1 Kings13

A man of God from Judah prophesies against Jeroboam's altar in Bethel, foretelling its destruction by Josiah. When Jeroboam attempts to seize him, his hand withers, but is later restored through the man of God's prayer. Despite a divine command not to eat or drink in Bethel, the man of God is deceived by an old prophet and disobeys, leading to his death by a lion as divine judgment. Jeroboam, however, persists in his idolatrous practices.
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The Man of God Confronts Jeroboam

1
And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. ​
2
And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee. ​
3
And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out. ​
4
And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him. ​
5
The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD.
6
And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the LORD, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.
7
And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.
8
And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place: ​
9
For so was it charged me by the word of the LORD, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest.
10
So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.

The Deception of the Old Prophet

11
Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father. ​
12
And their father said unto them, What way went he? For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah.
13
And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,
14
And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am.
15
Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.
16
And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:
17
For it was said to me by the word of the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest.
18
He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water. But he lied unto him. ​
19
So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water. ​
20
And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back:
21
And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee,
22
But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the LORD did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers. ​

Judgment and Burial of the Man of God

23
And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back.
24
And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase. ​
25
And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcase cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcase: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.
26
And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof, he said, It is the man of God, who was disobedient unto the word of the LORD: therefore the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion, which hath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake unto him.
27
And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him.
28
And he went and found his carcase cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcase: the lion had not eaten the carcase, nor torn the ass.
29
And the prophet took up the carcase of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to bury him.
30
And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother!
31
And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake to his sons, saying, When I am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones:
32
For the saying which he cried by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass. ​

Jeroboam’s Continued Rebellion

33
After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places. ​
34
And this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it from off the face of the earth. ​

Study Notes for 1 Kings 13

Verse 1

The anonymous 'man of God' from Judah acts as a divine challenge to Jeroboam’s new cult center at Bethel. Jeroboam was personally presiding over the unauthorized worship, underscoring his deep involvement in the schism.

Verse 2

This remarkable prophecy names Josiah, who would reign over Judah approximately 300 years later (2 Kings 23:15-20). The prophecy legitimizes the House of David and condemns the Northern Kingdom’s foundational sin (the golden calves).

Verse 3

A sign (a miracle performed immediately) is given to authenticate the long-term, predictive prophecy regarding Josiah. This confirms the prophet’s authority and the immediate necessity of the message.

Verse 4

Jeroboam attempts to use his royal power to silence the divine message. The immediate withering of his hand serves as a graphic demonstration that God’s authority supersedes the king’s.

Verse 8

The prophet’s refusal of food, drink, or reward signifies his absolute separation from the spiritually polluted land of Israel and its apostate king. Eating implied fellowship and acceptance.

Verse 11

This 'old prophet' lives in Bethel, suggesting he may have compromised with Jeroboam’s regime or was a prophet in name only. His motivation for seeking out the man of God is complex, perhaps jealousy or a desire to test him.

Verse 18

The old prophet lies, claiming a contradictory revelation from an angel. This tests the man of God’s primary commitment: obedience to his original, direct divine command (v. 9) over a secondary, unverified claim.

Verse 19

The man of God’s failure was not succumbing to physical threat, but to the temptation of a seeming 'higher' revelation or peer pressure from a fellow prophet, prioritizing fellowship over strict obedience.

Verse 22

The punishment is the denial of burial in the ancestral tomb, a severe disgrace in ancient Israel, emphasizing that strict obedience to God’s explicit commands is paramount, regardless of the cause of the transgression.

Verse 24

The judgment is carried out by a lion, yet the scene described (lion and ass standing peacefully by the unconsumed body) shows this was a divinely controlled execution of justice, not a random act of nature.

Verse 32

The old prophet affirms the truth of the prophecy against Jeroboam's altar, indicating that the death of the man of God confirmed the seriousness of the divine word rather than nullifying it.

Verse 33

Despite witnessing the miraculous sign, the healing, and the swift judgment upon the messenger, Jeroboam stubbornly refused to repent or dismantle the idolatrous high places, sealing the fate of his house.

Verse 34

The sin of setting up an alternative priesthood and cultic centers became the defining wickedness of the Northern Kingdom, leading directly to the ultimate destruction of Jeroboam’s dynasty.

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