The Prophet from Beit El/2

The Prophet from Beit El

Exegetical Approaches

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Reversal of Prophecy

The Prophet from Beit El hoped that by having the Man of God disobey his own words and prophetic sign, he could undo the prophecy against Beit El and restore legitimacy to the worship taking place there.

Prohibition of eating and drinking in Beit El

Prohibition of returning via the same path

Why did Yerovam invite him?

הנביא מבית אל: True or false  prophet?

Why wasn't the נביא at the ceremony?

How was the man of God convinced?

Harsh punishment

Why does the navi get the prophecy?

חוטא נשכר?

Test of Prophet

The Prophet from Beit El did not know if the Man of God was a legitimate prophet or an emissary sent by Rechovam to attack Beit El for political reasons. His invitation was intended to discover whether or not he truly spoke the word of Hashem.

Sources:modern scholars¹

Act of Altruism

The prophet's motives were altruistic. He simply wanted to prevent the Man of God from going home hungry.

Sources:Abarbanel

Personal Gain

The prophet from Beit El hoped to sway the man of God to defect to Beit El and work with him in his prophetic business.

¹ See Tamar Verdiger, "ושבתם וראיתם בין צדיק לרשע", Alex Israel, "The Altar, the Prophet, and the Lion" and Chen-Tzion Nayot, "נביא ונבואה".  See also Hoil Moshe who agrees that the prophet's motives were to test the Man of God, but not because he wanted to see if he was Rechovam's spokesman. Rather, the prophet wanted to ascertain whether the Man of God spoke in Hashem's name or in his own name (but nonetheless merited that Hashem acquiesce to perform a miracle on his behalf).