1 Kings 16:18

18 When Zimri saw that the city had been captured, he went into the palace and set it on fire, burning the palace and himself with it.

1 Kings 16:18 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 16:18

And it came to pass, that when Zimri saw that the city was
taken
That Omri, and the army with him, had got into it, being a place not much fortified, and Zimri not having force enough to defend it against such an army:

that he went into the palace of the king's house;
into the innermost and most splendid, as well as the strongest part of it:

and burnt the king's house over him with fire, and he died;
that he might not fall into the hands of his rival, who he might fear would use him ill, and that he might not enjoy the royal palace; though Kimchi thinks that Omri set fire to the palace, and burnt it over the head of Zimri, in which he perished; and this sense the text will bear.

1 Kings 16:18 In-Context

16 The men in the camp heard that Zimri had made secret plans against King Elah and had killed him. So that day in the camp they made Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel.
17 So Omri and all the Israelite army left Gibbethon and attacked Tirzah.
18 When Zimri saw that the city had been captured, he went into the palace and set it on fire, burning the palace and himself with it.
19 So Zimri died because he had sinned by doing what the Lord said was wrong. Jeroboam had led the people of Israel to sin, and Zimri sinned in the same way as Jeroboam.
20 Everything else Zimri did and the story of how he turned against King Elah are written down in the book of the history of the kings of Israel.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.