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Texts -- 1 Kings 16:21-34 (NET)

Context
Omri’s Reign over Israel
16:21 At that time the people of Israel were divided in their loyalties. Half the people supported Tibni son of Ginath and wanted to make him king ; the other half supported Omri . 16:22 Omri’s supporters were stronger than those who supported Tibni son of Ginath . Tibni died ; Omri became king . 16:23 In the thirty-first year of Asa’s reign over Judah , Omri became king over Israel . He ruled for twelve years , six of them in Tirzah . 16:24 He purchased the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver . He launched a construction project there and named the city he built after Shemer , the former owner of the hill of Samaria . 16:25 Omri did more evil in the sight of the Lord than all who were before him. 16:26 He followed in the footsteps of Jeroboam son of Nebat and encouraged Israel to sin ; they angered the Lord God of Israel with their worthless idols . 16:27 The rest of the events of Omri’s reign, including his accomplishments and successes , are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel . 16:28 Omri passed away and was buried in Samaria . His son Ahab replaced him as king .
Ahab Promotes Idolatry
16:29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa’s reign over Judah , Omri’s son Ahab became king over Israel . Ahab son of Omri ruled over Israel for twenty-two years in Samaria . 16:30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the sight of the Lord than all who were before him. 16:31 As if following in the sinful footsteps of Jeroboam son of Nebat were not bad enough, he married Jezebel the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians . Then he worshiped and bowed to Baal . 16:32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal he had built in Samaria . 16:33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole ; he did more to anger the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him. 16:34 During Ahab’s reign, Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho . Abiram , his firstborn son , died when he laid the foundation ; Segub , his youngest son, died when he erected its gates , just as the Lord had warned through Joshua son of Nun .

Pericope

NET

Bible Dictionary

  • Omri

    [ebd] servant of Jehovah. When Elah was murdered by Zimri at Tirzah (1 Kings 16:15-27), Omri, his captain, was made king (B.C. 931). For four years there was continued opposition to his reign, Tibni, another claimant to the throne...
    [isbe] OMRI - om'-ri (`omri; Septuagint Ambri; Assyrian "Chumri" and "Chumria"): (1) The 6th king of Northern Israel, and founder of the IIIrd Dynasty which reigned for nearly 50 years. Omri reigned 12 years, circa 887-876 BC. The ...
    [smith] (pupil of Jehovah). Originally "captain of the host" to Elah, was afterward himself king of Israel, and founder of the third dynasty. (B.C. 926.) Omri was engaged in the siege of Gibbethon situated in the tribe of Dan, which...
    [nave] OMRI 1. King of Israel. Was commander of the army of Israel, and was proclaimed king by the army upon news of assassination of King Elah, 1 Kin. 16:16. Defeats his rival, Tibni, and establishes himself, 1 Kin. 16:17-22. Su...

  • Ahab

    [ebd] father's brother. (1.) The son of Omri, whom he succeeded as the seventh king of Israel. His history is recorded in 1 Kings 16-22. His wife was Jezebel (q.v.), who exercised a very evil influence over him. To the calf-worshi...
    [isbe] AHAB - a'-hab ('ach'abh, Assyrian a-cha-ab-bu; Septuagint Achaab, but Jer 29:21 f, Achiab, which, in analogy with '-h-y-m-l-k, (')-h-y-'-l, etc., indicates an original 'achi'abh, meaning "the father is my brother"): The comp...
    [nave] AHAB 1. King of Israel, 1 Kin. 16:29. Marries Jezebel, 1 Kin. 16:31. Idolatry of, 1 Kin. 16:30-33; 18:18, 19; 21:25, 26; other wickedness of, 2 Kin. 3:2; 2 Chr. 21:6; 22:3, 4; Mic. 6:16. Reproved by Elijah; assembles the ...

  • Baasha

    [ebd] bravery, the third king of the separate kingdom of Israel, and founder of its second dynasty (1 Kings 15; 16; 2 Chr. 16:1-6). He was the son of Ahijah of the tribe of Issachar. The city of Tirzah he made the capital of his k...

  • ISRAEL, HISTORY OF, 3

    [isbe] ISRAEL, HISTORY OF, 3 - V. Period of the Separated Kingdoms. 1. Contrasts and Vicissitudes of the Kingdoms: The two separated kingdoms differed materially. The kingdom of Ephraim was the more powerful of the two. It embraced...

