1 Kings 16
16
1 Jehu son of Hanani received from the Lord this message predicting Baasha’s downfall:#tn Heb “and the word of the Lord came to Jehu son of Hanani concerning [or “against”] Baasha, saying.” 2 “I raised you up#tn The Hebrew text has “because” at the beginning of the sentence. In the Hebrew text vv. 2-3 are one sentence comprised of a causal clause giving the reason for divine punishment (v. 2) and the main clause announcing the punishment (v. 3). The translation divides this sentence for stylistic reasons. from the dust and made you ruler over my people Israel. Yet you followed in Jeroboam’s footsteps#tn Heb “walked in the way of Jeroboam.” and encouraged my people Israel to sin; their sins have made me angry.#tn Heb “angering me by their sins.” 3 So I am ready to burn up#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. Baasha and his family, and make your family#tc The Old Greek, Syriac Peshitta, and some mss of the Targum have here “his house.” like the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat. 4 Dogs will eat the members of Baasha’s family#tn Heb “the ones belonging to Baasha.” who die in the city, and the birds of the sky will eat the ones who die in the country.”
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.#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?” 6 Baasha passed away#tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.” and was buried in Tirzah. His son Elah replaced him as king. 7 The prophet Jehu son of Hanani received from the Lord the message predicting the downfall of Baasha and his family because of all the evil Baasha had done in the sight of the Lord.#tn Heb “and also through Jehu son of Hanani the word of the Lord came concerning [or “against”] Baasha and his house, and because of all the evil which he did in the eyes of the Lord.” His actions angered the Lord (including the way he had destroyed Jeroboam’s dynasty), so that his family ended up like Jeroboam’s.#tn Heb “angering him by the work of his hands, so that he was like the house of Jeroboam, and because of how he struck it down.”
Elah’s Reign over Israel
8 In the twenty-sixth year of King Asa’s reign over Judah, Baasha’s son Elah became king over Israel; he ruled in Tirzah for two years. 9 His servant Zimri, a commander of half of his chariot force, conspired against him. While Elah was drinking heavily#tn Heb “while he was drinking and drunken.” at the house of Arza, who supervised the palace in Tirzah, 10 Zimri came in and struck him dead. (This happened in the twenty-seventh year of Asa’s reign over Judah.) Zimri replaced Elah as king.#tn Heb “and he became king in his place.” 11 When he became king and occupied the throne, he killed Baasha’s entire family. He did not spare any male belonging to him; he killed his relatives and his friends.#tn Heb “and he did not spare any belonging to him who urinate against a wall, [including] his kinsmen redeemers and his friends.” 12 Zimri destroyed Baasha’s entire family, just as the Lord had predicted to Baasha#tn Heb “according to the word of the Lord which he spoke concerning [or “spoke against”]).” through Jehu the prophet. 13 This happened because of all the sins which Baasha and his son Elah committed and which they made Israel commit. They angered the Lord God of Israel with their worthless idols.#tn Heb “angering the Lord God of Israel with their empty things.”
14 The rest of the events of Elah’s reign, including all his accomplishments, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.#tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Elah, and all which he did, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
Zimri’s Reign over Israel
15 In the twenty-seventh year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Zimri became king over Israel; he ruled for seven days in Tirzah. Zimri’s revolt took place while the army was deployed#tn Heb “Now the people were encamped. in Gibbethon, which was in Philistine territory. 16 While deployed there, the army received this report:#tn Heb “and the people who were encamped heard.” “Zimri has conspired against the king and assassinated him.”#tn Heb “has conspired against and also has struck down the king.” So all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that very day in the camp. 17 Omri and all Israel went up from Gibbethon and besieged Tirzah. 18 When Zimri saw that the city was captured, he went into the fortified area of the royal palace. He set the palace on fire and died in the flames.#tn Heb “and he burned the house of the king over him with fire and he died.” 19 This happened because of the sins he committed. He did evil in the sight of#tn Heb “in the eyes of.” the Lord and followed in Jeroboam’s footsteps and encouraged Israel to continue sinning.#tn Heb “walking in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he did to make Israel sin.”
20 The rest of the events of Zimri’s reign, including the details of his revolt, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of the Kings of Israel.#tn Heb “As for the rest of the events of Zimri, and his conspiracy which he conspired, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?”
Omri’s Reign over Israel
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. 22 Omri’s supporters were stronger than those who supported Tibni son of Ginath. Tibni died; Omri became king.
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. 24 He purchased the hill of Samaria#map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1. from Shemer for two talents#tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 150 pounds of silver. of silver. He launched a construction project there#tn Heb “he built up the hill.” and named the city he built after Shemer, the former owner of the hill of Samaria. 25 Omri did more evil in the sight of#tn Heb “in the eyes of.” the Lord than all who were before him. 26 He followed in the footsteps of Jeroboam son of Nebat and encouraged Israel to sin;#tn Heb “walked in all the way of Jeroboam son of Nebat and in his sin which he made Israel sin.” they angered the Lord God of Israel with their worthless idols.#tn Heb “angering the Lord God of Israel with their empty things.”
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.#tn Heb “As for the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his strength which he demonstrated, are they not written on the scroll of the events of the days of the kings of Israel?” 28 Omri passed away#tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.” and was buried in Samaria. His son Ahab replaced him as king.#tc The Old Greek has eight additional verses here. Cf. 1 Kgs 22:41-44.
