1 And lo, a man of God hath come from Judah, by the word of Jehovah, unto Beth-El, and Jeroboam is standing by the altar -- to make perfume;
And he saith, `What `is' this sign that I see?' and the men of the city say unto him, `The grave of the man of God who hath come from Judah, and proclaimeth these things that thou hast done concerning the altar of Beth-El.'
and Jeroboam maketh a festival in the eighth month, in the fifteenth day of the month, like the festival that `is' in Judah, and he offereth on the altar -- so did he in Beth-El -- to sacrifice to the calves which he made, and he hath appointed in Beth-El the priests of the high places that he made. And he offereth up on the altar that he made in Beth-El, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, in the month that he devised of his own heart, and he maketh a festival to the sons of Israel, and offereth on the altar -- to make perfume.
And the word of God is unto Shemaiah a man of God, saying,
And the cities of Judah, and inhabitants of Jerusalem have gone, And they have cried unto the gods, To whom they are making perfume, And they give no deliverance at all to them, In the time of their vexation.
For, from the rising of the sun to its going in, Great `is' My name among nations, And in every place perfume is brought nigh to My name, and a pure present, For great `is' My name among nations, Said Jehovah of Hosts.
And come in have the Chaldeans who are fighting against this city, and they have set this city on fire, and have burned it, and the houses on whose roofs they made perfume to Baal, and poured out libations to other gods, so as to provoke Me to anger.
a memorial to the sons of Israel, so that a stranger who is not of the seed of Aaron doth not draw near to make a perfume before Jehovah, and is not as Korah, and as his company, -- as Jehovah hath spoken by the hand of Moses to him.
and they stand up against Uzziah the king, and say to him, `Not for thee, O Uzziah, to make perfume to Jehovah, but for priests, sons of Aaron, who are sanctified to make perfume; go forth from the sanctuary, for thou hast trespassed, and `it is' not to thee for honour from Jehovah God.'
And a certain man of the sons of the prophets said unto his neighbour by the word of Jehovah, `Smite me, I pray thee;' and the man refuseth to smite him,
for the word certainly cometh to pass that he called by the word of Jehovah concerning the altar which `is' Beth-El, and concerning all the houses of the high places that `are' in cities of Samaria.'
And the prophet who brought him back out of the way heareth and saith, `It `is' the man of God who provoked the mouth of Jehovah, and Jehovah giveth him to the lion, and it destroyeth him, and putteth him to death, according to the word of Jehovah that he spake to him.'
for so He commanded me by the word of Jehovah, saying, Thou dost not eat bread nor drink water, nor turn back in the way that thou hast come.'
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on 1 Kings 13
Commentary on 1 Kings 13 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 13
1Ki 13:1-22. Jeroboam's Hand Withers.
1. there came a man of God out of Judah—Who this prophet was cannot be ascertained, He came by divine authority. It could not be either Iddo or Ahijah, for both were alive after the events here related.
Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense—It was at one of the annual festivals. The king, to give interest to the new ritual, was himself the officiating priest. The altar and its accompaniments would, of course, exhibit all the splendor of a new and gorgeously decorated temple. But the prophet foretold its utter destruction [1Ki 13:3].
2-9. he cried against the altar—which is put for the whole system of worship organized in Israel.
Behold, a child shall be born … Josiah by name—This is one of the most remarkable prophecies recorded in the Scriptures; and, in its clearness, circumstantial minuteness, and exact prediction of an event that took place three hundred sixty years later, it stands in striking contrast to the obscure and ambiguous oracles of the heathen. Being publicly uttered, it must have been well known to the people; and every Jew who lived at the accomplishment of the event must have been convinced of the truth of a religion connected with such a prophecy as this. A present sign was given of the remote event predicted, in a visible fissure being miraculously made on the altar. Incensed at the man's license of speech, Jeroboam stretched out his hand and ordered his attendants to seize the bold intruder. That moment the king's arm became stiff and motionless, and the altar split asunder, so that the fire and ashes fell on the floor. Overawed by the effects of his impiety, Jeroboam besought the prophet's prayer. His request was acceded to, and the hand was restored to its healthy state. Jeroboam was artful, and invited the prophet to the royal table, not to do him honor or show his gratitude for the restoration of his hand, but to win, by his courtesy and liberal hospitality, a person whom he could not crush by his power. But the prophet informed him of a divine injunction expressly prohibiting him from all social intercourse with any in the place, as well as from returning the same way. The prohibition not to eat or drink in Beth-el was because all the people had become apostates from the true religion, and the reason he was not allowed to return the same way was lest he should be recognized by any whom he had seen in going.
11. Now there dwelt an old prophet in Beth-el—If this were a true prophet, he was a bad man.
18. an angel spake unto me by the word of the Lord—This circuitous mode of speaking, instead of simply saying, "the Lord spake to me," was adopted to hide an equivocation, to conceal a double meaning—an inferior sense given to the word "angel"—to offer a seemingly superior authority to persuade the prophet, while really the authority was secretly known to the speaker to be inferior. The "angel," that is, "messenger," was his own sons, who were worshippers, perhaps priests, at Beth-el. As this man was governed by self-interest, and wished to curry favor with the king (whose purpose to adhere to his religious polity, he feared, might be shaken by the portents that had occurred), his hastening after the prophet of Judah, the deception he practised, and the urgent invitation by which, on the ground of a falsehood, he prevailed on the too facile man of God to accompany him back to his house in Beth-el, were to create an impression in the king's mind that he was an impostor, who acted in opposition to his own statement.
21. he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah—rather, "it cried," that is, the word of the Lord.
1Ki 13:23-32. The Disobedient Prophet Slain by a Lion.
24. a lion met him by the way, and slew him—There was a wood near Beth-el infested with lions (2Ki 2:24). This sad catastrophe was a severe but necessary judgment of God, to attest the truth of the message with which the prophet had been charged. All the circumstances of this tragic occurrence (the undevoured carcass, the untouched ass, the passengers unmolested by the lion, though standing there) were calculated to produce an irresistible impression that the hand of God was in it.
31. bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried—His motive in making this request was either that his remains might not be disturbed when the predicted events took place (see 2Ki 23:18), or he had some superstitious hope of being benefited at the resurrection by being in the same cave with a man of God.