1 Kings 13:10-25

10 So he went another way and did not return by the way that he came to Bethel.

The Prophet’s Disobedience

11 Now ¹an old prophet lived in Bethel. And his sons^[a] came and told him all that the man of God had done that day in Bethel. They also told to their father the words that he had spoken to the king.

12 And their father said to them, “Which way did he go? ” And his sons showed him the way that the man of God who came from Judah had gone.

13 And he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me. ” So they saddled the donkey for him and he mounted it.

14 And he went after the man of God and found him sitting under an oak. And he said to him, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah? ” And he said, “I am. ”

15 Then he said to him, “Come home with me and eat bread. ”

16 And he said, ²“I may not return with you, or go in with you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place,

17 for it was said to me ³by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall neither eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by the way that you came. ’”

18 And he said to him, “I also am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you into your house that he may eat bread and drink water. ’” But he lied to him.

19 So he went back with him and ate bread in his house and drank water.

20 And as they sat at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back.

21 And he cried to the man of God who came from Judah, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord and have not kept the command that the Lord your God commanded you,

22 but have come 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. ’”

23 And after he had eaten bread and drunk, he saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back.

24 And as he went away ⁴a lion met him on the road and killed him. And his body was thrown in the road, and the donkey stood beside it; the lion also stood beside the body.

25 And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown in the road and the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the city where ⁵the old prophet lived.

1 Kings 13:10-25 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 13

In this chapter is an account of a man of God being sent to exclaim against Jeroboam's altar, and threaten its destruction, of which he gave a sign, which was accomplished, and with it the withering of the king's hand, which was healed upon the prophet's prayer for him, 1Ki 13:1-7, who would have entertained him at his house, but he refused the offer, and departed, 1Ki 13:8-10, but an old prophet in Bethel hearing of him, rode after him, and fetched him back to eat bread with him, through a lie he told him, 1Ki 13:11-19 upon which the word came to the old prophet, threatening the man of God with death for disobeying his command, and which was accordingly executed by a lion that met him in the way, and slew him, 1Ki 13:20-24, of which the old prophet being informed, went and took up his carcass, and buried it in his own sepulchre, where he charged his sons to bury him also when dead, believing that all the man of God had said would be fulfilled, 1Ki 13:25-30 and the chapter is closed with observing the continuance of Jeroboam in his idolatry, 1Ki 13:33,34.

Cross References

• 1. 13:11 ver. 25; [2 Kgs. 23:18]
• 2. 13:16 ver. 8, 9
• 3. 13:17 ch. 20:35; 1 Thess. 4:15
• 4. 13:24 ch. 20:36
• 5. 13:25 ver. 11

Footnotes

• [a] 13:11 Septuagint, Syriac, Vulgate; Hebrew 'son'