1 kings 16 commentary

1 KI GS 16 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
1 Then the word of the Lord came to Jehu son of
Hanani concerning Baasha:
BAR ES, "Hanani, the father of Jehu, was seer to Asa in the kingdom of Judah 2Ch_
16:7-10. His son Jehu, who here discharges the same office in the kingdom of Israel,
appears at a later date as an inhabitant of Jerusalem where he prophesied under
Jehoshaphat, whom he rebuked on one occasion. He must have lived to a great age, for
he outlived Jehoshaphat, and wrote his life (marginal references).
CLARKE, "Then the word of the Lord came to Jehu - Of this prophet we know
nothing but from this circumstance. It appears from 2Ch_16:7-10, that his father Hanani
was also a prophet, and suffered imprisonment in consequence of the faithful discharge
of his ministry to Asa.
GILL, "Then the word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani,.... The seer
that reproved Asa, 2Ch_16:7, so that this man was the son of a prophet then living, and
was a young man; for we hear of him several years after reproving Jehoshaphat, 2Ch_
19:2, and as a writer of history, 2Ch_20:34, the prophecy that came to him from the
Lord was
against Baasha; king of Israel:
HE RY, "Here is, I. The ruin of the family of Baasha foretold. He was a man likely
enough to have raised and established his family - active, politic, and daring; but he was
an idolater, and this brought destruction upon his family.
1. God sent him warning of it before. (1.) That, if he were thereby wrought upon to
repent and reform, the ruin might be prevented; for God threatens, that he may not
strike, as one that desires not the death of sinners. (2.) That, if not, it might appear that
the destruction when it did come, whoever might be instruments of it, was the act of
God's justice and the punishment of sin.
2. The warning was sent by Jehu the son of Hanani. The father was a seer, or prophet,
at the same time (2Ch_16:7), and was sent to Asa king of Judah; but the son, who was
young and more active, was sent on this longer and more dangerous expedition to
Baasha king of Israel. Juniores ad labores - Toil and adventure are for the young. This
Jehu was a prophet and the son of a prophet. Prophecy, thus happily entailed, was
worthy of so much the more honour. This Jehu continued long in his usefulness, for we
find him reproving Jehoshaphat (2Ch_19:2) above forty years after, and writing the

annals of that prince, 2Ch_20:34. The message which this prophet brought to Baasha is
much the same with that which Ahijah sent to Jeroboam by his wife.
JAMISO , "1Ki_16:1-8. Jehu’s prophecy against Baasha.
Then the word of the Lord came to Jehu — This is the only incident recorded in
the life of this prophet. His father was also a prophet (2Ch_16:7).
K&D 1-7, "1Ki_16:7 adds a supplementary remark concerning the words of Jehu
(1Ki_16:2.), not to preclude an excuse that might be made, in which case ‫ם‬ַ‫ג‬ְ‫ו‬ would have
to be taken in the sense of nevertheless, or notwithstanding (Ewald, §354, a.), but to
guard against a misinterpretation by adding a new feature, or rather to preclude an
erroneous inference that might be drawn from the words, “I (Jehovah) have made thee
prince” (1Ki_16:2), as through Baasha had exterminated Nadab and his house by divine
command (Thenius). ‫ם‬ַ‫ג‬ְ‫ו‬ simply means “and also,” and is not to be connected specially
with ‫הוּא‬ֵ‫י‬ ‫ד‬ַ‫י‬ ְ , but to be taken as belonging to the whole sentence: “also the word of
Jehovah had come to Baasha through Jehu, ... not only because of the evil, etc., but also
(‫ל‬ ַ‫ע‬ְ‫ל...ו‬ ַ‫ע‬ְ‫)ו‬ because he had slain him (Jeroboam).” With regard to this last reason, we
must call to mind the remark made at 1Ki_11:39, viz., that the prediction of the prophet
to Baasha gave him no right to put himself forward arbitrarily as the fulfiller of the
prophecy. The very fact that Baasha continued Jeroboam's sin and caused the illegal
worship to be perpetuated, showed clearly enough that in exterminating the family of
Jeroboam he did not act under divine direction, but simply pursued his own selfish
ends.
BE SO , ". The word of the Lord came to Jehu — This Jehu was a prophet, and
the son of a prophet. His father Hanani, who was a prophet before him, was sent to
reprove Asa king of Judah for hiring Benhadad king of Syria to assist him against
Baasha and for relying on the Syrians, instead of relying on the Lord, 2 Chronicles
16:7. But Jehu, Hanani’s son, who was young and more active, was sent on this
longer and more dangerous expedition to Baasha, king of Israel. It appears, he
continued long in his usefulness; for we find him reproving Jehoshaphat, above
forty years after, and writing the annals of that prince, 2 Chronicles 19:2; 2
Chronicles 20:24. The gift of prophecy, thus happily entailed, and descending from
the father to the son, was worthy of so much the more honour. It seems there was
not wanting a succession of prophets, during the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, as
Abarbinel has observed, their names being preserved in the Holy Scriptures.
COFFMA , ""Jehu the son of Hanani" (1 Kings 16:1). Jehu, a prophet, was also
the son of a prophet; and he is mentioned in 2 Chronicles 20:34 as being the author
of a history which was "inserted into the book of the kings of Israel." The
importance of this fact should be stressed. The sacred author of Kings, living long
after some of the events recorded, had no need whatever to rely upon his

imagination, nor upon the biased report of some imaginary Deuteronomist in order
to produce the records which have come down to us. o indeed! There were
available authentic, inspired records by true prophets of God such as Jehu and his
father. o editor, compiler, redactor, interpolator or any other mythical person
would have dared to contradict anything that such prophets said. The whole
tradition of the people of Israel was adamantly set against such a thing.
This same prophet later moved to Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 16:7-10), "Where he
prophesied under Jehoshaphat, whom he rebuked on one occasion; he must have
lived to a great age, for he outlived Jehoshaphat and even wrote his life (2
Chronicles 20:34)."[1]
WHO ACTUALLY WROTE THE OLD TESTAME T?
The books of the O.T. are founded upon the writings of the prophets of God, as
stated by Josephus, who declared that, "After the death of Moses, the prophets that
were after Moses wrote down what was done in their times in thirteen books
(Josephus identified these as including all of the historical books)."[2]
Josephus also stressed the truth that no Jew who ever lived would have dared to
change even a syllable of what the holy prophets had written. "During so many ages
which have already passed, no one has been so bold as either to add anything to
them, take anything from them, or to make any change in them."[3]
The O.T. is itself the incontrovertible proof of what Josephus wrote. If any Jew who
ever lived could indeed have succeeded in changing a single line of the writings of
the prophets, who can believe that the vulgar, sordid, unbelievably wicked deeds of
even the most beloved of Jewish heroes would have remained in the full, stark, and
ugly records as they stand? Such things as God's cursing the priesthood of Israel,
that terrible chapter of Hosea (Hosea 9) in which God flatly declared that He would
cease to love Israel, and half a thousand other derogatory and shameful records of
Israel's apostasy stand in the O.T. as a perpetual embarrassment to Israel; and yet
not a line of all that was ever edited, omitted, deleted or changed in any manner! If
any such person as "the Deuteronomist" had ever existed, WHY were no changes
ever made in things like these?
Where, on the face of the earth, were all of those imaginary editors, redactors, and
compilers, who are alleged by critics to have done this or that to the text? And as for
that imaginary angel of the critical scholars, "the Deuteronomist," why, for
heaven's sake, did he not do something to improve the Biblical picture of Israel's
reprobate priesthood (of which he was allegedly numbered), which was condemned
and cursed by God himself (Malachi 2:2)? When an intelligent person seeks the
answers to such questions as these, and hundreds of others just like them, he can at
once see why the sacred text of the Holy Bible should be received, as is, without any
regard whatever for the insinuations of evil men who would like to change it.
This writer appreciates true scholarship and is willing to honor the significant and

helpful contributions to Biblical knowledge which have resulted, but we cannot, in
true conscience, allow the crooked, unscientific, and ridiculous postulations of
certain writers who do not believe the Bible, who deny any such things as predictive
prophecy, miracles, Divine intervention in human history, the virgin birth of Christ,
his resurrection from the dead or anything else that speaks of the supernatural - we
cannot allow that kind of Biblical misinterpretation to stand unchallenged!
Regarding the Book of Kings, a vital part of the Bible, we remember the words of
the apostle Peter, "Men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit," (2 Peter
1:21), and he was not talking about "the Deuteronomist"!
"Him that dieth of Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat" (1 Kings 16:4). "Baasha,
having chosen to share in the iniquity of the house of Jeroboam, likewise shared in
the severe penalty thereof, even to being eaten by dogs."[4] "This prophecy is
remarkably like that which Ahijah had spoken regarding Jeroboam (1 Kings 14:7-
11); but that is not sufficient reason to reject either account."[5]
ELLICOTT, "The brief record continues of the troubled times of civil war and
foreign danger in Israel, to which, perhaps, the tranquillity of Judah under Asa was
partly due.
Verse 1
(1) Jehu the son of Hanani—probably of Hanani the seer of Judah in the reign of
Asa (2 Chronicles 15:7). Jehu must have been now young, for we find him rebuking
Jehoshaphat after the death of Ahab, and writing the annals of Jehoshaphat’s reign
(2 Chronicles 19:2; 2 Chronicles 20:34).
GUZIK, "1 KI GS 16 - FIVE SUCCESSIVE KI GS OF ISRAEL
A. Two short dynasties over Israel: Baasha and Zimri.
1. (1 Kings 16:1-4) Baasha’s rebuke and prophecy of judgment.
Then the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani, against Baasha,
saying: “Inasmuch as I lifted you out of the dust and made you ruler over My
people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam, and have made My
people Israel sin, to provoke Me to anger with their sins, surely I will take away the
posterity of Baasha and the posterity of his house, and I will make your house like
the house of Jeroboam the son of ebat. The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to
Baasha and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the
fields.”
a. I lifted you out of the dust and made you ruler over My people Israel: 1 Kings
15:27 tells us that Baasha was head of a conspiracy to kill adab, the son of
Jeroboam. It tells us nothing of God’s hand with Baasha, but here we learn that

