1 Kings 16

Omri King of Israel (16:21–28)

21–28 Not everyone in Israel supported Omri initially; half the people supported a man called Tibni, about whom nothing else is known. After four years of civil war, Omri prevailed and Tibni died (verse 22).

Halfway through his reign, Omri established a new capital city, Samaria (verse 24). Like Jerusalem, it was built on a hill and thus easy to defend. In later years, the name Samaria” was also used as an alternate name for Israel.

Omri did evil, as his predecessors had done; indeed, he sinned more than all of them (verse 25). After reigning twelve years, he died and was buried in his new capital city, Samaria.

Ahab Becomes King of Israel (16:29–34)

29–33 Here we are introduced to Omri’s son Ahab, the most evil of all of Israel’s kings. Though he reigned only twentytwo years, one third of the combined material in the books of 1 and 2 Kings deals with events that occurred during his reign and the reigns of his two sons, Ahaziah and Joram. Some of the most dramatic confrontations between good and evil in all of Scripture took place during the time of Ahab and his sons. Many of these confrontations involved the famous prophets Elijah and Elisha, concerning whom much more will soon be said.

The writer emphasizes that evil in Israel was progressively increasing with each new king (verses 25,30); it reached its height during Ahab’s reign. One ofthe worst things Ahab did was to marry Jezebel, the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians⁸³ (verse 31). Jezebel brought the Baal worship of the Sidonians into Israel. Under her influence, Ahab made Baal worship the official religion of Israel, and he built a large temple for Baal in Samaria, the capital (verse 32). In addition, he set up an Asherah pole (verse 33), a symbol of the goddess Asherah, one of Baal’s consorts (see Judges 2:11–13 and comment). As a result, two groups of false prophets arose: the prophets of Baal and the prophets of Asherah (1 Kings 18:19).

34 During Ahab’s reign, a man named Hiel rebuilt Jericho, the city the Israelites had destroyed when they first entered the promised land. Joshua had pronounced a curse on anyone who rebuilt the city: that person would lose his eldest and youngest sons (Joshua 6:26). And this is exactly what happened to Hiel. Jericho had been devoted to the Lord (Joshua 6:17), and it was to remain totally destroyed.⁸⁴