For Teaching

1 Kings 16: What the Passage Says

138 claims across 34 verses, in the order the chapter makes them.

Not a sermon outline. What 1 Kings 16 says, and what its hard words meant. The reading of it is yours.

The Chapter in a Sentence

The prophet Jehu delivers the LORD's word against King Baasha of Israel, promising the same end for his family that came on the house of Jeroboam. Baasha's son Elah is killed by Zimri, who wipes out Baasha's whole family and then dies in a burning palace after seven days as king. The army makes Omri king, and after a split with Tibni's supporters Omri prevails, buys the hill of Samaria, and builds his capital there. Omri's son Ahab marries Jezebel, serves Baal, and builds an altar for him in Samaria, and in Ahab's time Hiel rebuilds Jericho at the cost of two sons.

Claim by Claim

16:1
- The word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani.
- The word of the LORD was against Baasha.
- The word of the LORD came saying the following.
16:2
- The LORD said he had raised Baasha up out of the dust.
- The LORD said he had made Baasha ruler over his people Israel.
- The LORD said Baasha had walked in the way of Jeroboam.
- The LORD said Baasha had made his people Israel to sin.
- The LORD said Israel's sins provoked him to anger.
16:3
- The LORD said he was about to sweep away Baasha and those after him.
- The LORD said he was about to sweep away Baasha's house and those after it.
- The LORD said he would make Baasha's house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
- Jeroboam was the son of Nebat.
16:4
- The LORD said the dogs would eat anyone belonging to Baasha who died in the city.
- The LORD said the birds of the sky would eat anyone belonging to Baasha who died in the field.
16:5
- There were further acts of Baasha not recounted here.
- There were things Baasha did not recounted here.
- Baasha had might.
- The rest of Baasha's acts are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
16:6
- Baasha slept with his fathers.
- Baasha was buried in Tirzah.
- Elah his son reigned in his place.
- Elah was Baasha's son.
16:7
- The word of the LORD came by the hand of the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani.
- Jehu the son of Hanani was a prophet.
- The word of the LORD was against Baasha.
- The word of the LORD was against Baasha's house.
- The word came because of all the evil Baasha did in the sight of the LORD.
- Baasha provoked the LORD to anger with the work of his hands.
- Baasha became like the house of Jeroboam.
- The word also came because Baasha struck down the house of Jeroboam.
16:8
- Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah.
- Asa was king of Judah.
- Elah was the son of Baasha.
- Elah reigned in Tirzah.
- Elah reigned two years.
16:9
- Zimri was Elah's servant.
- Zimri was captain of half Elah's chariots.
- Zimri conspired against Elah.
- Elah was in Tirzah.
- Elah was drinking himself drunk.
- Elah was in the house of Arza.
- Arza was steward over the household in Tirzah.
16:10
- Zimri went in and struck Elah.
- Zimri killed Elah.
- This happened in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah.
- Zimri reigned in Elah's place.
16:11
- When Zimri began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, he struck down all the house of Baasha.
- Zimri did not leave Baasha one male.
- Zimri did not leave any of Baasha's kinsmen.
- Zimri did not leave any of Baasha's friends.
16:12
- Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha.
- This was according to the word of the LORD spoken against Baasha.
- The LORD spoke that word by Jehu the prophet.
16:13
- This happened for all the sins of Baasha.
- This happened for the sins of Elah his son.
- Baasha and Elah sinned.
- Baasha and Elah made Israel to sin.
- They provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger with their worthless idols.