  • Baal

    [ebd] lord. (1.) The name appropriated to the principal male god of the Phoenicians. It is found in several places in the plural BAALIM (Judg. 2:11; 10:10; 1 Kings 18:18; Jer. 2:23; Hos. 2:17). Baal is identified with Molech (Jer....
    [smith] the supreme male divinity of the Phoenician and Canaanitish nations, as Ashtoreth was their supreme female divinity. Some suppose Baal to correspond to the sun and Ashtoreth to the moon; others that Baal was Jupiter and Ashto...
    [nave] BAAL 1. An idol of the Phoenicians, god of the sun. Wickedly worshiped by the Israelites in the time of the judges, Judg. 2:10-23; 1 Sam. 7:3, 4; by the kingdom of Israel, 2 Kin. 17:16; Jer. 23:13; Hos. 1; 2; 13:1; under Aha...

  • Rulers

    [nave] RULERS Appointed and removed by God. See: Government, God in. Chastised, Dan. 4. See: Nation. Monarchical, See: Kings. Patriarchal, Gen. 27:29, 37. Instances of Nimrod, Gen. 10:8-10. Abraham, Gen. 14:13-24; 17:6; 21:2...

  • Samaria

    [ebd] a watch-mountain or a watch-tower. In the heart of the mountains of Israel, a few miles north-west of Shechem, stands the "hill of Shomeron," a solitary mountain, a great "mamelon." It is an oblong hill, with steep but not i...
    [smith] (watch mountain). This city is situated 30 miles north of Jerusalem and about six miles to the northwest of Shechem, in a wide basin-shaped valley, six miles in diameter, encircled with high hills, almost on the edge of the g...
    [nave] SAMARIA 1. City of, built by Omri, 1 Kin. 16:24. Capital of the kingdom of the ten tribes, 1 Kin. 16:29; 22:51; 2 Kin. 13:1, 10; 15:8. Besieged by Ben-hadad, 1 Kin. 20; 2 Kin. 6:24-33; 7. The king of Syria is led into, by...

  • Tibni

    [ebd] building of Jehovah, the son of Ginath, a man of some position, whom a considerable number of the people chose as monarch. For the period of four years he contended for the throne with Omri (1 Kings 16:21, 22), who at length...
    [isbe] TIBNI - tib'-ni (tibhni; Codex Vaticanus Thamnei, Codex Alexandrinus Thamni, Lucian Thabennei): A rival of Omri for the throne of Israel after the death of Zimri (1 Ki 16:21 f). This is the only reference to Tibni that has c...
    [smith] (intelligent). After Zimri had burnt himself in his palace, there was a division in the northern kingdom, half of the people following Tibni the son of Ginath, and half following Omri. (1 Kings 16:21,22) Omri was the choic...
    [nave] TIBNI, chosen by half of Israel to be king; death of, 1 Kin. 16:21, 22.

  • ELIJAH

    [isbe] ELIJAH - e-li'-ja ('eliyahu or (4 times) 'eliyah, "Yah is God"; Septuagint Eleiou, New Testament Eleias or Elias, the King James Version of New Testament Elias): I. THE WORKS OF ELIJAH 1. The Judgment of Drought 2. The Ordea...

  • Ginath

    [isbe] GINATH - gi'-nath (ginath): Father of Tibni, the unsuccessful rival of Omri (1 Ki 16:21,22).
    [smith] (protection), father of Tibni. (1 Kings 16:21,22)
    [nave] GINATH, father of Tibni, 1 Kin. 16:21, 22.

  • Jezebel

    [ebd] chaste, the daughter of Ethbaal, the king of the Zidonians, and the wife of Ahab, the king of Israel (1 Kings 16:31). This was the "first time that a king of Israel had allied himself by marriage with a heathen princess; and...
    [isbe] JEZEBEL - jez'-e-bel 'izebhel, "unexalted," "unhusbanded" (?); Iezabel; see BDB; 1 Ki 16:31; 18:4,13,19; 19:1,2; 21:5 ff; 2 Ki 9:7 ff,30 ff; Rev 2:20): Daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Zidonians, i.e. Phoenicians, and queen ...
    [smith] (chaste), wife of Ahab king of Israel. (B.C. 883.) She was a Phoenician princess, daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians. In her hands her husband became a mere puppet. (1 Kings 21:25) The first effect of her influence ...
    [nave] JEZEBEL Daughter of Ethbaal, a Sidonian, and wife of Ahab, 1 Kin. 16:31. Was an idolater and persecuted the prophets of God, 1 Kin. 18:4, 13, 19; 2 Kin. 3:2, 13; 9:7, 22. Vowed to kill Elijah, 1 Kin. 19:1-3. Wickedly acc...

