1 Kings 20 · a question people ask
Why was the man who wouldn't strike the prophet killed by a lion?
The chapter gives the reason in the prophet's own words: "Because you have not obeyed the LORD’s voice, behold, as soon as you have departed from me, a lion will kill you" (20:36). The prophet had asked "by the LORD’s word" (20:35); the chapter doesn't say whether his fellow knew that. It tells the death in one verse (20:36) and says nothing more about the man. The chapter is like 1 Kings 13 in two places. There a man of God came "by the LORD’s word" (13:1), and in Hebrew 13:1 and 20:35 have the same phrase. And there a lion "met him" (13:24), where in Hebrew the verb is the one the WEB gives as "found him" in 20:36. 1 Kings 13's honest question sets out how Christians read that lion. Here too they read it in two main ways, each resting on its verses. Both agree that the chapter itself names the reason, not obeying the LORD's voice (20:36), and that the story comes straight before the prophet's word to Ahab (20:37-42).
How Christians read it
Where Christians differ, Favor sets out the main views side by side and doesn't pick one.
Obey the word you were given
Those who read it this way start from the reason the prophet gives: "Because you have not obeyed the LORD’s voice" (20:36). What the prophet asked was "Please strike me!" (20:35), and the man refused (20:35). On this reading the chapter shows that the LORD's word is to be done even when what it asks seems wrong to do. Samuel told Saul, "Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams" (1 Samuel 15:22). As in 1 Kings 13, the man is judged for what he himself did with the word (13:21-22; 20:36).
1 Kings 20:35-36 · 1 Samuel 15:22 · 1 Kings 13:21-22
A sign set before the king
Those who read it this way start from where the chapter puts the story. The prophet's word came true exactly: "As soon as he had departed from him, a lion found him and killed him" (20:36), as in 1 Kings 13 the old prophet said the lion came "according to the LORD’s word which he spoke to him" (13:26). Then "another man" strikes the prophet (20:37), and the prophet goes to wait for the king (20:38). On this reading the death is told as a sign that the LORD's word does what it says, and it sets the scene for what follows: a man who did not obey the LORD's voice (20:36), and a king who let go "the man whom I had devoted to destruction" (20:42). The chapter's weight falls on Ahab.
1 Kings 20:36-38 · 1 Kings 13:26 · 1 Kings 20:42
The verses
“A certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his fellow by the LORD’s word, “Please strike me!” The man refused to strike him. Then he said to him, “Because you have not obeyed the LORD’s voice, behold, as soon as you have departed from me, a lion will kill you.” As soon as he had departed from him, a lion found him and killed him.”
“Behold, a man of God came out of Judah by the LORD’s word to Bethel; and Jeroboam was standing by the altar to burn incense.”
“When he had gone, a lion met him by the way and killed him. His body was thrown on the path, and the donkey stood by it. The lion also stood by the body.”