behind-the-scenes God moved even through the conspiracy of Baasha against
adab.
b. You have walked in the way of Jeroboam . . . I will make your house like the
house of Jeroboam: Because Baasha was a wicked king after the pattern of
Jeroboam he will face the same judgment as Jeroboam and his house. This had
special relevance to Baasha because he was the instrument of judgment God used to
bring justice to the house of Jeroboam.
c. You have walked in the way of Jeroboam . . . I will make your house like the
house of Jeroboam: Baasha was not a blood descendant of Jeroboam, but he was a
spiritual descendent of this great idolater of the northern kingdom. Because he
walked in the way of Jeroboam the house of Baasha would face the same judgment
as the house of Jeroboam.
d. The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Baasha and dies in the city: This same
judgment was promised and fulfilled against the house of Jeroboam (1 Kings 14:11).
It was considered a special disgrace to have your dead corpse desecrated and kept
from proper burial.
PULPIT, "EXPOSITIO
This division of chapters, immediately after the commencement of the narrative of
the reign of Baasha, is somewhat unfortunate, inasmuch as it obscures the close
connexion between the sin of Baasha and the prophecy which it provoked. The idea
the historian would convey is clearly this—the analogy between the dynasty of
Jeroboam and that which supplanted it,
an analogy so close that the prophet Jehu almost employs the ipsissima verba of his
predecessor, Ahijah.
1 Kings 16:1
Then the word of the Lord came to Jehu, the son of Hanani [Hanani is mentioned in
2 Chronicles 16:7-10 as having admonished Asa, and as having been thrown into
prison for so doing. Both he and his son would seem to have belonged to the
kingdom of Judah. We find the latter in 2 Chronicles 19:2 a resident in Jerusalem,
and protesting against the alliance between Jehoshaphat, whose historian he
became, and whom, consequently, he must have survived (2 Chronicles 20:34), and
Ahab. He is mentioned in the verse last cited as "made to ascend on the book of the
kings of Israel" His prophetic career must have extended over at least half a
century] against Baasha, saying,

2 “I lifted you up from the dust and appointed
you ruler over my people Israel, but you followed
the ways of Jeroboam and caused my people
Israel to sin and to arouse my anger by their sins.
CLARKE, "Made thee prince over my people - That is, in the course of my
providence, I suffered thee to become king; for it is impossible that God should make a
rebel, a traitor, and a murderer, king over his people, or over any people. God is ever
represented in Scripture as doing those things which, in the course of his providence, he
permits to be done.
GILL, "Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust,.... From a very low estate,
and mean family:
and made thee prince over my people Israel; as they were of right, and ought to
have been; and though Baasha got the kingdom by treachery and murder, yet the
translation of the kingdom to him was according to the appointment of God, and by his
overruling providence; and even his act of killing Nadab was a fulfilment of a prophecy
of his; and had he done it in obedience to the will of God, and in vengeance for his sin,
would not have been blameworthy, since then he would have been an executioner of the,
justice of God:
and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my people
Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins; committing and
encouraging the same idolatrous practices, so very provoking to God.
HE RY, "(1.) He reminds Baasha of the great things God had done for him (1Ki_
16:2): I exalted thee out of the dust to the throne of glory, a great instance of the divine
sovereignty and power, 1Sa_2:8. Baasha seemed to have raised himself by his own
treachery and cruelty, yet there was a hand of Providence in it, to bring about God's
counsel, concerning Jeroboam's house; and God's owning his advancement as his act
and deed does by no means amount to the patronising of his ambition and treachery. It
is God that puts power into bad men's hands, which he makes to serve his good
purposes, notwithstanding the bad use they make of it. I made thee prince over my
people. God calls Israel his people still, though wretchedly corrupted, because they
retained the covenant of circumcision, and there were many good people among them; it
was not till long after that they were called Loammi, not a people, Hos_1:9.
(2.) He charges him with high crimes and misdemeanours, [1.] That he had caused
Israel to sin, had seduced God's subjects from their allegiance and brought them to pay
to dunghill-deities the homage due to him only, and herein he had walked in the way of

Jeroboam (1Ki_16:2), and been like his house, 1Ki_16:7. [2.] That he had himself
provoked God to anger with the work of his hands, that is, by worshipping images, the
work of men's hands; though perhaps others made them, yet he served them and
thereby avowed the making of them, and they are therefore called the work of his hands.
[3.] That he had destroyed the house of Jeroboam (1Ki_16:7), because he killed him,
namely, Jeroboam's son and all his: if he had done that with an eye to God, to his will
and glory, and from a holy indignation against the sins of Jeroboam and his house, he
would have been accepted and applauded as a minister of God's justice; but, as he did it,
he was only the tool of God's justice, but a servant to his own lusts, and is justly
punished for the malice and ambition which actuated and governed him in all he did.
Note, Those who are in any way employed in denouncing or executing the justice of God
(magistrates or ministers) are concerned to do it from a good principle and in a holy
manner, lest it turn into sin to them and they make themselves obnoxious by it.
JAMISO , "Forasmuch as I exalted thee — The doom he pronounced on Baasha
was exactly the same as denounced against Jeroboam and his posterity. Though he had
waded through slaughter to his throne, he owed his elevation to the appointment or
permission of Him “by whom kings reign.”
over my people Israel — With all their errors and lapses into idolatry, they were
not wholly abandoned by God. He still showed His interest in them by sending prophets
and working miracles in their favor, and possessed a multitude of faithful worshippers in
the kingdom of Israel.
BE SO , "1 Kings 16:2. Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust — Probably
from a mean family in the tribe of Issachar. Perhaps he was but a common soldier,
or some very inferior officer in the army which besieged Gibbethon; but, being bold
and daring, he formed a conspiracy against adab. The message which this prophet
brought to Baasha is much the same with that which Ahijah sent to Jeroboam by his
wife. 1st, He reminds him of the great things God had done for him: 2d, He charges
him with high crimes and misdemeanours; and, 3d, He fore-tels the same
destruction to come upon his family which he himself had been employed to bring
on the family of Jeroboam. And made thee prince over my people Israel — But it
may be asked, how Baasha’s exaltation to the kingdom can he ascribed to God,
when it is manifest he obtained it by his own treachery and cruelty? To this Mr.
Poole replies, that “though the manner of invading the kingdom was from himself
and his own wicked heart, yet, the translation of the kingdom from adab to
Baasha, simply considered, was from God, who by his decree and providence
ordered it, and disposed of all occasions, and of the hearts of all the soldiers, and the
people so, that Baasha should have the opportunity of executing God’s judgment
upon adab, and such success thereon, as should procure him a present and quiet
possession of the kingdom.” So that his accession to the kingdom was from the
divine decree; but the form and manner of his accession was from himself, from his
own ambition and covetousness, which induced him to kill adab; and as it was
wicked and cruel, it is therefore charged upon him as a wilful murder, 1 Kings 16:7.
COKE, ". Forasmuch as I exalted thee— It may be asked, how Baasha's exaltation
to the kingdom of Israel can be ascribed to God, when it is manifest that he gained it

by his own treachery and cruelty? To which it may be replied, that though the
manner of invading the kingdom was from himself and his own wicked heart, yet
the translation of the kingdom from adab to Baasha, simply considered, was from
God, who by his decree and Providence ordered it, and so disposed of all occasions,
and of the hearts of all the soldiers and the people, that Baasha should have
opportunity to execute his judgments upon adab, and such success thereupon, as
should procure him an immediate and quiet possession of the kingdom. So that his
accession to the kingdom was from the divine decree, though the form and manner
of his accession was from himself, from his own ambition and covetousness; and, as
it was wicked and cruel, is therefore charged upon him, 1 Kings 16:7 as a wilful
murder.
ELLICOTT, "(2) Forasmuch as I exalted thee . . .—The prophecy—closely
resembling that of Ahijah against Jeroboam—clearly shows that Baasha had a
probation, which he neglected; and it seems to be implied in 1 Kings 16:7 that his
guilt was enhanced by perseverance in the very sins for which, by his hand, so
terrible a vengeance had been inflicted.
PULPIT, "1 Kings 16:2
Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust [cf. 1 Kings 14:7; 2 Samuel 7:8; Psalms
78:70. These words assuredly point to a lowly origin. He may well have risen from
the ranks], and made thee prince [The original word is used of leaders of various
degrees, comprehending even the king: 1 Kings 1:35; 1 Samuel 9:16; 1 Samuel 10:1;
cf. Daniel 9:25] over my people Israel [There is no approval implied here of the
means by which Baasha had raised himself to the throne. All that is said is that he
had been an instrument in God's hands, and owed his throne to God's sanction and
ordering. Even his conspiracy and cruelties had been overruled to the furtherance
of the Divine purpose], and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast
made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger [better vex, one word] with
their sins;
3 So I am about to wipe out Baasha and his house,
and I will make your house like that of Jeroboam
son of ebat.

GILL, "Behold, I will take away the posterity of Baasha, and the posterity of
his house,.... By death, there shall be none of his family remaining in any branch of it:
and I will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat;
execute the same judgment on it, and in the same manner, their sins being alike.
HE RY 3-4, "(3.) He foretels the same destruction to come upon his family which he
himself had been employed to bring upon the family of Jeroboam, 1Ki_16:3, 1Ki_16:4.
Note, Those who resemble others in their sins may expect to resemble them in their
plagues, especially those who seem zealous against such sins in others as they allow
themselves in; the house of Jehu was reckoned with for the blood of the house of Ahab,
Hos_1:4.
II. A reprieve granted for some time, so long that Baasha himself dies in peace, and is
buried with honour in his own royal city (1Ki_16:6), so far is he from being a prey either
to the dogs or to the fowls, which yet was threatened to his house, 1Ki_16:4. He lives not
either to see or feel the punishment threatened, yet he was himself the greatest
delinquent. Certainly there must be a future state, in which impenitent sinners will
suffer in their own persons, and not escape, as often they do in this world. Baasha died
under no visible stroke of divine vengeance for aught that appears, but God laid up his
iniquity for his children, as Job speaks, Job_21:19. Thus he often visits sin. Observe,
Baasha is punished by the destruction of his children after his death, and his children
are punished by the abuse of their bodies after their death; that is the only thing which
the threatening specifies (1Ki_16:4), that the dogs and the fowls of the air should eat
them, as if herein were designed a tacit intimation that there are punishments after
death, when death has done its worst, which will be the sorest punishments and are
most to be dreaded; these judgments on the body and posterity signified judgments on
the soul when separated from the body, by him who, after he has killed, has power to
cast into hell.
BE SO , "1 Kings 16:3. Make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of
ebat — This threat was exactly verified; for as adab the son of Jeroboam reigned
but two years, so Elah the son of Baasha reigned no longer; and as adab was killed
by the sword, so was Elah: thus remarkable was the similitude between Jeroboam
and Baasha, in their lives and in their deaths; in their sons, and in their families. See
Bishop Patrick.
COKE, "1 Kings 16:3. Make thy house like the house of Jeroboam, the son of
ebat— This threat was exactly verified; for as adab, the son of Jeroboam,
reigned but two years, so Elah, the son of Baasha, reigned no more; and as adab
was killed by the sword, so was Elah. Thus remarkable was the similitude between
Jeroboam and Baasha in their lives and in their deaths, in their sons and in their
families! See Bishop Patrick.
REFLECTIO S.—Let not Baasha expect peace in his sin, nor hope to secure to his
posterity that kingdom of which his idolatry rendered him so unworthy.
1. God sends a prophet to reprove and threaten him. Greatly had God exalted him;