  • Abiram

    [ebd] father of height; i.e., "proud." (1.) One of the sons of Eliab, who joined Korah in the conspiracy against Moses and Aaron. He and all the conspirators, with their families and possessions (except the children of Korah), wer...
    [isbe] ABIRAM - a-bi'-ram ('abhiram, "exalted father," or, "my father is an exalted one"): (1) The son of Eliab the son of Pallu the son of Reuben (Nu 26:5 ff; Dt 11:6). In company with his brother Dathan and Korah the Levite and o...
    [smith] A Reubenite, son of Eliab, who with Korah, a Levite, organized a conspiracy against Moses and Aaron. (Numbers 16:1) ... [For details, see KORAH] (B.C. 1490.) Eldest son of Hiel the bethelite, who died when his father laid th...
    [nave] ABIRAM 1. An Israelite who conspired with Dathan against Moses and Aaron, Num. 16; 26:9, 10; Deut. 11:6; Psa. 106:17. 2. Son of Hiel, 1 Kin. 16:34.

  • Hiel

    [ebd] life of (i.e., from) God, a native of Bethel, who built (i.e., fortified) Jericho some seven hundred years after its destruction by the Israelites. There fell on him for such an act the imprecation of Joshua (6:26). He laid ...
    [isbe] HIEL - hi'-el (chi'el; Achiel): A Bethelite who according to 1 Ki 16:34 rebuilt Jericho, and in fulfillment of a curse pronounced by Joshua (Josh 6:26) sacrificed his two sons. This seems to have been a custom prevalent amon...
    [smith] (God liveth), a native of Bethel, who rebuilt Jericho in the reign of Ahab, (1 Kings 16:34) (B.C. after 915), and in whom was fulfilled the curse pronounced by Joshua, (Joshua 6:26) five hundred years before.
    [nave] HIEL Rebuilder of Jericho, 1 Kin. 16:34. In him was fulfilled the curse pronounced by Joshua, Josh. 6:26.

  • ISRAEL, KINGDOM OF

    [ebd] (B.C. 975-B.C. 722). Soon after the death of Solomon, Ahijah's prophecy (1 Kings 11:31-35) was fulfilled, and the kingdom was rent in twain. Rehoboam, the son and successor of Solomon, was scarcely seated on his throne when ...
    [isbe] ISRAEL, KINGDOM OF - || I. THE FIRST PERIOD 1. The Two Kingdoms 2. The Ist Dynasty 3. The IInd Dynasty 4. Civil War II. PERIOD OF THE SYRIAN WARS 1. The IIIrd Dynasty 2. World-Politics 3. Battle of Karkar 4. Loss of Territor...
    [smith] I. the kingdom. --The prophet Ahijah of Shiloh, who was commissioned in the latter days of Solomon to announce the division of the kingdom, left one tribe (Judah) to the house of David, and assigned ten to Jeroboam. (1 Kin...

  • Jericho

    [ebd] place of fragrance, a fenced city in the midst of a vast grove of palm trees, in the plain of Jordan, over against the place where that river was crossed by the Israelites (Josh. 3:16). Its site was near the 'Ain es-Sultan, ...
    [isbe] JERICHO - jer'-i-ko (the word occurs in two forms. In the Pentateuch, in 2 Ki 25:5 and in Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles it is written yerecho; yericho, elsewhere): In 1 Ki 16:34 the final Hebrew letter is he (h), instead of waw...
    [smith] (place of fragrance), a city of high antiquity, situated in a plain traversed by the Jordan, and exactly over against where that river was crossed by the Israelites under Joshua. (Joshua 3:16) It was five miles west of the Jo...
    [nave] JERICHO 1. A city E. of Jerusalem and near the Jordan, Num. 22:1; 26:3; Deut. 34:1. Called the City of Palm Trees, Deut. 34:3. Situation of, pleasant, 2 Kin. 2:19. Rehab the harlot lived in, Josh. 2; Heb. 11:31. Joshua s...

  • APOSTASY; APOSTATE

    [isbe] APOSTASY; APOSTATE - a-pos'-ta-si, a-pos'-tat (he apostasia, "a standing away from"): I.e. a falling away, a withdrawal, a defection. Not found in the English Versions of the Bible, but used twice in the New Testament, in th...

  • Ethbaal

    [isbe] ETHBAAL - eth-ba'-al, eth'-ba-al ('ethba`al, "with Baal"): "King of the Sidonians," and father of Jezebel whom Ahab king of Israel took to wife (1 Ki 16:31).
    [smith] (with Baal), king of Sidon and father of Jezebel. (1 Kings 16:31) Josephus represents him as a king of the Tyrians as well as of the Sidonians. We may thus identify him with Eithobalus, who, after having assassinated Phele...
    [nave] ETHBAAL, king of Sidon, 1 Kin. 16:31.

  • SAMARIA, CITY OF

    [isbe] SAMARIA, CITY OF - sa-ma'-ri-a, (shomeron; Samareia, Semeron, and other forms): (1) Shechem was the first capital of the Northern Kingdom (1 Ki 12:25). Jeroboam seems later to have removed the royal residence to Tirzah (1 Ki...

