1 Kings 13:1-6

13:1 Just then ¹  a prophet ²  from Judah, sent by the Lord, arrived in Bethel, ³  as Jeroboam was standing near the altar ready to offer a sacrifice. 13:2 With the authority of the Lord ⁴  he cried out against the altar, “O altar, altar! This is what the Lord says, ‘Look, a son named Josiah will be born to the Davidic dynasty. He will sacrifice on you the priests of the high places who offer sacrifices on you. Human bones will be burned on you.’” ⁵  13:3 That day he also announced ⁶  a sign, “This is the sign the Lord has predetermined: ⁷  The altar will be split open and the ashes ⁸  on it will fall to the ground.” ⁹  13:4 When the king heard what the prophet ¹⁰  cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam, standing at the altar, extended his hand ¹¹  and ordered, ¹²  “Seize him!” The hand he had extended shriveled up ¹³  and he could not pull it back. 13:5 The altar split open and the ashes ¹⁴  fell from the altar to the ground, ¹⁵  in fulfillment of the sign the prophet had announced with the Lord’s authority. ¹⁶  13:6 The king pled with ¹⁷  the prophet, ¹⁸  “Seek the favor of ¹⁹  the Lord your God and pray for me, so that my hand may be restored.” So the prophet sought the Lord’s favor ²⁰  and the king’s hand was restored to its former condition. ²¹ 

¹ tn Heb “Look.” The Hebrew particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) is a rhetorical device by which the author invites the reader to visualize the scene for dramatic effect.

² tn Heb “the man of God.”

³ tn Heb “came by the word of the Lord to Bethel.”

⁴ tn Heb “by the word of the Lord.”

⁵ sn ‘Look…you.’ For the fulfillment of this prophecy see 2 Kgs 23:15-20.

⁶ tn Heb “gave.”

⁷ tn Heb “spoken.”

⁸ tn Heb “the fat.” Reference is made to burnt wood mixed with fat. See HALOT 234 s.v. דשׁן.

⁹ tn Heb “will be poured out.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “the man of God.”

¹¹ tn Heb “Jeroboam extended his hand from the altar.”

¹² tn Heb “saying.”

¹³ tn Heb “dried up” or “withered.” TEV and NLT interpret this as “became paralyzed.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “the fat.” Reference is made to burnt wood mixed with fat. See HALOT 234 s.v. דשׁן.

¹⁵ tn Heb “were poured out from the altar.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “The king answered and said to.”

¹⁸ tn Heb “the man of God” (a second time later in this verse, and once in v. 7 and v. 8).

¹⁹ tn Heb “appease the face of.”

²⁰ tn Heb “appeased the face of the Lord.”

²¹ tn Heb “and it was as in the beginning.”