet" in a
general sense.
1Ki 13:12 Their father said to them, Which way did he go? Now his sons had
seen which way the man of God went, who came from Judah-
We note the emphasis upon "the way". He had been told by his sons all
the words spoken (:11), so he knew the prophet from Judah was not to eat
or drink, nor return by "the way" he had come. Perhaps as discussed on :11
he reasoned that returning to his house would not be returning by the way
the prophet had come to Bethel- because he was on a different route. But
knowing he had been forbidden to eat and drink, it was surely wrong of him
to fake a word from Yahweh commanding him now to eat and drink. Perhaps he
reasoned that the command not to eat and drink meant not to do so with
Jeroboam. We can see the wrong thinking which his legalism led him to.
1Ki 13:13 He said to his sons, Saddle the donkey for me. So they saddled
the donkey for him; and he rode on it-
The focus of the Divine cameraman is zoomed in close up. Sometimes we
have scant detail, at others, such as this, we get much detail. We are
thereby invited to imagine what the man was thinking as they saddled the
donkey and he mounted it, and why he was doing this...
1Ki 13:14 He went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an
oak. He said to him, Are you the man of God who came from Judah? He said,
I am-
If he had not eaten nor drunken, he was presumably tired. This would
militate against my earlier suggestion that he was given miraculous power
with which to make the journey without eating or drinking.
1Ki 13:15 Then he said to him, Come home with me, and eat bread-
We naturally ponder the man's motives. He faked a word of Yahweh, and
yet is not so dramatically punished as the brave prophet from Judah who
had done what he ought to have done, if he were a true prophet of Yahweh.
Perhaps on the other hand, he realized this, and desperately wanted to
show his respect to this prophet who was braver than he. So desperate that
he faked a word from Yahweh. And yet that weakness was used by God to test
the prophet from Judah. We marvel at the Divine ecology revealed in all
this. The situation gets the less strange the more we think about it. For
this kind of mixed motive is quite imaginable.
1Ki 13:16 He said, I may not return with you, nor go in with you; neither
will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place-
"This place" presumably refers to the ten tribes, although perhaps
Bethel and its environs is specifically in view.
1Ki 13:17 For it was said to me by the word of Yahweh, ‘You shall eat no
bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that you
came’-
By taking a different route home, the prophet had fulfilled this. But
he rightly interpreted the spirit of it as meaning that he must not return
at all by any road he had travelled on.
1Ki 13:18 He said to him, I also am a prophet as you are; and an angel
spoke to me by the word of Yahweh, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into
your house, that he may eat bread and drink water’. He lied to him-
The whole incident underlines the importance of personal relationship
with God. If we are given a word from the Lord to do something, we are to
do it, and not let that be overridden by the words of others, even if they
claim to also be reasoning according to God's word. Our personal
understanding of God's word is to be utterly paramount. No matter how
apparently credible is another argument against it. And we must remember
that the man had not eaten nor drunk for some time, and was resting,
exhausted, beneath a tree (:14). Perhaps in his weakness he wondered
whether this was God's way of sustaining him. But God will not send help
to us in any way which so fragrantly breaks His own word to us.
1Ki 13:19 So he went back with him, and ate bread in his house, and drank
water-
LXX "So he turned him back". The problem with what he did was that
the prophet of Judah's word to Jeroboam now appeared compromised. For
Jeroboam had tried to seize him after his condemnation of the altar, but
had been stopped. But now it seemed God had intervened to slay His
prophet, and so there was no need to take his word seriously.
1Ki 13:20 It happened, as they sat at the table, that the word of Yahweh
came to the prophet who brought him back-
Whether or not this old man was a true prophet of Yahweh, he was used
to speak Yahweh's word to the prophet of Judah.
1Ki 13:21 and he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, saying-
"Cried" is s.w. in :2 for how the prophet cried against Jeroboam for
his disobedience. For all his bravery, he was no better; at least in this
moment of his life. He is condemned to death, not perhaps because he will
not be saved, but as a lesson for us as to the importance of very personal
obedience to God's word. The old prophet apparently sinned worse, but
wasn't immediately slain. That point is so obvious in the story, and we
are surely to conclude from it that sometimes men are punished with death
for far 'less', apparently, than others sin. We think of Uzzah being slain
for touching the ark in an apparently well meaning way, and David
preserved after the sin with Uriah. The outcomes of our sins are sometimes
so that others may hopefully learn something. Everything in our lives is
so multi factorial. See on :24.
Thus
says Yahweh, ‘Because you have been disobedient to the mouth of Yahweh,
and have not kept the commandment which Yahweh your God commanded you-
God's word is His actual word. The prophet heard "the mouth
of Yahweh". And those words have been recorded. When we read His word, we
hear His voice. Jeremiah spoke "from the mouth of the Lord" (2 Chron. 36:12). His word
brings Him that near to us, if we will perceive it for what it is.
Jeremiah also was "disobedient to the mouth of Yahweh" (same phrase in
Lam. 1:18), but wasn't immediately slain; see commentary on the first half
of this verse.
1Ki 13:22 but came back, and have eaten bread and drunk water in the place
of which He said to you, Eat no bread, and drink no water; your body shall
not come to the tomb of your fathers’-
"The place" was the apostate area of the ten tribes, and Bethel in
particular. The old prophet's house is included within that, another
indication that he was perhaps not untainted by the apostacy around him.
On :30 I will note that the prophet's body didn't come to the tomb of his
fathers, but rather to the tomb of the old prophet. But this came about
through the old prophet's deep respect for the prophet of Judah.
