1 Kings 13:29

1Ki 13:29 And the prophet took up the carcase of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and brought it back: and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to bury him.

Ver. 29. And the prophet took up the carcass.] Which the lion, belike, left to him, and went away.

And laid it upon the ass.] Which was kept alive for such a purpose.

And the old prophet came to the city to mourn.] As good cause he had, not more for the man of God, who was Dei frumentum leonis dentibus commolitum, as Ignatius said of himself at his death, than for himself, who had seduced him to such an untimely end.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1Ki 13:29-30. The prophet, (namely, the old prophet,) took up the carcass of the man of God — “If there were any truth,” says Henry, “in the vulgar opinion, sure the corpse bled afresh when he touched it; for he was, in effect, the murderer.” He laid his carcass in his own grave — A poor reparation this of the injury done him in deceiving him, and persuading him to disobey the command of God to his ruin. Hereby, however, the divine threatening, (in 1Ki 13:22,) was fulfilled; and withal, the memory of his prophecy was revived from time to time, by the sight of his grave, and preserved among them; and even his carcass, resting there, might be a witness of their madness and desperate wickedness, in continuing to practise their abominable, idolatrous worship, after such an assurance of the dreadful effects of it. They mourned over him — Namely, the old prophet and his sons, and others, whom common humanity taught to lament the untimely death of so worthy a person. Saying, Alas! my brother — Which was a usual form of expression in funeral lamentations. “The case, indeed, was very piteous,” says Henry, “that so good a man, so faithful a prophet, and one so bold in God’s cause, should, for one offence, die as a criminal, while an old, lying prophet lived at ease, and an idolatrous prince in pomp and power. Thy way, O God, is in the sea, and thy path in the great waters! We cannot judge of men by their sufferings, nor of sins by their present punishments. With some the flesh is destroyed, that the spirit may be saved; while, with others, the flesh is pampered, that the soul may ripen for hell.” The reader will be pleased to see a similar reflection by Dr. Dodd. “Upon a review of this narrative, who can fail to admire the unsearchable secrets of the divine justice? Jeroboam revolts from his lawful sovereign, forsakes the worship of the true God, engages the people in gross idolatry, and is himself hardened by the menaces and miracles of the prophet, who wits sent to him; a false prophet deceives an innocent man with a lie, and draws him into an act of disobedience, contrary to his inclination; yet this wicked Jeroboam, and this seducing prophet, escape immediate punishment, while the other, who might mean no ill, perhaps, in turning back, is slain by a lion, and his body deprived of the sepulchre of his fathers! We must acknowledge, indeed, that the depths of the judgments of God are an abyss which our understandings cannot fathom; but nothing certainly can be a more sensible proof of the certainty of another life, and of the eternal recompenses or punishments which attend it, than to see the righteous so rigorously treated here, for slight offences, while, sentence not being speedily executed against evil men, we have an assurance from thence that God will bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or evil, Ecc 12:14.”

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

29. to mourn and to bury him] These words are also left out in the LXX. (Vat.).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For the saying which he cried by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel,.... That the priests should be offered on it, and men's bones be burnt upon it; for as for its being rent, and the ashes of it poured out, that had been done already:

and against all the houses of the high places which are in Samaria, shall surely come to pass: by which it appears that there were temples, and high places, and altars built in other parts of the kingdom besides Dan and Bethel, of the destruction of which the man of God prophesied, though not before mentioned; all which the old prophet gave credit to, and firmly believed would be accomplished. The kingdom of Israel, in later times, had the name of Samaria, from the chief city of it, Isa 7:9, here spoken of by anticipation, for as yet it was not in being, see Kg1 16:24 and either it has its name here by way of prophecy, or else given by the writer of this book, as what it went by in his time.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

And the prophet took up the carcase of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass i.e., the one standing by, and brought it back: and the old prophet came to the city, to mourn and to bury him. The mourning is specially mentioned, because in the East professional wailers were and are employed at funerals. The Jew, no less than the Greek and Roman, esteemed it a great misfortune and disgrace to be deprived of decent burial: (Isa_14:19; Jer_22:19; and especially 2Ki_9:10)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

took up

"lifted up"

the body

"the dead body"

they mourned

Here the word "they" refers to the prophet and his sons.

Woe, my brother!

The word "Woe" here is an expression of great sorrow.

translationWords

prophet

mourn

bury

grave

woe

brother

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.