for, though his ambition plotted the conspiracy, it was God's over-ruling providence
that gave it success. He had been raised to reign over God's people, who were not yet
utterly abandoned by him; but, instead of being warned by the judgments on his
predecessors, he had made their images his own by his adherence to them; had, like
them, led the people into idolatry, and stood chargeable with the blood of the house
of Jeroboam, whose destruction, though just respecting God, did not exculpate him
from the treason and murder. Therefore, the judgments of which he had been the
executioner, should for the like sins return on his own house. ote; (1.) God warns
before he strikes. (2.) Those who harden their hearts, bring their blood upon their
own heads.
2. The sentence pronounced is executed; but not during Baasha's reign: like
Jeroboam, though in continual wars, and unsuccessful too, yet he came to his grave
by a natural death: but the iniquity is laid up for his children. His son Elah was
scarcely settled on his throne, before one of his own officers, as Baasha had done,
formed a conspiracy; and while the king was drunk, carousing at the house of Arza
his steward, Zimri slew him; and, to pave the way to the throne, cut off not only all
his family, but his friends, who might attempt to avenge his murder. Thus was the
prophesy of Jehu fulfilled. ote; (1.) A drunkard lays himself open to the stroke of
death by a thousand accidents; and how terrible must it be to be hurried drunk to
the tribunal of God! (2.) God's word never falls to the ground; his threatenings are
no bugbears.
PETT, "“Behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasha and his house, and I will make
your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of ebat.”
And because of this YHWH would do to the house of Baasha what He had done to
the house of Jeroboam. He would ‘sweep them away’ and all his sons would be
destroyed.
PULPIT, "Behold, I will take away [Heb. exterminate; same word as in 1 Kings
14:10 (where see note); 1 Kings 21:21; 1 Kings 22:47, etc.] the posterity of [Heb.
after] Baasha, and the posterity of [after] his house, and will make thy house like the
house of Jeroboam the son of ebat. [Cf. 1 Kings 15:29; 1 Kings 21:22, etc.]
4 Dogs will eat those belonging to Baasha who die
in the city, and birds will feed on those who die in
the country.”

GILL, "Him that dieth of Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat, and him that
dieth of his in the fields shall the fowls of the air eat. They should not have
burial, which is just the same that was threatened to and executed on Jeroboam's family,
1Ki_14:11.
PETT, "Verse 4
“Him who dies of Baasha in the city will the dogs eat, and him who dies of his in the
countryside will the birds of the heavens eat.”
This is the same fate as Ahijah the prophet had prophesied of Jeroboam. See on 1
Kings 14:11. The bodies of his male household would be left out in the open to be
eaten by scavengers, a fate considered to be worse than death (compare the care that
Rizpah took to ensure that it did not happen to her dead sons in 2 Samuel 21:10-11).
PULPIT, "Him that dieth of [Heb. to; see note on 1 Kings 14:11] Baasha in the city
shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth of his in the fields shall the fowls of the air eat.
[It may be these words, like those of the next two verses, were almost a formula, but
if so, it is noticeable that precisely the same formula was used of Jeroboam a few
years before, and Baasha knew well how it had been accomplished. "All the
prophets in succession have the same message from God for the same sins"
(Wordsworth).]
5 As for the other events of Baasha’s reign, what
he did and his achievements, are they not written
in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel?
BAR ES, "The “might” of Baasha is sufficiently indicated by those successes which
drove Asa to call Ben-hadad to his aid. 1Ki_15:17-21.
GILL, "Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, and what he did, and his might,
are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? As
those of Jeroboam and Nadab were, 1Ki_14:19.
GUZIK, "2. (1 Kings 16:5-7) The death of Baasha.
ow the rest of the acts of Baasha, what he did, and his might, are they not written

in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? So Baasha rested with his fathers
and was buried in Tirzah. Then Elah his son reigned in his place. And also the word
of the LORD came by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha and his
house, because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD in provoking Him
to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and
because he killed them.
a. The word of the LORD came by the prophet Jehu: Apparently Jehu had a long
career as a prophet. 2 Chronicles 19:2 mentions another work of Jehu the son of
Hanani. Some 50 years after this word to Baasha, he spoke to Jehoshaphat the King
of Judah.
i. Jehu the Prophet also wrote specific books of history regarding kings of Israel (2
Chronicles 20:34). His father Hanani is also mentioned in 2 Chronicles 16:7-10,
where it describes how he suffered imprisonment because he was a faithful prophet
in speaking to King Asa.
b. Because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD in provoking Him to
anger: The Bible tells us that by nature, God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger,
and abounding in mercy (Psalms 103:8). Because He is slow to anger, it took a lot of
wickedness on the part of Baasha to succeed in provoking Him to anger.
c. In being like the house of Jeroboam, and because He killed them: In 1 Kings 16:2
God said that He lifted Baasha out of the dust and set him as ruler over Israel. In
doing this God used Baasha to bring judgment upon the house of Jeroboam; yet
God did not cause Baasha to do this, so He rightly judged Baasha even though God
used the wickedness of Baasha in bringing judgment upon Jeroboam.
i. God did not need to coerce a reluctant Baasha to conspire against and assassinate
adab the son of Jeroboam. That wicked desire was already in the heart of Baasha.
In using Baasha to bring judgment on the house of Jeroboam, God only needed to
let Baasha do what he wanted to do. Therefore it was proper of God to judge
Baasha for something that ultimately furthered God’s eternal plan.
ii. “God is ever represented in Scripture as doing those things which, in the course
of his providence, he permits to be done.” (Clarke)
PETT, "1 Kings 16:5
‘ ow the rest of the acts of Baasha, and what he did, and his might, are they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?’
As usual we are informed that the remaining acts of the king, what he did and the
might that he demonstrated, can be found in the court annals of Israel.
PULPIT, " ow the rest of the acts of Baasha, and what he did, and his might [as to
which see 1 Kings 15:17-21. He could hardly have given a stronger proof of his

might than by fortifying a post but five miles distant from Jerusalem. Keil, however,
would interpret the word, both here and in 1 Kings 15:23, of his energy and strength
in government. Better Bähr, tapfere Thaten. Ewald hence infers that Baasha was "a
man of distinguished bravery"], are they not written in the book of the chronicles of
the kings of Israel?
6 Baasha rested with his ancestors and was buried
in Tirzah.And Elah his son succeeded him as king.
GILL, "So Baasha slept with his fathers,.... Or died, not a violent, but natural,
death:
and was buried in Tirzah; where was the royal palace of the kings of Israel:
and Elah his son reigned in his stead; yet but a short time.
PETT, "1 Kings 16:6
‘And Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah, and Elah his son
reigned instead of him.’
Baasha himself died peacefully and was buried in Tirzah. And Elah his son reigned
instead of him, but only very briefly, for he was assassinated by one of his
commanders. When a king of Israel died the throne was seen as up for grabs.
Tirzah had probably become Jeroboam’s capital towards the end of his reign (1
Kings 14:17), and would remain Israel’s capital city until Omri transferred it to
Samaria. It was eleven kilometres (seven miles) north east of Shechem. Excavations
have revealed that at this time it had standard houses and a large administrative
building, and was heavily fortified.
PULPIT, "So Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tizrzah [cf. 1 Kings
15:21, 1 Kings 15:33. This place is twice mentioned as his residence], and Elah his
son reigned in his stead. [It is perhaps more than a mere coincidence that this
uncommon name, Elah ("terebinth," see note on 1 Kings 13:14), is also the name of
the great valley (1 Samuel 17:2, 1 Samuel 17:19; 1 Samuel 21:9) near to Gibbethon,

where Baasha was proclaimed king.]
7 Moreover, the word of the Lord came through
the prophet Jehu son of Hanani to Baasha and his
house, because of all the evil he had done in the
eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger by the things
he did, becoming like the house of Jeroboam—
and also because he destroyed it.
Elah King of Israel
BAR ES, "The natural position of this verse would be after 1Ki_16:4 and before 1Ki_
16:5. But it may be regarded as added by the writer, somewhat irregularly, as an
afterthought; its special force being to point out that the sentence on Baasha was
intended to punish, not only his calf-worship, but emphatically his murder of Jeroboam
and his family. Though the destruction of Jeroboam had been foretold, and though
Baasha may be rightly regarded as God’s instrument to punish Jeroboam’s sins, yet, as
he received no command to execute God’s wrath on the offender, and was instigated
solely by ambition and self-interest, his guilt was just as great as if no prophecy had been
uttered. Even Jehu’s commission 2Ki_9:5-10 was not held to justify, altogether, his
murder of Jehoram and Jezebel.
CLARKE, "And because he killed him - This the Vulgate understands of Jehu the
prophet, put to death by Baasha: Ob hanc causam occidit eum, hoe est. Jehu filium
Hanani prophetam; “On this account he killed him, that is, Jehu the prophet, the son of
Hanani.” Some think Baasha is intended, others Jeroboam, and others Nadab the son of
Jeroboam. This last is the sentiment of Rab. Sol. Jarchi, and of some good critics. The
order is here confused; and the seventh verse should probably be placed between the 4th
and 5th.
GILL, "And also by the hand of the prophet Jehu, the son of Hanani, came
the word of the Lord against Baasha, and against his house,.... Which is here
repeated, as Abarbinel thinks, because in the former prophecy the threatening was on
account not of his own sin, but because he made Israel to sin; but here it is because of his
own evil works, as it follows:
even for all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord, in provoking him to

anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam:
worshipping the golden calves as they did:
and because he killed him; either Jeroboam; for, according to Dr. Lightfoot (b), he
was alive this year; rather Nadab the son of Jeroboam, who it is certain was slain by
Baasha; though it may refer, as Abarbinel thinks, to the whole house of Jeroboam;
though it was agreeable to the will of God, yet was not done by Baasha with any regard to
it, but to gratify his malice and ambition, and therefore punishable for it.
JAMISO , "also by the hand of the prophet Jehu — This is not another
prophecy, but merely an addition by the sacred historian, explanatory of the death of
Baasha and the extinction of his family. The doom pronounced against Jeroboam (1Ki_
14:9), did not entitle him to take the execution of the sentence into his own hands; but
from his following the same calf-worship, he had evidently plotted the conspiracy and
murder of that king in furtherance of his own ambitious designs; and hence, in his own
assassination, he met the just reward of his deeds. The similitude to Jeroboam extends
to their deaths as well as their lives - the reign of their sons, and the ruin of their
families.
BE SO , "1 Kings 16:7. And also by the hand of the Prophet Jehu — The order of
the narrative seems to be here much confused, to restore which Houbigant places
this seventh verse before the fifth and sixth. Came the word of the Lord against
Baasha — The meaning is, the message which came from the Lord to Jehu, (1 Kings
16:1-4,) was here delivered by the hand, that is, the ministry of Jehu unto Baasha.
Jehu did what God commanded in this matter, though it was not without apparent
hazard to himself. And because he killed him — That is, adab; who though he be
not expressed, is sufficiently understood. But why is he punished for doing God’s
work? Because, 1st, Though God appointed that Jeroboam’s family should be cut
off, yet he did not give Baasha commission to do it. 2d, Baasha did this not to fulfil
God’s will, but his own lusts. See on 1 Kings 16:2.
COFFMA , ""And because he smote him" (1 Kings 16:7). "The very fact that
Baasha continued Jeroboam's sin and caused the illegal worship to be perpetuated,
showed clearly enough that in his exterminating the family of Jeroboam he did not
act under Divine direction, but simply pursued his own selfish ends."[6]
ELLICOTT, "(7) And also.—This second reference to the prophecy of Jehu seems
to be a note of the historian—perhaps added chiefly for the sake of the last clause,
which shows that Baasha’s act, though foretold, was not thereby justified.
PETT, "1 Kings 16:7
‘And moreover by the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came the word of YHWH
against Baasha, and against his house, both because of all the evil that he did in the

sight of YHWH, to provoke him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like
the house of Jeroboam, and because he smote him.’
But Baasha had been so evil that the prophetic author could not leave it there, and
he repeats that YHWH had sent his prophet Jehu to him, and this time it is
emphasised that it was with ‘the word of YHWH’, Being YHWH’s word its
effectiveness was certain (compare Isaiah 55:11). And the double charge was that he
had continued in the way of Jeroboam, and especially that he had murdered the
house of Jeroboam (‘because he smote him’). For both of these sins he was to be
especially punished.
Once again we have a lesson concerning God’s holiness and hatred of sin, and the
certainty of punishment for those who continue in sin and who allow other ‘gods’ to
interfere with their worship of Him. It is a recurrent lesson of this book.
PULPIT, "And also by the hand of the prophet Jehu, the son of Hanani, came the
word of the Lord against Baasha [This does not refer, as some have thought, to a
second prophecy on Jehu's part, but is rather explicative of 1 Kings 16:2. Rawlinson
thinks the object of the historian herein was to point out that Baasha was punished
for the "murder of Jeroboam [?] and his family," as well as for the calf worship.
Keil and Bähr hold that it is designed to guard against a perversion of 1 Kings 16:2,
"I made thee prince," etc; from which it might be inferred that he was
commissioned of God to murder adab. But it is simpler to suppose that his
primary idea was to convey, by this repetition, which no doubt is derived from a
different source from the statement of 1 Kings 16:2, that Baasha was visited by God
for his various sins. It was no chance that happened to him. The excision of his
house, like that of Jeroboam, was distinctly foretold], and against his house, even for
all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord, in provoking him to anger with the
work of his hands [1 Kings 16:2; note the coincidence with 1 Kings 15:30, in
connexion with the next words. Bähr explains "the works of his hands "as idols, Dii
factitii, after Deuteronomy 4:28, but this appears somewhat far fetched], in being
like the house of Jeroboam, and because he killed him [i.e; adab].
8 In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah,
Elah son of Baasha became king of Israel, and he
reigned in Tirzah two years.

BAR ES, "Two years - i. e., More than one year, or, at any rate, some portion of
two distinct years (compare 1Ki_16:10).
GILL, "In the twenty sixth year of Asa king of Judah began Elah the son of
Baasha to reign over Israel in Tirzah, two years. Not complete, for he died in the
twenty seventh of Asa, 1Ki_16:10 he reigned just the time that Nadab the son of
Jeroboam did, 1Ki_15:25.
JAMISO , "began Elah the son of Baasha to reign — (compare 1Ki_15:33).
From this it will appear that Baasha died in the twenty-third year of his reign (see on
1Ki_15:2), and Elah, who was a prince of dissolute habits, reigned not fully two years.
K&D, "The Reign of Elah. - As Baasha reigned from the third to the twenty-sixth year
of Asa, i.e., not quite twenty-four years, but only twenty-three years and a few months,
so his son Elah reigned from the twenty-sixth to the twenty-seventh year of Asa, i.e., not
quite two years.
COFFMA , ""In the twenty and sixth year ... in the twenty and seventh year" (1
Kings 16:8,10). From this it is dear that Elah's reign was actually somewhat less
than two years.
"Zimri ... conspired against him" (1 Kings 16:9). "Zimri did that to Baasha's son
only that which Baasha had done before him. Baasha was hoist by his own petard.
As for Elah, he was a dissolute and pusillanimous prince."[7]
"He was drinking himself drunk ... in the house of Arza" (1 Kings 16:9). This was
certainly conduct, "unworthy of royalty, demonstrating the despicable character of
Elah."[8] He should have been with his troops in battle. The Arza who was
mentioned here had charge of the palace at Tirzah and was very likely a co-
conspirator with Zimri.
"Zimri went in and smote him ... and reigned in his stead" (1 Kings 16:10). "In
Zimri the third dynasty in Israel came to the throne, if indeed a line that ruled only
seven days should be dignified with a title such as dynasty."[9] "Zimri was a
professional soldier, perhaps not even an Israelite, since he is not identified with any
tribe."[10] The short reign of this monarch, which lasted only seven days, is the
shortest reign of any of the kings.
GUZIK, "3. (1 Kings 16:8-14) The two year reign of Elah.
In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king
over Israel, and reigned two years in Tirzah. ow his servant Zimri, commander of
half his chariots, conspired against him as he was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk
in the house of Arza, steward of his house in Tirzah. And Zimri went in and struck

him and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in
his place. Then it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he was seated on
his throne, that he killed all the household of Baasha; he did not leave him one male,
neither of his relatives nor of his friends. Thus Zimri destroyed all the household of
Baasha, according to the word of the LORD, which He spoke against Baasha by
Jehu the prophet, for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, by which
they had sinned and by which they had made Israel sin, in provoking the LORD
God of Israel to anger with their idols. ow the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that
he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
a. Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel, and reigned two years in Tirzah:
The hope of every king is to pass the throne on to his son and to further a lasting
dynasty. Because Baasha was a wicked king, God did not bless his dynasty and his
son only reigned two years.
b. And Zimri went in and struck him and killed him in the twenty-seventh year of
Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his place: Even as Baasha gained the throne
through assassination, so the son of Baasha was assassinated by Zimri, an officer in
the army of Israel.
c. Then it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he was seated on his
throne, that he killed all the household of Baasha: This was common practice in the
ancient world, and was exactly what Baasha did to the house of Jeroboam (1 Kings
15:29). David’s treatment of the house of Saul was a glorious exception to this
common practice.
i. This massacre was an exact fulfillment of the word of the LORD through the
Prophet Jehi, the son of Hanani (1 Kings 16:2-4).
PETT, "Verses 8-14
The Reign Of Elah King of Israel c. 885-884 BC (1 Kings 16:8-14).
The death of a king after a long reign often ushered in a period when rivals for the
throne reared their heads, and Israel had no established dynasty. Elah, the son of
Baasha, does, however, appear to have been generally accepted as the rightful king,
for the army as a whole were carrying out their usual responsibilities quite
contentedly, and only intervened when they learned that Elah had been
assassinated.
This occurred because unfortunately, among their number was a prominent chariot
commander named Zimri, who saw Baasha’s death as an opportunity to seize the
kingship for himself. Assassinating Elah in the capital, he immediately destroyed all
his male progeny, and himself seized power. The army as a whole, however, on
hearing of the blood bath that had taken place in Tirzah, were not pleased and
appointed Omri, a prominent commander in the field, as rival king, and he
immediately proceeded to besiege Tirzah where all the action had taken place.

