1 Kings 13:28

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

²³And after the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the old prophet who had brought him back saddled the donkey for him. ²⁴As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left lying in the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. ²⁵And there were men passing by who saw the body lying in the road with the lion standing beside it, and they went and reported this in the city where the old prophet lived. ²⁶When the prophet who had brought him back from his journey heard this, he said, "It is the man of God who disobeyed the command of the LORD. Therefore the LORD has delivered him to the lion, and it has mauled him and killed him, according to the word that the LORD had spoken to him." ²⁷Then the old prophet instructed his sons, "Saddle the donkey for me." So they saddled it, ²⁸and he went and found the body lying in the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had not eaten the body or mauled the donkey.²⁹So the old prophet lifted up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and bury him. ³⁰Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they lamented over him, "Oh, my brother!" ³¹After he had buried him, the prophet said to his sons, "When I die, you must bury me in the tomb where the man of God is buried. Lay my bones beside his bones, ³²for the message that he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria will surely come to pass."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the lion had: All here was supernatural. The lion, though he had killed the man, yet, contrary to his nature, did not devour him, nor tear the ass, nor meddle with the travellers that passed by; while the ass stood quietly by, not fearing the lion, nor betaking himself to flight: both stood as guardians of the fallen prophet, till this extraordinary intelligence was carried into the city which rendered the miracle the more illustrious and plainly shewed that this event did not happen by chance. This concatenation of miracles marked the death of the man of God as a Divine rebuke for his disobedience in eating bread at idolatrous Beth-el; and here we see, as in various other cases, that "often judgment begins at the house of God." The true prophet, for suffering himself to be seduced by the old prophet, and for receiving that as a revelation from God which was opposed to the revelation which himself had received, and which was confirmed by so many miracles, is slain by a lion, and his body deprived of the burial of his fathers; while the wicked king and the fallen prophet are both permitted to live. 1 Kings 17:4, 1 Kings 17:6, Leviticus 10:2, Leviticus 10:5, Job 38:11, Psalms 148:7, Psalms 148:8, Jeremiah 5:22, Jeremiah 5:23, Daniel 3:22, Daniel 3:27, Daniel 3:28, Daniel 6:22-24, Acts 16:26, Hebrews 11:33, Hebrews 11:34

torn: Heb. broken

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he went and found his carcass cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcass,.... As before described:

the lion had not eaten the carcass, nor torn the ass; both which were very marvellous; as also that the ass should stand so quietly, and without fear, by the carcass along with the lion and not run away; but here both stayed till the prophet came to take care of the carcass, which shows the singular providence of God in this affair; and that though he chastised the man of God with a temporal judgment for his offence, yet he was dear to him, and even his carcass precious in his sight.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The lion had not eaten the carcase, nor torn the ass - These strange circumstances were of a nature to call men’s attention to the matter, and cause the whole story to be bruited abroad. By these means an incident, which Jeroboam would have wished hushed up, became no doubt the common talk of the whole people.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 28. The lion had not eaten the carcass, nor torn the ass. — All here was preternatural. The lion, though he had killed the man, does not devour him; the ass stands quietly by, not fearing the lion; and the lion does not attempt to tear the ass: both stand as guardians of the fallen prophet. How evident is the hand of God in all!