1 Kings 16:25
in 1 Kings 16But Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD and acted more wickedly than all who were before him.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And Omri did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and dealt wickedly above all that were before him.
KJV
But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all that were before him.
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This verse in 1 Kings 16
Commentary
6 notes on this verseBut 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.
This site's exposition
did worse than all that were before him
on 1 Kings 16:25-27
Omri wrought evil and did worse than all that were before him, a sentence this chapter repeats and then raises twice more, once for Omri and once again for his son. Micah 6:16 later names the statutes of Omri as a byword, decrees the commentators read as an organized system enforcing the calf worship rather than merely permitting it. The chronicle formula closes his reign the same way it closed every king before him, might and acts filed in a book the author expects his reader to know and does not reproduce.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Though he was brought to the throne with much difficulty, and Providence had remarkably favoured him in his advancement, yet he was more profane, or more superstitious, and a greater persecutor, than either of the houses of Jeroboam or Baasha.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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).
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
But Omri wrought evil--The character of Omri's reign and his death are described in the stereotyped form used towards all the successors of Jeroboam in respect both to policy as well as time.
Did worse than all - before him - Omri was, 1. An idolater in principle; 2. An idolater in practice; 3. He led the people to idolatry by precept and example; and, which was that in which he did worse than all before him, 4. He made statutes in favor of idolatry, and obliged the people by law to commit it. See Mic 6:16, where this seems to be intended: For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab.
The words behind it
9 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיַּעֲשֶׂ֥ה | vaiyaaseh | and he did | H6213 → | 2628 times |
| עָמְרִ֛י | ʾameri | Omri | H6018 → | 18 times |
| הָרַ֖ע | hara' | the evil | H7451 → | 662 times |
| בְּעֵינֵ֣י | beeinei | in [the] eyes of | H5869 → | 887 times |
| יְהוָ֑ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וַיָּ֕רַע | vaiyara' | and he did evil | H7489 → | 107 times |
| מִכֹּ֖ל | mikol | more than all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֥ר | ʾasher | [those] who | H834 → | 5497 times |
| לְפָנָֽיו׃ | lefanav | [were] <to> before him | H6440 → | 2123 times |
וַיַּעֲשֶׂ֥הand he did
vaiyaasehH6213 →2628 times
עָמְרִ֛יOmri
ʾameriH6018 →18 times
הָרַ֖עthe evil
hara'H7451 →662 times
בְּעֵינֵ֣יin [the] eyes of
beeineiH5869 →887 times
יְהוָ֑הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וַיָּ֕רַעand he did evil
vaiyara'H7489 →107 times
מִכֹּ֖לmore than all
mikolH3605 →5413 times
אֲשֶׁ֥ר[those] who
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
לְפָנָֽיו׃[were] <to> before him
lefanavH6440 →2123 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 14:9You have done more evil than all who came before you. You have proceeded to make for yourself other gods and molten images to provoke Me, and you have flung Me behind your back.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 23:35
Therefore this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘Because you have forgotten Me and have cast Me behind your back, you must bear the consequences of your indecency and prostitution.’”
- Nehemiah 9:26
But they were disobedient and rebelled against You; they flung Your law behind their backs. They killed Your prophets, who had admonished them to return to You. They committed terrible blasphemies.
- Psalms 50:17
For you hate My instruction and cast My words behind you.
- 1 Kings 12:28
After seeking advice, the king made two golden calves and said to the people, “Going up to Jerusalem is too much for you. Here, O Israel, are your gods, who brought you up out…
- 2 Chronicles 11:15
And Jeroboam appointed his own priests for the high places and for the goat demons and calf idols he had made.
- Ezekiel 23:35
Through
1 Kings 16:33Then he set up an Asherah pole. Thus Ahab did more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel before him.
it leads to
- 2 Kings 13:6
Nevertheless, they did not turn away from the sins that the house of Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit, but they continued to walk in them. The Asherah pole even remained standing in Samaria.
- 2 Kings 13:6
Through
Micah 6:16You have kept the statutes of Omri and all the practices of Ahab’s house; you have followed their counsel. Therefore I will make you a desolation, and your inhabitants an object of contempt; you…
it leads to
- Jeremiah 51:51
“We are ashamed because we have heard reproach; disgrace has covered our faces, because foreigners have entered the holy places of the LORD’s house.”
- Psalms 44:13
You have made us a reproach to our neighbors, a mockery and derision to those around us.
- Jeremiah 51:51
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 & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.