1 Kings 16

This chapter of 1 Kings continues the account of the kings of northern Israel after the division of the kingdom. It follows 1 Kings 15, which tells how Baasha destroyed the house of Jeroboam and became king, and it provides the background for the Elijah narrative in 1 Kings 17.

Outline

• Verses 1–7 The prophet Jehu declares that the house of Baasha will be destroyed like the house of Jeroboam. Baasha is buried in Tirzah, and his son Elah becomes king.
• Verses 8–14 Elah begins to reign in the twenty-sixth year of King Asa of Judah and reigns for two years. While he is drunk, Zimri, the commander of half his chariots, kills him and then destroys the entire house of Baasha.
• Verses 15–20 Zimri reigns in Tirzah for seven days. The army encamped against Gibbethon makes Omri, the commander of the army, king. When Omri besieges Tirzah, Zimri sets the palace on fire and dies inside it.
• Verses 21–28 The people are divided between followers of Tibni and followers of Omri, and Omri prevails. Omri reigns for twelve years, buys a hill from Shemer for two talents of silver, and builds Samaria.
• Verses 29–33 Ahab becomes king in the thirty-eighth year of Asa and reigns for twenty-two years. He marries Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, builds an altar to Baal, and makes an Asherah pole.
• Verse 34 Hiel of Bethel rebuilds Jericho and loses his firstborn son Abiram and his youngest son Segub.

Key Verses

• 1 Kings 16:24 "called the name of the city which he built … Samaria" — marks the founding of Samaria, which later became the capital of the northern kingdom.
• 1 Kings 16:31 "he took to wife Jezebel … and went and served Baal" — marks the beginning of Baal worship under Ahab and forms the background to the Elijah narrative.
• 1 Kings 16:34 "according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Joshua" — records the fulfillment of the curse pronounced in Joshua 6:26.

People and Places

• Jehu son of Hanani The prophet who pronounced judgment on the house of Baasha.
• Baasha The king of northern Israel who destroyed the house of Jeroboam and took the throne.
• Elah Son of Baasha, assassinated two years after taking the throne.
• Zimri (king of Israel) The officer who killed Elah and held the throne for seven days.
• Omri A former army commander who became king and founded Samaria.
• Tibni Son of Ginath, who contended with Omri for the throne and died.
• Ahab and Jezebel Omri's son Ahab and his wife, the daughter of the king of the Sidonians.
• Hiel The man of Bethel who rebuilt Jericho.
• Tirzah The royal city of the kings of northern Israel from Baasha to the early reign of Omri.
• Gibbethon A town belonging to the Philistines, before which the Israelite army was encamped.

Points for Reflection

• Verse 7 gives two reasons for Baasha's judgment: the evil of walking in the way of Jeroboam and the fact that he struck down Jeroboam's house ("because he killed him"). Many interpreters take this to mean that even one who carries out a prophesied judgment remains accountable for the violence involved.
• The statement that Omri began to reign in the thirty-first year of Asa and reigned twelve years overlaps chronologically with the statement that Ahab became king in Asa's thirty-eighth year. Scholars explain this in various ways, for example by suggesting that the period of rivalry with Tibni was counted as part of Omri's reign.
• Verse 34 does not state how Hiel lost his sons. Some interpreters connect the account with the ancient practice of offering human sacrifices when laying foundations, while others read it simply as the death of his sons under God's judgment.
• Although the biblical text treats Omri's reign briefly, extrabiblical sources such as the Mesha Stele and Assyrian records are known to mention Omri as a name representing Israel.
• In the New Testament, Revelation 2:20 calls the one leading the church in Thyatira astray "that woman Jezebel."