16 The man of God said, "I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat bread or drink water with you in this place.
16 And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place:
16 And he said, "I may not return with you, or go in with you, neither will I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place,
16 "Sorry, I can't do that," the holy man said. "I can neither go back with you nor eat with you in this country.
16 And he said, "I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place.
16 "No, I cannot," he replied. "I am not allowed to eat or drink anything here in this place.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 1 Kings 13:16
Commentary on 1 Kings 13:11-22
(Read 1 Kings 13:11-22)
The old prophet's conduct proves that he was not really a godly man. When the change took place under Jeroboam, he preferred his ease and interest to his religion. He took a very bad method to bring the good prophet back. It was all a lie. Believers are most in danger of being drawn from their duty by plausible pretences of holiness. We may wonder that the wicked prophet went unpunished, while the holy man of God was suddenly and severely punished. What shall we make of this? The judgments of God are beyond our power to fathom; and there is a judgment to come. Nothing can excuse any act of wilful disobedience. This shows what they must expect who hearken to the great deceiver. They that yield to him as a tempter, will be terrified by him as a tormentor. Those whom he now fawns upon, he will afterwards fly upon; and whom he draws into sin, he will try to drive to despair.