Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 13:1-10
Here is, I. A messenger sent to Jeroboam, to signify to him God's displeasure against his idolatry, Kg1 13:1. The army of Judah that aimed to ruin him was countermanded, and might not draw a sword against him (Kg1 12:24); but a prophet of Judah is, instead thereof, sent to reclaim him from his evil way, and is sent in time, while he is but dedicating his altar, before his heart is hardened by the deceitfulness of his sin; for God delights not in the death of sinners, but would rather they would burn and live. How bold was the messenger that durst attack the king in his pride and interrupt the solemnity he was proud of! Those that go on God's errand must not fear the face of man; they know wh…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Kings 13:2
he cried against the altar--which is put for the whole system of worship organized in Israel.
Behold, a child shall be born . . . Josiah by name--This is one of the most remarkable prophecies recorded in the Scriptures; and, in its clearness, circumstantial minuteness, and exact prediction of an event that took place three hundred sixty years later, it stands in striking contrast to the obscure and ambiguous oracles of the heathen. Being publicly uttered, it must have been well known to the people; and every Jew who lived at the accomplishment of the event must have been convinced of the truth of a religion connected with such a prophecy as this. A present sign was given of the remote even…
Read the whole note in the consoleAdam Clarke on 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.
John Gill on 1 Kings 13:5
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.
