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1 KINGS 16

PARAGRAPH DIVISIONS OF MODERN TRANSLATIONS

READING CYCLE THREE (see "Bible Interpretation Seminar")

FOLLOWING THE ORIGINAL AUTHOR'S INTENT AT THE PARAGRAPH LEVEL

This is a study guide commentary, which means that you are responsible for your own interpretation of the Bible. Each of us must walk in the light we have. You, the Bible, and the Holy Spirit are priority in interpretation. You must not relinquish this to a commentator.

Read the chapter in one sitting. Identify the subjects. Compare your subject divisions with the five translations above. Paragraphing is not inspired, but it is the key to following the original author's intent, which is the heart of interpretation. Every paragraph has one and only one subject.

1. First paragraph
2. Second paragraph
3. Etc.

WORD AND PHRASE STUDY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 15:33-34
  ³³In the third year of Asa king of Judah, Baasha the son of Ahijah became king over all Israel at Tirzah, and reigned twenty-four years. ³⁴He did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of Jeroboam and in his sin which he made Israel sin.

15:33-34 These should go with chapter 16 because they deal with Baasha, King of Israel.

15:33 The long reign of Asa (i.e., 41 years, 1 Kgs. 15:10; NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 412-414) provides a way to document the turmoil in Israel.

1. in the 20th year of Jeroboam, Asa began to reign (1 Kgs. 15:9)
2. in the 2nd year of Asa, Nadab begin to reign in Israel (1 Kgs. 15:25)
3. in the 3rd year of Asa, Baasha began to reign (1 Kgs. 15:33)
4. in the 26th year of Asa, Elah began to reign (1 Kgs. 16:8)
5. in the 27th year of Asa, Zimri began to reign (1 Kgs. 16:15)
6. in the 31st year of Asa, Omri began to reign (1 Kgs. 16:23)
7. in the 38th year of Asa, Ahab began to reign (1 Kgs. 16:29)

SPECIAL TOPIC: KINGS OF THE DIVIDED MONARCHY

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 16:1-4
  ¹Now the word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, ²"Inasmuch as I exalted you from the dust and made you leader over My people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have made My people Israel sin, provoking Me to anger with their sins, ³behold, I will consume Baasha and his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. ⁴Anyone of Baasha who dies in the city the dogs will eat, and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the heavens will eat."

16:1 "Jehu" This man was a prophet of YHWH (cf. v. 7; 2 Chr. 19:2; 20:34). His father was also a prophet (cf. 2 Chr. 16:7-10). Apparently both lived in Judah.

SPECIAL TOPIC: PROPHET (OT)

16:2 "you" This refers to Baasha. He is first mentioned in 1 Kgs. 15:16-17,27-30,33-34.

The MT has the MASCULINE NOUN (BDB 617) that denotes a wide range of leadership positions. But when used of royals, it denotes the "crown prince" (i.e., Solomon as YHWH's choice and David's choice, cf. 1 Kgs. 1:35; 2 Chr. 11:22). It came to be used of YHWH's choice of kingship.

1. Saul ‒ 1 Sam. 9:16; 10:1
2. David ‒ 1 Sam. 13:14; 2 Sam. 7:8
3. Jeroboam ‒ 1 Kgs. 14:7
4. Baasha ‒ 1 Kgs. 16:2
5. Hezekiah ‒ 2 Kgs. 20:5
6. Davidic Messiah ‒ Isa. 55:4

▣ "I exalted you from the dust" This NOUN (BDB 779; NIDOTTE, vol. 3, pp. 472-473) is a Hebrew idiom of

1. man made from the dust ‒ Gen. 2:7; 3:19
2. abundance ‒ Gen. 13:16; 28:14
3. poor and lowliness ‒ 1 Sam. 2:8; here; Ps. 113:7

YHWH chose and equipped Baasha to be king over His people, but Baasha supported the two golden calves of Jeroboam.

