1 Kings 16:34

34 In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation of it with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates of it with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of Yahweh, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.

1 Kings 16:34 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 16:34

And in his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho
Which was forbidden by Joshua under an anathema; but this man, either ignorant of that adjuration of Joshua, or in contempt and defiance of it, and knowing it might please the king and queen, set about the rebuilding of it; and it being done by the leave and under the authority of Ahab, is mentioned together with his wicked actions:

he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn:
that is, his firstborn died as soon as he laid the foundation of the city, but this did not deter him from going on with it:

and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub;
all the rest of his children died as he was rebuilding the city, until only his youngest son was left, and he was taken off by death just as he had finished it, signified by setting up the gates of it: all which was

according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Joshua the son of
Nun:
between four hundred and five hundred years ago. It was after this a place of great note, and so continued many hundreds of years; (See Gill on Joshua 6:26) but is now, as Mr. Maundrell says F11, a poor nasty village of the Arabs.


FOOTNOTES:

F11 Journey from Aleppo p. 81.

1 Kings 16:34 In-Context

32 He reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.
33 Ahab made the Asherah; and Ahab did yet more to provoke Yahweh, the God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel who were before him.
34 In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation of it with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates of it with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of Yahweh, which he spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.
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