Ahab Promotes Idolatry
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.#map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1. 30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the sight of#tn Heb “in the eyes of.” the Lord than all who were before him. 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.#tn Heb “and he went and served Baal and bowed down to him.”sn The Canaanites worshiped Baal as a storm and fertility god. 32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal he had built in Samaria. 33 Ahab also made an Asherah pole; he#tn Heb “Ahab”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons. did more to anger the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
34 During Ahab’s reign,#tn Heb “in his days.” Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho.#map For location see Map5-B2; Map6-E1; Map7-E1; Map8-E3; Map10-A2; Map11-A1. Abiram, his firstborn son, died when he laid the foundation;#tn Heb “with Abiram, his firstborn, he founded it.” Segub, his youngest son, died when he erected its gates,#tn Heb “with Segub, his youngest, he set up its gates.” just as the Lord had warned#tn Heb “according to the word of the Lord which he spoke.” through Joshua son of Nun.#sn Warned through Joshua son of Nun. For the background to this statement, see Josh 6:26, where Joshua pronounces a curse on the one who dares to rebuild Jericho. Here that curse is viewed as a prophecy spoken by God through Joshua.
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1 Kings 16
16
1The LORD’s word came to Jehu, Hanani’s son, against Baasha: 2I raised you up from the dust and made you a leader over my people Israel, but you walked in Jeroboam’s ways, making my people Israel sin, making me angry with their sins. 3So look, I am about to set fire to Baasha and his household, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam, Nebat’s son. 4Dogs will eat any of Baasha’s family who die in town. Birds will eat any who die in the country.
5Now the rest of Baasha’s deeds, what he did, and his powerful acts, aren’t they written in the official records of Israel’s kings? 6Baasha lay down with his ancestors and was buried in Tirzah. His son Elah succeeded him as king.
7But the LORD’s word came through the prophet Jehu, Hanani’s son, concerning Baasha and his house. It concerned everything evil in the LORD’s eyes that Baasha had done, angering the Lord by his actions so that he would end up just like the house of Jeroboam. The message was also about how the Lord attacked Baasha.#16.7 Or and also about how he attacked him or and because Baasha had attacked Jeroboam
Elah rules Israel
8In the twenty-sixth year of Judah’s King Asa, Elah, Baasha’s son, became king over Israel. He ruled in Tirzah for two years. 9Zimri, his officer who led half the chariots, plotted against him. Elah was at Tirzah, getting drunk at the house of Arza, who had charge over the palace at Tirzah. 10Zimri came, attacked, and killed Elah in the twenty-seventh year of Judah’s King Asa. Zimri succeeded him as king.
11Once Zimri became king and sat on the throne, he attacked all of Baasha’s house. He didn’t spare anyone who urinates on a wall, whether relative or friend. 12Zimri destroyed the entire house of Baasha in agreement with the LORD’s word that had been spoken by the prophet Jehu to Baasha. 13This happened because of all Baasha’s sins, as well as the sins of his son Elah and because they caused Israel to sin. They angered Israel’s God, the LORD, with their insignificant idols. 14The rest of Elah’s deeds and all that he did, aren’t they written in the official records of Israel’s kings?
Zimri rules Israel
15In the twenty-seventh year of Judah’s King Asa, Zimri became king. He ruled in Tirzah for seven days. The army was camped at Gibbethon in Philistia. 16They heard the news: “Zimri has plotted against the king and killed him.” Right then, in the camp, the whole Israelite army made their general Omri king of Israel. 17Omri and the entire army then went up from Gibbethon and laid siege to Tirzah. 18When Zimri saw that the city was captured, he went into the fort of the royal palace and burned it down on top of himself. So he died. 19This happened because of the sins Zimri had committed by doing evil in the LORD’s eyes and by walking in Jeroboam’s ways and the sin he had done by causing Israel to sin. 20The rest of Zimri’s deeds and the plot he carried out, aren’t they written in the official records of Israel’s kings?
Omri rules Israel
21At this time the people of Israel were split in two. One half of the people followed Tibni, Ginath’s son, making him king; the other half followed Omri. 22Omri’s side was stronger than those who followed Tibni, Ginath’s son. So Tibni died and Omri became king. 23In the thirty-first year of Judah’s King Asa, Omri became king of Israel. He ruled for twelve years, six of which were in Tirzah. 24He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two kikkars of silver. He fortified the hill and named the town that he built there after Shemer, the previous owner of the hill of Samaria. 25Omri did evil in the LORD’s eyes, more evil than anyone who preceded him. 26He walked in all the ways and sins of Jeroboam, Nebat’s son, because he caused Israel to sin. They angered Israel’s God, the LORD, with their worthless idols. 27The rest of Omri’s deeds and his powerful acts, aren’t they written in the official records of Israel’s kings? 28Omri lay down with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. His son Ahab succeeded him as king.
Ahab rules Israel
29In the thirty-eighth year of Judah’s King Asa, Ahab, Omri’s son, became king of Israel. He ruled over Israel in Samaria for twenty-two years 30and did evil in the LORD’s eyes, more than anyone who preceded him. 31Ahab found it easy to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, Nebat’s son. He married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, who was the king of the Sidonians. He served and worshipped Baal. 32He made an altar for Baal in the Baal temple he had constructed in Samaria. 33Ahab also made a sacred pole#16.33 Heb asherah, perhaps an object devoted to the goddess Asherah and did more to anger the LORD, the God of Israel, than any of Israel’s kings who preceded him. 34During Ahab’s time, Hiel from Bethel rebuilt Jericho. He set up its foundations at the cost of his oldest son Abiram. He hung its gates at the cost of his youngest son Segub. This fulfilled the LORD’s word spoken through Joshua, Nun’s son.
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