1 Kings 16:24

24 Then Omri bought the hill now known as Samaria from its owner, Shemer, for 150 pounds of silver. He built a city on it and called the city Samaria in honor of Shemer.

1 Kings 16:24 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 16:24

And he bought the hill of Samaria of Shemer, for two talents
of silver
A talent of silver, according to Brerewood ^F6, was of our money three hundred and seventy five pounds, so that this hill was purchased at seven hundred and fifty pounds:

and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built,
after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria;
its name from him was Shomeron, which is the Hebrew name for Samaria; which, according to Bunting ^F7 was six miles from Tirzah, and ever after the royal seat of the kings of Israel.

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FOOTNOTES:

F6 De Ponder. & Pret. c. 4.
F7 Ut supra, (Travels) p. 163.

1 Kings 16:24 In-Context

22 But Omri’s supporters defeated the supporters of Tibni. So Tibni was killed, and Omri became the next king.

23 Omri began to rule over Israel in the thirty-first year of King Asa’s reign in Judah. He reigned twelve years in all, six of them in Tirzah.

24 Then Omri bought the hill now known as Samaria from its owner, Shemer, for 150 pounds of silver. He built a city on it and called the city Samaria in honor of Shemer.

25 But Omri did what was evil in the LORD ’s sight, even more than any of the kings before him.

26 He followed the example of Jeroboam son of Nebat in all the sins he had committed and led Israel to commit. The people provoked the anger of the LORD, the God of Israel, with their worthless idols.

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew for 2 talents [68 kilograms] of silver.