1 Kings16chapter 16

1 Kings 16:1

“Hanani, the father of Jehu, was seer to Asa in the kingdom of Judah 2Ch 16:7-10. His son Jehu, who here discharges the same office in the kingdom of Israel, appears at a later date as an inhabitant of Jerusalem where he prophesied under Jehoshaphat, whom he rebuked on one occasion. He must have lived to a great age, for he outlived Jehoshaphat, and wrote his life (marginal references).”

1 Kings 16:2

“Made thee prince over my people - That is, in the course of my providence, I suffered thee to become king; for it is impossible that God should make a rebel, a traitor, and a murderer, king over his people, or over any people. God is ever represented in Scripture as doing those things which, in the course of his providence, he permits to be done.”

1 Kings 16:2

“And if Baasha had done this in obedience to God's command, and with a single design, to execute God's vengeance threatened against him, it had been no more a sin, than Jehu's act in killing his master king Jehoram, upon the same account, 2 Kings ix, 24.”

1 Kings 16:2

“I made thee prince over my people. God calls Israel his people still, though wretchedly corrupted, because they retained the covenant of circumcision, and there were many good people among them; it was not till long after that they were called Loammi, not a people, Hos. i.”

1 Kings 16:3-4

“Note, Those who resemble others in their sins may expect to resemble them in their plagues, especially those who seem zealous against such sins in others as they allow themselves in; the house of Jehu was reckoned with for the blood of the house of Ahab, Hos. i.”

1 Kings 16:4

“Him that dieth of Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat, and him that dieth of his in the fields shall the fowls of the air eat. They should not have burial, which is just the same that was threatened to and executed on Jeroboam's family, 1Ki 14:11.”

1 Kings 16:7

“The natural position of this verse would be after 1Ki 16:4 and before 1Ki 16:5. But it may be regarded as added by the writer, somewhat irregularly, as an afterthought; its special force being to point out that the sentence on Baasha was intended to punish, not only his calf-worship, but emphatically his murder of Jeroboam and his family.”

1 Kings 16:8

“In the twenty sixth year of Asa king of Judah began Elah the son of Baasha to reign over Israel in Tirzah, two years. Not complete, for he died in the twenty seventh of Asa, 1Ki 16:10 he reigned just the time that Nadab the son of Jeroboam did, 1Ki 15:25.”

1 Kings 16:9

“The conspiracy of Zimri - Elah’s “servant” (i. e., “subject”) - was favored by his position, which probably gave him military authority in the city, by the absence of a great part of the people and of the officers who might have checked him, at Gibbethon 1Ki 16:15, and by the despicable character of Elah, who, instead of going up to the war, was continually reminding men of his low origin by conduct unworthy of royalty. Steward - The office was evidently one of considerable importance. In Solomon’s court it gave the rank of שׂר śar, prince.”

1 Kings 16:11

“Neither of his kinsfolks, nor of his friends - Zimri’s measures were of much more than ordinary severity. Not only was the royal family extirpated, but the friends of the king, his councillors and favorite officers, were put to death. Omri, as having been in the confidence of the late monarch, would naturally fear for himself, and resolve to take the course which promised him at least a chance of safety.”

1 Kings 16:13

“Their vanities - The “calves.” The Hebrews call an idol by terms signifying “emptiness,” “vapor,” or “nothingness.” (Compare marginal references.)”

1 Kings 16:15

“Gibbethon - Which had been besieged before, but, it seems, was then relieved, or afterwards recovered by the Philistines; taking the advantage of the disorders and contentions which were among their enemies.”

1 Kings 16:16

“And the people that were encamped heard say, Zimri hath conspired, and hath also slain the king,.... Tidings came to the army of what he had done, which was displeasing to them: wherefore all Israel made Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that day in the camp; that is, all Israel that were in the army proclaimed Omri, their general, king; just as the Roman army declared Vespasian, their general, emperor of Rome, and as several of the emperors were chosen.”

1 Kings 16:16

“They did not attempt to avenge the death of Nadab upon Baasha, perhaps because the house of Baasha had ruled with more gentleness than the house of Jeroboam; but Zimri shall feel the resentments of the provoked army. The siege of Gibbethon is quitted (Philistines are sure to gain when Israelites quarrel) and Zimri is prosecuted.”