▣ "provoking Me to anger" This VERB root (BDB 494, KB 491, Hiphil INFINITIVE CONSTRUCT) is used often of covenant violations causing YHWH to judge.

1. Deuteronomy ‒ 4:25; 9:18; 31:29; 32:16; 21 (twice)
2. Judges ‒ 2:12
3. 1 Kings ‒ 14:9,15; 15:30; 16:2,7,13,26,33; 21:22,53
4. 2 Kings ‒ 17:11,17; 21:6,15; 22:17; 23:19,26
5. 2 Chronicles ‒ 28:25; 33:6; 34:25
6. Psalm ‒ 106:29
7. Isaiah ‒ 65:3
8. Jeremiah ‒ 7:18,19; 8:19; 11:17; 25:6,7; 32:29,30,32; 44:3,8
9. Ezekiel ‒ 8:17; 16:26
10. Hosea ‒ 12:15

Israel is evaluated through the obedience to the Mosaic covenant. YHWH's mercy spurned turns to anger. This is the message of Leviticus 26; Deuteronomy 27-30; and all the prophets!

We must remember the Bible uses human emotions to describe Deity, which is not adequate but it is the only vocabulary we have.

SPECIAL TOPIC: ANTHROPOMORPHIC LANGUAGE TO DESCRIBE DEITY

16:3-4 This records YHWH's judgment of Baasha and his family. The imagery of

1. dogs eating (or drinking blood)
2. birds eating

is common in the ANE (cf. Deut. 28:22ff; 1 Kgs. 14:11; 21:19,23,24; 22:38; 2 Kgs. 9:10,30-36; Ps. 79:2; Jer. 7:33; 15:3; 16:4; 19:7; 34:20). Basically this is a curse of not being buried properly.

SPECIAL TOPIC: BURIAL PRACTICES

The MT has the VERB (BDB 128 I, KB 145, Hiphil PARTICIPLE) meaning "burn" or "consume" but KB 146 II suggests there is another meaning to this root, "to clear away," "to plunder," "to expel."

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 16:5
  ⁵Now the rest of the acts of Baasha and what he did and his might, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 16:6-7
  ⁶And Baasha slept with his fathers and was buried in Tirzah, and Elah his son became king in his place. ⁷Moreover, the word of the Lord through the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani also came against Baasha and his household, both because of all the evil which 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 because he struck it.

16:6 "slept with his fathers" See notes at 1 Kgs. 1:21; 2:10.

▣ "Tirzah" This was the capital of Israel until the days of Omri (cf. v. 24).

16:7 "with the work of his hands" This is an idiom for idols (cf. Deut. 4:25; 9:18; 32:16; 1 Kgs. 16:7; 2 Kgs. 17:7; 21:6; Jer. 25:6,7; 32:30; 44:8). Is it not shocking that humans can be so deceived as to worship something they made?!

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 16:8-11
  ⁸In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha became king over Israel at Tirzah, and reigned two years. ⁹His servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. Now he was at Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household at Tirzah. ¹⁰Then Zimri went in and struck him and put him to death in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and became king in his place. ¹¹It came about when he became king, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he killed all the household of Baasha; he did not leave a single male, neither of his relatives nor of his friends.

16:8 "and reigned two years" This clearly shows the instability of Israel vs. Judah!

16:9 "Zimri" Some have speculated that this man was a descendant of Saul (cf. 1 Chr. 8:36; 9:42; BDB 275 I, #4) but this is uncertain. BDB lists him only as a king of Israel before Omri (BDB 275 I, #3). He assassinated Elah.

Scholars have wondered if the name might be Egyptian or Aramean, not Semitic.

▣ "drinking himself drunk" This is surprising in that a king was over drinking at a private residence.

SPECIAL TOPIC: BIBLICAL ATTITUDES TOWARD ALCOHOL AND ALCOHOL ABUSE

16:10 This act of assassination became a proverb for treason (cf. 2 Kgs. 9:31).

16:11 This was to protect his reign from anyone in the previous king's family (cf. 1 Kgs. 15:29).

