And his hand—dried up, &c.— The Almighty employs here three striking proofs to convince a deluded people that HE is the true God, and not those calves which an idolatrous king had set up from a principle of false policy. We see the seducer punished in the first miracle, cursed in the second, and his altar rent in the third. The king was in a good state of health; the circulation of his blood was regular; the nervous fluids proper for sensation and motion visited every organ of his body; his fibres were in just tension. In this state, attempting to point out the prophet, he stretched forth the hand with which he offered incense. And instantly, his hand which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back. It does not seem as if this drying up should be understood of the arm's really becoming dry; as if all the vital fluids had ceased to flow thither, and it grew shrivelled, as is the case with those whose nerves are contracted; but that he became paralytic, and deprived of all voluntary motion. The paralytics of the New Testament will give room to treat more fully on this matter. However, the source of the nervous fluids as it were dried up; the fibres lost their tone, and the motion which depends upon them instantly ceased. It cannot be doubted, that a quick transport of passion may sometimes be the natural cause of a palsy, or of some similar maladies. But the anger of Jeroboam was a fury of short duration: as soon as he was smitten by the Almighty, he uttered not a word more against the prophet; but, suddenly changing his style, addressed him, as in 1 Kings 13:6 and the prophet having prayed for him, the king's hand was restored, and became as before. There is no physician who does nor confess this cure to be miraculous. The palsy is not cured suddenly, nor by words; it is a work of time, length of which is required to give a current to the nervous fluid, a tone to the fibres, and an equilibrium to the blood and spirits. This disorder demands a long use of various remedies. We see none of these applied. The God of Israel shews the apostate king, that he is the sole matter of his body and of his life, as well as of the kingdom which he has given him.
Related Commentaries of 1 Kings 13:4
1 Kings 13:4-6
4 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.
5 The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD.
6 And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the LORD, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before.