Now when King Jeroboam, who was at the altar in Bethel, heard the word that the man of God had cried out against it, he stretched out his hand and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward him withered, so that he could not pull it back.
Parallel translations
- WEB When the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam put out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” His hand, which he put out against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back again to himself.
- KJV And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him.
- NKJV So it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, who cried out against the altar in Bethel, that he stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Arrest him!” Then his hand, which he stretched out toward him, withered, so that he could not pull it back to himself.
- NASB Now when the king heard the statement of the man of God which he cried out against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” But his hand which he had stretched out toward him dried up, and he could not draw it back to himself.
- NLT When King Jeroboam heard the man of God speaking against the altar at Bethel, he pointed at him and shouted, “Seize that man!” But instantly the king’s hand became paralyzed in that position, and he couldn’t pull it back.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
When Jeroboam orders the prophet seized, his outstretched hand withers and cannot be drawn back. God defends his messenger and judges the king.
Overview
Enraged, Jeroboam points and commands the prophet's arrest, but his hand instantly dries up and is frozen in place. This swift judgment vindicates the man of God and exposes the king's powerlessness before the Lord. It shows that opposing God's word brings personal ruin.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 22
- Rev 11:5If anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouths and devours their enemies. In this way, anyone who wants to harm them must be killed.
- 2 Chr 18:25–27And the king of Israel declared, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son,
- Gen 19:11And they struck the men at the entrance, young and old, with blindness, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the door.
- Matt 26:57Those who had arrested Jesus led Him away to the house of Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and elders had gathered.
- Jer 26:8–11and as soon as he had finished telling all the people everything the LORD had commanded him to say, the priests and prophets and all the people seized him, shouting, “You must surely die!
- Luke 6:10And after looking around at all of them, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He did so, and it was restored.
- Acts 13:8–11But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith.
- Jer 38:4–6Then the officials said to the king, “This man ought to die, for he is discouraging the warriors who remain in this city, as well as all the people, by speaking such words to them; this man is not seeking the well-being of these people, but their ruin.”
- Ps 105:15“Do not touch My anointed ones! Do no harm to My prophets!”
- Mark 14:44–46Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The One I kiss is the man; arrest Him and lead Him away securely.”
- Amos 7:10–17Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent word to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, “Amos has conspired against you in the midst of the house of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words,
- Matt 25:40And the King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me.’
- John 18:6When Jesus said, “I am He,” they drew back and fell to the ground.
- Luke 3:19–20But when he rebuked Herod the tetrarch regarding his brother’s wife Herodias and all the evils he had done,
- 2 Kgs 6:18–20As the Arameans came down against him, Elisha prayed to the LORD, “Please strike these people with blindness.” So He struck them with blindness, according to the word of Elisha.
- Acts 9:4–5He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?”
- Jer 26:20–23Now there was another man prophesying in the name of the LORD, Uriah son of Shemaiah from Kiriath-jearim. He prophesied against this city and against this land the same things that Jeremiah did.
- John 13:20Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever receives the one I send receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives the One who sent Me.”
- 2 Chr 16:10Asa was angry with the seer and became so enraged over this matter that he put the man in prison. And at the same time Asa oppressed some of the people.
- Acts 6:12–14So they stirred up the people, elders, and scribes and confronted Stephen. They seized him and brought him before the Sanhedrin,
- Jer 20:2–6he had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put in the stocks at the Upper Gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the LORD.
- 2 Chr 25:15–16Therefore the anger of the LORD burned against Amaziah, and He sent him a prophet, who said, “Why have you sought this people’s gods, which could not deliver them from your hand?”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
How 1 Kings 13:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.