▣ "male" This is literally, "he who urinates against the wall" (cf. 1 Sam. 25:22,34; 1 Kgs. 14:10; 16:11; 21:21; 2 Kgs. 9:8).

This is the term go'el (BDB 145 I, KB 169, Qal ACTIVE PARTICIPLE, NIDOTTE, vol. 1, pp. 789-794) which is known for

1. the concept for
   1. the kinsman redeemer (Leviticus 25)
   2. the blood avenger (Numbers 35)
2. famously used of Boaz in the book of Ruth (21 times)

Zimri brought death, not only to kin, but to all acquaintances! However, this phrase may reflect "royal advisors" or "counsel" (cf. 2 Sam. 15:37; 16:16).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 16:12-14
  ¹²Thus Zimri destroyed all the household of Baasha, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke against Baasha through Jehu the prophet, ¹³for all the sins of Baasha and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned and which they made Israel sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with their idols. ¹⁴Now the rest of the acts of Elah and all that he did, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

16:12 This refers to 1 Kgs. 16:1-7.

16:13 "idols" This is the NOUN (BDB 210 I; NIDOTTE, vol. 1, pp. 1005-1006) which means "vapor" or "breath." It denotes the non-existence of idols (cf. 1 Kgs. 16:13,26; Ps. 31:6; Jer. 8:19; 10:8; 14:22; Jonah 2:8). This is a clear manifestation of the superstition of fallen humanity that makes its own gods!

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 16:15-20
  ¹⁵In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days at Tirzah. Now the people were camped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. ¹⁶The people who were camped heard it said, "Zimri has conspired and has also struck down the king." Therefore all Israel made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel that day in the camp. ¹⁷Then Omri and all Israel with him went up from Gibbethon and besieged Tirzah. ¹⁸When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king's house and burned the king's house over him with fire, and died, ¹⁹because of his sins which he sinned, doing evil in the sight of the Lord, walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, making Israel sin. ²⁰Now the rest of the acts of Zimri and his conspiracy which he carried out, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

16:16 "Zimri reigned seven days" This clearly shows the instability of Israel. In light of Zimri's treason, Omri (BDB 771) is made king.

Omri is the most famous king of Israel in non-biblical literature (i.e., Moabite stone and Assyrian documents); as a matter of fact, Israel was known as "the house of Omri." This powerful image of him is not reflected in the Bible. For a good brief account of his reign see R. K Harrison, Old Testament Times," pp. 213-216; NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 1026-1027.

SPECIAL TOPIC: KINGS OF THE DIVIDED MONARCHY

16:17 The Israeli army moved from besieging Gibbethon to besieging Tirzah, where Zimri was king.

16:18 Zimri committed suicide by burning the king's palace.

SPECIAL TOPIC: SUICIDE

16:19 Again, it was the golden calf worship of Jeroboam that brought judgment from YHWH.

16:20 "conspiracy" This is literally, "His conspiracy which he conspired." The VERB (BDB 905, KB 1153, Qal PERFECT) is combined with the NOUN (BDB 905). This COGNATE ACCUSATIVE occurs six times (cf. 1 Kgs. 16:20; 2 Kgs. 12:20; 14:19; 15:15,30; 2 Chr. 25:27).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 16:21-24
  ²¹Then the people of Israel were divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king; the other half followed Omri. ²²But the people who followed Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath. And Tibni died and Omri became king. ²³In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri became king over Israel and reigned twelve years; he reigned six years at Tirzah. ²⁴He bought the hill Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; and he built on the hill, and named the city which he built Samaria, after the name of Shemer, the owner of the hill.

16:21-22 The tension over succession continued. Josephus says it lasted four years.

16:24 "He bought the hill Samaria from Shemer" Samaria (see NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 1163-1165) was a very fortified, geographical location with a 400 foot drop on three sides, which meant only one side had to be fortified. The hill contained its own spring inside the walls of the city. This city was such a major fortification that it took Tiglath-Pileser three years to finally capture it in 722 b.c.

