1 Kings 13

He did not intend his destruction, but his reformation; and therefore granted his request. Whereby a new miracle was wrought for his conversion. • Vcr. 7. And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself and I will give thee a reivard.] A strange insensibility of God’s great mercy to him, which did not lead him to repentance, when it moved him to so much gratitude as to desire to reward him that was the instrument of his cure. His hand was restored, but not a good mind.. * \ Vcr. 8. And the man of God said to the king, If thou wilt give me half time house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place.) For he had a charge from God (as it follows) not to communicate with them, who were apostates from their religion. A COMMENTARY UPON /[chap, xm. 1o whom God saith, (Gen. xxii. 2.) " Tako thy son, &c. and offer him for a burnt-offering," &c. But when ho was going to do it, he heard that command repealed, (ver. 12.) " Lay not thy hand upon the lad," &c. Ho would not receive a contrary command from the mouth of any prophet, but from the mouth of God alone; from whom he received the first command. cast in the way, and the lion star ding by the carcass: and they came and toldit in the city where the old prophet dwelt.] As a wonderful thing; that the lion should neither fall upon his prey, nor hurt them who passed by; but suffered them to go on quietly. Vct. 2G. And when the prophet that brought him back from the way heard thereof he said, It is the man of God, that was disobedient to the word of the Lord.] Disobedience in great cases hath been thus punished by men in authority. For the Athenians put their ambassadors to death, whom they had sent into Arcadia, though they had performed their business very well, to their content, IttCl iripav oSov i/ASov, kclI ov rrjv irpo<rrtTayiilvr)v, because they came another way, and not that which they were prescribed. Which is the very case before us, (iEIian. lib. vi. Var. Hist. cap. 5.) Tfierefore the Lord hath delivered him unto the lion, who Itath torn him, and slain him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake unto him.] The lion did not rend his body in pieces, but only gave him one wound, which killed him. In the Hebrew the word is, he broke him, that is, his bones, and so slew him speedily.

1 Kings 13:1

^jLND it came to pass, that there came a man of God out of Judah. That is, a prophet; for none are called men of God, but prophets. And so this man is called below; (ver. 18.) whence Kimchi concludes David was a prophet, because he is called a man of God. And this prophet is thought by the Jews to be Iddo; whose vision against Jeroboam is mentioned 2 Chron. ix. 29. But this is an evident mistake; for Iddo was alive in the days of Ahijah the son of Rchoboam, (2 Chron. xiii. 22.) whereas this prophet here spoken of, was killed immediately after this prophecy. Therefore they were not the same; unless we suppose that what is here related fell out in the latter end of Jeroboam’s reign. Tcrtullian in his book De Jejunio, cap. 1G. calls him Samcas; where Rigaltius observes that Joscphus calls him Jadon, and Epiphanius Joam. < By the word of the Lord unto Beth-el] By a particular command of God. And Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense.] Upon that feast-day which he had instituted. See the last verse of the foregoing chapter.

1 Kings 13:2

And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord. Declared it, and the worship there performed, to be idolatrous; which he spake by authority from God. And said, O altar, altar!] Some think he mentioned the altar twice, to signify that he prophesied against that in Dan, as well as against this in Bcth-el. Tims saith the Lord, Behold, a child shall be bom unto the house of David, Josiah by name.] The prophets saw things future, as if they were present. And though this was not to come to pass till above three hundred and sixty years after this time, yet this man of God foretells it, as if it wcro to be done ero long. And the prediction is the more wonderful, because he tells out of what family he should spring, and what should be his name. And upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s bones shall he burn upon thee.] The meaning is not that he should burn the priests alive; but the execution of this prophecy explains it: that he should slay the priests of the high places, and then burn their bones, as he did the bones of those that had been buried, and thereby defile this altar. (2 Kings xxiii. 15,16. 20.)

1 Kings 13:3

And he gave a sign the same day. To confirm this prophecy. Saying, This is tJte sign which the Lord hath spolcen.] A proof that he spake from God, and not from himself. Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out.] This could not be done, but by the power of God; who hereby demonstrated he had sent this prophet to speak these words; which were presently fulfilled.

1 Kings 13:4

And it came to pass, when Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Beth-el. In the presence of the king himself, when he was about the solemn service of his gods. TJiat he put forth his hand from the altar.] Where ho stood, (ver. 1.) Saying, Lay hold on him.] As he himself w r ould have done, had he been near him. And his hand which he put forth against him, driedupj so that lie could not pull it in again to him.] The muscles and sinews shrunk, so that it was stiff and rigid, and he perfectly lost the use of it. Which prodigy was a new token, that the prophet’s words would be fulfilled.

1 Kings 13:5

And 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. LordJ. Which so amazed all the people, that we do not find any body went about to lay hold on him; but Jeroboam himself was, for the present, astonished at the miraculous power of God.

