1Jehu's prophecy against the house of Baasha. 5Baasha dieth, and is succeeded by Elah. 8Zimri slayeth Elah, and succeedeth him. 11He executeth Jehu's prophecy against Baasha's house. 15Omri, made king by the army, besiegeth Zimri in Tirzah, who in despair burneth himself. 21The people being divided, Omri's faction prevaileth against Tibni's. 23Omri buildeth Samaria. 25After a wicked reign, 27he dieth, and is succeeded by Ahab. 29Ahab's excessive wickedness and idolatry. 34Joshua's curse fulfilled upon Hiel the builder of Jericho.
1THEN the word of the LORD came to 1Jehu the son of 2Hanani against Baasha, saying,
1 Of this prophet we read also 2 Chron. 19:2; 20:34. He is to be distinguished from Jehu, who was king of Israel, 1 Kings 19:16 and from others, who have likewise had this name, 1 Chron. 2:38; 12:3.
2 Who is likewise to be distinguished from others who have had the same name, 1 Chron. 25:4; Ezra 10:20.
2Forasmuch asa I exalted thee 3out of the dust, and made thee prince over my people Israel; and thou hast 4walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel 5to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins;
a 1 Kings 14:7.
3 That is, out of a very low and inconsiderable state. Compare 1 Sam. 2:8; Psalm 113:7. The word dust is often taken for lowness, contempt, impotence, grief, nothingness, Job 16:15; Psalm 7:5; 119:25; Isa. 26:5; Lam. 3:6.
4 See 1 Kings 15 on verse 26.
5 See 1 Kings 14 on verse 16.
3Behold, 6I will take away the posterity of Baasha, and the posterity of his 7house; and will make thy house likeb the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
6 Other, I will cause to burn after Baasha and after his house.
7 That is, family; also in the sequel. See 1 Kings 14 on verse 10.
b 1 Kings 15:29.
48Him that dieth ofc Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth of his in the fields shall the fowls of the air eat.
8 See 1 Kings 14 on verse 11.
c 1 Kings 14:11; 15:29; 16:12.
5Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, and what he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
6So Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in 9Tirzah: and Elah his son reigned in his stead.
9 See of this city 1 Kings 14 on verse 17.
710And also by the 11hand of the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came the word of the LORD against Baasha, and against his house, even for all the evil that he did 12in the sight of the LORD, in provoking him to anger with 13the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam; andd because he killed 14him.
10 The meaning is: As the word of the Lord came previously by the prophet Ahiah against Jeroboam, 1 Kings 14:7, that also likewise the same came by the prophet Jehu against Baasha, and that both prophecies each were fulfilled in their due time.
11 Or, the ministry. Hebr. the hand; also verse 12. See Lev. 8 on verse 36.
12 Also verses 19, 25, 30. See Gen. 38 on verse 7; 1 Kings 11 on verse 6.
13 Which was especially twofold: I, idolatry, wherein he had been like unto Jeroboam; II, blood-guiltiness and tyranny committed against his house; as the following words of this verse do show. Compare Hosea 1 on verse 4.
d 1 Kings 15:29.
14 Namely, Jeroboam’s house. See 1 Kings 15:29.
8¶In the twenty and sixth year of Asa king of Judah began Elah the son of Baasha to reign over Israel in Tirzah, 15two years.
15 Understand not two complete years, but unto the second year; for, in the 26th year of king Asa, he became king, as is said in this verse, and in the 27th he was slain, verse 10. It is the custom of Holy Scripture to use a rounded number for a number which is not rounded, or a complete number for an incomplete one. See Gen. 15 on verse 13; likewise 1 Kings 7:15; 15:25, 33, and verse 10, etc.
9And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him, as he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza 16steward of his house in Tirzah.
16 Hebr. who was over the house, namely, of the king. Understand thereby the entire court. Now he who is placed over it, we call him the steward. Compare 1 Kings 4:6 and the annotation upon it.
10And Zimrie went in and smote him, and killed him, in 17the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and 18reigned in his stead.
e 2 Kings 9:31.
17 See on verse 8.
18 Namely, for the time of seven days. See verse 15.
11¶And it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his 19throne, that he slew all the house of Baasha: he left him not one 20that pisseth against a wall, neither of 21his kinsfolks, nor of 22his friends.
19 To sit upon the throne is to govern as king, which word precedes also here for the sake of explanation, as 1 Kings 1:13. See likewise the annotation there.
20 See 1 Kings 14 on verse 10.
21 Hebr. deliverers; whom it appertained the right to execute lawfully vengeance on the slayer, who were the next of kin, Num. 35:12.
22 That is, his beloved friends and acquaintances, though they were no kin at all to him.
12Thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Baasha, accordingf to the word of the LORD, which he spake against Baasha by Jehu the prophet,
f verses 1, 2, etc.
13For all the 23sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, by which they sinned, and by which they made Israel to sin, in provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their 24vanities.
