1 Kings 13:10-25

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

The Disobedient Prophet

11 Now ¹an old prophet was living in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the deeds which the man of God had done that day in Bethel; the words which he had spoken to the king, these also they related to their father.

12 Their father said to them, "Which * way did he go?" Now his sons had seen the way which the man of God who came from Judah had gone.

13 Then he said to his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." So they saddled the donkey for him and he rode away on it.

14 So 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 He said, "²I cannot * return with you, nor go with you, nor will I eat bread or drink water with you in this place.

17 "For a command came to me ³by the word of the LORD, 'You shall eat no bread, nor drink water there; do not return by going the way which you came.' "

18 He said to him, "⁴I also am a prophet like you, and ⁵an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, 'Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.' " But ⁶he lied to him.

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

20 Now it came about, as they were sitting down at the table, that 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, saying, "Thus says the LORD, 'Because * you have disobeyed the command of the LORD, and have not observed the commandment which the LORD your God commanded you,

22 but have returned and 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 grave of your fathers.' "

23 It came about after he had eaten bread and after he had drunk, that he saddled the donkey for him, for the prophet whom he had brought back.

24 Now when he had gone, ⁷a lion met him on the way and killed him, and his body was thrown on the road, with the donkey standing beside it; the lion also was standing beside the body.

25 And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown on the road, and the lion standing beside the body; so they came and told it in the city where ⁸the 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. 1 Kings 13:25; 2 Kings 23:18
• 2. 1 Kings 13:8, 9
• 3. 1 Kings 20:35
• 4. Matthew 7:15; 1 John 4:1
• 5. Galatians 1:8
• 6. Proverbs 12:19, 22; Proverbs 19:5; Jeremiah 29:31, 32; Ezekiel 13:8, 9; 1 Timothy 4:1, 2
• 7. 1 Kings 20:36
• 8. 1 Kings 13:11

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "son"
• [b]. Lit "Where is the way he went"
• [c]. Some ancient versions read "showed him"
• [d]. Or a "terebinth"
• [e]. Lit "rebelled" against
• [f]. Lit "mouth"