1 Kings 13:6

And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Entreat now the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me. A marvellous change! Ho that just now threatened, humbly supplicates him that smote him. Tliat my hand may be restored me again.] He was convinced that healing must come from the same hand that gave the wound; and that it was iu vain to seek to his gods. And the man of God besought the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored him again, and became as it icas before]

1 Kings 13:9

For so it was charged me by the Lord, saying. The same Divine authority, which sent him thither to do what they had heard and seen, gave him this following charge. Eat not bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by tlie same way that thou earnest.] The reason is plain, why he should not eat ot drink with them; because that was. to have familiar society with idolaters. But why he should not return the same way that he came, is not so evident. Some think it was to represent, that even the way to Beth-cl was abominable; and therefore not to be frequented: or, to shew how much we ought to abhor that which leads to evil. But it seems to be a proverbial speech; signifying that he should be constant and steadfast in executing the charge committed to him. For he that doth any thing without success is said to return by the way that he went, (Isa. xxxvii. 29. 34.) And therefore, not to return by the way that he went, is to do his business efFectually.

1 Kings 13:10

And so he went another way, and returned not by the icay that he came to Beth-el. To shew (as many think) how God detests the way to idolatry; and would have it to be forgotten. Vcr. 11. And there was an old prophet.] One who had many years been a prophet before this apostacy; whose name the Jews say was Micah: who was a worshipper of the true God, though he dwelt among this idolatrous people. A great many take him to have been a false prophet: but Theodoret proves that he was a true, though guilty of telling a lie to the man of God. (SeeHermannusWitsius’s Miscellanea, torn. i. p. 142, &c.) In Beth~el.] He was originally of Samaria, as we learn from 2 Kings xxiii. 18. But removed hither, it is likely, since this revolution, that he might see what Jeroboam designed. And his sons came and told him all the works tliat the man of God had done that day in Beth-el.] In the Hebrew it is, his son came and told him, &c. that is, one of his sons came first, and told all the foregoing passages; and afterward came all the rest of them, and confirmed what he had related. The words that lie had spoken to the king, them they also told their father.] By this it appears they were present when Jeroboam stood at the altar, and therefore joined in that idolatrous worship; though their father did not, and yet was so timorous that he durst notreprove it. Vcr. 12. And their father said unto them, Which way tvent he? For his sons had seen what way the?nan of God went that came from Judah.] They had the curiosity to observe what way such a remarkable person went to his own country; imagining, perhaps, their father would have a mind to discourse with him.,

1 Kings 13:13

And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass, and he rode thereon. In the way they directed him.

1 Kings 13:14

And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak. Weary, I suppose, with a long * journey; and faint for want of victuals. And he said, Art thou the man of God that came from Judah? And he said, I am..

1 Kings 13:15

Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread. He had a mind to have a ftrrther trial, of the truth of what the man of God had said; and so, in a crafty deceitful manner, enticed him back; contrary to his commission.

1 Kings 13:16

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. It seems he was forbidden so much as to go into any of their houses; lest he should be tempted to eat with them.

1 Kings 13:17

For it was said to me by the word of the Lord, Thou slialt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou earnest. For which reason he refused to accept of the king’s invitation..

1 Kings 13:18

And he said unto him, I am a prophet as thou art. He pretended, as Abarbinel thinks, that God had revealed the very same to him concerning the altar in Beth-el, that he had threatened. And an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back.] And he further pretended that he found him here by the direction of an angel. For he did not tell him that he learned from his sons what had passed; but pretended he had it by prophecy; and that anangel, in the name of God, commanded him to bring him back to his house, and refresh himself there..< To thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water.] He persuaded him, I suppose, that the meaning of God’s charge, thou shalt not eat bread, nor drink water in this place, was to be understood of sinners and idolaters, with whom he might not communicate: but he being a prophet, was not to be comprehended in that command. And therefore the angel said, Bring him back to thine house: not to the habitation of any idolater, but to his dwelling-house, which was undefiled. Thus Abarbinel. But he lied unto him.] All this was a fiction, which God suffered for the trial of the good man; whether he would believe him, or a man he did not know. >

1 Kings 13:19

So he went back with him, and did cat bread and water in his house. He thought it possible that God might, in pity to him, revoke his prohibition; because he was hungry and weary. But he ought to have believed the revelation he had himself, of which he was certain; and not trusted to what another pretended was revealed to him; which he could not be sure was true. And it is said emphatically, ver. 22. TJie Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, &c. If God had, in compassion to him, thought fit to recal that word, he would have done it to himself; and as plainly allowed him to refresh himself, as before he had forbidden it. So Abarbinel well observes,’* Nothing that a prophet receives from God is to be altered, unless that prophet hath another word from God revoking the former." As Abraham had;

1 Kings 13:20

And it came to pass, that as theij sat at the table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet that brought him back. God would not vouchsafe to speak to him, who had disobeyed his voice; but rather to the other, though in his name he had feigned an untruth.