16:14
- There were further acts of Elah not recounted here.
- There were all the things Elah did not recounted here.
- The rest of Elah's acts are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
16:15
- Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah.
- This was in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah.
- The people were encamped against Gibbethon.
- Gibbethon belonged to the Philistines.
16:16
- The people that were encamped heard a report.
- The report said Zimri had conspired.
- The report said Zimri had also struck down the king.
- All Israel made Omri king over Israel that day in the camp.
- Omri was captain of the army.
16:17
- Omri went up from Gibbethon.
- All Israel went up with Omri.
- They besieged Tirzah.
16:18
- Zimri saw that the city was taken.
- Zimri went into the citadel of the king's house.
- Zimri burned the king's house down over himself with fire.
- Zimri died.
16:19
- Zimri died for his sins which he sinned.
- Zimri did evil in the sight of the LORD.
- Zimri walked in the way of Jeroboam.
- Zimri sinned a sin he committed to make Israel to sin.
16:20
- There were further acts of Zimri not recounted here.
- Zimri committed treason.
- The rest of Zimri's acts are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
16:21
- The people of Israel were then divided into two parts.
- Half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath to make him king.
- Tibni was the son of Ginath.
- Half of the people followed Omri.
16:22
- The people that followed Omri prevailed against the people that followed Tibni the son of Ginath.
- Tibni died.
- Omri reigned.
16:23
- Omri began to reign over Israel in the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah.
- Omri reigned twelve years.
- Omri reigned six years in Tirzah.
16:24
- Omri bought the hill Samaria from Shemer.
- Omri paid two talents of silver for it.
- Omri built on the hill.
- Omri called the name of the city he built Samaria.
- Omri named the city after the name of Shemer.
- Shemer was owner of the hill.
16:25
- Omri did evil in the eyes of the LORD.
- Omri did worse than all who were before him.
16:26
- Omri walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
- Omri walked in Jeroboam's sin.
- Jeroboam made Israel to sin.
- This provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger with their worthless idols.
16:27
- There were further acts of Omri not recounted here.
- Omri showed might.
- The rest of Omri's acts are written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel.
16:28
- Omri slept with his fathers.
- Omri was buried in Samaria.
- Ahab his son reigned in his place.
- Ahab was Omri's son.
16:29
- Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah.
- Ahab was the son of Omri.
- Ahab reigned over Israel in Samaria.
- Ahab reigned twenty-two years.
16:30
- Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD.
- Ahab did evil more than all who were before him.
16:31
- It was a light thing for Ahab to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
- Ahab took Jezebel to wife.
- Jezebel was the daughter of Ethbaal.
- Ethbaal was king of the Sidonians.
- Ahab went and served Baal.
- Ahab worshipped Baal.
16:32
- Ahab set up an altar for Baal.
- The altar was in the house of Baal.
- Ahab had built the house of Baal in Samaria.
16:33
- Ahab made an Asherah pole.
- Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
16:34
- In Ahab's days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho.
- Hiel laid Jericho's foundation at the cost of Abiram his firstborn.
- Abiram was Hiel's firstborn.
- Hiel set up Jericho's gates at the cost of Segub his youngest son.
- Segub was Hiel's youngest son.
- This was according to the word of the LORD.
- The LORD spoke that word by Joshua the son of Nun.
- Joshua was the son of Nun.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

