1 Kings 13 25

1 Kings 13:25 kjv

And, behold, men passed by, and saw the carcass cast in the way, and the lion standing by the carcass: and they came and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.

1 Kings 13:25 nkjv

And there, men passed by and saw the corpse thrown on the road, and the lion standing by the corpse. Then they went and told it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.

1 Kings 13:25 niv

Some people who passed by saw the body lying there, with the lion standing beside the body, and they went and reported it in the city where the old prophet lived.

1 Kings 13:25 esv

And behold, men passed by and saw the body thrown in the road and the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the city where the old prophet lived.

1 Kings 13:25 nlt

People who passed by saw the body lying in the road and the lion standing beside it, and they went and reported it in Bethel, where the old prophet lived.

1 Kings 13 verses

1 Kings 13 25 Meaning

The verse describes the aftermath of the man of God's death, killed by a lion as divine judgment for his disobedience. It highlights an extraordinary and supernatural scene: the dead body was found lying on the road, with the very lion that killed him and the man's donkey standing peacefully beside it. Crucially, the lion had neither consumed the body nor harmed the donkey, indicating a divine intervention that limited the lion's natural predatory instincts and demonstrated God's precise control over creation to validate His prophetic word and judgment.

1 Kings 13 25 Context

1 Kings chapter 13 describes a momentous confrontation between God's prophet (the "man of God from Judah") and King Jeroboam, who had established idolatrous worship with golden calves in Bethel. The man of God delivers a prophecy of judgment against Jeroboam's altar, foretelling its defilement. Despite Jeroboam's initial hostility, a miraculous sign confirms the prophet's word. The man of God is then commanded by the LORD not to eat or drink in Bethel and to return home by a different path. However, an older prophet from Bethel deceitfully convinces him that an angel of the LORD gave an opposing command, leading the man of God to disobey the direct word of the LORD. As a consequence of this disobedience, despite his role as God's messenger, he is met by a lion and killed. Verse 25 then vividly depicts the scene of the death, emphasizing the miraculous nature of the lion's behavior—it did not further ravage the body or the donkey—serving as a stark, undeniable sign that the death was a divinely orchestrated judgment, not a mere accident.

1 Kings 13 25 Word analysis

• So he went and found his body cast in the way:

  • "he": Refers to the "old prophet" mentioned in the preceding verses, who went looking for the man of God after learning of his demise (v. 24).
  • "found": Implies a discovery, highlighting the public and undeniable nature of the event. It was not hidden but left as a clear testament.
  • "his body": Refers to the deceased man of God from Judah.
  • "cast" (Hebrew: shalach - שָׁלַךְ): This verb often means to throw, cast off, or abandon. Here, it conveys that the body was left exposed on the open road, not carefully placed or hidden. This public display enhances its function as a sign of divine judgment.
  • "in the way" (Hebrew: ba-derekh - בַּדֶּרֶךְ): On the road or path. This further emphasizes the public, visible nature of the judgment, intended for witnesses. It was not in some hidden, private place.

• and the donkey and the lion standing by the body:

  • "the donkey and the lion": These are two animals typically hostile to each other (prey and predator). Their unnatural coexistence here is the primary indicator of divine intervention.
  • "standing by" (Hebrew: omedim - עֹמְדִים, from amad - עָמַד): This verb means to stand, or remain in a place. It conveys an unnerving stillness and restraint on the part of the lion, which would naturally either flee from or consume its prey, and similarly the donkey, which would flee the predator. Their calm presence together signals a profound departure from natural order.

• the lion had not eaten the body nor torn the donkey:

  • "the lion had not eaten the body": The primary miraculous detail. Lions are carnivorous predators. Its restraint demonstrates God's direct control over nature, specifically the lion's hunger and predatory instinct, validating that this was a specific, limited divine judgment, not a natural attack. The body was preserved as a witness.
  • "nor torn the donkey" (Hebrew: velo shavar et ha-chamor - וְלֹא שָׁבַר אֶת־הַחֲמוֹר): The word shavar can mean to break, shatter, or tear to pieces. The donkey, a potential secondary victim or even prey for a starving lion, was completely unharmed. This reinforces the miraculous restraint of the lion, highlighting that God's judgment was solely directed at the man of God, not his belongings or means of transport. The preservation of both the body and the donkey was key to making the event a clear, unambiguous sign from God.

1 Kings 13 25 Bonus section

This scene profoundly demonstrates God's unique ability to override the very laws of nature He established. This acts as a clear polemic against pagan deities, which were often seen as embodiments of natural forces but not as sovereign controllers over them. YHWH, in contrast, actively commands even the most primal instincts of wild beasts. The preservation of the body also allowed for proper burial (1 Ki 13:29-31), providing another layer to the prophetic fulfillment, as the old prophet honored the man of God he deceived, ultimately confirming the word he himself received about being buried beside him.

1 Kings 13 25 Commentary

1 Kings 13:25 paints a vivid, arresting scene that serves as a powerful testament to God's absolute sovereignty and the severity of disobedience to His direct commands, even for His prophets. The man of God's death was a judgment, and the manner of it was a sign. The sight of a lion calmly standing alongside its human prey and an untouched donkey is profoundly unnatural and inexplicable by any conventional means. This specific, limited intervention ensured that the death was recognized not as an accident, but as an unmistakable divine act. God's meticulous control, halting the lion's natural instinct to consume or further damage, preserved the evidence and underscored that the judgment was perfectly calibrated for a singular purpose: to confirm the truth of His prophetic word concerning disobedience and to validate His judgment upon those who transgress His commands.