1 Kings 13:17-18

13:17 For the Lord gave me strict orders,¹ ‘Do not eat or drink² there; do not go back the way you came.’” 13:18 The old prophet then said,³ “I too am a prophet like you. An angel told me with the Lord’s authority,⁴ ‘Bring him back with you to your house so he can eat and drink.’”⁵ But he was lying to him.⁶

1 Kings 13:26-32

13:26 When the old prophet who had invited him to his house heard the news,⁷ he said, “It is the prophet⁸ who rebelled against the Lord.⁹ The Lord delivered him over to the lion and it ripped him up¹⁰ and killed him, just as the Lord warned him.”¹¹ 13:27 He told his sons, “Saddle my donkey,” and they did so.¹² 13:28 He went and found the corpse lying in the road with the donkey and the lion standing beside it;¹³ the lion had neither eaten the corpse nor attacked the donkey. 13:29 The old prophet¹⁴ picked up the corpse of the prophet,¹⁵ put it on the donkey, and brought it back. The old prophet then entered the city to mourn him and to bury him. 13:30 He put the corpse into his own tomb, and they¹⁶ mourned over him, saying, “Ah, my brother!” 13:31 After he buried him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the tomb where the prophet¹⁷ is buried; put my bones right beside his bones, 13:32 for the prophecy he announced with the Lord’s authority¹⁸ against the altar in Bethel¹⁹ and against all the temples on the high places in the cities of the north²⁰ will certainly be fulfilled.”

¹tn Heb “for a word to me by the word of the Lord.”

²tn Heb “eat food and drink water.”

³tn Heb “and he said to him.”

⁴tn Heb “by the word of the Lord.”

⁵tn Heb “eat food and drink water.”

⁶tn Or “deceiving him.”

sn He was lying to him. The motives and actions of the old prophet are difficult to understand. The old man’s response to the prophet’s death (see vv. 26-32) suggests he did not trick him with malicious intent. The old prophet probably wanted the honor of entertaining such a celebrity, or perhaps simply desired some social interaction with a fellow prophet.

⁷tn Heb “and the prophet who had brought him back from the road heard.”

⁸tn Heb “the man of God.”

⁹tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord.”

¹⁰tn Heb “broke him,” or “crushed him.”

¹¹tn Heb “according to the word of the Lord which he spoke to him.”

¹²tn Heb “and they saddled [it].”

¹³tn Heb “the corpse.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“it”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

¹⁴tn Heb “the prophet.” The word “old” has been supplied in the translation to distinguish this individual from the other prophet.

¹⁵tn Heb “the man of God.”

¹⁶tn “They” is the reading of the Hebrew text here; perhaps this is meant to include not only the old prophet but his sons (cf. v. 31).

¹⁷tn Heb “the man of God.”

¹⁸tn Heb “for the word which he cried out by the word of the Lord”

¹⁹map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

²⁰tn Heb “Samaria.” The name of Israel’s capital city here stands for the northern kingdom as a whole. Actually Samaria was not built and named until several years after this (see 1 Kgs 16:24), so it is likely that the author of Kings, writing at a later time, is here adapting the old prophet’s original statement.