Verse-by-Verse Commentary
The Book of 1 Kings
Chapter 13: He Disobeyed the Mouth of the LORD
A nameless man of God comes from Judah and cries against Jeroboam's idol altar at Bethel, naming Josiah three centuries before his birth. The king's hand withers and the altar is rent. But then an old prophet lies to the man of God, and he turns back and eats where God had forbidden, and a lion meets him in the way. It is one of Scripture's most searching lessons on obedience to the plain word of God.
About This Commentary
This is a verse-by-verse study of 1 Kings chapter 13. For each section you will find the KJV text, the Hebrew words that sharpen the meaning, plain explanation, and a Gospel Focus. Every Scripture quotation is from the King James Version.
The Man of God from Judah (1 Kings 13:1-10)
A prophet cries against Jeroboam's altar, the king's hand withers, and the altar is rent.
O Altar, Altar
"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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward. 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: 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. So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel."
Word Study
"by the word of the LORD," Hebrew bidvar YHWH (בִּדְבַר יְהוָה), the phrase that dominates this chapter. The expression "the word of the LORD" appears again and again in this chapter, for the whole story turns on whether men will obey God's plain word. The man of God comes "by the word of the LORD," cries against the altar "in the word of the LORD," and is charged "by the word of the LORD" to eat nothing and return by another way. His message is one of Scripture's most stunning prophecies: he names Josiah, a king who would not be born for about three hundred years, and foretells exactly what Josiah would do to that very altar (fulfilled in 2 Kings 23:15-18). This is the omniscience of God, who "declaring the end from the beginning" (Isaiah 46:10) names an unborn child. When Jeroboam stretched out his hand against the prophet, it "dried up" (Hebrew yavesh, withered), and the altar was rent as the sign promised. The idolatrous king who had made a god of his own devising now feels the hand of the living God, and must beg the very prophet he sought to seize to pray for him. God vindicates His word with power. The man of God's refusal of the king's reward and hospitality shows a prophet wholly bound to that word: not the king's favor but the LORD's command governs him.
Explanation
As Jeroboam stood officiating at his idolatrous altar in Bethel, a prophet arrived from Judah and cried out against the altar in the LORD's name. He prophesied that a future king of David's line, Josiah by name, would one day desecrate that altar by burning upon it the bones of its false priests, and he gave a sign: the altar would split and its ashes spill out. When Jeroboam pointed at him and ordered his arrest, the king's outstretched hand instantly withered, and the altar was rent exactly as foretold. Humbled, Jeroboam begged the prophet to pray for his hand's healing; the man of God did, and the hand was restored. The king then invited him home for a meal and a reward, but the prophet refused absolutely, because God had charged him to eat and drink nothing there and to return by a different route. So he departed by another way.
Gospel Focus
The word of the LORD proved mightier than a king. Jeroboam's altar and his stretched-out hand were both overthrown by a word, and the naming of Josiah three centuries early shows a God to whom the future is as certain as the past: "I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning." That same God has spoken of the future in Christ, and His word cannot fail. Notice too the mercy in the miracle: when Jeroboam's hand withered, God did not leave him without hope but restored it at the prophet's prayer, an open door of grace the king sadly refused to enter. And notice the man of God's holy resolve: no reward, "half thine house," could buy him to break God's command. Would that he had held that resolve to the end. The gospel calls us to the same single-hearted obedience, to prize the word of God above the favor, wealth, and hospitality of the world. "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine" (John 7:17). Obedience to God's plain word is the safe path; every other, as the next verses show, leads to a lion in the way.
The Old Prophet's Deception (1 Kings 13:11-19)
An old prophet of Bethel lies to the man of God, claiming an angel's word, and turns him back.
But He Lied Unto Him
"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. 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. And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon, 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. Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread. 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: 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. 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. So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water."
Word Study
"But he lied unto him," Hebrew kichesh (כִּחֵשׁ), to deceive, to speak falsely. The whole tragedy hangs on four words: "But he lied unto him." The old prophet claimed, "I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD," but the narrator flatly exposes it: it was a lie. Here is a crucial lesson: a new revelation that contradicts God's clear, previous command is always false, no matter how impressive its source, "a prophet," "an angel." The man of God knew perfectly well what God had told him, "Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there." He needed no new word; he had the word already. His fatal error was to accept a supposed later message over the plain command he had personally received. Paul warned exactly this: "though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8). Satan himself "is transformed into an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14). The safeguard is to hold fast the word God has already made plain and to test every new claim against it. The man of God let a fellow-prophet's confident lie override God's certain word, and it cost him his life.
