And it came to pass, as they sat at the table
The old prophet, with his sons, and the man of God; the Arabic version adds, "and did eat", there being a pause in the Hebrew text, as if something was wanting, and to be understood and supplied: that the word of the Lord came unto the prophet that brought him back;
that is, to the old prophet, who was the means of bringing back the man of God; the word did not come to him who had transgressed the command of the Lord, but to him who was the occasion of it; though Abarbinel is of opinion that the word came to the latter, and so some versions, both ancient and modern, render the clause, "to the prophet whom he had brought back" F6 and which is countenanced by what is said, ( 1 Kings 13:26 ) , according to the word of the Lord which he spoke unto him:
but the former sense best agrees with what follows.