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16 The Lord’s message against Baasha came to[a] Jehu son of Hanani: “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] 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. 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.”

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] Baasha passed away[i] and was buried in Tirzah. His son Elah replaced him as king. 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]

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 16:1 tc LXX “by the hand of,” meaning “through.”
  2. 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.
  3. 1 Kings 16:2 tn Heb “walked in the way of Jeroboam.”
  4. 1 Kings 16:2 tn Heb “angering me by their sins.”
  5. 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.
  6. 1 Kings 16:3 tc The Old Greek, Syriac Peshitta, and some mss of the Targum have here “his house.”
  7. 1 Kings 16:4 tn Heb “the ones belonging to Baasha.”
  8. 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?”
  9. 1 Kings 16:6 tn Heb “lay down with his fathers.”
  10. 1 Kings 16:7 tn Heb “house,” by extension meaning the members of one’s household or a dynasty.
  11. 1 Kings 16:7 tn Heb “house.”
  12. 1 Kings 16:7 tn Heb “he struck him down” or “…it down.”

16 The word of the Lord came to Jehu son of Hanani against Baasha, saying,(A) “Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have caused my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins,(B) therefore I will consume Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat.(C) Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the dogs shall eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the air shall eat.”(D)

Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, what he did, and his power, are they not written in the Book of the Annals of the Kings of Israel?(E) Baasha slept with his ancestors and was buried at Tirzah, and his son Elah succeeded him.(F) Moreover, the word of the Lord came by the prophet Jehu son of Hanani against Baasha and his house, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and also because he destroyed it.(G)

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