16:1: Jehu son of Hanani is a prophet, not the later King Jehu who seized Israel's throne (2 Kings 9). The two are different men separated by about fifty years.
16:2: "Out of the dust" was a stock phrase for raising someone from low or powerless status. Baasha came from no royal line: he was an army officer who assassinated King Nadab and took the throne (1 Kings 15:27-28). "The way of Jeroboam" is the standard measuring stick this book uses for the northern kings. Jeroboam, Israel's first king after the kingdom split, set up golden calves at Bethel and Dan so his people would not travel to the temple in Jerusalem; every later northern king is judged by whether he kept that system going.
16:3: The family of Jeroboam had been wiped out by Baasha himself, every last member killed (1 Kings 15:29). Being made "like the house of Jeroboam" means total extinction of the line.
16:4: To be left unburied and eaten by scavengers was the worst disgrace imaginable in this culture, worse than the death itself. A proper burial in the family tomb was the minimum a person expected.
16:5: This is not the biblical books of 1-2 Chronicles. It refers to the royal annals kept by the northern kingdom's court, a record that no longer survives. The writer repeatedly points readers to it for the political and military details he is leaving out. "His might" means his military record.
16:6: "Buried with his ancestors" (King James: "slept with his fathers") is the standard formula for dying a natural death rather than being killed, and for being laid in the family tomb. Tirzah was the capital of the northern kingdom at this time, roughly seven miles northeast of Shechem; Samaria did not yet exist.
16:7: The last clause is genuinely unclear in Hebrew. "Because he killed him" most likely means Baasha was punished partly for slaughtering Jeroboam's family, even though that slaughter had itself been foretold as judgment. Some read it instead as referring to Jehu the prophet being struck down. The ambiguity is in the original.
16:8: Reigns in Israel and Judah are cross-dated against each other because there was no shared calendar era. Regnal years were often counted inclusively, so "two years" can mean parts of two calendar years rather than twenty-four full months.
16:9: Chariots were the elite and most expensive arm of an Iron Age army, so commanding half of them made Zimri one of the kingdom's most powerful officers. The "steward of his house" ran the royal household and estates, a senior post. That the king was drinking himself insensible in a subordinate's house, away from the palace, is the narrator's way of showing him off guard.
16:11: The King James "him that pisseth against a wall" is a blunt Hebrew idiom meaning every male. Killing the entire family of a deposed king, including relatives and dependents, was standard practice for a usurper: any surviving male could later claim the throne or take revenge.
16:13: "Vanities" in the King James does not mean pride. The Hebrew word means puffs of breath, things empty and without substance, and it is used as a contemptuous term for idols.
16:15: The Philistines were a people settled along the southern coastal plain, in five main cities, and had been Israel's rivals for generations. Gibbethon was a border town the northern army had been trying to take for decades; an earlier king, Nadab, was assassinated while besieging the same place (1 Kings 15:27). With the whole army away at the front, the capital was thinly defended.
16:16: An army in the field proclaiming its own general king was a recognized route to power in the ancient Near East. Israel's monarchy had no fixed rule of succession in the north, and popular or military acclamation could make a king.
16:17: To besiege a city is to surround it with soldiers so nobody can get in or out, until the people inside give up.
16:18: The word behind "the strongest part of the royal palace" (King James: "the palace of the king's house") refers to a fortified inner tower or keep, the last defensible point of a citadel.
16:20: Treason means turning against your own king or country. Zimri had killed the king he served.
16:21: Nothing more is known about Tibni. The split lasted roughly four years: Zimri died in Asa's twenty-seventh year (verse 15) but Omri's reign is dated from Asa's thirty-first year (verse 23), the gap covering the civil war.
16:22: The text simply says Tibni died and does not say how, whether killed in the fighting, executed, or otherwise. The Greek version adds that his brother Joram died with him.
16:23: The twelve years are counted from Zimri's death, so they include the four years of civil war against Tibni; the six years in Tirzah are the remainder before Samaria was ready.
16:24: A talent was a weight of roughly seventy-five pounds (about thirty-four kilograms), so two talents is around a hundred and fifty pounds of silver, a very large sum. Buying the site outright made the hill the king's personal property rather than tribal land, much as David had bought Jerusalem's threshing floor. The Hebrew name of the city, Shomron, echoes the name Shemer. The hill stood alone above a broad valley and was easy to defend; Samaria remained the northern capital until the Assyrians destroyed it.
16:27: The Bible gives Omri only a few verses, but foreign records tell a different story: Assyrian documents went on calling the northern kingdom "the house of Omri" for well over a century after he died. Whatever "his might" covered, it made an impression on the empires nearby.
16:29: Samaria stayed the capital of the northern kingdom from now on. That is why the region was later called Samaria.
16:31: The Sidonians were the Phoenicians, seafaring traders based in the coastal cities of Sidon and Tyre, north of Israel. A marriage between royal houses sealed a political and trading alliance, and the bride would normally bring her own gods and priests with her. Ethbaal's name means "with Baal" or "Baal is alive"; ancient writers describe him as a priest of the goddess Astarte who seized the throne of Tyre. Baal means "lord" or "master" and was the title of the Canaanite and Phoenician storm god, credited with rain, crops, and fertility.
16:32: "Temple of Baal" is literally "house of Baal": a god's temple was thought of as the place where he lived. An altar was a raised platform where animals were slaughtered and burned as offerings. Building a state-sponsored temple for a foreign god in the capital made Baal worship official policy, not merely a private preference of the queen.
16:33: The King James "grove" is a mistranslation. The Hebrew word is Asherah, the name of a Canaanite mother goddess, used also of the wooden pole or carved tree-trunk that stood for her at a place of worship, often set up beside an altar.
16:34: Jericho had lain in ruins, and Joshua had pronounced a curse on anyone who rebuilt it, saying it would cost him his firstborn and his youngest son (Joshua 6:26). "Rebuild" here means refortifying it as a walled town with gates, not merely living on the site. The Hebrew of "laid the foundation at the cost of Abiram" is ambiguous: it may mean the two sons died during the work as the curse took effect, or it may hint at the practice, known from elsewhere in the ancient Near East, of burying a child in a new building's foundations. The verse is placed here to show how far Israel had drifted under Ahab.

Read 1 Kings 16