1 Kings 16:21-34

D. THE OMRI DYNASTY 16:21-34

The Omri dynasty ruled Israel for forty-four years. The closing verses of chapter 16 contain brief notices concerning (1) Omri's rise to power (1 Kings 16:21-22); (2) the reign of Omri (1 Kings 16:23-28); and (3) the early years of Ahab (1 Kings 16:29-34).

Sixth King of Israel
OMRI
885-874 B.C.
(Heaping)

1 Kings 16:15-28

Synchronism
Omri 1 = Asa 27

The curse of the Lord is in the bouse of the wicked; but He blesses the habitation of the just. Proverbs 3:33

1. OMRI'S RISE TO POWER (1 Kings 16:21-22)

TRANSLATION

(21) Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts. Half of the people followed after Tibni the son of Ginath to make him king, and half followed after Omri. (22) And the people who followed after Omri prevailed over the people who followed after Tibni the son of Ginath; so Tibni died, and Omri reigned.

COMMENTS

The entire nation did not rally to the standard of Omri's sovereignty. For some reason unexplained[397] in the text, a rival emerged to challenge Omri's claim to the throne. Tibni was probably the favorite of that part of the army which was not involved in the encampment at Gibbethon. Once the hereditary principle was overthrown, the crown became a prize to be possessed by the strongest. Tibni determined that Omri would not have the throne uncontested, and a fierce civil war erupted between the two factions (1 Kings 16:21). It appears that the struggle lasted four years. Finally, Omri was able to subdue the forces of Tibni and slay the rival (1 Kings 16:22).

[397] Gray (OTL, p. 366) again indulges in fruitless speculation, suggesting that this countermovement was the protest of the religious community against the power of the army, or perhaps the protest by the more conservative elements against the younger men in the army.

2. THE REIGN OF OMRI (1 Kings 16:23-28)

TRANSLATION

(23) In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, twelve years; in Tirzah he reigned six years. (24) And he acquired the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver, and called the name of the city which he built after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill of Samaria. (25) And Omri did evil in the eyes of the LORD, and did worse than those who were before him. (26) And he walked in all the ways of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sins which he caused Israel to sin by provoking the LORD the God of Israel with their vanities. (27) And the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his might which he displayed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? (28) And Omri slept with his fathers, and he was buried in Samaria; and Ahab his son ruled in his place.

COMMENTS

In the thirty-first year of Asa of Judah, Omri won out over Tibni and became sole king in the North. His reign of twelve years is counted however, from the time he was proclaimed king by the army in the twenty-seventh year of Asa. The first six years of his reign he resided in Tirzah (1 Kings 16:23). But since Tirzah had suffered during the siege against Zimri (1 Kings 16:17-18) and possibly in the civil war with Tibni, Omri determined to build a new capital rather than attempt to repair the old one.[398] He selected as the site for his new capital a large oval or oblong mound with level surface adapted for building and with steep sides which rendered assault most difficult. Before the invention of gunpowder, the city must have been almost impregnable. The site also enjoys a strategic location. On the north the hill commands the main road to Jezreel, on the west it dominates the road to the coast, and on the east the road to the Jordan.

[398] Perhaps the ease with which Omri captured Tirzah (1 Kings 16:17) made him realize the strategic weakness of the spot.

Samaria, as the new city was named, was forty-two miles north of Jerusalem and twenty-five miles inland. Subsequent history proves the wisdom of Omri's choice of Samaria, for the city remained the capital of Israel until the fall of that kingdom. The site was purchased from its owner, Shemer, for two talents of silver.[399] Probably the sale contract stipulated that the place was to continue to bear the name of the original owner, and hence Omri called the new city Samaria (1 Kings 16:24).

[399] According to the Berkely Version, the two talents of silver would be equivalent to about $4,250.

Omri may also have been moved to purchase this site by dynastic considerations. Samaria became a personal possession of the king just as Jerusalem became a personal possession of David. Omri was free to develop a city-state within a state, and bequeath it to his descendants, so founding a dynasty. Furthermore, the site may have been selected because it was in a Canaanite region and had no Israelite associations. It is significant that the only cult for which provisions were made in Samaria was that of Baal (1 Kings 16:32).

Archaeological excavations confirm the Biblical statement with regard to Omri's founding the city of Samaria. Remains of three places have been found there, the earliest of which dates to the time of Omri-Ahab. The site shows no signs of occupation earlier than 900 B.C.

The religious situation continued to deteriorate under Omri (1 Kings 16:25). The prophet Micah (1 Kings 6:16) refers judgmentally to the statutes of Omri, which statement may point to a fresh departure during this reign. Perhaps the calf worship was organized into a formal system at this time, or perhaps additional measures were taken to prevent those living in the North from attending the Temple in the South. In any case the practices of this king angered the Lord no less than did those of his predecessors (1 Kings 16:26).

Much more could have been recorded about the reign of Omri. The Moabite stone, discovered in 1868, mentions Omri as the one who conquered the land of Moab, a feat of no small significance. The Mesopotamian monuments attest to the prominence of Omri in that years after the death of this king the Assyrians referred to this region as the land of Omri. On the Black Obelisk of Shamaneser, king Jehu is called the son of Omri even though he was not related to him at all. A further indication of his might can be seen in the fact that his dynasty lasted to the third generation. Thus the chronicles of the kings of Israel must have contained a great deal more information about Omri (1 Kings 16:27). He may have been the most important king of the Northern Kingdom. Two other significant accomplishments by Omri should be noted: He reinaugurated David's policy of friendly relations with Tyre, and he brought to an end the era of confrontation with Judah. The old general appears to have been a very able diplomat!