1Ki 13:23 It happened, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk,
that he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back-
His sons had saddled the donkey for their father, but now the old
prophet, despite his age, does this menial task for the prophet of Judah,
as a sign of respect. We note that the old prophet carries the blame- "he
had brought back" the prophet of Judah, resulting in his death.
1Ki 13:24 When he had gone, a lion met him by the way, and killed him. His
body was cast in the way, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood
by the body-
I suggested on :21 that the apparently harsh judgment of the prophet
was in order to teach others a lesson. And so the manner of his death
advertised this. The lion killed him, but didn't eat him. Nor did he touch
the donkey. Lions kill to eat, but this lion didn't eat the prophet. And
it was all done in such a public manner (:25). Everyone would know that
this was a judicial death from Yahweh. And they would have marvelled at
His insistence upon personal obedience to Him, and not following anyone
even if they falsely claimed to speak in Yahweh's Name. The equivalent of
the old prophet was Jeroboam, who was setting up another religion on the
basis of falsely representing Yahweh's word.
1Ki 13:25 Behold, men passed by, and saw the body cast in the way, and the
lion standing by the body; and they came and told it in the city where the
old prophet lived-
See on :24. The public nature of the strange slaying would have been
gossiped far and wide, as it was such an unusual scene that was described.
For everyone knew that lions kill only to eat.
1Ki 13:26 When the prophet who brought him back from the way heard of it,
he said, It is the man of God who was disobedient to the mouth of Yahweh.
Therefore Yahweh has delivered him to the lion, which has mauled him and
slain him, according to the word of Yahweh, which He spoke to him-
The old prophet realized that he had been merely a channel. He
doesn't say "the word of Yahweh which I spoke to him", but rather "which
He spoke to him". "Mauled" is 'ripped', and the same Hebrew phrase for
"mauled / ripped and slain" is used of the death of Eli, also by Divine
judgment (1 Sam. 4:18). As the altar had been ripped (:3), showing how the
kingdom had been ripped from Jeroboam as it had been from Solomon, so now
the prophet of Judah was ripped or torn by the lion. He is presented as
representative of Jeroboam and all disobedient to God's word.
1Ki 13:27 He spoke to his sons saying, Saddle the donkey for me. They
saddled it-
The repeated emphasis upon saddling donkeys in this story (:13,23,27)
may be to connect with how the false prophet Balaam likewise saddled his
ass and disobeyed God's word (Num. 22:21 s.w.).
1Ki 13:28 He went and found his body cast in the way, and the donkey and
the lion standing by the body. The lion had not eaten the body, nor mauled
the donkey-
There was a fair chance that the old prophet would be killed by the
lion, and realizing he too deserved Divine judgment for faking His word,
he went there prepared to be slain too. He went therefore out of very deep
respect, willing to pay with his life for that respect.
1Ki 13:29 The prophet took up the body of the man of God, and laid it on
the donkey, and brought it back. He came to the city of the old prophet to
mourn, and to bury him-
The old prophet, despite his age, travelled the road which the
prophet of Judah would have travelled had he survived. This was a sign of
identity with the prophet of Judah, again indicating that he felt this man
had done what he ought to have done.
1Ki 13:30 He laid his body in his own grave; and they mourned over him
saying, Alas, my brother!-
It seems that the old prophet kept the body, laid it in the grave
prepared for himself, and then went to the old prophet's city to mourn
there (:29). This keeping of the body is unusual and may suggest the
prophet had no living family. Again we see the Divine economy in how
things worked out; for the old prophet's desire to identify himself with
the death of the prophet of Judah, placing that man's body where his
should have gone, resulted in the fulfilment of God's judgment of :22.
1Ki 13:31 It happened, after he had buried him, that he spoke to his sons
saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the tomb in which the man of God
is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones-
This was a final act of identity with the prophet of Judah. The old
prophet shows himself to be sincere in his devotion to God's word and the
cause of the prophet. Despite faking Yahweh's word and bringing that
prophet to his death. We see here what we are confronted by in our own
lives and those around us- a sincere belief in Yahweh and genuine love of
His ways, despite terrible failure at specific points (such as his faking
of Yahweh's word and thereby leading a good prophet to his death), as well
as general failure to attain our highest potentials (in this case, the old
prophet ought to have delivered the message to Jeroboam, since he lived in
Bethel. But he didn't). LXX adds "in order that my bones may be preserved
along with his bones", suggesting he believed in a resurrection of the
body for them both, by grace.
1Ki 13:32 For the saying which he cried by the word of Yahweh against the
altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are
in the cities of Samaria, will surely happen-
This may imply that the prophet's message was against the other high
places as well. The city of Samaria is not in view, but the towns in the
region of Samaria (1 Kings 16:24). "Will surely happen" was faith indeed,
for Josiah didn't fulfil the prophecies for another 330 years. The old
prophet loved the prophet of Judah for what he had done and for his
message, and although he lived in Bethel and was likely to be persecuted
by Jeroboam for his stance, the death of the prophet from Judah inspired
him to speak out as he ought to have done earlier.
1Ki 13:33 After this thing Jeroboam didn’t return from his evil way-
The implication may be that he could have done, according to the
spiritual potential he had explained on 1 Kings 11:38.
But again made priests of the high places from among all the
people. Whoever wanted to, he consecrated him, that there might be priests
of the high places-
"Again" doing this suggests the incident with his hand withering and
then the subsequent slaying of the prophet were all intended to make him
stop and change his policy. But he didn't.
1Ki 13:34 This thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it
off, and to destroy it from off the surface of the earth-
The language here is slightly strange, as if the sin became sin and the
sin was intended to destroy them. The idea is that God confirms people in
their sins, and sin has its own downward dynamic, leading to destruction.
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