23 At which God looked, Who thus executes His righteous vengeance, and not Zimri, who only followed his unrighteous willfulness, verse 7. Compare also the annotation at 1 Kings 15 on verse 29.
24 That is, idols, which are nothing in the world, 1 Cor. 8:4; 10:19. See Lev. 19 on verse 4.
14Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not written 25in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
25 See 1 Kings 14 on verse 19.
15¶In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri reign seven days in Tirzah. And the people were encamped against 26Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines.
26 See 1 Kings 15 on verse 27.
16And the people that were 27encamped heard say, Zimri hath 28conspired, and hath also slain the king: wherefore all Israel made 29Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that day in the camp.
27 Namely, before Gibbethon.
28 See 1 Kings 15 on verse 27.
29 The father of Ahab, with whom he is joined in the matter of false worship, vain superstitions and evil works, Micah 6:16, and in this respect is said to have been worse than all the kings who have been before him, verse 25.
17And Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah.
18And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the palace of the king's house, and burnt the king’s house 30over him with fire, and died,
30 That is, he burnt the house, wherein he was, together with himself. A similar phrase, Judges 12:1.
19For his sins which he sinned in doing evil 31in the sight of the LORD, in 32walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in 33his sin which he did, to make Israel to sin.
31 See 1 Kings 11 on verse 6.
32 That is, following the sins of Jeroboam. See 1 Kings 15 on verse 26.
33 See 1 Kings 14 on verse 16.
20Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his 34treason that he 35wrought, are they not written in the 36book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
34 See 1 Kings 15 on verse 27.
35 Hebr. conspired.
36 From this it appears that this book is not to be understood the two books of Chronicles, which follow in the Bible after the two books of Kings; as is noted 1 Kings 14 on verse 19; seeing in these chronicles is not written what is narrated here and in verse 27.
21¶Then were the people of Israel divided 37into two parts: half of the people 38followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king; and half followed Omri.
37 Hebr. into the half.
38 Hebr. was after Tibni. Also in the sequel. See 1 Kings 1 on verse 7.
22But the people that followed Omri prevailed against the people that followed Tibni the son of Ginath: so Tibni died, and Omri reigned.
23¶In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah began Omri to reign over Israel, 39twelve years: six years reigned he in Tirzah.
39 This comprehends among them the four years in which he had reigned with Tibni, beginning from the twenty seventh year of Asa’s reign.
24And he bought the hill 40Samaria of Shemer for two 41talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of 42Shemer, owner of the hill, 43Samaria.
40 Hebr. Shomerone, which is a mountain situated in the tribe of Ephraim, about the borders of the tribe of Manasseh; from which the city of Samaria, built thereon, and all the region round about obtained its name. Compare the annotation at 1 Kings 13 on verse 32.
41 See of the weight of a talent Exod. 25 on verse 39.
42 Distinguished from others who have had this name, 1 Chron. 6:46; 7:34.
43 A city, built upon the aforementioned mountain; in which the kings of Israel, after they had left Tirzah, kept their court and dwelling, above two hundred years before Shalmaneser took this city, destroyed the kingdom of Israel, and carried away the ten tribes captive into Assyria, 2 Kings 17:5, etc.
25¶But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the LORD, and did worse than all that were before him.
26For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin, to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger with their 44vanities.
44 See on verse 13.
27Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his might that he 45shewed, 46are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
45 Hebr. hath done. Other, by which he hath done it.
46 See on verse 20.
28So Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria: and Ahab his son reigned in his stead.
29¶And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel: and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two 47years.
47 Namely, not complete; for, the first year he reigned jointly with his father, the last with his son. See on verse 8.
30And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him.
31And it came to pass, 48as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served 49Baal, and worshipped him.
48 That is, was it a small and an inconsiderable sin, which he followed after the idolatry and abominations of Jeroboam? Understand: no, in no wise, but it was (as if the Holy Ghost would say) an abominable departing from the true God. For this kind of questioning infers a very strong denial. See Gen. 18 on verse 17.
49 See Judges 2 on verse 11.
32And he reared up an altar for Baal in 50the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.
50 That is, in the temple. Also 1 Sam. 5:2; 31:9, 10; 1 Kings 12:31; 2 Kings 10:21.
33And Ahab made a 51grove; and Ahab did 52more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.
51 Namely, in honor of the idol Baal. See Deut. 7 on verse 5.
52 Hebr. added, or adjoined to do. See Gen. 8 on verse 10.
34¶In his days did Hiel the Beth-elite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof 53in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, accordingg to the word of the LORD, which he spake 54by Joshua the son of Nun.
53 The meaning is: he began the building with the loss of his firstborn son, and finished it with the loss of his youngest son, whereby the curse, announced against the re-building of this city more than five hundred years before, was fulfilled, Joshua 6:26.
g Joshua 6:26.
54 Hebr. by the hand of. Compare Lev. 8:36 and the annotation.