1 Kings 13
1Just then ▼▼tn Heb The Hebrew particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) is a rhetorical device by which the author invites the reader to visualize the scene for dramatic effect.
a prophet ▼ arrived from Judah with ▼ the Lord’s message for Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing near the altar ready to offer a sacrifice. 2He cried out against the altar with the Lord’s message, “O altar, altar! This is what the Lord has said, ‘Look, a son named Josiah will be born to the Davidic dynasty. He will sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who offer sacrifices on you. Human bones will be burned on you.’” ▼▼sn “Look…you.” For the fulfillment of this prophecy see 2 Kgs 23:15-20.
3That day he had also given a sign, saying, “This is the sign that the Lord has declared: The altar will split open and the ashes ▼▼tn Heb “the fat,” i.e., fat mixed with ashes from the altar (HALOT 234 s.v. דשׁן).
on it will pour out.” 4When the king heard the prophet’s message that he had cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam took his hand from the altar and pointed it ▼▼tn Heb “extended his hand from the altar.”
saying, “Seize him!” Then the hand that he had pointed at him stiffened up, ▼▼tn Heb The verb יָבֵשׁ (yavesh) usually describes water sources as dry or plants as dry and withered. Applied to a hand or an arm (Zech 11:17), it probably means to be(come) stiff, feeble, or both. TEV and NLT interpret this as “became paralyzed.”
and he could not pull it back. 5Meanwhile the altar split open, and the ashes ▼ poured from the altar in fulfillment of the sign the prophet had given with the Lord’s message. 6The king responded to ▼▼tn Heb “answered and said to.”
the prophet, “Seek the favor of ▼▼tn Heb “appease” or “soften the face of,” twice in this verse.
the Lord your God and pray for me, so that my hand may be restored.” So the prophet sought the Lord’s favor and the king’s hand was restored as it was at first. 7The king then said to the prophet, “Come home with me and have something to eat, so that I may give you a gift.” ▼▼tn Or “reward.”
8But the prophet said to the king, “Even if you were to give me half your possessions, ▼▼tn Heb “house,” representing one’s estate or possessions.
I would not go with you. I am not allowed to eat food or drink water in this place. 9For this is how I was commanded in the Lord’s message, ‘Eat no food. Drink no water. And do not return by the way you came.’” 10So he started back on another road; he did not travel back on the same road he had taken to Bethel. 11 Now there was an old prophet living in Bethel. When his sons ▼ came home, they told him everything the prophet ▼ had done in Bethel that day. And they told their father all the words that he had spoken to the king. ▼▼tn Heb “the words which he had spoken to the king, and they told them to their father.”
12Their father asked them, “Which road did he take?” His sons showed him ▼▼tc The MT reads וַיִּרְאוּ (vayyirʾu, “they saw”) the Qal preterite of רָאָה (raʾah, “to see”). Some translations render this as pluperfect “they had seen” (KJV, NASB), but then the verb should have been preceded by a different construction. Other translations (NIV, ESV, NRSV) follow some ancient versions and emend the verbal form to a Hiphil with pronominal suffix וַיַּרְאֻהוּ (vayyarʾuhu, “and they showed him”).
the road the prophet from Judah had taken. 13He then told his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” When they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it 14and took off after the prophet, whom he found sitting under an oak tree. He asked him, “Are you the prophet from Judah?” He answered, “Yes, I am.” 15He then said to him, “Come home with me and eat something.” 16But he replied, “I can’t go back with you. ▼▼tn Heb “I am unable to return with you or to go with you.”
I am not allowed to eat food or to drink water with you in this place. 17For an order came to me in the Lord’s message, ‘Eat no food. Drink no water there. And do not return by the way you came.’” 18Then the old prophet ▼▼tn Heb “he.”
said, “I too am a prophet like you. And an angel has told me in a message from the Lord, ‘Bring him back with you to your house so he can eat food and drink water.’” But he had lied to him. ▼▼sn He had lied to him. The motives and actions of the old prophet are difficult to understand. The old man’s response to the prophet’s death (see vv. 26-32) suggests he did not trick him with malicious intent. Perhaps the old prophet wanted the honor of entertaining such a celebrity, or perhaps simply desired some social interaction with a fellow prophet.
