1 Kings 16:24
in 1 Kings 16He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver and built a city there, calling it Samaria after the name of Shemer, who had owned the hill.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver; and he built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill, Samaria.
KJV
And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria.
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This verse in 1 Kings 16
Commentary
5 notes on this verseHe 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.
This site's exposition
began Omri to reign over Israel
on 1 Kings 16:23-24
Omri buys the hill of Samaria from a man named Shemer for two talents of silver and builds there the city that stands as Israel's capital for the rest of its history, the city Assyria will finally take in 2 Ki 17. Assyrian royal inscriptions call the northern kingdom bit-Khumri, the house of Omri, on tablets naming later kings who were not his blood, evidence the field reads as a mark of how deep his dynasty's name reached even after his own line was cut off. The city keeps the former owner's name, though Eastern custom more often named a city for its builder instead.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
And he bought the hill of Samaria of Shemer, for two talents of silver,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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].
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
“Samaria” represents the Greek form of the name Σαμάρεια Samareia; the original is שׁמרון shômerôn (margin). The site is marked by the modern “Sebustiyeh,” an Arabic corruption of Sebaste, the name given by Herod to Samaria when he rebuilt it. Sebustiyeh is situated on a very remarkable “hill.” In the heart of the mountains of Israel occurs a deep basin-shaped depression, in the midst of which rises an oblong hill, with steep but not inaccessible sides, and a long flat top. This was the site which Omri chose for his new capital. Politically it was rather more central than Shechem, and probably than Tirzah. In a military point of view it was admirably calculated for defense. The country round it was especially productive. The hill itself possessed abundant springs of water. The result is that we find no further change. Shechem and Tirzah were each tried and abandoned; but through all the later alterations of dynasty Samaria continued uninterruptedly, to the very close of the independence, to be the capital of the northern kingdom. Omri purchased the right of property in the hill, just as David purchased the threshing-floor (2Sa 24:24; compare 1Ki 21:2). Two talents, or 6,000 shekels (Exo 38:24 note) - about 500 British pounds (or perhaps 800 pounds) of our money - may well have been the full value of the ground. And while naming his city after Shemer, Omri may also have had in view the appropriateness of such a name to the situation of the place. Shomeron, to a Hebrew ear, would have necessarily conveyed the idea of a “watch-tower.” This name, however, appears not to have been at first accepted by the surrounding nations. The earlier Assyrian kings knew the Israelite capital, not as Samaria, but as Beth-Khumri, i. e., “the city (house) of Omri.” It is not until the time of Tiglath-pileser that they exchange this designation for that of “Sammirin.”
The words behind it
23 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּ֜קֶן | vaiyiken | and he bought | H7069 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָהָ֥ר | hahar | the hill | H2022 → | 546 times |
| שֹׁמְר֛וֹן | shomeron | Samaria | H8111 → | 109 times |
| מֵ֥אֶת | meet | from with | H854 → | 929 times |
| שֶׁ֖מֶר | shemer | Shemer | H8106 → | |
| בְּכִכְּרַ֣יִם | bekhikerayim | for two talents | H3603 → | 68 times |
| כָּ֑סֶף | kasef | silver | H3701 → | 403 times |
| וַיִּ֙בֶן֙ | vaiyiven | and he built | H1129 → | 376 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָהָ֔ר | hahar | the hill | H2022 → | 546 times |
| וַיִּקְרָ֗א | vaiyikra' | and he called | H7121 → | 733 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| שֵׁ֤ם | shem | [the] name of | H8034 → | 864 times |
| הָעִיר֙ | hair | the city | H5892 → | 1090 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֣ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| בָּנָ֔ה | banah | he built | H1129 → | 376 times |
| עַ֣ל | ʾal | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| שֶׁם־ | shem- | [the] name of | H8034 → | 864 times |
| שֶׁ֔מֶר | shemer | Shemer | H8106 → | |
| אֲדֹנֵ֖י | ʾadonei | [the] owner<s> of | H113 → | 333 times |
| הָהָ֥ר | hahar | the hill | H2022 → | 546 times |
| שֹׁמְרֽוֹן׃ | shomeron | Samaria | H8111 → | 109 times |
וַיִּ֜קֶןand he bought
vaiyikenH7069 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָהָ֥רthe hill
haharH2022 →546 times
שֹׁמְר֛וֹןSamaria
shomeronH8111 →109 times
מֵ֥אֶתfrom with
meetH854 →929 times
שֶׁ֖מֶרShemer
shemerH8106 →
בְּכִכְּרַ֣יִםfor two talents
bekhikerayimH3603 →68 times
כָּ֑סֶףsilver
kasefH3701 →403 times
וַיִּ֙בֶן֙and he built
vaiyivenH1129 →376 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָהָ֔רthe hill
haharH2022 →546 times
וַיִּקְרָ֗אand he called
vaiyikra'H7121 →733 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
שֵׁ֤ם[the] name of
shemH8034 →864 times
הָעִיר֙the city
hairH5892 →1090 times
אֲשֶׁ֣רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
בָּנָ֔הhe built
banahH1129 →376 times
עַ֣לon
ʾalH5921 →5755 times
שֶׁם־[the] name of
shem-H8034 →864 times
שֶׁ֔מֶרShemer
shemerH8106 →
אֲדֹנֵ֖י[the] owner<s> of
ʾadoneiH113 →333 times
הָהָ֥רthe hill
haharH2022 →546 times
שֹׁמְרֽוֹן׃Samaria
shomeronH8111 →109 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
1 Kings 20:1Now Ben-hadad king of Aram assembled his entire army. Accompanied by thirty-two kings with their horses and chariots, he marched up, besieged Samaria, and waged war against it.
it leads to
- 1 Kings 15:18
So Asa withdrew all the silver and gold that remained in the treasuries of the house of the LORD and the royal palace. He entrusted it to his servants and sent them with this…
- 1 Kings 15:18
Through
1 Kings 13:32for the message that he cried out by the word of the LORD against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the cities of Samaria will surely…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 13:2
And he cried out against the altar by the word of the LORD, “O altar, O altar, this is what the LORD says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of…
- 1 Kings 12:31
Jeroboam also built shrines on the high places and appointed from every class of people priests who were not Levites.
- Leviticus 26:30
I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and heap your lifeless bodies on the lifeless remains of your idols; and My soul will despise you.
- 2 Kings 23:16–19
And as Josiah turned, he saw the tombs there on the hillside, and he sent someone to take the bones out of the tombs, and he burned them on the altar to defile it,…
- 1 Kings 13:2
Through
2 Kings 17:24Then the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon, Cuthah, Avva, Hamath, and Sepharvaim and settled them in the towns of Samaria to replace the Israelites. They took possession of Samaria and lived in…
it leads to
- 2 Kings 18:34
Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah? Have they delivered Samaria from my hand?
- 2 Kings 17:30–31
The men of Babylon made Succoth-benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, the men of Hamath made Ashima,
- 2 Kings 19:13
Where are the kings of Hamath, Arpad, Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?’”
- 2 Kings 18:34
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 Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763).