1 Kings 16
Complete Jewish Bible
16 The word of Adonai came to Yehu the son of Hanani against Ba‘sha: 2 “I raised you up out of the dust and made you prince over my people Isra’el. But you have lived in the same way as Yarov‘am and caused my people Isra’el to sin, so that their sinning has made me angry. 3 Therefore I will sweep away Ba‘sha and his house completely; I will make your house like the house of Yarov‘am the son of N’vat. 4 If someone from the line of Ba‘sha dies in the city, the dogs will eat him; if he dies in the countryside, the vultures will eat him.”
5 Other activities of Ba‘sha, his accomplishments and his power are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra’el. 6 Ba‘sha slept with his ancestors, and Elah his son became king in his place. 7 Through the prophet Yehu the son of Hanani the word of Adonai was proclaimed against Ba‘sha and his house both because he did so much evil from Adonai’s perspective, angering him with his actions and becoming like the house of Yarov‘am, and because he killed [Nadav].
8 It was in the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Y’hudah that Elah the son of Ba‘sha began his reign over all Isra’el in Tirtzah, and he ruled for two years. 9 His servant Zimri, commander of half of his chariots, plotted against him. Finally, one time when Elah was in Tirtzah, drinking himself senseless in the house of Artza, administrator of the palace in Tirtzah, 10 Zimri entered, struck him down and killed him. This was in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Y’hudah; Zimri then took Elah’s place as king.
11 At the beginning of his reign, as soon as he took over the throne, he killed off the entire house of Ba‘sha; he left not a single male, neither of his relatives nor of his friends. 12 Thus Zimri eliminated all the house of Ba‘sha, in keeping with the word of Adonai spoken against Ba‘sha through Yehu the prophet. This word had been spoken 13 because of all of Ba‘sha’s sins and the sins of Elah his son, which they committed and with which they made Isra’el sin, thereby angering Adonai the God of Isra’el with their worthless idols. 14 Other activities of Elah and all his accomplishments are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra’el.
15 It was in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Y’hudah that Zimri ruled for seven days in Tirtzah. At that time, the army was besieging Gib’ton, which belonged to the P’lishtim. 16 The troops in their camp heard it said that Zimri had plotted and killed the king, whereupon that same day, there in the camp, all Isra’el made ‘Omri, the commander of the army, king over Isra’el. 17 ‘Omri and all Isra’el with him withdrew from Gib’ton and besieged Tirtzah. 18 When Zimri saw that the city had been captured, he went into the citadel of the royal palace and burned down the royal palace over him, so that he died. 19 This came about because of the sins he committed in doing what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, in living as Yarov‘am had lived, and in sinning by making Isra’el sin. 20 Other activities of Zimri and his conspiracy are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra’el.
21 At this point the people of Isra’el divided into two factions. Half of the people went after Tivni the son of Ginat to make him king, while the other half followed ‘Omri. 22 But the faction supporting ‘Omri won out over that of Tivni the son of Ginat; so Tivni died, and ‘Omri became king.
23 It was in the thirty-first year of Asa king of Y’hudah that ‘Omri began his reign over Isra’el, and he ruled for twelve years, six of them in Tirtzah. 24 He bought Mount Shomron from Shemer for 132 pounds of silver. On the mountain he built a city, which he named Shomron after Shemer, who had owned the mountain.
25 ‘Omri did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, outdoing all his predecessors in wickedness; 26 for he lived entirely in the manner of Yarov‘am the son of N’vat, committing the sins with which he made Isra’el sin, thereby angering Adonai the God of Isra’el with their worthless idols. 27 Other activities of ‘Omri and the power he demonstrated are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Isra’el. 28 Then ‘Omri slept with his ancestors and was buried in Shomron, and Ach’av his son became king in his place.
29 It was in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Y’hudah that Ach’av the son of ‘Omri began his rule over Isra’el; Ach’av the son of ‘Omri ruled twenty-two years over Isra’el in Shomron. 30 Ach’av the son of ‘Omri did what was evil from Adonai’s perspective, outdoing all his predecessors [in wickedness]. 31 But then, as if it had been a trifling thing for him to commit the sins of Yarov‘am the son of N’vat, he took as his wife Izevel the daughter of Etba‘al king of the Tzidonim, and went and served Ba‘al and worshipped him. 32 He erected an altar for Ba‘al in the house of Ba‘al, which he had built in Shomron. 33 Ach’av also set up the asherah; indeed, Ach’av did more to anger Adonai the God of Isra’el, than all the kings of Isra’el preceding him. 34 It was during his time that Hi’el of Beit-El rebuilt Yericho. He laid its foundation at the cost of his firstborn son Aviram and erected its gates at the cost of his youngest son S’guv. This was in keeping with the word of Adonai spoken through Y’hoshua the son of Nun.