▣ "Shemer" The name Shemer (BDB 1037 I) is a play on the Hebrew word "watchtower." The name Samaria retains this play on the word.

▣ "talents" See SPECIAL TOPIC: ANE WEIGHTS AND VOLUMES.

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 16:25-28
  ²⁵Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, and acted more wickedly than all who were before him. ²⁶For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat and in his sins which he made Israel sin, provoking the Lord God of Israel with their idols. ²⁷Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did and his might which he showed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel? ²⁸So Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria; and Ahab his son became king in his place.

16:25 "acted more wickedly than all who were before him" This phrase was first used in 1 Kgs. 14:9 about Jeroboam. See vv. 30-33, which spells out the sins of Omri's son Ahab.

1. walked in the sins of Jeroboam, v. 26
2. married Jezebel
3. worshiped Ba'al in a temple built for him in Samaria
4. made Asherah poles

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 16:29-30
  ²⁹Now Ahab the son of Omri became king over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. ³⁰Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him.

16:29 "Ahab" This king's life is given more attention to illustrate the sin of Israel in Ba'al worship (NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 364-366).

NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: 16:31-34
  ³¹It came about, as though it had been a trivial thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and went to serve Baal and worshiped him. ³²So he erected an altar for Baal in the house of Baal which he built in Samaria. ³³Ahab also made the Asherah. Thus Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel than all the kings of Israel who were before him. ³⁴In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho; he laid its foundations with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.

16:31 "Jezebel, the daugher of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians" The name (BDB 33) may mean "Zebul exists," thereby "Ba'al exists." Her father's name contains "Baal." Jezebel was the means by which wholesale Phoenician Baalism entered into the daily life of the people of Israel.

▣ "Baal" This is possibly a reference to Baal-Melqart (see IVP Bible Background Commentary, p. 375; NIDOTTE, vol. 4, pp. 422-428). The Hebrew terms means "master," "owner," or "husband" (BDB 127). We learn of the worship of this Canaanite deity from the Ugaritic tablets. Originally he was a weather god who defeated Yamm the god of the waters. Later he developed into the fertility god in his relationship to Mot, the god of death and the underworld. Mot killed Ba'al, but Ba'al's sister, Anath, attached Mot and destroyed him. Out of this mythological struggle the annual spring fertility was attributed to Ba'al coming back from the underworld. In the Bible, Ba'al is associated with Asherah, his female consort.

SPECIAL TOPIC: FERTILITY WORSHIP OF THE ANE

16:33 "the Asherah" There is some ambiguity in the OT as to exactly the symbol of this fertility goddess. In some texts it seems to imply a live tree planted by the altar of Ba'al (cf. Deut. 16:21; Jdgs. 3:7; 6:25). However, in other passages it seems to imply a carved, wooden stake (cf. 1 Kgs. 14:15,23; 2 Kgs. 17:16). The reason Asherah is symbolized by a tree or a carved stake is that to ancient people, trees were sacred, basically because they showed the presence of underground water; others believed that the Asherah was a symbol of "the Tree of Life" from the Garden of Eden. Ba'al and Asherah are connected with the worship of the Babylonian star deities known as the "hosts of heaven" (cf. 2 Kgs. 17:16; 21:3; 23:4; 2 Chr. 3:3). This female fertility goddess is first mentioned in the Bible in Exod. 34:13; Deut. 7:5; 12:3. Ba'al and Asherah became major problems in the northern kingdom during the reign of Ahab because of Jezebel's influence.

16:34 This verse documents the death of Hiel's sons. These deaths are attributed to Jeshua's curse of Jericho in Josh. 6:26.

The NASB has "loss of" (twice) in italics. It is possible that this refers to the sacrifice of these sons to Molech to insure the stability and prosperity of the city (Targums; another example in 2 Kgs. 16:3).

SPECIAL TOPIC: MOLECH

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