TRV
Translation
King James Version
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:
Complete Jewish Bible
After burying him he said to his sons, "When I die, put me in the burial cave where the man of God is buried; lay my bones next to his bones.
Berean Standard Bible
After he had buried him, the prophet said to his sons, “When I die, you must bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones,
American Standard Version
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.
World English Bible Messianic
After he had buried him, he spoke to his sons, saying, “When I am dead, then bury me in the tomb in which the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones.
Geneva Bible (1599)
And when he had buried him, hee spake to his sonnes, saying, When I am dead, burie ye mee also in the sepulchre, wherein the man of God is buried: lay my bones beside his bones.
Young's Literal Translation
And it cometh to pass, after his burying him, that he speaketh unto his sons, saying, `At my death--ye have buried me in the burying-place in which the man of God is buried; near his bones place my bones;
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Commentary on 1 Kings 13 verses 23–34
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.
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.
Here is, I. The death of the deceived disobedient prophet. The old prophet that had deluded him, as if he would make him some amends for the wrong he had done him or help to prevent the mischief threatened him, furnished him with an ass to ride home on; but by the way a lion set upon him, and killed him, Kg1 13:23, Kg1 13:24. He did but return back to refresh himself when he was hungry, and behold he must die for it; see Sa1 14:43. But we must consider, 1. That his offence was great, and it would by no means justify him that he was drawn into it by a lie; he could not be so certain of the countermand sent by another as he was of the command given to himself, nor had he any ground to think that the command would be recalled, when the reason of it remained in force, which was that he might testify his detestation of the wickedness of that place. He had great reason to suspect the honesty of this old prophet, who did not himself bear his testimony, nor did God think fit to make use of him as a witness against the idolatry of the city he lived in. However, he should have taken time to beg direction from God, and not have complied so soon. Did he think this old prophet's house safer to eat in than other houses at Beth-el, when God had forbidden him to eat in any? That was to refine upon the command, and make himself wiser than God. Did he think to excuse himself that he was hungry? Had he never read that man lives not by bread alone? 2. That his death was for the glory of God; for by this it appeared, (1.) That nothing is more provoking to him than disobedience to an express command, though in a small matter, which makes his proceedings against our first parents, for eating the forbidden fruit, the easier to be accounted for. (2.) That God is displeased at the sins of his own people, and no man shall be protected in disobedience by the sanctity of his profession, the dignity of his office, his nearness to God, or any good services he has done for him. Perhaps God by this intended, in a way of righteous judgment, to harden Jeroboam's heart, since he was not reformed by the withering of his hand; for he would be apt to make a bad use of it, and to say that the prophet was well enough served for meddling with his altar, he had better have staid at home; any, he would say that Providence had punished him for his insolence, and the lion had done that which his withered hand might not do. However, by this God intended to warn all those whom he employs strictly to observe their orders, at their peril.
II. The wonderful preservation of his dead body, which was a token of God's mercy remembered in the midst of wrath. The lion that gently strangled him, or tore him, did not devour his dead body, nor so much as tear the ass, Kg1 13:24, Kg1 13:25, Kg1 13:26. Nay, what was more, he did not set upon the travellers that passed by and saw it, nor upon the old prophet (who had reason enough to fear it) when he came to take up the corpse. His commission was to kill the prophet; hitherto he should go, but no further. Thus God showed that, though he was angry with him, his anger was turned away, and the punishment went no further than death.
III. The care which the old prophet took of his burial. When he heard of this unusual accident, he concluded it was the man of God, who was disobedient to his Master (and whose fault was that?), therefore the Lord has delivered him to the lion, Kg1 13:26. It would well have become him to ask why the lion was not sent against him and his house, rather than against the good man whom he had cheated. He took up the corpse, Kg1 13:29. If there by any truth in the vulgar opinion, surely the corpse bled afresh when he touched it, for he was in effect the murderer, and it was but a poor reparation for the injury to inter the dead body. Perhaps when he cheated him into his ruin he intended to laugh at him; yet now his conscience so far relents that he weeps over him, and, like Joab at Abner's funeral, is compelled to be a mourner for him whom he had been the death of. They said, Alas! my brother, Kg1 13:30. The case was indeed very lamentable that so good a man, a prophet so faithful, and so bold in God's cause, should, for one offence, die as a criminal, while an old lying prophet lives at ease and an idolatrous prince in pomp and power. Thy way, O God! is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters. We cannot judge of men by their sufferings, nor of sins by their present punishments; with some the flesh is destroyed that the spirit may be saved, while with others the flesh is pampered that the soul may ripen for hell.
