Chapter Text
The Man of God from Judah
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.
2And 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.
3And 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.
4And 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.
5The 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.
6And 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.
7And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward.
8And 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:
9For 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.
10So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.
The Old Prophet
11Now 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.
12And 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.
13And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon,
14And 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.
15Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread.
16And 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:
17For 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.
18He 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.
19So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water.
20And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back:
21And 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,
22But 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.
The Death of the Man of God
23And 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.
24And 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.
25And, 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.
26And 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.
27And he spake to his sons, saying, Saddle me the ass. And they saddled him.
28And 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.
29And 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.
30And he laid his carcase in his own grave; and they mourned over him, saying, Alas, my brother!
31And 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:
32For 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.
33After 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.
34And 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.
Summary
Solomon dies after reigning forty years, and his son Rehoboam succeeds him. All Israel gathers at Shechem for the coronation. Jeroboam returns from Egypt and leads the people in requesting that Rehoboam lighten the heavy burdens Solomon imposed.
Rehoboam rejects the counsel of the elders who advise gentleness and instead follows his young companions' advice to increase the burden. Ten tribes revolt, and only Judah and Benjamin remain under Rehoboam. When Rehoboam sends his tax collector, the people stone him to death. God through the prophet Shemaiah forbids civil war.
Meaning
Rehoboam's folly at Shechem demonstrates that wisdom is not hereditary. The son of the wisest king in history makes the most foolish decision in Israel's political history. His arrogant response reveals the corruption that unchecked power breeds across generations.
Yet the text explicitly states that this division was from the Lord, fulfilling Ahijah's prophecy. Human folly and divine sovereignty intersect: Rehoboam is fully responsible for his arrogance, yet God uses it to accomplish His declared purpose. The division of the kingdom is both judgment and providence.
Background
Shechem was chosen for the coronation because it was the traditional assembly point of the northern tribes and a city of great antiquity, associated with Abraham and Joshua's covenant renewal.
The forced labor that Solomon imposed, though building magnificent structures, had created deep resentment, particularly among the northern tribes.
Chapter Outline
- vv. 1-3Prophecy against the altar at Bethel
- vv. 4-6Jeroboam's withered hand restored
- vv. 7-10The man of God refuses the king's hospitality
- vv. 11-19The old prophet's deception
- vv. 20-25Judgment pronounced and the lion's attack
- vv. 26-32Burial and confirmation of the oracle
- vv. 33-34Jeroboam's unrepentant heart
Key Verses
“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.”— 13:2
One of the most striking predictive prophecies in Scripture, naming Josiah by name roughly three centuries before his birth. Its fulfillment is recorded in 2 Kings 23:15-20.
“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.”— 13:9
The specific divine command whose violation drives the entire tragedy of the chapter, illustrating that partial obedience is disobedience.
“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.”— 13:18
A sobering warning that even prophetic credentials can mask deception; God's revealed word must outweigh any later contradicting claim.
“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.”— 13:33
Demonstrates the hardening of Jeroboam's heart despite a miraculous sign and warning, sealing the doom of his dynasty.
People & Places
People
- The man of God from Judah — An unnamed prophet sent by the LORD to denounce Jeroboam's altar at Bethel.
- Jeroboam — First king of the northern kingdom of Israel, whose idolatrous altar provoked the prophecy.
- Josiah — Future Davidic king of Judah named in prophecy who would defile Bethel's altar centuries later.
- The old prophet of Bethel — An aged resident prophet who deceived the man of God, then mourned and buried him.
Places
- Bethel — Site of Jeroboam's golden calf shrine in the northern kingdom and the setting of the prophetic confrontation.
- Judah — The southern kingdom from which the unnamed man of God was sent.
- Samaria — Region containing the high-place shrines whose future destruction is foretold in verse 32.
Prophecy & Fulfillment
Verse 2 contains one of the Bible's most remarkable long-range prophecies, naming King Josiah by name roughly 300 years before his birth and predicting that he would desecrate Jeroboam's altar by burning the bones of its idolatrous priests upon it. This prophecy is fulfilled with striking precision in 2 Kings 23:15-20, where Josiah destroys the altar at Bethel and even spares the tomb of the man of God mentioned in this very chapter (2 Kings 23:17-18). Verse 32 extends the oracle to all the high places of Samaria, anticipating the broader reformation under Josiah.
Devotional
This chapter unsettles us because the man of God does almost everything right — he confronts a king, refuses bribes, witnesses a miracle — and yet dies for one moment of misplaced trust. His failure was not gross rebellion but listening to a contradicting voice that sounded spiritual.
God's word to us does not change because someone with credentials offers a softer alternative. When you have heard clearly from Scripture, hold the line, even when the pressure to compromise comes dressed as fellowship or prophecy. Meanwhile, Jeroboam shows the opposite danger: witnessing grace and still refusing to turn.
Literary Style
Prophetic narrative with strong dramatic irony and a tightly structured tragic arc. Features direct divine oracle, a sign-miracle, dialogue-driven testing, and an ominous reversal. The repeated phrase 'the word of the LORD' functions as a structural refrain anchoring the chapter's theme of obedience.