1 Kings 16:17

“And Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him,.... He, and the army under him, broke up the siege of that place, and marched to Tirzah; which, according, to Bunting (c) were thirty six miles distant from each other: and they besieged Tirzah; the royal city, in which Zimri was. (c) Travels, &c. p. 162.”

1 Kings 16:17

“Went up - The expression “went up” marks accurately the ascent of the army from the Shephelah, where Gibbethon was situated Jos 19:44, to the hill country of Israel, on the edge of which Tirzah stood 1Ki 14:17.”

1 Kings 16:18

“The palace of the king’s house - The tower of the king’s house. A particular part of the palace - either the “harem,” or, more probably, the keep or citadel, a tower stronger and loftier than the rest of the palace. Zimri’s desperate act has been repeated more than once. That the last king of Assyria, the Sardanapalus of the Greeks, thus destroyed himself, is almost the only “fact” which we know concerning him.”

1 Kings 16:18

“Zimri soon saw that he was not in circumstances to hold out against all the forces of the kingdom; so, shutting himself up in the palace, he set it on fire, and, like Sardanapalus, chose to perish himself and reduce all to ruin, rather than that the palace and royal treasures should fall into the hands of his successful rival.”

1 Kings 16:19

“Zimri’s death illustrates the general moral which the writer of Kings draws from the whole history of the Israelite monarchs. that a curse was upon them on account of their persistence in Jeroboam’s sin, which, sooner or later, brought each royal house to a bloody end.”

1 Kings 16:19

“For his sins - This befell him for his sins. In walking, &c. - This he might do, either before his reign, in the whole course of his life, which is justly charged upon him, because of his impenitency: or during his short reign; in which, he had time enough to publish his intentions, about the worship of the calves; or to sacrifice to them, for his good success.”

1 Kings 16:21

“Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts,.... About the succession in the kingdom: half the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king: these were the friends of Zimri, or however such who did not like that the army should impose a king upon them; who this Tibni was is not said: and half followed Omri; the general of the army, perhaps the whole of that.”

1 Kings 16:22

“From a comparison of the dates given in 1Ki 16:15, 1Ki 16:23, 1Ki 16:29 it follows that the contest between the two pretenders lasted four years. Tibni’s death can scarcely be supposed to have been natural. Either he must have been slain in battle against Omri, or have fallen into his hands and been put to death. There has probably been some derangement of the text here. The passage may have run thus: “So Tibni died, and Omri reigned in the thirty-first year of Asa, king of Judah.”

1 Kings 16:22

“Tibni died--The Hebrew does not enable us to determine whether his death was violent or natural.”

1 Kings 16:23

“In the thirty and first year of Asa - There must be a mistake here in the number thirty-one; for, in 1Ki 16:10 and 1Ki 16:15, it is said that Zimri slew his master, and began to reign in the twenty-seventh year of Asa; and as Zimri reigned only seven days, and Omri immediately succeeded him, this could not be in the thirty-first, but in the twenty-seventh year of Asa, as related above. Rab. Sol.”

1 Kings 16:23

“In the thirty and first year of Asa . . . began Omri to reign--The twelve years of his reign are computed from the beginning of his reign, which was in the twenty-seventh year of Asa's reign.”

1 Kings 16:24

“He bought the hill Samaria of Shemer - This should be read, “He bought the hill of Shomeron from Shomer, and called it Shomeron, (i.e., Little Shomer), after the name of Shomer, owner of the hill.” At first the kings of Israel dwelt at Shechem, and then at Tirzah; but this place having suffered much in the civil broils, and the place having been burnt down by Zimri, Omri purposed to found a new city, to which he might transfer the seat of government.”

1 Kings 16:24

“Shemer had probably made it a condition of the sale, that the name should be retained. But as city and palace were built there by Omri, it was in accordance with Eastern custom to call it after the founder. The Assyrians did so, and on a tablet dug out of the ruins of Nineveh, an inscription was found relating to Samaria, which is called Beth-khumri--the house of Omri [LAYARD].”