Realising the hopelessness of his position Zimri committed suicide. He had reigned
for seven days! This would then introduce for Israel a period of civil war, for a
further claimant named Tibni arose with strong support, and he and Omri vied
with each other until finally Omri emerged triumphant. In all this Israel were seen
as suffering because of their insistence on following the evil ways of Jeroboam with
regard to false worship.
Analysis.
a In the twenty and sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to
reign over Israel in Tirzah, and reigned two years (1 Kings 16:8).
b And his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against
him (1 Kings 16:9 a).
c ow he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was
over the household in Tirzah, and Zimri went in and smote him, and killed him, in
the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned instead of him (1
Kings 16:9-10).
b And it came about that, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his
throne, he smote all the house of Baasha. He left him not a single man-child, neither
of his kinsfolks, nor of his friends. Thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Baasha,
according to the word of YHWH, which he spoke against Baasha by Jehu the
prophet, for all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned,
and by which they made Israel to sin, to provoke YHWH, the God of Israel, to anger
with their vanities (1 Kings 16:11-13).
a ow the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not written in
the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? (1 Kings 16:14).
ote that in ‘a’ Elah began to reign over Israel, and in the parallel his acts can be
found in the annals of the kings of Israel. In ‘b’ Zimri conspired against him, and in
the parallel what he did is described. Centrally in ‘c’ we have the description of how
he assassinated Elah and took his throne.
1 Kings 16:8
‘In the twenty and sixth year of Asa king of Judah began Elah the son of Baasha to
reign over Israel in Tirzah, and reigned two years.’
Due to the way Israelites calculated the reigns of their kings at this time, this means
that he reigned only for a few months, part of his accession year, and part of the
following year.
BI 8-10, "Elah . . . Zimri . . . Arza.
Elah, Zimri, and Arza
There was once a king in Israel called Elah. He reigned over Israel in Tirzah two years.
He had a servant called Zimri who was a captain of his chariots. Zimri was a born traitor.
Treachery was in his very blood. In the case of Elah, Zimri had a marked advantage; for
Elah was a drunken fool. He was in the habit of visiting the house of another of his
servants, a steward called Arza, and there he had what drink he asked for; and he asked
for a good deal, so much so that he was often drunk in his servant’s house, and on one of

these occasions, Zimri went in and killed him, and reigned in his stead. These are the
facts which we have to deal with. Are they very ancient, or are they happening round
about us every day?
1. Elah lives in every man who has great chances or opportunities in life, but allows
them to slip away through one leak in the character. Elah was a king, and the son of a
king, so his openings in life were wide and splendid; but he loved strong drink, and
through that leak in his character all that might have made him a man oozed away,
and left him a king in nothing but the barren name. Strong drink will ruin any man.
What is true of this leak in a man’s character is true of every other. Take indecision
for example, or idleness, or love of company, or devotion to pleasure. A great
merchant once said to me of a certain man in his employment, “I would to-morrow
give that man a thousand a year to begin with, if he could do one thing, and that is,
hold his tongue; but he would no sooner get the appointment than he would go into
an ale-house, and tell the whole company everything I am doing.” There is the leak in
the character, and it means ruin! It is astounding what one leak will do.
2. Zimri still lives in all persons who take advantage of the weaknesses of others.
Zimri knew that Elah was a drunkard, and he further knew that through his habit of
drunkenness alone he could reach the king. On every other side of his character Elah
may have been a strong man: acute, shrewd, far-sighted; but when in drink, weak
and foolish. And Zimri played his game accordingly. Some people trade on the
weaknesses of others. They study them. Thy adapt themselves to them. They watch
for striking time, and seldom miss the mark. How else could the net be always ready
for the bird? How else the pit be always prepared for the unexpected and bewildered
traveller? There is an infernal science in these things—a devil’s black art!
3. And does not Arza still live in those who find the means whereby men may conceal
their evil habits and indulge their unholy desires? They seem to say, “In my house
you may do what you please. I shall not look at you. Come when you please; go when
you like; I am nobody, if you like to call me so.” My wonder is that any young man
can keep his morals uncorrupted in a strange city. Houses of destruction are open in
every street. How foolish, too, are the wicked! If they would devote their talents to
some virtuous end they would attain honourable success, sweetened with a sense of
honesty. They often have great talents, fine powers, large capacities, and if they gave
themselves with ardour and energy to the pursuit of good ends they would outrun
many, and gain a prize worthy and lasting. (J. Parker, D. D.)
9 Zimri, one of his officials, who had command of
half his chariots, plotted against him. Elah was in
Tirzah at the time, getting drunk in the home of
Arza, the palace administrator at Tirzah.

BAR ES, "The conspiracy of Zimri - Elah’s “servant” (i. e., “subject”) - was favored
by his position, which probably gave him military authority in the city, by the absence of
a great part of the people and of the officers who might have checked him, at Gibbethon
1Ki_16:15, and by the despicable character of Elah, who, instead of going up to the war,
was continually reminding men of his low origin by conduct unworthy of royalty.
Steward - The office was evidently one of considerable importance. In Solomon’s
court it gave the rank of ‫שׂר‬ śar, prince. In Persia the “steward of the household” acted
sometimes as a sort of regent during the king’s absence.
CLARKE, "Captain of half his chariots - It is probable that Zimri, and some
other who is not here named, were commanders of the cavalry.
GILL, "And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots,.... His military
chariots; there were two captains of them, and this was one of them; so the Targum,
"one of the two masters or captains of the chariots:''
conspired against him, as he was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the
house of Arza, steward of his house in Tirzah; who had the charge of his wine and
other liquors, to which he was addicted beyond measure; and this was a fit opportunity
for Zimri to fall upon him, and slay him, when he was drunk, and off his guard, and his
army at the same time was besieging Gibbethon, 1Ki_16:15 so that there was a very great
likeness in what befell the family of Baasha, to that of the family of Jeroboam; for as the
son of the one, and of the other, reigned but two years, so they were both slain by their
servants, and both at a time when Gibbethon was besieged; the Targum takes this Arza
to be the temple of an idol so called, near the royal palace.
HE RY, "1Ki_16:9-22. Zimri’s conspiracy.
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.
JAMISO , "1Ki_16:9-22. Zimri’s conspiracy.
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.
K&D, "1Ki_16:9-11
Zimri, the commander of the half of his war-chariots, conspired against him, and not
only slew him, when he was intoxicated (‫ּור‬ⅴ ִ‫שׁ‬ ‫ה‬ ֶ‫ּת‬‫שׁ‬) at a drinking bout in the house of

Arza, the prefect of his palace, but after ascending the throne exterminated the whole
family of Baasha to the very last man. The prefect of the palace was no doubt a party to
the conspiracy, and had probably arranged the drinking bout in his house for the
purpose of carrying it out. “He did not leave him ‫יר‬ ִ‫ק‬ ְ ‫ין‬ ִ ְ‫שׁ‬ ַ‫מ‬ (see at 1Ki_14:10), either his
avengers (‫יו‬ ָ‫ל‬ ֲ‫ּא‬ , blood-relations, who might have avenged his death) or his friends.”
These words simply serve to explain ‫יר‬ ִ‫ק‬ ְ ‫ין‬ ִ ְ‫שׁ‬ ַ‫,מ‬ and show that this phrase is to be
understood as relating to males only.
ELLICOTT, "(9) Drinking himself drunk.—There seems an emphasis of half-
contemptuous condemnation in the description of Elah’s debauchery, evidently
public, and in the house of a mere officer of his household, while war was raging at
Gibbethon. On the other hand, Zimri—noted emphatically as “his servant”—was
apparently the high officer left in special charge of the palace and the king’s person,
while the mass of the army was in the field. Hence his name passed into a proverb
for unusual treachery. (See 2 Kings 9:31.)
PETT, "1 Kings 16:9 a ‘And his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots,
conspired against him.’
Elah’s chariot force was divided into two sections, and Zimri was the commander of
one of those sections. His exalted position had made him ambitious and he decided
that he would like to be king. After all, the present newly made king was descended
from a nobody.
1 Kings 16:9-10 ‘ ow he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of
Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah, and Zimri went in and smote him, and
killed him, in the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned instead
of him.’
So while Elah was drinking himself drunk in the house of his chief steward, Zimri
went in and killed him. Arza may well have been in collusion with Zimri. Thus in
the twenty seventh year of Asa’s reign Zimri set himself up as king of Israel.
PULPIT, "And his servant [ ot only "subject," as Rawlinson, but officer. The same
word is used of Jeroboam; 1 Kings 11:26, note. We may almost trace here a lex
talionis. Baasha was adab's "servant," as Jeroboam was Solomon's] Zimri [From
the occurrence of this name among those of the descendants of Jonathan (1
Chronicles 8:36), it has been supposed (Stanley) that this was a last effort of the
house of Saul to regain the throne], captain of half his chariots [ ‫ֶב‬‫כ‬ ֶ‫ר‬ as in 1 Kings
9:19; 1 Kings 10:26. The violation of the law of Deuteronomy 17:16 brings its own
retribution], conspired against him [precisely as Elah's father had "conspired "(1
Kings 15:27) against adab], as he was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the
house of Arza, steward of [Heb. which was over; cf. 1 Kings 4:6; 1 Kings 18:3; 2
Kings 10:5; 2 Kings 18:37] his house in Tirzah. [Several points present themselves

for notice here.
10 Zimri came in, struck him down and killed him
in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah.
Then he succeeded him as king.
GILL, "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.
PULPIT, "And Zimri went in [cf. 3:20; 2 Samuel 4:7] and smote him and killed him
in the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his stead. [Cf. 1
Kings 15:28 and 2 Kings 15:1-38 :93. It is curious how it happened three times in the
history of Israel that "the only powerful prince in a new dynasty was its founder,
and after his son and successor reigned two years, the power passed into other
hands" (Ewald).]
11 As soon as he began to reign and was seated on
the throne, he killed off Baasha’s whole family. He
did not spare a single male, whether relative or
friend.
BAR ES, "Neither of his kinsfolks, nor of his friends - Zimri’s measures were
of much more than ordinary severity. Not only was the royal family extirpated, but the
friends of the king, his councillors and favorite officers, were put to death. Omri, as

having been in the confidence of the late monarch, would naturally fear for himself, and
resolve to take the course which promised him at least a chance of safety.
CLARKE, "He slew all the house of Baasha - He endeavored to exterminate his
race, and blot out his memory; and the Jews say, when such a matter is determined, they
not only destroy the house of the person himself, but the five neighboring houses, that
the memory of such a person may perish from the earth.
GILL, "And it came to pass when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his
throne,.... Perhaps the very first day,
that he slew all the house of Baasha; his whole family, all the children that he had,
that there might be none to make pretensions to the throne:
he left him not one that pisseth against a wall, neither of his kinsfolks nor of
his friends; not any that might avenge the blood of his family, that might have a right
or inclination to do it.
BE SO , "1 Kings 16:11-13. He slew all the house of Baasha, &c. — He not only
destroyed all that were descended from Baasha, as Baasha had destroyed the
families of Jeroboam, but he extended the destruction, and increased it, as
Abarbinel speaks, for he killed all that were of kin to Baasha, with all his friends,
which Baasha did not when he seized the kingdom from Jeroboam. According to the
word of the Lord — Thus fulfilling the divine threatening, but undesignedly by him,
and merely for his own ends. In provoking the Lord to anger with their vanities —
Idols, called vanities, because they are but imaginary deities, and mere nothings,
having no power to do either good or hurt.
PETT, "1 Kings 16:11
‘And it came about that, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, he
smote all the house of Baasha. He left him not a single man-child, neither of his
kinsfolks (literally ‘redeemers’), nor of his friends.’
Zimri in fact only reigned for seven days, but during that seven days he engaged in a
bloodbath greater than any previously, not only slaying all the males in Baasha’s
own house, including all who might feel that they had the responsibility of blood
vengeance (‘his redeemers’) but also all those who were Elah’s friends and
associates. He was taking no chances.
EBC, "THE KI GS OF ISRAEL FROM ZIMRI TO AHAB
1 Kings 16:11-34

