1 Kings 13:27-32

D. THE LAMENTATION FOR THE MAN OF GOD 13:27-32

TRANSLATION

(27) Then he spoke unto his sons, saying, saddle for me the donkey, and they saddled it. (28) And he went and found his carcass cast in the way with the donkey and the lion standing beside the carcass; the lion had not eaten the carcass nor torn the donkey. (29) And the prophet lifted up the carcass of the man of God and laid it on the donkey, and brought it back and came unto the city of the old prophet to mourn and to bury it. (30) And he laid the carcass in his own grave, and he lamented over him, Alas my brother! (31) And it came to pass after he buried him, that he said unto his sons, saying, When I die bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; cause my bones to rest beside his bones. (32) For the word which he cried in the word of the LORD against the altar which was in Bethel, and against all the houses of the high places which are in the cities of Samaria, shall surely come to pass.

COMMENTS

Immediately the old prophet ordered his sons to saddle his donkey (1 Kings 13:27), and he went to the spot where the man of God had fallen. A strange sight that was! His mouth having been sealed by the hand of God, the lion simply was standing by the body of the man of God. Contrary to his carnivorous instincts, the lion had not mangled the body of the man of God, nor had it attacked the donkey (1 Kings 13:28).

The prophet had no trouble shooing the docile lion from the scene. He then tenderly took up the body of the man of God and draped it over the donkey that was idly standing by. With great sorrow the old prophet brought the corpse back to Bethel (1 Kings 13:29). There he bestowed profound respect upon that corpse by burying it in his own grave. Seeing that the old prophet was responsible for his death, he could hardly have done less! Outside the sepulcher the man of God was mourned with a customary lamentation formula: Alas, my brother! (1 Kings 13:30). Thus the old prophet felt keenly the loss of the man of God and mourned his death as a relative or dear friend (cf. Jeremiah 22:18). The sudden death of the man of God authenticated the oracle spoken in the temple. The tomb where he was buried was still known in the time of Josiah (2 Kings 23:17).

Following the funeral, the Bethel prophet instructed his sons to bury him upon his death alongside of the man of God (1 Kings 13:31). The old prophet was now convinced that the predictions of the man of God regarding the Bethel altar and houses of the high places would certainly come to pass. All the houses of the high places suggests that other sanctuaries besides those at Dan and Bethel were springing up. On the other hand, it is possible that the old prophet foresaw that such sanctuaries would be multiplied in the North and knew that all such sanctuaries would meet the fate pronounced against the Bethel altar. The phrase cities of Samaria (1 Kings 13:32) is prophetical, for the city of Samaria owes its existence and name to King Omri (1 Kings 16:24).