36 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 13 In this chapter is an account of a man of God being sent to exclaim against Jeroboam's altar, and threaten its destruction, of which he gave a sign, which was accomplished, and with it the withering of the king's hand, which was healed upon the prophet's prayer for him, 1 Kings 13:1, who would have entertained him at his...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah,.... Whom Josephus (x) calls Jadon, perhaps the same with Iddo, who is by the Jewish writers (y) generally thought to be this man of God, and which may seem to be countenanced by 2 Chronicles 9:29 but cannot be, because this man was quickly slain, whereas Iddo lived after Rehoboam, and wrote his...
Matthew Henry - Complete Commentary - Matthew Henry
In the close of the foregoing chapter we left Jeroboam attending his altar at Beth-el, and there we find him in the beginning of this, when he received a testimony from God against his idolatry and apostasy. This was sent to him by a prophet, a man of God that lived in Judah, who is the principal subject of the story of this chapter, where we are...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord,.... By his order and command: and said, O altar, altar; addressing himself not to Jeroboam, but the altar, thereby reproving his stupidity, the altar being as ready to hear as he; and because that was what moved the indignation of the Lord; and the word is repeated, to show the vehemency of...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he gave a sign the same day, saying, this is the sign which the Lord hath spoken,.... As a confirmation of the truth of what the prophet had said, and for the proof of his being a true prophet of the Lord: behold, the altar shall be rent; of itself, by an invisible hand, by the power of God: and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out;...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass, when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, who had cried against the altar in Bethel,.... He was highly provoked: so that he put forth his hand from the altar; on which he was burning incense: saying, lay hold on him; he put forth his hand, and either shook it at the prophet, threatening what he would do to him; or...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The altar also was rent,.... Split into two parts perhaps, and one fell one way, and the other another; and the ashes poured out from the altar; the ashes of the burnt offering, these were spilled on the ground; all which was done without any outward force, or any visible means thereof: according to the sign which the man of God had given by the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the king answered and said unto the man of God,.... In another tone than when he bid the people lay hold on him; not in a haughty, but humble manner; not as threatening, but supplicating: entreat now the face of the Lord thy God; he does not say "my God", for he had apostatized from him, and served other gods, but "thy" God, whose prophet he...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the king said unto the man of God, come home with me, and refresh thyself,.... By eating a meal with him, after such a journey he had taken, and delivered his prophecies, and put up his prayers for the king: and I will give thee a reward; for his prayers, by means of which his hand was restored to him; but takes no notice of the Lord, the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the man of God said unto the king,.... In answer to his civility to him, to assure him it was not out of contempt to him, or ill will to him, or slight of his favour, but in obedience to the will of God: if thou wilt give half of thine house; of the riches in it, and even of his kingdom: I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For so it was charged me by the word of the Lord,.... The command of the Lord, by which he came to Bethel, and cried against the altar there, 1 Kings 13:1 saying, eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest: signifying that no communion was to be had with idolaters, nor any example to be set and followed; but the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel. Neither ate nor drank with the king, though that is not expressed; nor did he go back the same way he came; but in each particular observed the divine command, and was obedient to it.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel,.... The Targum is, a false prophet, so Josephus (b); it is hard to say what he was, a good man or a bad man; if a good man, he was guilty of many things which are not in his favour, as dwelling in such an idolatrous place suffering his sons to attend idolatrous worship, and telling the man of God a...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And their father said unto them, what way went he?.... Having a strong inclination to see him, and converse with him: for his sons had seen what way the man of God went which came from Judah; they took notice of it; and, as the Targum, they showed it to their father.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said unto his sons, saddle me the ass,.... Which he used to ride on; intimating he had a mind to ride after him, and overtake him, as he might reasonably think he might, since the man of God was on foot: so they saddled him the ass, and he rode thereon; after the man of God, taking the way his sons directed.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak,.... To shelter him from the heat, and being faint, hungry, and thirsty; so the ancients of old made use of oaks for a covering, before houses were invented (e); thus Abraham pitched his tent in the plain, or under the oak, of Mamre, Genesis 13:18 and he said unto him, art thou the...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Then said he unto him, come home with me, and eat bread. In which invitation no doubt he was hearty, and might have no ill design in it, only to have some conversation with him, as being a good man, and a prophet of the Lord, especially upon the subject of his prophecies at Bethel.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee,.... Into the city, and into his house in it, being such an idolatrous place, and especially being forbidden of God: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place; he was resolute and determined to abide by the commandment of the Lord, though there is reason to believe...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
For it was said to me by the word of the Lord,.... By the angel that was sent to him, who gave him his message and instructions; which he was persuaded came from the Lord himself, and therefore looked upon himself under obligation to regard them as such: thou shall eat no bread, &c. the same that he observed to the king, 1 Kings 13:9.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And he said unto him,.... That is, the old prophet said to the man of God: I am a prophet also as thou art; meaning, that he was a prophet of the true God, and not of any idol deity; that he not only believed in him, and was a worshipper of him, but had revelations from him, and of the same things this man of God had, and that he believed that...