1 Kings 13:1

1 And lo! a man of God came from Judah, by the word of the Lord, into Bethel, while Jeroboam stood upon the altar, casting incense (while Jeroboam stood by the altar, throwing incense).

1 Kings 13:1 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 13:1

And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah
Whom Josephus ^F24 calls Jadon, perhaps the same with Iddo, who is by the Jewish writers ^F25 generally thought to be this man of God, and which may seem to be countenanced by ( 2 Chronicles 9:29 ) but cannot be, because this man was quickly slain, whereas Iddo lived after Rehoboam, and wrote his acts, first and last, nay, after Ahijah his son, ( 2 Chronicles 13:22 ) and for the same reason Shemaiah cannot be the man of God, ( 1 Kings 12:22 ) , though Tertullian ^F26 calls him Sameas, and designs Shemaiah: but, whoever he was, he came

by the word of the Lord to Bethel:
that is, by his command:

and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense;
at the time he came, ( 1 Kings 12:33 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 8. c. 8. sect. 3.)
F25 Seder Olam Rabba, c. 20. Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 11. 1. Jarch & Kimchi in loc.
F26 De Jejuniis, c. 16.

1 Kings 13:1 In-Context

1 And lo! a man of God came from Judah, by the word of the Lord, into Bethel, while Jeroboam stood upon the altar, casting incense (while Jeroboam stood by the altar, throwing incense).

2 And he cried out against the altar, by the word of the Lord, and said, Altar! altar! the Lord saith these things, Lo! a son, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and he shall offer upon thee the priests of (the) high things, the which burn now incense in thee, and he shall burn the bones of men upon thee (and he shall offer upon thee the priests of the hill shrines, who now burn incense upon thee, and he shall burn men's bones upon thee).

3 And he gave a sign in that day, and said, This shall be the sign that the Lord spake, Lo! the altar shall be cut, and the ash which is therein, shall be shed out. (And he gave a sign on that day, and said, This shall be the sign that the Lord spoke, Lo! the altar shall be split open, and the ashes that are upon it, shall be poured out.)

4 And when the king had heard the word of the man of God, which he had cried against the altar in Bethel, the king held forth his hand from the altar, and said, Take ye him. And his hand dried (up), which he had held forth, and he might not draw it again to himself.

5 Also the altar was cut, and the ash was shed out of the altar, by the sign which the man of God before-said, in the word of the Lord. (And the altar was split open, and the ashes were poured out of the altar, by the sign which the man of God had foretold, by the word of the Lord.)