1 Kings 13:3

1Ki 13:3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This [is] the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that [are] upon it shall be poured out.

Ver. 3. Behold, the altar shall be rent.] To foreshow the downfall of that idolatry. So the veil of the temple rent at Christ’s death, {Mat 27:51} to show that there was an end of the Levitical liturgy. And so, about the beginning of the Reformation by Luther, a great solid stone fell down upon a brass image of Peter in Rome, that had those words fairly embossed upon it, Tu es Petrus, &c., You are Peter &c., and so shattered it to pieces, that nothing was left legible, but only those words, Aedificabo Ecclesiam meam, I will build my Church. This might be a foretoken of Rome’s ruin: which God hath already begun, and will surely perfect.

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 13:3. He gave a sign the same day — That is, he then wrought a miracle to assure them of the truth of his prophecy. Saying, this is the sign, &c. — A proof that I speak from God, and not from myself. The altar shall be rent, &c. — This could not be effected but by the power of God, who hereby demonstrated that he had sent this prophet to speak these words which were presently fulfilled.

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

13:3 In Levitical regulations, ashes from sacrifices at the prescribed altar were to be taken to a clean place (Lev 1:16; 6:10-11). Because Jeroboam’s altar . . . split apart, and its ashes . . . poured out, the altar and its sacrifices were rendered unclean.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Or, be poured out.

By this sign ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 3. And he gave a sign] A miracle to prove that the prophecy should be fulfilled in its season.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(3, 4) The sign.—Both the signs, like most miraculous signs, shadow forth plainly the thing signified. The sign, announced to secure credence to the prediction, is itself a visible type of what that prediction foretold, in the shattering of the altar and the scattering of the ashes of the burnt-offering. The sign actually given includes, besides this, the sudden withering of the king’s hand, stretched out in defiance of the prophet—an equally plain symbol of the miserable failure of his strength and policy, when opposed to the Law and the judgment of God. It should be noted that the withdrawal of this last sign of wrath, on the submission of the king and the prayer of the prophet, was apparently designed to give Jeroboam one more opportunity of repentance. The last verses of the chapter (1Ki_13:33-34) seem to imply that, but for the interposition of the old prophet of Bethel, he might still have taken that opportunity.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

3. And he gave a sign the same day] The sign was necessary because the event foretold was to be at so remote a date that none who were living in Jeroboam’s day would be alive to see it. Hence to assure them that it would come to pass a startling token of the power in which the prophet spake is exhibited by the rending of the altar and the scattering of what was on it in the presence of all who stood by. The word מופת rendered ‘sign’, is much more frequently used of ‘wonders’ and ‘miracles’, and it has that sense in some degree here. With this we may compare the use of τέρας as well as σημεῖον for the miracles of the New Testament.

and the ashes that are upon it] The Hebrew word, which is the same as that so often rendered ‘fatness’, applies only to the ashes of an altar, which would be mixed up with the fat of sacrifices burnt upon it. Hence the LXX. renders by ἡ πιότης ‘the fat’, or ‘fatness’.

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.

And he gave a sign the same day, saying, this is the sign which the Lord hath spoken,.... As a confirmation of the truth of what the prophet had said, and for the proof of his being a true prophet of the Lord:

behold, the altar shall be rent; of itself, by an invisible hand, by the power of God:

and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out; signifying it should be entirely demolished, not only shaken but destroyed, so as not to be capable of retaining the ashes on it; this was an emblem of the utter abolition of idolatry here in future times.

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

He gave a sign - A sign of this kind - an immediate prophecy to prove the divine character of a remote prophecy - had scarcely been given before this. In the later history, however, such signs are not unfrequent (compare 2Ki 19:29; Isa 7:14-16).

The ashes ... shall be poured out - i. e., “The half-burnt remains of the offerings shall be ignominiously spilled upon the ground.”

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Sign. This would take place immediately, to convince the king that what he had said would be accomplished. So Moses and Achaz were treated, Exodus iii. 2, 12., and Isaias vii. 14, 16. (Calmet)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

He gave a sign the same day, i. e. he then wrought a miracle, to assure them of the truth of his prophecy.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

3. He gave a sign — He wrought a miracle as the evidence of his Divine authority — the credentials of his being Jehovah’s ambassador. “Without this sign, the prophecy of an event that did not take place for three hundred and fifty years would have wanted authority with those who knew not the utterer.” — Kitto.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he gave a sign The Heb. tpewOm rather signifies a portent (terav, miraculum, prodigium) than a sign, the proper word for which is twOa. The word occurs repeatedly in the Pentateuch, where it is rendered wonder, or miracle, by our translators (Wordsworth). Signs had, of course, been given before (Exo_4:30 Exo_7:9; 1Sa_12:17; etc.) but hardly in such immediate attestation of a special message. From this time forward such signs are not infrequent (Isa_7:14 Isa_38:8; 2Ki_19:29) They mark the decline of faith. (Mat_12:39) As to the need at this crisis for some miraculous token, see Homiletics. The fitness of this particular sign is obvious the same day, saying, This is the sign which Rather that; r =quod. The A.V rendering hardly makes sense. Nor does it agree, as Rawlinson seems to think, with the LXX, which reads touto tohse kuriov, etc. the Lord hath spoken i.e. , by me. "This is the proof that my message is from Him, and is no idle threat." Wordsworth sees in this sign "a proof vouchsafed by God Himself to the man of Judah, as well as to Jeroboam, that he was really sent by God," etc. But surely a man who came "in the word of the Lord," and cried, "Thus saith the Lord," wanted no proof that "he was doing God"s bidding"; (see 1Co_14:22) Behold, the altar shall be rent and the ashes strictly, fat ashes. V,d,; properly, "fatness" (see Jud_1:9:9; Psa_63:5. piothv, LXX), is the fat of the sacrifice, which was burnt upon the altar, mixed with the ashes that consumed it that are upon it shall be poured out. The sign, a partial destruction of the altar, and the scattering of the sacrifice, was admirably calculated to presage its ultimate and final and ignominious overthrow. The idea favoured by Stanley ("Jewish Ch." 2:280) that this prediction was fulfilled "if not before, at least" in the time of Amos, when the altar was destroyed by an earthquake shock (Amo_9:1; cf. 3:14), does not seem to take account of ver. 5.

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

Gave a sign - That is, he then wrought a miracle, to assure them of the truth of his prophecy.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

And he gave on that day. The prophet [gave] a sign on the day that he prophesied, [saying,] “This is your sign, the altar will split by itself today, and the ashes will be spilled onto the ground.”

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.