As far as we can understand from our meager authorities-and we have no
independent source of information-we infer that Elah, son of the powerful Baasha,
was a self-indulgent weakling. The army of Israel was encamped against Gibbethon-
originally a Levitical town of the Kohathites, in the territory of Dan-which they
hoped to wrest from the Philistines. It was during the interminable and intermittent
siege of this town that adab, the son of Jeroboam, had been murdered. Whatever
may have been his sins, he was in his proper place leading the armies of Israel. Elah
was not there, but in his beautiful palace at Tirzah. It was probably contempt for
his incapacity and the bad example of Baasha’s successful revolt, that tempted
Zimri to murder him as he was drinking himself drunk in the house of his
chamberlain Arza. Zimri was a commander of half the chariots, and probably
thinking that he could secure the throne by a coup de main he slew not only Elah,
but every male member of his family. To extinguish any possibility: of vengeance, he
even massacred all who were known to be friends of the royal house. It was a
consummate crime, and it was followed by swift and condign judgment. Through
that sea of blood Zimri only succeeded in wading to one week’s royalty, followed by
a shameful and agonizing death. We are told that he did evil in the sight of the Lord
by following the sin of Jeroboam’s calf-worship. The phrase must be here something
of a formula, for in seven days he could hardly have achieved a religious revolution,
and every other king of Israel, some of whom have long and prosperous reigns,
maintained the unauthorized worship. But Zimri’s atrocious revolt had been so ill-
considered that it furnished a proverb of the terrible fate of rebels. {2 Kings 9:31}
He had not even attempted to secure the assent of the army at Gibbethon. o sooner
did the news reach the camp than the soldiers tumultuously refused to accept Zimri
as king, and elected Omri their captain. Omri instantly broke up the camp, and led
them to besiege the new king in Tirzah. Zimri saw that his cause was hopeless, and
took refuge in the fortress (birah) attached to the palace. When he saw that even
there he could not maintain himself, he preferred speedy death to slow starvation or
falling into the hands of his rival. He set fire to the palace, and, like Sardanapalus,
perished in the flames.
The swift suppression of his treason did not save the unhappy kingdom from
anarchy and civil war. However popular Omri might be with the army, he was
unacceptable to a large part of the people. They chose as their king a certain Tibni,
son of Ginath, who was supported by a powerful brother named Joram. For four
years the contest was continued. At the end of that time Tibni and Joram were
conquered and killed, and Omri began his sole reign, which lasted eight years
longer.
He founded the most conspicuous dynasty of Israel, and so completely identified his
name with the orthern Kingdom that it was known to the Assyrians as Beit-
Khumri, or "the House of Omri." They even speak of Jehu the destroyer of Omri’s
dynasty, as "the son of Omri."
Incidental allusions in the annals of his son show that Omri was engaged in
incessant wars against Syria. He was unsuccessful, and Benhadad robbed him of

Ramoth Gilead and other cities, enforcing the right of Syrians to have streets of
their own even in his new capital of Samaria. On the other hand, he was greatly
successful on the southeast against the Moabites and their warrior-king Chemosh-
Gad, the father of Mesha.
Few details of either war have come down to us. {1 Kings 20:34} We learn, however,
from the famous Moabite stone that he began his assault on Moab by the capture of
Mediba, several miles south of Heshbon, overran the country, made the king a
vassal, and imposed on Moab the enormous annual tribute of 100,000 sheep and
100,000 rams. {2 Kings 3:4} Mesha in his inscription records that Omri "oppressed
Moab many days," and attributed this to the fact that Chemosh was angry with his
chosen people. He stamped his impress deep upon his subjects. It must have been to
him that the alliance with the Tyrians was due, which in his son’s reign produced
consequences so momentous. He "did worse we are told than all the kings that were
before him." {1 Kings 16:25} Although he is only charged with walking in the way
of Jeroboam, the indignant manner in which the prophet Micah speaks of "the
statutes of Omri" as still being kept, {Micah 6:16} seems to prove that his influence
on religion was condemned by the prophetic order on special grounds. It is clear
that he was a sovereign of far greater eminence and importance than we might
suppose from the meagerness of his annals as here preserved; indeed, for thirty-four
years after his accession the history of the Southern Kingdom becomes a mere
appendix to that of the orthern. One conspicuous service he rendered to his
subjects by providing them with the city which became their permanent and famous
capital. This he did in the sixth year of his reign. The burning of the fortress-palace
of Tirzah, and the rapidity with which the town had succumbed to its besiegers, may
have led him to look out for a site, which was central, strong, and beautiful. His
choice was so prescient that the new royal residence superseded not only Penuel and
Tirzah, but even Shechem. It was, says Dean Stanley, "as though Versailles had
taken the place of Paris, or Windsor of London?" He fixed his eye on an oblong hill,
with long flat summit, which rose in the midst of a wide valley encircled with hills,
near the edge of the plain of Sharon, and six miles northwest of Shechem. Its beauty
is still the admiration of the traveler in Palestine. It gave point to the apostrophe of
Isaiah: "Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, whose glorious
beauty is a fading flower, which is on the head of the fat valleys of them that are
overcome with wine! The crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, shall be
trodden under foot: and the fading flower of his glorious adornment, which is on the
head of the fat valley, shall become as a fading flower and as an early fig." {Isaiah
28:1-4} All around it the low hills and rich ravines were clothed with fertility. They
recall more nearly than any other scene in Palestine the green fields and parks of
England
It commanded a full view of the sea and the plain of Sharon on the one band, and of
the vale of Shechem on the other. The town sloped down from the summit of this
hill; a broad wall with a terraced top ran round it. "In front of the gates was a wide
open space or threshing floor, where the kings of Samaria sat on great occasions.
The inferior houses were built of white brick, with rafters of sycamore, the
grandeur of hewn stones and Isaiah 9:9-10. Its soft, rounded, oblong platform was,

as it were, a vast luxurious couch, in which the nobles securely rested, propped and
cushioned up on both sides, as in the cherished corner of a rich divan."
Far more important in the eyes of Omri than its beauty was the natural strength of
its position. It did not possess the impregnable majesty of Jerusalem, but its height
and isolation, permitting of strong fortifications, enabled it to baffle the besieging
hosts of the Aramaeans in B.C. 901 and in B.C. 892. For three long years it held out
against the mighty Assyrians under Sargon and Shalmanezer. Its capture in B.C.
721 involved the ruin of the whole kingdom in its fall, {1 Kings 20:1; 2 Kings 6:24}
ebuchadnezzar took it in B.C. 554 after a siege of thirteen years. In later centuries
it partially recovered. Alexander the Great took it, and massacred many of its
inhabitants B.C. 332. John Hyrcanus, who took it after a year’s siege, tried to
demolish it in B.C. 129. After various fortunes it was splendidly rebuilt by Herod
the Great, who called it Sebaste, in honor of Augustus. It still exists under the name
of Sebastiyeh.
When Omri chose it for his residence it belonged to a certain Shemer, who,
according to Epiphanius, was a descendant of the ancient Perizzites or Girgashites.
The king paid for this hill the large sum of two talents of silver, and called it
Shomeron. The name means "a watch tower," and was appropriate both from its
commanding position and because it echoed the name of its old possessor.
The new capital marked a new epoch. It superseded as completely as Jerusalem had
done the old local shrines endeared by the immemorial sanctity of their traditions;
but as its origin was purely political it acted unfavorably on the religion of the
people. It became a city of idolatry and of luxurious wealth; a city in which Baal-
worship with its ritual pomp threw into the shade the worship of Jehovah; a city in
which corrupted nobles, lolling at wine feasts on rich divans in their palaces inlaid
with ivory, sold the righteous for silver and the needy for a pair of shoes. Of Omri
we are told no more. After a reign of twelve years he slept with his fathers, and was
buried in the city which was to be for so many centuries a memorial of his fame.
The name of Omri marks a new epoch. He is the first Jewish king whose name is
alluded to in Assyrian inscriptions. Assyria had emerged into importance in the
twelfth century before Christ under Tiglath-Pileser I, but during the eleventh and
down to the middle of the tenth century it had sunk into inactivity. Assurbanipal,
the father of Shalmanezer II (884-860), enlarged his dominions to the
Mediterranean westwards and to Lebanon southwards. In 870, when Ahab was
king, the Assyrian warriors had exacted tribute from Tyre, Sidon, and Bibles. It is
not impossible that Omri also had paid tribute, and it has even been conjectured
that it was to Assyrian help that he owed his throne. The Book of Kings only alludes
to the valor of this warrior-king in the one word his might; but it is evident from
other indications that he had a stormy and checkered reign.
PULPIT, "And it came to pass when he began to reign, as soon as he sate on his
throne, that he slew all the house of Baasha [see note on 1 Kings 15:29. The LXX.

