²³ In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king of Israel, and he reigned twelve years, six of them in Tirzah.^{(A) 24} He bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents^[a] of silver and built a city on the hill, calling it Samaria,^(B) after Shemer, the name of the former owner of the hill.