1 Kings 13:21

And he cried unto the man of God that came fromJudah, saying J. Ho seems to be in a great agony; from the consideration of what he had done, and of what the prophet from Judah was to suffer. Tints saith the Lord, Forasmuch as thou liast disobeyed the mouth of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded tliee.] To disobey God’s mouth, was to disobey the word spoken by his mouth.

1 Kings 13:22

But earnest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in this place of which the Lord did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcass shall not come into the sepulchre of thy fathers.] This was all his punishment; that he should shortly die, and not be buried among the Jews.

1 Kings 13:23

And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, for the prophet whom he had brought back. It is remarkable, that no punishment is here threatened to the old prophet for telling him a lie. Because, as Abarbinel thinks, he meant no harm to the other prophet; but fancied that his saying, he might not eat or drink with them, was only to excuse himself from going with Jeroboam to his house. And besides, it might have turned to the great advantage of the prophet who came from Judah, if he had steadfastly persisted in his resolution,.and not given credit to what the old prophet said against it.

1 Kings 13:24

And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him. Not far from Beth-el there was a wood; out of which the two she-bears came, that taretwoand-forty children in pieces, (2 Kings ii. 24.) Out of which wood, it is probable, this lion came, and slew this prophet. And his carcass tvas cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcass.] This was to admonish all the prophets to observe God’s commands strictly; and to shew Jeroboam what he might expect, since God spared not a lesser offender. But, as God shewed his severity, in taking away this prophefs life, which was his punishment; so he remarkably shewed his approbation of the prophet; in that the lion stood quietly by his carcass, and did not devour it; nor do any hurt to the ass on which be rode. As if he was merely sent by a Divine appointment, to execute what God had threatened; but could not move one step beyond that commission. Fot when the prophet had suffered what God intended, he takes even his dead body into his protection; and would not let it be violated, as is observed below, ver. 28.

1 Kings 13:25

And, behold, inert passed by, and saw the carcass

1 Kings 13:27

And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him. Hearing the lion stood as quiet as a lamb, and neither meddled with the carcass, nor hurt any that passed by, he did not fear to take up the body of the prophet that camo from Judah; believing the lion had order to do no other mischief, but kill him.

1 Kings 13:28

And he went, and found his carcass cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcass: the lion had not eaten the carcass, nor torn the ass. Here is a cluster of miracles; that the lion, contrary to his nature, did not eat the carcass, nor kill the ass, nor meddle with the travellers that passed by, noT with the old prophet and his ass: and that the ass stood so quietly, and was not frighted at the sight of a lion, and betake itself to flight; and more than this, the lion stood by the carcass a long time, until this strange news was carried into the city; as a faithful keepeT of the prophet’s body, that no other wild beasts should meddle with it. Which madethe miracle more illustrious; and plainly shewed all this did not happen by chance.

1 Kings 13:29

And the prophet took tip the carcass of the man of God, and laid it xipon the ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came into the city to mourn, and to bury him. To make a solemn funeral for him.

1 Kings 13:30

And he laid his carcass in his own grave. Which was the greatest honour he could do him. And they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother!] He and his sons made the usual lamentation over him’; of which this was the form, we find, in aflcrtimes, (Jer. xxii. 18.)

1 Kings 13:31

And it came to pass, after he had buried him, that he spake unto his sons, saying, When J am dead, then bury me in the sepulchre wherein th€ man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones.] This he ordered, not merely out of affection to the prophet, but to secure himself from the judgment that he had threatened, ver. 2.

1 Kings 13:32

For the saying which he cried by the tvord of the Lord against the altar in Beth-el, and against all the houses of the high places that are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.] This Abarbiri’cl looks upon as an argument that this man was a prophet of the Lord; CHAP. XIV.]. THE FIRST BOOK OF THE KINGS. that he foretold the same thing that the man of God, who came from Judah, did. And, as he thinks, something, more; viz. the destruction of all the high places by Josiah, which is not before mentioned. - v

1 Kings 13:33

After this tiling Jeroboam returned not from his evil tuay. By all these wonderful works (for the singular number is put for the pluial) Jeroboam was not at all changed; but continued in his idolatry. But made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places.] He did not reform in any one thing; but still went on in making any body priests. (See xii. 31.) WJiosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places.] Without any respect to his tribe, or family; or, indeed, to his condition!

1 Kings 13:34

And this thing became sin to the house of Jeroboam, even to cut it off, and destroy it from the face of the earth. Brought dreadful punishments upon bis family (for so sin sometimes signifies the punishmeiit of sin), and these not vulgar punishments, but utter extirpation.