1 Kings 16:3-5

16:3 So I am ready to burn up ¹  Baasha and his family, and make your family ²  like the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat. 16:4 Dogs will eat the members of Baasha’s family ³  who die in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat the ones who die in the country.”

16:5 The rest of the events of Baasha’s reign, including his accomplishments and successes, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel. ⁴ 

[16:3]  ¹ tn The traditional view understands the verb בָּעַר (ba’ar) to mean “burn.” However, an alternate view takes בָּעַר (ba’ar) as a homonym meaning “sweep away” (HALOT 146 s.v. II בער). In this case one might translate, “I am ready to sweep away Baasha and his family.” Either metaphor emphasizes the thorough and destructive nature of the coming judgment.

[16:3]  ² tc The Old Greek, Syriac Peshitta, and some mss of the Targum have here “his house.”

[16:4]  ³ tn Heb “the ones belonging to Baasha.”

[16:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Baasha, and that which he did and his strength, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”