When the king heard the saying of the man of God, which he cried against the altar in Bethel, Jeroboam put out his hand from the altar, saying, “Seize him!” His hand, which he put out against him, dried up, so that he could not draw it back again to himself. The altar was also split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by Yahweh’s word. The king answered the man of God, “Now intercede for the favor of Yahweh your God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again.” The man of God interceded with Yahweh, and the king’s hand was restored to him again, and became as it was before.
A man's outstretched hand spontaneously withered and then was fully restored to normal moments later.
Medicine
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The cited passage
What current science says
Tissue death (necrosis) from loss of blood flow is irreversible — once cells die, they're gone. Even if a hand somehow 'withered' from sudden vascular failure, the damage would be permanent. Modern medicine can't reverse necrotic tissue; the best we can do is amputate and fit a prosthetic. Spontaneous withering and instant restoration would require breaking basically every rule of cell biology simultaneously.
What the text says
This comes from 1 Kings 13:4-6. When King Jeroboam pointed at a prophet, his hand 'dried up' instantly, then was restored after the prophet interceded — a divine punishment and pardon delivered in minutes.
Three honest ways to read this passage
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As history
The text records how its authors understood the world with the knowledge they had. Read this way, a difference from modern science is a window into the ancient mind, not a failure.
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As accommodation
The text speaks to its first audience in their own terms, to make a point that isn't mainly about physics or biology. Read this way, the scientific detail is the vehicle, not the cargo.
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As contradiction
The text makes a claim about the physical world that modern findings dispute. Read this way, the difference is a genuine factual disagreement worth naming.
GEBible doesn't pick one of these for you. Each entry shows the passage, what it says, and what current science says — nothing more.