1 Raja-raja 13:18-28

13:18 The old prophet then said, ¹  “I too am a prophet like you. An angel told me with the Lord’s authority, ²  ‘Bring him back with you to your house so he can eat and drink.’” ³  But he was lying to him. ⁴  13:19 So the prophet went back with him and ate and drank in his house. ⁵ 

13:20 While they were sitting at the table, the Lord spoke through the old prophet ⁶  13:21 and he cried out to the prophet from Judah, “This is what the Lord says, ‘You ⁷  have rebelled against the Lord ⁸  and have not obeyed the command the Lord your God gave you. 13:22 You went back and ate and drank in this place, even though he said to you, “Do not eat or drink there.” ⁹  Therefore ¹⁰  your corpse will not be buried in your ancestral tomb.’” ¹¹ 

13:23 When the prophet from Judah finished his meal, ¹²  the old prophet saddled his visitor’s donkey for him. ¹³  13:24 As the prophet from Judah was traveling, a lion attacked him on the road and killed him. ¹⁴  His corpse was lying on the road, and the donkey and the lion just stood there beside it. ¹⁵  13:25 Some men came by ¹⁶  and saw the corpse lying in the road with the lion standing beside it. ¹⁷  They went and reported what they had seen ¹⁸  in the city where the old prophet lived. 13:26 When the old prophet who had invited him to his house heard the news, ¹⁹  he said, “It is the prophet ²⁰  who rebelled against the Lord. ²¹  The Lord delivered him over to the lion and it ripped him up ²²  and killed him, just as the Lord warned him.” ²³  13:27 He told his sons, “Saddle my donkey,” and they did so. ²⁴  13:28 He went and found the corpse lying in the road with the donkey and the lion standing beside it; ²⁵  the lion had neither eaten the corpse nor attacked the donkey.

[13:18]  ¹ tn Heb “and he said to him.”

[13:18]  ² tn Heb “by the word of the Lord.”

[13:18]  ³ tn Heb “eat food and drink water.”

[13:18]  ⁴ tn Or “deceiving him.”

[13:18]  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.

[13:19]  ⁵ tn Heb “and he returned with him and ate food in his house and drank water.”

[13:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “and the word of the Lord came to the prophet who had brought him back.”

[13:21]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text has “because” at the beginning of the sentence. In the Hebrew text vv. 21-22 are one long sentence comprised of a causal clause giving the reason for divine punishment (vv. 21-22a) and the main clause announcing the punishment (v. 22b). The translation divides this lengthy sentence for stylistic reasons.

[13:21]  ⁸ tn Heb “the mouth [i.e., command] of the Lord.”

[13:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “and you returned and ate food and drank water in the place about which he said to you, ‘do not eat food and do not drink water.’”

[13:22]  ¹⁰ tn “Therefore” is added for stylistic reasons. See the note at 1 Kgs 13:21 pertaining to the grammatical structure of vv. 21-22.

[13:22]  ¹¹ tn Heb “will not go to the tomb of your fathers.”

[13:23]  ¹² tn Heb “and after he had eaten food and after he had drunk.”

[13:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “and he saddled for him the donkey, for the prophet whom he had brought back.”

[13:24]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and he went and a lion met him in the road and killed him.”

[13:24]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and his corpse fell on the road, and the donkey was standing beside it, and the lion was standing beside the corpse.”

[13:25]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Look, men were passing by.”

[13:25]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “the corpse.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“it”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[13:25]  ¹⁸ tn The words “what they had seen” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[13:26]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and the prophet who had brought him back from the road heard.”

[13:26]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the man of God.”

[13:26]  ²¹ tn Heb “the mouth of the Lord.”

[13:26]  ²² tn Heb “broke him,” or “crushed him.”

[13:26]  ²³ tn Heb “according to the word of the Lord which he spoke to him.”

[13:27]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and they saddled [it].”

[13:28]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the corpse.” The noun has been replaced by the pronoun (“it”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.