1 Kings 13:3

And he gave a sign [The Heb. מוֹפֵת rather signifies a portent ( τέρας , miraculum, prodigium ) than a sign, the proper word for which is אוֹת . The word occurs repeatedly in the Pentateuch, where it is rendered wonder, or miracle, by our translators (Wordsworth). Signs had, of course, been given before ( Exodus 4:30 ; Exodus 7:9 ; 1 Samuel 12:17 ; etc.) but hardly in such immediate attestation of a special message. From this time forward such signs are not infrequent ( Isaiah 7:14 ; Isaiah 38:8 ; 2 Kings 19:29 ). They mark the decline of faith ( Matthew 12:39 ). As to the need at this crisis for some miraculous token, see Homiletics. The fitness of this particular sign is obvious] the same day, saying, This is the sign which [Rather that ; אֲשֶר = quod . The A.V. rendering hardly makes sense. Nor does it agree, as Rawlinson seems to think, with the LXX ; which reads τοῦτο τὸ ῥῆμα ὃ ἐλάησε κύριος , etc.] the Lord hath spoken [ i.e; by me. "This is the proof that my message is from Him, and is no idle threat." Wordsworth sees in this sign "a proof vouchsafed by God Himself to the man of Judah, as well as to Jeroboam, that he was really sent by God," etc. But surely a man who came "in the word of the Lord," and cried, "Thus saith the Lord," wanted no proof that "he was doing God's bidding" (see 1 Corinthians 14:22 )]; Behold, the altar shall be rent and the ashes [strictly, fat ashes . דֶּשֶׁן ; properly, "fatness" (see 9:9 ; Psalms 63:5 . πιότης , LXX .), is the fat of the sacrifice, which was burnt upon the altar, mixed with the ashes that consumed it] that are upon it shall be poured out. [The sign, a partial destruction of the altar, and the scattering of the sacrifice, was admirably calculated to presage its ultimate and final and ignominious overthrow. The idea favoured by Stanley ("Jewish Ch." 2:280) that this prediction was fulfilled "if not before, at least" in the time of Amos, when the altar was destroyed by an earthquake shock ( Amos 9:1 ; cf. Amos 3:14 ), does not seem to take account of verse 5.]