Vat. omits the rest of this verse and the first clause of 1 Kings 15:12]: he left him not
one that pisseth against a wall [i.e; not a boy. See 1 Kings 14:10 note], neither of
[Heb. and] his kinsfolks [The ‫ל‬ֵ‫ֹא‬ ‫גּ‬ is strictly the person to whom
And this being the next of kin (Ruth 2:12, Ruth 2:13), the word came to mean near
relative, kinsman, as here; cf. Ruth 2:20. All the same, it discloses to us Zimri's
object, which was to destroy the avenger of blood. And it shows (in connexion with
Ruth 2:16) that none of Baasha's children, if he had other children, had gone to the
war], nor of his friends. [Zimri went a step farther than Baasha had gone. He was
not content with extirpating the royal family, but put to death the partizans of the
house, all who would be likely to sympathize with Elah or to resent his murder.]
12 So Zimri destroyed the whole family of Baasha,
in accordance with the word of the Lord spoken
against Baasha through the prophet Jehu—
GILL, "Thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Baasha, according to the
word of the Lord, which he spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet. That
not only his posterity, but all any way related to him, should be cut off; yea, it seems to
have been carried further, even to all that were in any connection with him in point of
friendship, see 1Ki_16:3.
K&D, "1Ki_16:12-14
“According to the word of the Lord;” see at 1Ki_16:1. ‫ּות‬‫א‬ ַ‫ל־ח‬ ָⅴ ‫ל‬ ֶ‫,א‬ with regard to all,
i.e., on account of all the sins (compare 1Ki_16:7, where ‫ל‬ ַ‫ע‬ is used). ‫ם‬ ֶ‫יה‬ ֵ‫ל‬ ְ‫ב‬ ַ‫ה‬ ְ , through
their nothingnesses, i.e., their idols, by which the golden calves are meant.
PETT, "1 Kings 16:12-13
‘Thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Baasha, according to the word of YHWH,
which he spoke against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, For all the sins of Baasha, and
the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned, and by which they made Israel to sin, to
provoke YHWH, the God of Israel, to anger with their vanities.’
And this evil behaviour fulfilled what God had said through his prophet would
happen to the house of Baasha. And it was because of Baasha’s sins, and Elah’s sins,

and because they had failed to false religion which Jeroboam had initiated, and
which led the people into sin, provoking YHWH’s righteous anger over their follies.
PULPIT, "Thus did Zimri destroy an the house of Baasha, according to the word of
the Lord which he spake against Baasha, by [Heb. in the hand of] Jehu the prophet
[Verses 1, 7; cf. 1 Kings 15:29. The analogy is now complete],
13 because of all the sins Baasha and his son Elah
had committed and had caused Israel to commit,
so that they aroused the anger of the Lord, the
God of Israel, by their worthless idols.
BAR ES, "Their vanities - The “calves.” The Hebrews call an idol by terms
signifying “emptiness,” “vapor,” or “nothingness.” (Compare marginal references.)
CLARKE, "For all the sins of Baasha - We see why it was that God permitted
such judgments to fall on this family. Baasha was a grievous offender, and so also was
his son Elah; and they caused the people to sin; and they provoked God to anger by their
idolatries.
GILL, "For all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son,.... By which it
appears that the son trod in the steps of his father, and was therefore cut off:
by which they sinned, and by which they made Israel to sin, in provoking the
Lord God of Israel to anger with their vanities; their idols, which had nothing in
them, and cannot be of any service to their worshippers; and to serve such, and neglect
the worship of the true God, and draw others into the same iniquity, must be very
provoking to the most High.
ELLICOTT, "(13) Vanities—that is, idols (as in Deuteronomy 32:21; 1 Samuel
12:21; Psalms 31:6; Isaiah 41:29; Jer. viii 19; &c.): not only the idols of Dan and
Bethel, but the worse abominations which grew up under cover of these. In the Old
Testament generally the contempt for idolatry and false worship as a gross folly,

wasting faith on unrealities, is at least as strong as the condemnation of them, as
outraging God’s law, and connected with sensual or bloody rites. (See, for example,
the utter scorn of Isaiah 44:9-20; Psalms 115:4-8.)
PULPIT, "For [ ‫ל‬ֶ‫א‬ corresponds with the ‫ַל‬‫ע‬ of 1 Kings 16:7 = propter; cf. 1 Kings
14:5; 1 Kings 21:22] all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, by which
they sinned, and by which they made Israel to sin, in provoking the Lord God of
Israel to anger [the formula of 1 Kings 15:30, etc.] with their vanities. [The calves,
not idols, are referred to here. Cf. Deuteronomy 32:21; 1 Corinthians 8:4. The same
idea is embodied in the word Bethaven; Hosea 4:15; Hosea 5:8.]
14 As for the other events of Elah’s reign, and all
he did, are they not written in the book of the
annals of the kings of Israel?
GILL, "Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not
written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? See 1Ki_16:5.
PETT, "1 Kings 16:14
‘ ow the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book
of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?’
Elah’s acts during his short reign could also be found in the official annals of the
kings of Israel. While the account may appear a little repetitive we should notice
that the sin was getting deeper and deeper. Israel were receiving the kings that they
deserved, and were suffering accordingly. It is a reminder to us that unless we are
very prayerful and thoughtful we too can get the leaders that we deserve. The price
of freedom is eternal vigilance.
Zimri King of Israel

15 In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of
Judah, Zimri reigned in Tirzah seven days. The
army was encamped near Gibbethon, a Philistine
town.
CLARKE, "The people were encamped against Gibbethon - It appears that, at
this time, the Israelites had war with the Philistines, and were now besieging Gibbethon,
one of their cities. This army, hearing that Zimri had rebelled and killed Elah, made
Omri, their general, king, who immediately raised the siege of Gibbethon, and went to
attack Zimri in the royal city of Tirzah; who, finding his affairs desperate, chose rather to
consume himself in his palace than to fall into the hands of his enemies.
GILL, "In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri reign
seven days in Tirzah, &c. Until the army under Omri came and took the palace, and
destroyed him:
and the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belongeth to the
Philistines; it was besieged in Nadab's time, but upon his death, by Baasha, the siege
was raised; or however, if then taken, it was recovered by the Philistines, and now
besieged again by the Israelites, see 1Ki_15:27.
HE RY, "III. Execution done at last. Baasha's son Elah, like Jeroboam's son Nadab,
reigned two years, and then was slain by Zimri, one of his own soldiers, as Nadab was by
Baasha; so like was his house made to that of Jeroboam, as was threatened, 1Ki_16:3.
Because his idolatry was like his, and one of the sins for which God contended with him
being the destruction of Jeroboam's family, the more the destruction of his own
resembled that, the nearer did the punishment resemble the sin, as face answers to face
in a glass.
1. As then, so now, the king himself was first slain, but Elah fell more ingloriously than
Nadab. Nadab was slain in the field of action and honour, he and his army then
besieging Gibbethon (1Ki_15:27); but the siege being then raised upon that disaster, and
the city remaining still in the Philistines' hands, the army of Israel was now renewing the
attempt (1Ki_16:15) and Elah should have been with them to command in chief, but he
loved his own ease and safety better than his honour or duty, or the public good, and
therefore staid behind to take his pleasure; and, when he was drinking himself drunk in
his servant's house, Zimri killed him, 1Ki_16:9, 1Ki_16:10. Let it be a warning to
drunkards, especially to those who designedly drink themselves drunk, that they know
not but death may surprise them in that condition. (1.) Death comes easily upon men

when they are drunk. Besides the chronic diseases which men frequently bring
themselves into by hard drinking, and which cut them off in the midst of their days, men
in that condition are more easily overcome by an enemy, as Amnon by Absalom, and are
liable to more bad accidents, being unable to help themselves, (2.) Death comes terribly
upon men in that condition. Finding them in the act of sin, and incapacitated for any act
of devotion, that day comes upon them unawares (Luk_21:34), like a thief.
2. 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. The first thing Zimri did was to slay all the
house of Baasha; thus he held by cruelty what he got by treason. His cruelty seems to
have extended further than Baasha's did against the house of Jeroboam, for he left to
Elah none of his kinsfolks or friends (1Ki_16:11), none of his avengers (so the word is),
none that were likely to avenge his death; yet divine justice soon avenged it so
remarkably that it was used as a proverb long after, Had Zimri peace who slew his
master? 2Ki_9:31. In this, (1.) The word of God was fulfilled, 1Ki_16:12. (2.) The sins of
Baasha and Elah were reckoned for, with which they provoked God by their vanities,
1Ki_16:13. Their idols are called their vanities, for they cannot profit nor help. Miserable
are those whose deities are vanities.
JAMISO 15-18, "did Zimri reign seven days — The news of his conspiracy soon
spread, and the army having proclaimed their general, Omri, king, that officer
immediately raised the siege at Gibbethon and marched directly against the capital in
which the usurper had established himself. Zimri soon saw that he was not in
circumstances to hold out against all the forces of the kingdom; so, shutting himself up
in the palace, he set it on fire, and, like Sardanapalus, chose to perish himself and reduce
all to ruin, rather than that the palace and royal treasures should fall into the hands of
his successful rival. The seven days’ reign may refer either to the brief duration of his
royal authority, or the period in which he enjoyed unmolested tranquillity in the palace.
K&D, "The Reign of Zimri lasted only seven days. As soon as the people of war (‫ם‬ ָ‫ע‬ ָ‫,)ה‬
who were besieging Gibbethon (see at 1Ki_15:27), heard of his conspiracy, his
usurpation of the throne, and his murderous deeds, they proclaimed Omri king in the
camp of the military commanders, and he at once, with all Israel, i.e., all the army, raised
the siege of Gibbethon, to lay siege to Thirza. Now when Zimri saw that the city was
taken, he went into the castle of the royal palace and burned the king's house over his
own head, as Sardanapalus did, according to Justin (Hist. i. 3). ‫ּון‬‫מ‬ ְ‫ר‬ፍ does not mean
harem (Ewald), but the high castle (from ‫ם‬ ַ‫ר‬ፎ, to be high); here and in 2Ki_15:25, the
citadel of the royal palace, which consisted of several buildings.
BE SO , "1 Kings 16:15-17. The people were encamped against Gibbethon —
Which had been besieged many years before, but, it seems, was then relieved or
afterward recovered by the Philistines, while the Israelites were in a distracted
condition through civil broils and contentions. It was, however, now again invested.
The people heard say, Zimri has conspired, &c. — otice was soon brought to the

camp that Zimri had slain their king, and set up himself in Tirzah, the royal city;
whereupon they chose Omri king in the camp, that they might, without delay,
avenge the death of Elah upon Zimri. Thus proud aspiring men ruin one another,
and involve others in ruin. Omri went up from Gibbethon — The siege of which was
instantly quitted. And all Israel with him — All the army that were at the siege.
COFFMA , "This paragraph concludes the record of Zimri's brief reign. The
tenderness with which some writers discuss these wicked kings amazes us. Snaith
tells us that Zimri "assassinated Elah while he was feasting"![11] Also, Matheney
spoke of extra-Biblical sources which give "a more just estimate of Omri's
activities,"[12] bemoaning the fact, as he called it, that, "It is a testimony of the
religious bias of the historian that such a short section (on Omri) is given to such a
talented king"![13] It is the viewpoint of this writer that the Biblical record is
truthful and absolutely unbiased, and as for that "feasting" of Elah, that is the most
polite term we have ever heard for "drinking himself drunk'! It occurs to this writer
that the "bias" is not in the Bible but in such critics!
"Wherefore the people ... made Omri ... king" (1 Kings 16:16). There were two
excellent reasons why the army of Israel would not accept Zimri as king: (1) He was
a subordinate commander to Omri; and (2) "His murder of a host of Elah's friends,
along with Elah, and all of their sons must have made him a host of bitter
enemies."[14] The army's elevation of their commander to the kingship is a
reminder of the way it was during the period of the Phantom Emperors of Rome. As
soon as any king died, the army promptly made the head of the troops king.
"The death of Zimri is another illustration of the curse that was upon the monarchs
of Israel on account of their persistence in the sins of Jeroboam."[15]
Zimri's suicide is one of only four that are mentioned in the Bible; for a list of these
see my comment under Ahithophel in 2 Samuel 17:23.
"For his sins" (1 Kings 16:19). "This sets forth the ultimate ground of Zimri's
terribly swift end. Divine judgment had been visited upon him."[16]
GUZIK, "4. (1 Kings 16:15-20) The seven-day reign of Zimri.
In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri had reigned in Tirzah seven
days. And the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the
Philistines. ow the people who were encamped heard it said, “Zimri has conspired
and also has killed the king.” So all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army,
king over Israel that day in the camp. Then Omri and all Israel with him went up
from Gibbethon, and they besieged Tirzah. And it happened, when Zimri saw that
the city was taken, that he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the
king’s house down upon himself with fire, and died, because of the sins which he
had committed in doing evil in the sight of the LORD, in walking in the way of