Explanation
An old prophet living in Bethel heard from his sons all that the man of God had done and said. He rode out, found the man of God resting under an oak, and invited him home to eat. The man of God repeated the LORD's prohibition: he could eat and drink nothing there. But the old prophet then told him a lie, claiming to be a prophet like him and asserting that an angel had spoken to him by the word of the LORD, telling him to bring the man of God back to eat and drink. On the strength of this false claim, the man of God went back with him and ate and drank in his house, disobeying the direct command he had received from God Himself. Why the old prophet lied, whether to test, to honor, or from some mixed motive, Scripture does not say; but the deception was plain, and the man of God should not have believed it against what God had told him.
Gospel Focus
"But he lied unto him." Here is the peril of every believer: a lie dressed in spiritual clothing. The old prophet invoked his office and even an angel to overturn what God had plainly said, and the man of God, who had stood so firm before a king, fell before a fellow prophet's smooth deception. The warning is timeless. Not everyone who speaks in God's name speaks from God. "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God" (1 John 4:1). When any teacher, vision, or "angel" contradicts what God has already made clear in His word, it is to be rejected, though it come from a pulpit or claim heaven's authority. The safest place is under the plain command of Scripture, which does not change with every new voice. The man of God had the word; he simply preferred a more convenient word offered by another. So do many. Hold fast what God has spoken. Measure every message by the settled word of God, and do not let even the most sincere-sounding claim lead you off the path of obedience.
The Judgment and Burial (1 Kings 13:20-32)
The word of the LORD pronounces judgment, a lion slays the disobedient prophet, and the old prophet buries him with mourning.
A Lion Met Him by the Way
"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: 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, 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him. 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. 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. And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother! 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: 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."
Word Study
"a lion met him by the way," and "the lion had not eaten the carcase, nor torn the ass." The judgment is marked by unmistakable signs of God's hand. A lion, which by nature would have devoured its prey and fled from the donkey, instead killed the man of God but left the body untouched and stood quietly beside it with the donkey unharmed. This was no ordinary attack of a wild beast; it was a controlled act of divine judgment, "the LORD hath delivered him unto the lion." The old prophet, who had caused the disaster by his lie, recognized at once that "the word of the LORD" had come to pass. It is sobering that judgment fell so severely on the man of God, who was, after all, deceived, while the lying prophet lived. But the man of God had personally received God's command and should have known better than to trust a contradicting claim; to whom much is given, of him much is required. The lie of the old prophet does not excuse the disobedience of the man of God. And note the strange sequel: the old prophet mourns "Alas, my brother!" and asks to be buried in the same grave, confessing that the prophecy against Bethel's altar "shall surely come to pass," a testimony that even a man who had lied now bore witness to the certainty of God's word.
Explanation
As they sat at the table, the word of the LORD came, ironically, to the old prophet who had lied, and he was made to pronounce judgment on his guest: because the man of God had disobeyed the LORD's command and eaten and drunk in the forbidden place, his body would not be buried in his family tomb. After the meal, the man of God set out, and a lion met him on the road and killed him, leaving his body in the way with the donkey and the lion standing beside it, neither the body eaten nor the donkey harmed, plain evidence of God's hand. Travelers reported the strange sight, and the old prophet, recognizing the fulfillment of God's word, retrieved the body, mourned over it crying "Alas, my brother!", and buried it in his own grave. He then charged his sons to bury him beside the man of God when he died, affirming that the prophecy against Bethel's altar would surely be fulfilled.
Gospel Focus
This is a hard and holy passage, and its lesson is that God means what He says. The man of God did a great work, withstood a king, refused a bribe, and yet died under judgment for a single act of disobedience to a plain command. It teaches us not to trifle with the clear word of God, and not to think that past faithfulness excuses present disobedience. "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required" (Luke 12:48). Yet even in this severe story mercy is not absent: the lion did not devour, the body was recovered and honored, and the old prophet, for all his sin, was moved to confess that God's word "shall surely come to pass." God's judgments and God's mercies run together. And the prophecy itself is pure gospel comfort: what God spoke against that altar came true to the letter three centuries later in Josiah, proof that not one word of God ever falls to the ground. If His word of judgment is that certain, so is His word of promise. "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away" (Matthew 24:35). Take God at His word, obey it exactly, and rest your soul on its certainty.
Jeroboam Persists in Sin (1 Kings 13:33-34)
Despite the sign and the judgment, Jeroboam returns not from his evil way.
Jeroboam Returned Not From His Evil Way
"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. 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."