  • Shemer

    [isbe] SHEMER - she'-mer (shemer; Semer, Lucian, Semmer): (1) The owner of the hill which Omri bought and which became the site of Samaria (1 Ki 16:24, shomeron). Shemer may be an ancient clan name. The fact, however, that the moun...
    [smith] (preserved), the owner of the hill on which the city of Samaria was built. (1 Kings 16:24) (B.C. 917.) [SAMARIA]
    [nave] SHEMER, owner of the site on which Samaria was built, 1 Kin. 16:24.

  • PHOENICIA; PHOENICIANS

    [isbe] PHOENICIA; PHOENICIANS - fe-nish'-i-a, fe-nish'-anz: 1. The Land 2. The Colonies 3. The People 4. Arts and Manufactures 5. Commerce and Trade 6. Language and Culture 7. Religion 8. History LITERATURE 1. The Land: The term "P...
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Questions

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • 5:13-15 "Despite Joshua's long military experience he had never led an attack on a fortified city that was prepared for a long siege. In fact, of all the walled cities in Palestine, Jericho was probably the most invincible. T...
  • The writer referred to Canaan as "the land of the sons of Israel"first here in Scripture (v. 22). The Anakim were the mighty warriors that the 10 spies had feared (Num. 13:28). Israel destroyed most of these."The hardening of...
  • David proceeded to offer sacrifices in response to Gad's instructions (v. 18). David needed to commit himself again to God (the burnt offering) and to renew his fellowship with God (the peace offering, v. 25). God instructed ...
  • I. The reign of Solomon chs. 1-11A. Solomon's succession to David's throne 1:1-2:121. David's declining health 1:1-42. Adonijah's attempt to seize the throne 1:5-533. David's charge to Solomon 2:1-94. David's death 2:10-12B. ...
  • The second major part of the Book of Kings records the histories of the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.123During this era of 209 years (931-722 B.C.) the two kingdoms experienced differing relati...
  • During its history the Northern Kingdom had three capitals: first Shechem (v. 25), then Tirzah (14:17; 15:33), and finally Samaria (16:23-24). Perhaps the king strengthened Penuel in west-central Gilead as a Transjordanian pr...
  • Controversy over who should succeed to Israel's throne raged for six years (885-880 B.C.) in Israel and threatened to consume the nation. Civil war followed Zimri's death (vv. 21-22). Omri finally overpowered Tibni and probab...
  • Verses 30 and 33 bracket and set forth Ahab's unusual wickedness with special emphasis. The writer had just written that Omri was the worst king so far (v. 25), but now he said Ahab exceeded him in wickedness. For Ahab, the f...
  • God had a very unusual ministry for Elijah to perform in which he would stand alone against hundreds of opponents (18:16-40). This section reveals how the Lord prepared him for it.The site of Zarephath was between Tyre and Si...
  • Again God told Elijah to "go"(v. 18; cf. 17:3, 9; 18:1; 19:15). As a faithful servant, he went to confront the king again.226Ahab was not in Samaria then (v. 18) but in Jezreel (v. 19). The mention of Samaria was evidently an...
  • Second Kings begins with Ahaziah's reign that fell during the 33-year period of Israel and Judah's alliance (874-841 B.C.; -1 Kings 16:29-2 Kings 9:29). This period in turn fits within the larger context of the divided kingdo...
  • This purge evidently took place in Samaria (1 Kings 16:32). Jehu's true religious preferences had not yet become known publicly. The Hebrew words translated "pillar"in verses 26 and 27 are not the same indicating that Jehu de...
  • Perhaps Eliphaz wanted to scare Job into repenting with these words. As before, Eliphaz's authority was his own observations (v. 17; cf. 4:8). To this he added the wisdom of their ancestors (vv. 18-19; cf. 8:8). Probably vers...
  • Tyre was the leading city of Phoenicia. The sin of the Phoenicians was the same as that of the Philistines. They had sold whole communities of people to the Edomites as slaves.25They also broke a covenant of brothers."If Isra...
  • 6:13 Because of these sins the Lord promised to make His people sick, downtrodden, and desolate.6:14 They would continue to eat, but their food would not bring them satisfaction (cf. Lev. 26:26). Their excessive accumulation ...
  • The first part of this oracle focused particularly on the true King who would come and exercise sovereignty over the nations (ch. 9). Now the emphasis changes to the people of the King, the Israelites, who will return to the ...
  • There are several connections between this section and the preceding ones that provide continuity. One is the continuation of water as a symbol (cf. 2:6; 3:5; 4:10-15). Another is the continuation of conversation in which Jes...
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