Jeroboam, and in his sin which he had committed to make Israel sin. ow the rest of
the acts of Zimri, and the treason he committed, are they not written in the book of
the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
a. Zimri had reigned in Tirzah seven days: The man who assassinated Elah, the son
of Baasha, did not enjoy a blessed reign. His end came soon.
b. So all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day:
This shows that the democratic influence in Israel was greater than many think. The
people - especially it would seem the army - simply did not want Zimri to reign as
king over them. They therefore rejected his authority and appointed Omri, the
commander of the army, king over Israel.
c. When Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the citadel of the king’s
house and burned the king’s house down upon himself with fire, and died, because
of the sins which he had committed: Zimri is one of the few suicides in the Bible,
along with Samson (Judges 9:54), Saul (1 Samuel 31:4) and Ahithophel (2 Samuel
17:23).
i. The Bible never approves of suicide. It is sin; it is the sin of self-murder. Yet, we
are wrong if we regard it as the unforgivable sin, and anyone who does commit
suicide has given in to the lies and deceptions of Satan, whose purpose is to kill and
destroy (John 10:10).
ii. “Suicide is always the ultimate action of cowardice. In the case of Saul, and in
many similar cases, it is perfectly natural; but let it never be glorified as heroic. It is
the last resort of the man who dare not stand up to life.” (Morgan)
d. In walking in the way of Jeroboam: Zimri only reigned seven days, but in those
days he walked in the way of Jeroboam. God allowed many of the wicked kings of
Israel to reign much longer than this, but He was under no obligation to do so. God
is within His rights to bring judgment sooner rather than later.
PETT, "Verses 15-20
The Reign Of Zimri King Of Israel c. 884 BC (1 Kings 16:15-20).
As we have already seen Zimri’s reign was short and brief, but it was found in the
annals of the kings of Israel and so it is included. His excessive bloodbath may have
been what enraged the army against him, or they may have considered that he was
too junior in command to be allowed to be king. Thus while still in their camp they
immediately appointed their own representative to be king, Omri, who was
commander of the hosts of Israel.
Omri then went and besieged Zimri in Tirzah, and when Zimri saw that the city was
quickly taken he went into the king’s own house and burnt it around him, dying as a
result. It was a fitting end for a fiery man. And it was the end that he earned

because of the support that he had throughout his adult life given for the false
worship of Jeroboam, and which he had intended to continue, and for all his sins.
The point here was that his rebellion had had nothing to do with seeking to re-
establish the true worship of YHWH. He had only had himself in mind.
Analysis.
a In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri reign seven
days in Tirzah (1 Kings 16:15 a).
b ow the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the
Philistines. And the people who were encamped heard it said that, “Zimri has
conspired, and has also smitten the king” (1 Kings 16:15-16 a).
c For which reason all Israel made Omri, the captain of the host, king over
Israel that day in the camp, and Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with
him, and they besieged Tirzah (1 Kings 1:16-17).
b And it came about, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into
the castle of the king’s house, and burnt the king’s house over him with fire, and
died, for his sins which he sinned in doing that which was evil in the sight of
YHWH, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, to make
Israel to sin (1 Kings 16:18-19).
a ow the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his treason that he wrought, are they
not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? (1 Kings 16:20).
ote that in ‘a’ we learn of Zimri’s reign and in the parallel are referred for details
to the annals of the kings of Israel. In ‘b’ news came to the camp that Zimri had
conspired and slain the king, and in the parallel we are informed of what the
consequences were for him in that he then slew himself. Centrally in ‘c’ we learn of
the armies reaction in making Omri king and besieging Zimri in Tirzah.
1 Kings 16:15 a ‘In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri
reign seven days in Tirzah.’
It is noteworthy here that it does not say that he reigned ‘over Israel’. The validity
of his claim to kingship is not acknowledged. And his reign only lasted for seven
days. The name ‘Zimri’ is probably Aramaean (compare Zimri-lim of Mari) and he
may well not have been a true Israelite, but a mercenary commander over half
Israel’s chariot force. We are not informed about his antecedents.
1 Kings 16:15 b ‘ ow the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged
to the Philistines.’
It was when he was encamped before the same Gibbethon that adab the son of
Jeroboam had been assassinated by Baasha (1 Kings 15:27). But unlike Elah at least
adab had been there with his men, not enjoying drunken frivolities in his capital
city while others fought on his behalf.
PULPIT, "In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri reign

[The same word elsewhere translated in A.V. began to reign. It is really an aorist =
succeeded to the throne] seven days in Tirzah. And the people were encamped [Heb.
encamping] against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Phistines. [It has at first sight
a suspicious look that two kings of Israel, within an interval of about twenty-five
years, should have been slain by conspirators during a siege of this place. But when
the narrative is examined, its probability and consistency become at once apparent.
Stanley assumes that the siege lasted over the whole of this period, but it is more
likely that when Baasha found himself king, he discovered that he had domestic
matters enough upon his hands, without a foreign war, and so he raised the siege. It
is very probable that he feared opposition such as Zimri and Omri subsequently
experienced. And his wars with Asa and with Syria may well have prevented his
renewing the undertaking. On the accession of Elah, however, with the usual
ambition and impetuosity of youth, it was decided to recommence the siege and to
win this city back for Israel. But the fate of adab, and the consequent ill omen
attaching to the place would not be forgotten, and this, as well as his voluptuous
habits, may have deterred the fainéant Elah from besieging it in person, while the
conspiracy which marked the former siege may at the same time have suggested to
Zimri and others the thought of conspiring against Elah.]
16 When the Israelites in the camp heard that
Zimri had plotted against the king and murdered
him, they proclaimed Omri, the commander of the
army, king over Israel that very day there in the
camp.
BAR ES, "All Israel made Omri, the captain of the host, king - This passage
of history recalls the favorite practice of the Roman armies under the Empire, which,
when they heard of the assassination of an emperor at Rome, were accustomed to invest
their own commander with the purple.
GILL, "And the people that were encamped heard say, Zimri hath
conspired, and hath also slain the king,.... Tidings came to the army of what he
had done, which was displeasing to them:
wherefore all Israel made Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that
day in the camp; that is, all Israel that were in the army proclaimed Omri, their

general, king; just as the Roman army declared Vespasian, their general, emperor of
Rome, and as several of the emperors were chosen.
HE RY, "Solomon observes (Pro_28:2) that for the transgression of a land many
were the princes thereof (so it was here in Israel), but by a man of understanding the
state thereof shall be prolonged - so it was with Judah at the same time under Asa.
When men forsake God they are out of the way of rest and establishment. Zimri, and
Tibni, and Omri, are here striving for the crown. Proud aspiring men ruin one another,
and involve others in the ruin. These confusions end in the settlement of Omri; we must
therefore take him along with us through this part of the story.
I. How he was chosen, as the Roman emperors often were, by the army in the field,
now encamped before Gibbethon. Notice was soon brought thither that Zimri had slain
their king (1Ki_16:16) and set up himself in Tirzah, the royal city, whereupon they chose
Omri king in the camp, that they might without delay avenge the death of Elah upon
Zimri. Though he was idle and intemperate, yet he was their king, and they would not
tamely submit to his murderer, nor let the treason go unpunished. They did not attempt
to avenge the death of Nadab upon Baasha, perhaps because the house of Baasha had
ruled with more gentleness than the house of Jeroboam; but Zimri shall feel the
resentments of the provoked army. The siege of Gibbethon is quitted (Philistines are
sure to gain when Israelites quarrel) and Zimri is prosecuted.
II. How he conquered Zimri, who is said to have reigned seven days (1Ki_16:15), so
long before Omri was proclaimed king and himself proclaimed traitor; but we may
suppose it was a longer time before he died, for he continued long enough to show his
inclination to the way of Jeroboam, and to make himself obnoxious to the justice of God
by supporting his idolatry, 1Ki_16:19. Tirzah was a beautiful city, but not fortified, so
that Omri soon made himself master of it (1Ki_16:17), forced Zimri into the palace,
which being unable to defend, and yet unwilling to surrender, he burnt, and himself in it,
1Ki_16:18. Unwilling that his rival should ever enjoy that sumptuous palace, he burnt it;
and fearing that if he fell into the hands of the army, either alive or dead, he should be
ignominiously treated, he burnt himself in it. See what desperate practices men's
wickedness sometimes brings them to, and how it hurries them into their own ruin; see
the disposition of incendiaries, who set palaces and kingdoms on fire, though they are
themselves in danger of perishing in the flame.
ELLICOTT, "(16) Made Omri . . . king.—This exaltation of Omri, as a matter of
course, shows how entirely the kingdom of Israel had become the prize of the sword.
By a curious coincidence (see 1 Kings 15:27) the dynasty of Baasha had been
founded in the camp before the same city of Gibbethon. Zimri’s conspiracy appears
to have been hastily planned, with no provision of adequate means of support; for
Tirzah is taken at once.
PARKER, "Elah, Zimri, and Arza
1 Kings 16:16
There was once a king in Israel called Elah. He reigned over Israel in Tirzah two
years. He had a servant called Zimri who was a captain of his chariots. Zimri was a

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