1 Kings · chapter 16 of 22
Updated on
1 Kings 16 traces the rapid succession of kings in Israel: Baasha receives judgment through Jehu, Elah is murdered by Zimri, Zimri reigns seven days and burns himself in the palace, and Omri founds the city of Samaria. His son Ahab, who marries Jezebel and sets up an altar to Baal, is the worst of all. The chapter closes with Hiel's rebuilding of Jericho.
After the reigns of Jeroboam and Baasha, the northern kingdom spirals into violence and apostasy. This chapter gathers several short reigns that show how a kingdom falls apart without the fear of the Lord, and it prepares for the entrance of Ahab, Jezebel and the prophet Elijah in the chapters that follow.
The Lord sends Jehu, son of Hanani, with a message for Baasha: he lifted him from the dust and made him leader of his people, but he walked in the way of Jeroboam; therefore his house will meet the same fate. Baasha dies and his son Elah reigns in Tirzah. Zimri, commander of half the chariots, conspires against Elah and kills him while he is drinking himself drunk at the house of his steward, and wipes out the whole house of Baasha, fulfilling the Lord's word.
Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. The army, which was besieging Gibbethon, proclaimed Omri, the commander of the army, king, and he returned and besieged Tirzah. Zimri, seeing the city lost, went into the palace and set it on fire, and died. The people were divided: half followed Tibni and half followed Omri, but Omri's followers prevailed and Tibni died. Omri reigned twelve years, bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver and built the capital there. He did worse than all who were before him.
Ahab, son of Omri, reigned twenty-two years in Samaria and was worse still. He married Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians, served Baal and worshiped him, set up an altar to Baal in the temple he built in Samaria and made an Asherah pole. He did more to provoke the Lord than all the kings before him. In his days, Hiel of Bethel rebuilt Jericho, and it cost him his firstborn Abiram when he laid the foundation and his youngest son Segub when he set up its gates, according to the word of the Lord through Joshua.
References follow ESV book names and verse numbers. Read each verse in your Bible before the explanation.
The Lord reminds Baasha that he raised him from the dust and made him leader, but he followed the way of Jeroboam. The text shows that all power is a gift from God, and that those who use it for unfaithfulness answer for it.
Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, worse than all who were before him. Each northern king outdoes the last in wickedness, a spiral the narrator underlines with ever stronger phrases.
Ahab not only imitates the sins of Jeroboam but marries Jezebel, daughter of the king of the Sidonians, and serves Baal. It is a qualitative leap: no longer a badly done worship of the Lord, but the adoption of another god.
Ahab made an Asherah pole and did more to provoke the Lord than all the earlier kings of Israel. The chapter ends at the darkest point of the northern kingdom, just before God raises up Elijah.
6 questions with answers and references, ready for Sunday school, small group or a Bible quiz night.
Answer: Jehu, son of Hanani. — 1 Kings 16:1
Answer: Zimri killed him while he was drinking himself drunk at his steward's house. — 1 Kings 16:9-10
Answer: Seven days; he went into the palace, set it on fire and died. — 1 Kings 16:15-18
Answer: Samaria, on a hill he bought from Shemer for two talents of silver. — 1 Kings 16:24
Answer: Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians. — 1 Kings 16:31
Answer: He rebuilt Jericho, and it cost him his oldest and youngest sons, according to the word of the Lord. — 1 Kings 16:34
This chapter shows what happens when a nation or family leaves God: violence, ambition and instability arise. In a small group, talk about how those signs look today, and how you can be people who pray and work for peace in your surroundings.
It is also encouraging to notice that the Lord keeps speaking even when kings ignore him. Jehu announces his word, and it comes true. Trust that the Lord sees what happens, that his word does not fail, and that even in the darkest time he is preparing his servant for the next stage.
1 Kings 16 leaves Israel under Ahab and Jezebel, at the lowest point of its faith. In 1 Kings 17, the Lord raises up the prophet Elijah, who stands before Ahab to announce a drought.
She was the daughter of King Ethbaal of the Sidonians and the wife of Ahab. She promoted the worship of Baal in Israel, and her influence weighed heavily on Ahab's reign and the years that followed. Her story continues in chapters 18, 19 and 21.
Baal was a Canaanite god associated with storm, rain and fertility. His worship attracted many because it promised harvests, but it opposed the command to worship the Lord alone. The next chapters confront Baal precisely on the matter of rain.
Joshua had declared that whoever rebuilt Jericho would pay with his sons. Hiel of Bethel did so in Ahab's time and lost his oldest son when he laid the foundation and his youngest when he set up the gates. The text underlines that the Lord's word is fulfilled even centuries later.