IV. The charge which the old prophet gave his sons concerning his own burial, that they should be sure to bury him in the same grave where the man of God was buried (Kg1 13:3): "Lay my bones beside his bones, close by them, as near as may be, so that my dust may mingle with his." Though he was a lying prophet, yet he desired to die the death of a true prophet. "Gather not my soul with the sinners of Beth-el, but with the man of God." The reason he gives is because what he cried against the altar of Beth-el, that men's bones should be burnt upon it, shall surely come to pass, Kg1 13:32. Thus, 1. He ratifies the prediction, that out of the mouth of two witnesses (and one of them such a one as St. Paul quotes, Tit 1:12, one of themselves, even a prophet of their own) the word might be established, if possible to convince and reclaim Jeroboam. 2. He does honour to the deceased prophet, as one whose word would not fall to the ground, though he did. Ministers die, die prematurely it may be; but the word of the Lord endures for ever, and does not die with them. 3. He consults his own interest. It was foretold that men's bones should be burnt upon Jeroboam's altar: "Lay mine (says he) close to his, and then they will not be disturbed;" and it was, accordingly, their security, as we find, Kg2 23:18. Sleeping and waking, living and dying, it is safe being in good company. No mention is made here of the inscription on the prophet's tomb; but it is spoken of Kg2 23:17, where Josiah asks, What title is that? and is told, It is the sepulchre of the man of God that came from Judah, who proclaimed these things which thou hast done; so that the epitaph upon the prophet's grave preserved the remembrance of his prophecy, and was a standing testimony against the idolatries of Beth-el, which it would not have been so remarkably if he had died and been buried elsewhere. The cities of Israel are here called cities of Samaria, though that name was not yet known; for, however the old prophet spoke, the inspired historian wrote in the language of his own time.
V. The obstinacy of Jeroboam in his idolatry (Kg1 13:33): He returned not from his evil way; some hand was found that durst repair the altar God had rent, and then Jeroboam offered sacrifice on it again, and the more boldly because the prophet who disturbed him before was in his grave (Rev 11:10) and because the prophecy was for a great while to come. Various methods had been used to reclaim him, but neither threats nor signs, neither judgments nor mercies, wrought upon him, so strangely was he wedded to his calves. He did not reform, no, not his priesthood, but whoever would, he filled his hand, and made him priest, though ever so illiterate or immoral, and of what tribe soever; and this became sin, that is, a snare first, and then a ruin, to Jeroboam's house, to cut if off, Kg1 13:34. Note, The diminution, disquiet, and desolation of families, are the fruit of sin; he promised himself that the calves would secure the crown to his family, but it proved they lost it, and sunk his family. Those betray themselves that think by any sin to support themselves.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 23–34. Public domain.
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Ephrem the SyrianAD 373
ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 13:20
While this old man insists in saying to his sons that he wants them to bury him, their father, in the grave of the prophet Shemaiah and hopes that his bones will find peace, he represents the allegorical type of an ancient Adam who exhorts and even urges his sons to lower him into baptism, which is the grave of the Emmanuel. Through him all those who have been buried with him through baptism certainly hope for peace and life. On the other hand, when this same old man lies and deceives the other prophet, he represents the Jewish people, about whom we read in the psalm: “But they flattered him with their mouths; they lied to him with their tongues.”
Augustine of HippoAD 430
On the Care of the Dead 7.9
Well did the man who had deceived the man of God bury him with honor in his own tomb and give orders that he himself should be buried next to his bones, hoping thus to spare his own bones. He knew that the time would come according to the prophecy of that man of God when Josiah, king of the Jews, would dig up in the land the bones of many dead and with them defile the sacrilegious altars that had been set up for graven images. He spared that tomb where the prophet lay who more than three hundred years before had predicted these things. And because of him the burying place of the man who deceived him was not violated. By that love because of which no one ever hated his own flesh, he provided for his own corpse, while he had slain his soul by deceit. From this fact, then, because each one naturally loves his own flesh, it was punishment for him to learn that he would not be in the tomb of his fathers. So he took care that his bones be spared by burying them next to him whose tomb no one would violate.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
First Kings 13:31 presents a deeply significant and ethically charged moment following the tragic death of the prophet from Judah, often identified as the "man of God." After retrieving and burying the deceased prophet, the old prophet of Bethel, who had deceptively led the man of God to his fatal disobedience, issues a solemn instruction to his own sons regarding his future burial. This directive reveals a profound, albeit belated, recognition of the man of God's authentic divine commission and a desperate desire for posthumous association with a true messenger of Yahweh, likely driven by an anticipation of the very judgment that the man of God had prophesied.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