Word Study
"Jeroboam returned not from his evil way," Hebrew shuv (שׁוּב), to turn back, to repent. The word shuv is the great Old Testament word for repentance, to turn around and come back to God. Jeroboam had every reason to turn: he had seen his hand wither and be healed, seen his altar rent, heard a prophecy so exact it named a king yet unborn. Yet "Jeroboam returned not (shuv) from his evil way." He experienced the power and mercy of God firsthand and remained unchanged, going right on to consecrate any who wished as priests of his high places. This is the terrible hardness of an unrepentant heart: even miracles cannot soften it. Signs and wonders do not save; only a heart that turns to God is saved. And the consequence is stated plainly: "this thing became sin unto the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and to destroy it." His refusal to repent doomed not only himself but his whole dynasty. "The sin of Jeroboam" became the byword for the idolatry that ruined the northern kingdom. The chapter that began with a prophecy of judgment on the altar ends with a king who will not turn, and so seals his own destruction.
Explanation
The chapter closes by returning to Jeroboam. After all he had witnessed, the withering and healing of his hand, the rending of his altar, the fulfilled sign, he did not repent. He persisted in his false religion, continuing to appoint priests for his high places from among any who were willing, regardless of the LORD's law that restricted the priesthood to the Levites. This ongoing sin, the narrator states, would bring about the utter destruction of Jeroboam's house, cutting it off from the earth, a doom spelled out in the next chapter. The man who had been given the throne on the same covenant terms as David chose idolatry over obedience, and sealed his family's ruin.
Gospel Focus
The saddest words in the chapter are these: "Jeroboam returned not from his evil way." He had seen more than enough to bring any honest heart to its knees, the mighty hand of God in judgment and in mercy on his own body, and still he would not turn. It proves that no sign, however great, can save a heart that refuses to repent; "if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead" (Luke 16:31). The one thing God asks of the sinner is shuv, to turn: "turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?" (Ezekiel 33:11). The gospel is a call to repentance, and its door stands open to the worst of sinners, but it must be entered by turning. Jeroboam would not, and his house was cut off. Do not harden your heart against the goodness of God, which "leadeth thee to repentance" (Romans 2:4). Every mercy you have received, every warning you have heard, is a call to turn. Turn now, while the door is open, to the God who receives all who come to Him.
Chapter in Review
First Kings 13 is a searching chapter about the word of the LORD and the necessity of obeying it. A man of God from Judah cries against Jeroboam's altar and names Josiah three centuries before his birth; the king's hand withers and the altar is rent, and God shows mercy by healing the hand at the prophet's prayer. The man of God stands firm against the king's reward, only to fall before an old prophet's lie, turning back to eat where God had forbidden. A lion meets him in the way, a controlled act of divine judgment, and he is buried by the very man who deceived him, who confesses that God's word "shall surely come to pass." The chapter ends with Jeroboam, who "returned not from his evil way" despite all he had seen, sealing his house for destruction. Throughout, one truth stands: God's word is certain, and it must be obeyed exactly.
Key Takeaways
- God's word is certain to the letter. Josiah was named three centuries early and it came to pass exactly; God declares the end from the beginning.
- Obey the plain command over any new voice. A "prophet" or "angel" that contradicts what God has clearly said is not to be believed.
- Past faithfulness does not excuse present disobedience. The man of God withstood a king yet fell over one meal; to whom much is given, much is required.
- Signs cannot save an unrepentant heart. Jeroboam saw miracles and still would not turn; only repentance saves.
- God's judgments and mercies run together. Even in this severe story, the withered hand was healed and the word of promise proved sure.
Questions for Reflection
- Do you prize God's plain word above the favor and rewards of the world, as the man of God did before the king?
- Are you testing every teaching and "spiritual" claim against the settled word of God?
- Have you let a convincing but contrary voice draw you off a path you knew God had set?
- What warnings and mercies has God sent you, and are they leading you to repentance, or are you, like Jeroboam, refusing to turn?
- Do you rest your soul on the certainty that God's word "shall surely come to pass"?
References
- Scripture: 1 Kings 13:1-34, King James Version.
- Cross-references: Deuteronomy 18:20-22; 2 Kings 23:15-18; Isaiah 46:10; Ezekiel 33:11; Matthew 24:35; Luke 12:48; 16:31; John 7:17; Romans 2:4; 2 Corinthians 11:14; Galatians 1:8; 1 John 4:1.
- Hebrew word meanings: standard lexical sources (Strong's, BDB) for bidvar YHWH, yavesh, kichesh, and shuv.