19So the prophet ▼▼tn Heb “he.”
went back with him. He ate food in his house and he drank water. 20 While they were sitting at the table, the Lord’s message came to the old prophet who had brought him back. 21So he cried out to the prophet ▼▼tn Heb “man of God.”
who had come from Judah, “This is what the Lord has said, ‘You ▼▼tn The Hebrew text has “because” at the beginning of the sentence. In the Hebrew text vv. 21-22 are one long sentence comprised of a causal clause giving the reason for divine punishment (vv. 21-22a) and the main clause announcing the punishment (v. 22b). The translation divides this lengthy sentence for stylistic reasons.
have rebelled against the Lord’s instruction ▼▼tn Heb “mouth.”
and have not obeyed the command the Lord your God gave you. 22You went back. You ate food. And you drank water in the place of which he had said to you, “Eat no food. Drink no water.” Therefore ▼▼tn “Therefore” is added for stylistic reasons. See the note at 1 Kgs 13:21 pertaining to the grammatical structure of vv. 21-22.
your corpse will not be buried in your ancestral tomb.’” ▼▼tn Heb “will not come to the tomb of your fathers.”
23 So this is what happened after he had eaten food and drunk water. ▼▼tn The MT does not include “water” though it is implied and included in the LXX and Syriac versions.
The old prophet ▼▼tn Heb “he.”
saddled the donkey for the prophet whom he had brought back. 24So the prophet from Judah travelled on. Then a lion attacked him on the road and killed him. There was his body lying on the road, with the donkey standing next to it, and the lion just standing there by the body. 25Then some men came passing by and saw the body lying in the road with the lion standing next to the body. They went and reported what they had seen ▼▼tn The words “what they had seen” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
in the city where the old prophet lived. 26When the old prophet who had invited him to his house heard the news, ▼▼tn Heb “and the prophet who had brought him back from the road heard.”
he said, “It is the prophet ▼▼tn Heb “the man of God.”
who rebelled against the Lord. ▼▼tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord.”
The Lord delivered him over to the lion and it tore him up ▼▼tn Heb “destroyed him,” or “maimed him.”
and killed him, in keeping with the Lord’s message that he had spoken to him.” 27He told his sons, “Saddle my donkey.” So they saddled it. 28He went and found the body lying in the road with the donkey and the lion standing beside it; ▼▼tn Heb “the body.”
the lion had neither eaten the body nor attacked the donkey. 29The old prophet ▼▼tn Heb “the prophet.” The word “old” has been supplied in the translation to distinguish this individual from the other prophet.
picked up the prophet’s ▼▼tn Heb “the man of God.”
body, put it on the donkey, and brought it back. The old prophet then entered the city to mourn him and to bury him. 30He put the body into his own tomb, and they ▼ mourned over him, saying, “Ah, my brother!” 31After he buried him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the tomb where the prophet ▼▼tn Heb “the man of God.”
is buried; put my bones right beside his bones, 32because the message that he announced as the Lord’s message against the altar in Bethel and against all the temples on the high places in the cities of the north ▼▼tn Heb “Samaria.” The name of Israel’s capital city here stands for the northern kingdom as a whole. Actually Samaria was not built and named until several years after this (see 1 Kgs 16:24), so it is likely that the author of Kings, writing at a later time, is here adapting the old prophet’s original statement.
will certainly be fulfilled.” A Prophet Announces the End of Jeroboam’s Dynasty
33 After this happened, Jeroboam still did not change his evil ways; ▼▼tn Heb “did not turn from his evil way.”
he continued to appoint common people ▼▼sn The expression common people refers to people who were not Levites. See 1 Kgs 12:31.
as priests at the high places. Anyone who wanted the job he consecrated as a priest. ▼▼tn Heb “and one who had the desire he was filling his hand so that he became [one of] the priests of the high places.”
34This sin caused Jeroboam’s dynasty ▼▼tn Heb “house.”
to come to an end and to be destroyed from the face of the earth.
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