3. THE EARLY YEARS OF AHAB (1 Kings 16:29-34)

TRANSLATION

(29) And Ahab the son of Omri began to role over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah; and Ahab the son of Omri ruled over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. (30) And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the eyes of the LORD more than all who were before him. (31) And it came to pass if it was a light thing to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat,[400] that he took as a wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshiped him. (32) And he raised up an altar to Baal in the house of Baal which he built in Samaria. (33) And Ahab made an Asherah. And Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him. (34) In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho; at the cost of Abiram, his firstborn he laid the foundation, and at the cost of Segub, his youngest he set its gates, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke by the hand of Joshua the son of Nun.

[400] A more literal rendering: and it came to passwas it a light thing his walking in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nebat?that he took. ...

COMMENTS

The religious deterioration in the Northern Kingdom continued in the reign of Ahab. The calf cult introduced by Jeroboam was a counterfeit and corrupt version of worshiping Yahweh. Under Ahab, however, positive idolatry was introduced, and thus the evil of the son exceeded that of the father (1 Kings 16:30).

Ahab married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal, who ruled over Sidon in those days. Tradition identifies this Ethbaal with the priest of Astarte who assassinated the king and usurped the throne.[401] If Jezebel were the daughter of this ruthless king, it would help to explain her fierce character, and at the same time would account for her great devotion to the gods of her country and for her determined efforts to establish their impure rites throughout the realm of her husband.

[401] Josephus, Antiquities VIII, 13.1.

From the political and commercial standpoint the alliance between Israel and Sidon was wise and necessary. The rising power of Aram made such an alliance desirable from the military standpoint. The Phoenicians needed the agricultural products of Israel, and land-locked Israel needed the markets available to the wide-ranging fleets of the Phoenician. Thus, to the secular historian the marriage of Ahab to Jezebel would be a brilliant diplomatic coup. However, from the religious standpoint, the alliance and marriage were disastrous. Ahab was led into the sin of idolatry, and apparently served and worshiped Baal[402] as well as Yahweh (1 Kings 16:31).

[402] In the Hebrew text, Baal has the definite article. It is, therefore, a proper name and not the generic term of Canaanite gods. The Baal being referred to is Melkart, king of the underworld.

Baal was the supreme male god of the Canaanites, the possessor and generator of all. For this deity Ahab erected a temple, an altar and a pillar or image in the capital city of Samaria (1 Kings 16:32; cf. 2 Kings 3:2; 2 Kings 10:27). In addition, the king made an Asherah,[403] i.e., a wooden pillar symbolizing the goddess Asherah, who in Canaanite theology was the consort of Baal (1 Kings 16:33). In this Ahab was following the dictates of international courtesy which demanded that a foreign queen should have a sanctuary of her own religion in her adopted land. Solomon, it will be recalled, did the same thing for his wives in Jerusalem (1 Kings 11:7).

[403] On Asherah, see comments on 1 Kings 15:13.

A concrete example of the effects of counterfeit calf worship and Phoenician idolatry is cited at the end of chapter 16. Hiel from the city of Bethel, which so long had been the national shrine of Northern religion, undertook what no one had dared to do for five centuries, viz., to rebuild the walls of Jericho.[404] The rebuilding of these fortifications was very likely part of Ahab's program to provide better protection on his southern border. Hiel may have been superintendent for a royal project. The curse of God pronounced by Joshua rested upon anyone who would undertake this project. The daring impiety of Hiel was punished swiftly and severely. His eldest son died when the foundations of Jericho were laid, and by the time he rebuilt the gates, the last of his sons died[405] (1 Kings 16:34). Even in those dark and troublous times God did not leave Himself without a witness. The swift and exact fulfillment of the prophetic threats made through Joshua was a forceful witness to the fact that the Law of God could not be violated with impunity.

[404] The curse of Joshua seems to have applied only to the walls and fortifications of Jericho. 2 Samuel 10:5 and Judges 3:13 seem to imply that Jericho was an inhabited city prior to the time of Ahab.

[405] The Hebrew could also be taken to mean that Hiel offered his sons as sacrifices during the course of the building operation. This practice is attested by the discovery at ancient Tirzah of two new-born infants in burial jars within the gate-complex. However, the interpretation that the sons died at the hand of God is superior.

The closing verses of chapter 16 which describe the gross degeneracy of the earlier part of Ahab's reign are an appropriate prelude to the account of the ministry of the great prophet Elijah. The unprecedented corruption of that age necessitated the unprecedented outpouring of divine power.

Seventh King of Israel
AHAB BEN OMRI
874-853 B.C.
(Brother of a father)

1 Kings 16:29; 1 Kings 17:1; 1 Kings 18:1 to 1 Kings 22:40; 2 Chronicles 18

Synchronism
Ahab 1 = Asa 38
Contemporary Prophets
Elijah; Micaiah

When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases; but the righteous shall see their fall Proverbs 29:16