The narrative of 1 Kings 13:31 employs several potent literary devices. Irony is prominent, as the old prophet, who deceptively led the man of God into disobedience and thus to his death, now seeks to be buried alongside him. This act implicitly acknowledges the man of God's authentic prophetic status and the unwavering truth of his message, despite the tragic circumstances. This reversal of roles—the deceiver now seeking association with the deceived—underscores the profound impact of the man of God's death and prophecy. Foreshadowing is also present, as the old prophet's desire to protect his bones by associating them with the man of God's directly anticipates the future fulfillment of the prophecy by King Josiah. Centuries later, Josiah would indeed desecrate Jeroboam's altar by burning bones upon it, explicitly sparing the bones of the man of God and, by extension, those of the old prophet because they were buried together (2 Kings 23:16-18). Finally, Symbolism is evident in the act of burial itself and the emphasis on "bones." Burial in the same sepulchre symbolizes a desire for spiritual and eschatological alignment, while "bones" represent the enduring identity and legacy of an individual, here hoped to be preserved from judgment through association with divine truth.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
The old prophet's request in 1 Kings 13:31 serves as a stark reminder of the enduring power and truth of God's word, even when delivered by a flawed messenger. Despite the man of God's fatal error of disobedience, the old prophet recognized the divine origin of his prophecy concerning Bethel and Jeroboam's altar. His desperate desire for posthumous association underscores a profound, albeit self-serving, belief in the coming judgment and a hope for personal preservation through identification with a true servant of Yahweh. This highlights that God's plan and prophetic declarations will be fulfilled irrespective of human frailty or failure, and that even those who deviate from His path may still acknowledge the authenticity of His message. The narrative ultimately affirms God's sovereignty and the certainty of His word.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
The poignant request of the old prophet in 1 Kings 13:31 offers profound lessons for believers today. It compels us to consider the gravity of God's word and the absolute necessity of obedience, even when faced with deception or seemingly authoritative counter-claims. The old prophet's belated recognition of the man of God's authenticity, and his desire to be associated with him in death, speaks to the enduring power of truth and the human longing for alignment with what is genuinely divine. It reminds us that while God judges disobedience, His prophetic word remains steadfast and will ultimately be fulfilled. We are called to cultivate a discerning spirit, testing all things against the revealed Word of God, and to live lives of uncompromising faithfulness, trusting that God's purposes will prevail despite human frailty. Our ultimate hope lies not in posthumous association with a righteous person, but in a living, active relationship with the perfectly obedient Son of God, who alone can secure our future and deliver us from judgment.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why did the old prophet want to be buried with the man of God?
Answer: The old prophet's desire to be buried with the man of God stemmed from a complex mix of remorse, recognition, and self-preservation. He clearly recognized the authenticity of the man of God's divine commission and the truth of his prophecy against Jeroboam's altar (1 Kings 13:2). By requesting to be buried alongside him, the old prophet sought to identify himself with a true servant of Yahweh, perhaps hoping that this association would somehow protect his own bones from the judgment foretold for Bethel, which would involve the desecration of graves (2 Kings 23:16-18). It was a desperate attempt to align himself with divine truth and escape the consequences of his own deceit and the impending judgment on the idolatrous site.
Does the man of God's disobedience negate the truth of his prophecy?
Answer: No, the man of God's disobedience and subsequent death did not negate the truth or validity of his prophecy. The narrative of 1 Kings 13 powerfully demonstrates that God's word stands firm and will be fulfilled, regardless of the messenger's personal failings. The old prophet's actions in burying him and desiring to be buried with him underscore his belief in the prophecy's authenticity, even in the face of the prophet's tragic end. Centuries later, King Josiah explicitly fulfilled the prophecy, even sparing the bones of the man of God and the old prophet because they were buried together (2 Kings 23:16-18). This highlights God's sovereignty and the unwavering nature of His divine decrees.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
The narrative of 1 Kings 13:31, with its themes of divine command, human disobedience, prophetic truth, and the desire for righteous association, finds profound Christ-centered fulfillment. Unlike the man of God who tragically failed in obedience, Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled every divine command, living a life of absolute submission to the Father's will, even to the point of death on a cross (Philippians 2:8). The old prophet's desperate hope to be spared judgment by being buried with the man of God foreshadows the ultimate hope found in Christ: not a physical association in death, but a spiritual union with the One who conquered death. Through faith in Christ, believers are "buried with him by baptism into death" (Romans 6:4) and raised to new life, sharing in His resurrection and eternal inheritance, thereby escaping the judgment due to sin (Romans 8:1). Jesus is the ultimate "man of God," perfectly representing the Father and delivering His truth without compromise. His bones were not broken (John 19:36), fulfilling prophecy, and His tomb was not a permanent resting place but a temporary stop before His glorious resurrection, offering true and lasting protection from the curse of death for all who are united with Him (1 Corinthians 15:20-22). In Christ, we find not just posthumous association, but a living, transformative relationship that secures our eternal future and ensures our ultimate preservation.