John Gill Commentary 1 Kings 13

And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah
Whom Josephus ^F24 calls Jadon, perhaps the same with Iddo, who is by the Jewish writers ^F25 generally thought to be this man of God, and which may seem to be countenanced by (2 Chronicles 9:29) but cannot be, because this man was quickly slain, whereas Iddo lived after Rehoboam, and wrote his acts, first and last, nay, after Ahijah his son, (2 Chronicles 13:22) and for the same reason Shemaiah cannot be the man of God, (1 Kings 12:22) , though Tertullian ^F26 calls him Sameas, and designs Shemaiah: but, whoever he was, he came

by the word of the Lord to Bethel :
that is, by his command:

and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense ;
at the time he came, (1 Kings 12:33) .

FOOTNOTES:

• F24: Ut supra. (Antiqu. l. 8. c. 8. sect. 3.)
• F25: Seder Olam Rabba, c. 20. Shalshalet Hakabala, fol. 11. 1. Jarch & Kimchi in loc.
• F26: De Jejuniis, c. 16.

And he cried against the altar in the word of the Lord
By his order and command:

and said, O altar, altar ;
addressing himself not to Jeroboam, but the altar, thereby reproving his stupidity, the altar being as ready to hear as he; and because that was what moved the indignation of the Lord; and the word is repeated, to show the vehemency of the prophet's spirit, and his zeal against it; though the Jews commonly say it respects both altars, that at Dan, as well as this at Bethel:

thus saith the Lord, a child shall be born unto the house of David,
Josiah by name ;
who was not born until three hundred years after this, according to the Jewish writers ^F1 : but it is generally reckoned to be more, even three hundred and fifty or three hundred and sixty years; this is a clear proof of the prescience, predetermination, and providence of God with respect to future events, contingent ones, such as depend upon the will of men; for what more so than giving a name to a child?

upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn
incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee ;
all which was fulfilled by Josiah, (2 Kings 23:15 2 Kings 23:16 2 Kings 23:20) , it may be read, "the bones of a man", which the Jews understand of Jeroboam; but may only signify that, instead of the bones of beasts, which were burnt on it, the bones of men should be burnt, and even of the priests themselves; a glaring proof this of the truth of prophecy, and of divine revelation.

FOOTNOTES:

• F1: Pirke Eliezer, c. 17.

And he gave a sign the same day, saying, this is the sign
which the Lord has spoken
As a confirmation of the truth of what the prophet had said, and for the proof of his being a true prophet ofthe 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 ofretaining the ashes on it; this was an emblem of the utter abolition of idolatry here in future times.

And it came to pass, when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the
man of God, who had cried against the altar in Bethel
He was highly provoked: so that he put forth his hand from the altar; on which he was burning incense:

saying, lay hold on him ;
he put forth his hand, and either shook it at the prophet, threatening what he would do to him; or asbeckoning to the people to seize him, and which he also expressed:

and his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he
could not pull it in again to him ;
he could not move it one way nor another, but it remained in the same position, the nerves and muscles beingshrunk; which was a further confirmation of the prophet's mission from God, being one of those concerningwhom he says, "do my prophets no harm", and a fresh token of the certain performance of what he had said.

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.