1 Kings 16:28
in 1 Kings 16And Omri rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and his son Ahab reigned in his place.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
So Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria; and Ahab his son reigned in his stead.
KJV
So Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria: and Ahab his son reigned in his stead.
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This verse in 1 Kings 16
Commentary
3 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
Ahab his son reigned in his stead
on 1 Kings 16:28-29
Omri dies a natural death and is buried in the city he built, the first king of this dynasty to leave a throne to a son rather than to a killer. Ahab holds that throne twenty and two years, longer than any northern king before him, and the chapter has already spent nine verses establishing that Omri did worse than every predecessor. Ahab is about to be measured against that new floor rather than against Jeroboam alone.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the L ORD above all that were before him. 31 And it came to pass, as 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 Baal, and worshipped him.
quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — scripture-overlap:97%@v30-31
So Omri slept with his fathers,.... Died a natural death: and was buried in Samaria; the city he had built, and now the royal seat and metropolis of the kingdom: and Ahab his son reigned in his stead; of whom much is said in the following history.
The words behind it
10 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּשְׁכַּ֤ב | vaiyishkav | and he lay down | H7901 → | 212 times |
| עָמְרִי֙ | ʾameri | Omri | H6018 → | 18 times |
| עִם־ | ʾim- | with | H5973 → | 1050 times |
| אֲבֹתָ֔יו | ʾavotav | ancestors his | H1 → | 1212 times |
| וַיִּקָּבֵ֖ר | vaiyikaver | and he was buried | H6912 → | 133 times |
| בְּשֹׁמְר֑וֹן | beshomeron | in Samaria | H8111 → | 109 times |
| וַיִּמְלֹ֛ךְ | vaiyimlokh | and he became king | H4427 → | 348 times |
| אַחְאָ֥ב | ʾachav | Ahab | H256 → | 92 times |
| בְּנ֖וֹ | beno | son his | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| תַּחְתָּֽיו׃ פ | tachtav | in place of him | H8478 → | 505 times |
וַיִּשְׁכַּ֤בand he lay down
vaiyishkavH7901 →212 times
עָמְרִי֙Omri
ʾameriH6018 →18 times
עִם־with
ʾim-H5973 →1050 times
אֲבֹתָ֔יוancestors his
ʾavotavH1 →1212 times
וַיִּקָּבֵ֖רand he was buried
vaiyikaverH6912 →133 times
בְּשֹׁמְר֑וֹןin Samaria
beshomeronH8111 →109 times
וַיִּמְלֹ֛ךְand he became king
vaiyimlokhH4427 →348 times
אַחְאָ֥בAhab
ʾachavH256 →92 times
בְּנ֖וֹson his
benoH1121 →4930 times
תַּחְתָּֽיו׃ פin place of him
tachtavH8478 →505 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
What the record shows
2 entries- Kurkh Monolith of Shalmaneser IIIundisputed
Kurkh (Uctepe), near Diyarbakir, Turkey · British Museum
Counterpoint: The line naming 'Ahab the Israelite' credits him with 2,000 chariots — far more than any other member of the coalition and more than Israel's economy plausibly supported. Nadav Na'aman and others argue the number is inflated or the text corrupt, and some read the damaged signs of the name and homeland differently; the identification is widely but not universally accepted.
- Ahab — attested in contemporary inscriptionundisputed
Kurkh Monolith of Shalmaneser III (Qarqar, 853 BC)
Biblical figure (King of Israel, 873-852 BC) identified in extra-biblical epigraphy.
Counterpoint: The name reads clearly, but the same text credits Ahab with 2,000 chariots at Qarqar, as many as Assyria itself fielded. Nadav Na'aman and many others regard the figure as inflated or corrupt, a reminder that Assyrian royal annals are propaganda as well as record.
About 1 Kings
Who and where
3 names in this verse with a page on the site.
- PersonDivided kingdomAhabSeventh king of the northern kingdom, son of Omri, who "did evil above all that were before him"; Elijah's chief antagonist, conde…
- PersonDivided kingdomOmriArmy commander made king of Israel who founded Samaria as the northern capital; politically formidable, spiritually judged — "wors…
- PlaceThe northern hill countrySamariaThe hill Omri bought and built his capital on, where Ahab raised a temple to Baal, where the four lepers found the Aramean camp em…
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.