1 Kings 13:5

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Contextual Overview

¹Suddenly, as Jeroboam was standing beside the altar to burn incense, there came a man of God from Judah to Bethel by the word of the LORD. ²And he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD, "O altar, O altar, this is what the LORD says: 'A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David, and upon you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense upon you, and human bones will be burned upon you.'" ³That day the man of God gave a sign, saying, "This is the sign that the LORD has spoken: 'Surely the altar will be split apart, and the ashes upon it will be poured out.'" ⁴Now when King Jeroboam, who was at the altar in Bethel, heard the word that the man of God had cried out against it, he stretched out his hand and said, "Seize him!" But the hand he stretched out toward him withered, so that he could not pull it back. ⁵And the altar was split apart, and the ashes poured out, according to the sign that the man of God had given by the word of the LORD.⁶Then the king responded to the man of God, "Intercede with the LORD your God and pray that my hand may be restored." So the man of God interceded with the LORD, and the king's hand was restored to him as it was before. ⁷Then the king said to the man of God, "Come home with me and refresh yourself, and I will give you a reward." ⁸But the man of God replied, "If you were to give me half your possessions, I still would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place. ⁹For this is what I was commanded by the word of the LORD: 'You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.'" ¹⁰So the man of God went another way and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

1 Kings 13:3, 1 Kings 22:28, 1 Kings 22:35, Exodus 9:18-25, Numbers 16:23-35, Deuteronomy 18:22, Jeremiah 28:16, Jeremiah 28:17, Mark 16:20, Acts 5:1-10

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 12:22 - the man 1 Kings 13:1 - by the word 1 Kings 17:16 - according 2 Kings 21:26 - Josiah John 6:30 - What

Cross-References

Genesis 4:20
And Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who dwell in tents and raise livestock.

Genesis 25:27
When the boys grew up, Esau became a skillful hunter, a man of the field, but Jacob was a quiet man who stayed at home.

Jeremiah 49:29
They will take their tents and flocks, their tent curtains and all their goods. They will take their camels for themselves. They will shout to them: 'Terror is on every side!'

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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 word of the Lord; by his direction and order.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

We need not suppose a complete shattering of the altar, but rather the appearance of a crack or fissure in the fabric, which, extending from top to bottom, caused the embers and the fragments of the victims to fall until they reached the ground.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 13:5. The altar was also rent — It split or clave of its own accord; and, as the split parts would decline at the top from the line of their perpendicular, so the ashes and coals would fall off, or be poured out.