1 Kings 16:25

“But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord,.... Openly and publicly, as if it were in defiance of him: and did worse than all that were before him; taking no warning by the judgments inflicted on them, which aggravated his sins; and besides, he not only worshipped the calves, as the rest, and drew Israel by his example into the same, as they did, but he published edicts and decrees, obliging them to worship them, and forbidding them to go to Jerusalem, called "the statutes of Omri", Mic 6:16.”

1 Kings 16:25

“Omri outwent his idolatrous predecessors in his zeal, reducing the calf-worship to a regular formal system, which went down to posterity (compare the marginal reference).”

1 Kings 16:27

“His might - Perhaps in the war between Israel and Syria of Damascus (1Ki 20:1, etc.), during the reign of Omri. Its issue was very disadvantageous to him 1Ki 20:34; 1Ki 22:2.”

1 Kings 16:29-30

“This is that Ahab who thought that he would make little progress in the new religion [i.e., idolatry] if he worshiped only the gods introduced by Jeroboam. Therefore he established rites for Baal, the god of the Sidonians, built his temple in the royal city, …”

1 Kings 16:29

“Twenty and two years - Rather, from a comparison between 1Ki 15:10 and 1Ki 22:51, not more than 21 years. Perhaps his reign did not much exceed 20 years.”

1 Kings 16:30

“And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, above all that were before him. Adding other idols to the calves, and those more abominable than they; since the other kings pretended to worship God in them, but he worshipped other gods besides him, as the following verses show.”

1 Kings 16:30

“See 1Ki 16:33. The great sin of Ahab - that by which he differed from all his predecessors, and exceeded them in wickedness - was his introduction of the worship of Baal, consequent upon his marriage with Jezebel, and his formal establishment of this gross and palpable idolatry as the religion of the state.”

1 Kings 16:31

“And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat,.... To worship the golden calves he set up: that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians; who is called Ithobalus and Itobalus king of the Tyrians, by Heathen historians (h); and, by Theophilus of Antioch (i), Juthobalus, priest of Astarte; for Tyre and Zidon were under one king.”

1 Kings 16:31

“This was done through the influence of Jezebel, Ahab's queen. She was "the daughter of Eth-baal, king of the Zidonians." He was priest of Ashtaroth or Astarte, who, having murdered Philetes, king of Tyre, ascended the throne of that kingdom, being the eighth king since Hiram.”

1 Kings 16:31

“A light thing - The Hebrew runs, was it a light thing,&c., that is, was this but a small sin, that therefore he needed to add more abominations? Where the question, as is usual among the Hebrew, implies a strong denial; and intimates, that this was no small sin, but a great crime; and might have satisfied his wicked mind, without any additions.”

1 Kings 16:31

“In honour of this mock deity, whom they called Baal--lord, and for the convenience of his worship, 1. Ahab built a temple in Samaria, the royal city, because the temple of God was in Jerusalem, the royal city of the other kingdom.”

1 Kings 16:33

“Ahab made a grove - אשרה Asherah, Astarte, or Venus; what the Syriac calls an idol, and the Arabic, a tall tree; probably meaning, by the last, an image of Priapus, the obscene keeper of groves, orchards, and gardens.”

1 Kings 16:34

“But the curse was fulfilled more than five hundred years after it was uttered; and from Jericho being inhabited after Joshua's time (Jud 3:13; 2Sa 10:5), it has been supposed that the act against which the curse was directed, was an attempt at the restoration of the walls--the very walls which had been miraculously cast down.”

1 Kings 16:34

“In his days - This is added, 1. as an instance of the certainty of divine predictions, this being fulfilled eight hundred years after it was threatened; and withal, as a warning to the Israelites, not to think themselves innocent or safe, because the judgment threatened against them by Ahijah, chap. xiv, 15, was not yet executed.”

1 Kings 16:34

“It comes in as an instance of the height of impiety to which men had arrived, especially at Bethel, where one of the calves was, for of that city this daring sinner was. Like Achan he meddled with the accursed thing, turned that to his own use which was devoted to God's honour.”