1 Kings 16
New English Translation
16 The Lord’s message against Baasha came to[a] Jehu son of Hanani: 2 “I raised you up[b] from the dust and made you ruler over my people Israel. Yet you followed in Jeroboam’s footsteps[c] and encouraged my people Israel to sin; their sins have made me angry.[d] 3 So I am ready to burn up[e] Baasha and his family, and make your family[f] like the family of Jeroboam son of Nebat. 4 Dogs will eat the members of Baasha’s family[g] 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.[h] 6 Baasha passed away[i] and was buried in Tirzah. His son Elah replaced him as king. 7 And so it was the Lord’s message came through the prophet Jehu son of Hanani against Baasha and his family.[j] This was because of all the evil he had done in the Lord’s view, by angering him with his deeds and becoming like Jeroboam’s dynasty,[k] and because of how he had destroyed Jeroboam’s dynasty.[l]
Elah’s Reign over Israel
8 In the twenty-sixth year of 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 in Tirzah drinking heavily[m] 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.[n] 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.[o] 12 Zimri destroyed Baasha’s entire family, in keeping with the Lord’s message which he had spoken against Baasha 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.[p]
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.[q]
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[r] in Gibbethon, which was in Philistine territory. 16 While deployed there, the army received this report:[s] “Zimri has conspired against the king and assassinated him.”[t] 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.[u] 19 This happened because of the sins he committed. He did evil in the sight of[v] the Lord and followed in Jeroboam’s footsteps and encouraged Israel to continue sinning.[w]
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.[x]
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 from Shemer for two talents[y] of silver. He launched a construction project there[z] 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[aa] the Lord than all who were before him. 26 He followed in the footsteps of Jeroboam son of Nebat and encouraged Israel to sin;[ab] they angered the Lord God of Israel with their worthless idols.[ac]
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.[ad] 28 Omri passed away[ae] and was buried in Samaria. His son Ahab replaced him as king.[af]
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. 30 Ahab son of Omri did more evil in the sight of[ag] 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.[ah] 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[ai] did more to anger the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
34 During Ahab’s reign,[aj] Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho. Abiram, his firstborn son, died when he laid the foundation;[ak] Segub, his youngest son, died when he erected its gates,[al] in keeping with the Lord’s message that he had spoken through Joshua son of Nun.[am]
Footnotes
- 1 Kings 16:1 tc LXX “by the hand of,” meaning “through.”
- 1 Kings 16:2 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.
- 1 Kings 16:2 tn Heb “walked in the way of Jeroboam.”
- 1 Kings 16:2 tn Heb “angering me by their sins.”
- 1 Kings 16:3 tn The traditional view understands the verb בָּעַר (baʿar) to mean “burn.” However, an alternate view takes בָּעַר (baʿar) 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.
- 1 Kings 16:3 tc The Old Greek, Syriac Peshitta, and some mss of the Targum have here “his house.”
- 1 Kings 16:4 tn Heb “the ones belonging to Baasha.”
- 1 Kings 16:5 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?”
- 1 Kings 16:6 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
- 1 Kings 16:7 tn Heb “house,” by extension meaning the members of one’s household or a dynasty.
- 1 Kings 16:7 tn Heb “house.”
- 1 Kings 16:7 tn Heb “he struck him down” or “…it down.”
- 1 Kings 16:9 tn Heb “while he was in Tirzah drinking and drunken.”
- 1 Kings 16:10 tn Heb “and he became king in his place.”
- 1 Kings 16:11 tn Heb “and he did not spare any belonging to him who urinate against a wall, [including] his kinsmen redeemers and his friends.”
- 1 Kings 16:13 tn Heb “angering the Lord God of Israel with their empty things.”
- 1 Kings 16:14 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?”
- 1 Kings 16:15 tn Heb “Now the people were encamped.
- 1 Kings 16:16 tn Heb “and the people who were encamped heard, saying.”
- 1 Kings 16:16 tn Heb “has conspired against and also has struck down the king.”
- 1 Kings 16:18 tn Heb “and he burned the house of the king over him with fire and he died.”
- 1 Kings 16:19 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
- 1 Kings 16:19 tn Heb “walking in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he did to make Israel sin.”
- 1 Kings 16:20 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?”
- 1 Kings 16:24 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.
- 1 Kings 16:24 tn Heb “he built up the hill.”
- 1 Kings 16:25 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
- 1 Kings 16:26 tn Heb “walked in all the way of Jeroboam son of Nebat and in his sin which he made Israel sin.”
- 1 Kings 16:26 tn Heb “angering the Lord God of Israel with their empty things.”
- 1 Kings 16:27 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?”
- 1 Kings 16:28 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
- 1 Kings 16:28 tc The Old Greek has eight additional verses here. Cf. 1 Kgs 22:41-44.
- 1 Kings 16:30 tn Heb “in the eyes of.”
- 1 Kings 16:31 tn Heb “and he went and served Baal and bowed down to him.”sn The Canaanites worshiped Baal as a storm and fertility god.
- 1 Kings 16:33 tn Heb “Ahab”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.
- 1 Kings 16:34 tn Heb “in his days.”
- 1 Kings 16:34 tn Heb “with Abiram, his firstborn, he founded it.”
- 1 Kings 16:34 tn Heb “with Segub, his youngest, he set up its gates.”
- 1 Kings 16:34 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.
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
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