1 Kings 13:16

But the man replied, “I cannot go home with you, and I will not eat bread or drink water with you in this place.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The man of God addresses the old prophet who has just invited him to return home for a meal. He delivers this refusal at the exact moment of the invitation, before any negotiation or explanation occurs.

The words — The Hebrew אוּכַל ('u.Khal) means "I am able" and לָ/שׁ֥וּב (la./Shuv) means "to turn back," forming the literal claim "I am not able to turn back with you." The phrase וְ/לָ/ב֣וֹא (ve./la./Vo') translates as "and to go," completing the explicit denial to enter the prophet's house.

The thread — This refusal mirrors the man of God’s earlier statement in 1 Kings 13:8 and parallels the structured denials found in Numbers 22:13. The motif of rejecting a direct invitation appears in Genesis 3:1 through the serpent’s crafty questioning of divine boundaries.

Why it lands — The text establishes a clear boundary between human hospitality and a specific, unchangeable divine command. It requires the reader to recognize how explicit refusal operates as the mechanism of obedience rather than mere rejection.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וַיֹּ֗אמֶרva/i.Yo.merand/ he said לֹ֥אlo'not אוּכַ֛ל'u.KhalI am able לָשׁ֥וּבla./Shuvto/ turn back אִתָּ֖ךְ'i.Ta/khwith/ you וְלָב֣וֹאve./la./Vo'and/ to/ go אִתָּ֑ךְ'i.Ta/khwith/ you וְלֹֽא־ve./lo'-and/ not אֹ֣כַל'O.khalI will eat לֶ֗חֶםLe.chembread וְלֹֽא־ve./lo'-and/ not אֶשְׁתֶּ֤ה'esh.TehI will drink אִתְּךָ֙'i.te./Khawith/ you מַ֔יִםMa.yimwater בַּמָּק֖וֹםba./ma.Komin the/ place הַזֶּֽה׃ha./Zeh<the>/ this

King James Version

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:

Cross-references

1 Kings 13:8 But the man of God replied, “If you were to give me half your possessions, I still would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water in this place.
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field that the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?’”
Numbers 22:13 So Balaam got up the next morning and said to Balak’s princes, “Go back to your homeland, because the LORD has refused to let me go with you.”
Numbers 22:19 So now, please stay here overnight as the others did, that I may find out what else the LORD has to tell me.”
Matthew 4:10 “Away from Me, Satan!” Jesus told him. “For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
Matthew 16:23 But Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me. For you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men.”