1 Kings 16:10
in 1 Kings 16So in the twenty-seventh year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Zimri went in, struck Elah down, and killed him. And Zimri reigned in his place.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and Zimri went in and smote him, and killed him, in the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his stead.
KJV
And Zimri went in and smote him, and killed him, in the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his stead.
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This verse in 1 Kings 16
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
began Elah the son of Baasha to reign
on 1 Kings 16:8-10
Elah reigns two years and dies as his father's sentence lands, drunk in the house of his own steward while his army sits at the Philistine siege of Gibbethon. Zimri, captain of half his chariots, kills him in that same house, the same undefended weakness that let Baasha's line be exposed now visited on the son. Nadab, Elah and soon Zimri each fall inside a window of years or days, and a fourth reign in a row opening with an assassination shows a throne no house can hold.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Finding them in the act of sin, and incapacitated for any act of devotion, that day comes upon them unawares ( Luke xxi. As then, so now, the whole family was cut off, and rooted out. The traitor was the successor, to whom the unthinking people tamely submitted, as if it were all one to them what kind they had, so that they had one.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
And Zimri went in and smote him, and killed him,.... When in his drunken fit: and this was in the twenty seventh year of Asa; when Elah had not reigned two full years: and reigned in his stead; that is, Zimri; his reign was short indeed, but seven days, 1Ki 16:15.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Zimri . . . conspired against him--"Arza which was over his house." During a carousal in the house of his chamberlain, Zimri slew him, and having seized the sovereignty, endeavored to consolidate his throne by the massacre of all the royal race.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
Nor any of his relatives or friends. [Targum Yonoson rendered, “neither] his kinfolk nor his friends.” 3 Alternatively, “his friend,” singular, meaning his confidant.—Metzudas Dovid
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 7 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
12 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיָּבֹ֤א | vaiyavo' | and he came | H935 → | 2568 times |
| זִמְרִי֙ | zimri | Zimri | H2174 → | 15 times |
| וַיַּכֵּ֣הוּ | vaiyakehu | and he struck down him | H5221 → | 499 times |
| וַיְמִיתֵ֔הוּ | vaymitehu | and he killed him | H4191 → | 839 times |
| בִּשְׁנַת֙ | bishnat | in year | H8141 → | 877 times |
| עֶשְׂרִ֣ים | ʾesrim | twenty | H6242 → | 315 times |
| וָשֶׁ֔בַע | vasheva' | and seven | H7651 → | 394 times |
| לְאָסָ֖א | leasa' | of Asa | H609 → | 57 times |
| מֶ֣לֶךְ | melekh | [the] king of | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| יְהוּדָ֑ה | yehudah | Judah | H3063 → | 819 times |
| וַיִּמְלֹ֖ךְ | vaiyimlokh | and he became king | H4427 → | 348 times |
| תַּחְתָּֽיו׃ | tachtav | in place of him | H8478 → | 505 times |
וַיָּבֹ֤אand he came
vaiyavo'H935 →2568 times
זִמְרִי֙Zimri
zimriH2174 →15 times
וַיַּכֵּ֣הוּand he struck down him
vaiyakehuH5221 →499 times
וַיְמִיתֵ֔הוּand he killed him
vaymitehuH4191 →839 times
בִּשְׁנַת֙in year
bishnatH8141 →877 times
עֶשְׂרִ֣יםtwenty
ʾesrimH6242 →315 times
וָשֶׁ֔בַעand seven
vasheva'H7651 →394 times
לְאָסָ֖אof Asa
leasa'H609 →57 times
מֶ֣לֶךְ[the] king of
melekhH4428 →2525 times
יְהוּדָ֑הJudah
yehudahH3063 →819 times
וַיִּמְלֹ֖ךְand he became king
vaiyimlokhH4427 →348 times
תַּחְתָּֽיו׃in place of him
tachtavH8478 →505 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
1 stopEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
2 Kings 9:31And as Jehu entered the gate, she asked, “Have you come in peace, O Zimri, murderer of your master?”
it leads to
- 1 Kings 16:9–20
However, while Elah was in Tirzah getting drunk in the house of Arza the steward of his household there, Elah’s servant Zimri, the commander of half his chariots, conspired against him.
- 1 Kings 16:9–20
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.