1 Kings 16:18

18 When Zimri saw that the city was captured, he entered the citadel of the royal palace and burned it down upon himself. So he died

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 and the people in the camp heard that Zimri had conspired against the king and struck him down. So there in the camp that very day, all Israel proclaimed Omri, the commander of the army, king over Israel.
17 Then Omri and all the Israelites marched up from Gibbethon and besieged Tirzah.
18 When Zimri saw that the city was captured, he entered the citadel of the royal palace and burned it down upon himself. So he died
19 because of the sins he had committed, doing evil in the sight of the LORD and following the example of Jeroboam and the sin he had committed and had caused Israel to commit.
20 As for the rest of the acts of Zimri and the treason he committed, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?
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