1 Kings 13

This chapter belongs to the section of 1 Kings that covers the period after the kingdom divided into north and south. It continues directly from the end of 1 Kings 12, where Jeroboam builds an altar at Bethel and goes up to burn incense.

Outline

• Verses 1–5: A man of God from Judah cries out against the altar at Bethel, declaring that a son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. Jeroboam's hand, stretched out to order the man's arrest, dries up, and the altar is split apart according to the sign that was given.
• Verses 6–10: The man of God prays, and the king's hand is restored. Because he has been commanded to eat no bread, drink no water, and not return by the way he came, he declines the king's invitation and departs by another way.
• Verses 11–19: An old prophet of Bethel goes after him and finds him sitting under an oak. Falsely claiming that an angel has spoken to him, he brings the man of God back to his house to eat and drink.
• Verses 20–25: At the table the word of the LORD comes to the old prophet, who pronounces judgment. On his way home the man of God is killed by a lion, and the donkey and the lion stand beside the body.
• Verses 26–32: The old prophet retrieves the body, buries it in his own tomb, and mourns, saying, "Alas, my brother!" He then instructs his sons to lay his bones beside the bones of the man of God.
• Verses 33–34: Jeroboam does not turn from his evil way but appoints anyone who is willing as priests of the high places. This becomes the sin that brings about the destruction of his house.

Key Verses

• 1 Kings 13:2: "a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name." The prophecy names the king himself and is later fulfilled exactly.
• 1 Kings 13:18: "an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD." This statement was a lie, and the narrative turns on this deception.

Characters and Places

• The man of God: An unnamed prophet from Judah. Josephus is said to have given his name as "Jadon," but the biblical text does not name him.
• The old prophet: A prophet living in Bethel, likewise unnamed.
• Jeroboam: The first king of the northern kingdom of Israel.
• Josiah: A king of Judah who reigned some three hundred years later; he is the figure foretold in verse 2.
• Bethel: A sanctuary of the northern kingdom where Jeroboam set up his altar.
• Samaria: A place name that appears in verse 32.

Points for Reflection

• The fulfillment of the prophecy is recorded in 2 Kings 23. Josiah burns bones on the altar at Bethel but leaves undisturbed the tomb of the man of God and the old prophet (2 Kings 23:15–18).
• Conservative interpreters read the advance naming of Josiah as the fulfillment of a specific prophecy, while critical scholars regard it as reflecting later editorial work.
• The phrase "the cities of Samaria" in verse 32 is sometimes explained as reflecting the writer's own vantage point, since the city of Samaria was not built until the reign of Omri (1 Kings 16:24).
• The ending, in which the one deceived rather than the deceiver dies, has long posed an interpretive problem. It is commonly read as teaching that a command received directly from God must not be overturned by an unverified "new revelation." In this respect it is read alongside Galatians 1:8–9, which warns against receiving another gospel even from an angel from heaven, and 1 John 4:1, which calls believers to try the spirits.

In the Korean Church

The chapter is used as a sermon text on obedience to the Word and the discernment of false prophecy. It is especially often cited as the story of the man of God who was deceived by the "old prophet."