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| 1 And the word of Jehovah came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, |
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| 2 Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust, and made thee prince over my people Israel, and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins; |
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| 3 behold, I will take away Baasha and his house, and will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. |
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| 4 Him that dieth of Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat, and him that dieth of his in the field shall the fowl of the heavens eat. |
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| 5 And the rest of the acts of Baasha, and what he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? |
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| 6 And Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah; and Elah his son reigned in his stead. |
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| 7 And also through the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani the word of Jehovah came against Baasha, and against his house, even for all the evil that he did in the sight of Jehovah, provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam; and because he had smitten him. |
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| 8 In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Judah, Elah the son of Baasha began to reign over Israel in Tirzah for two years. |
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| 9 And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him; and he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was the steward of his house in Tirzah; |
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| 10 and Zimri went in and smote him, and killed him, in the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and he reigned in his stead. |
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| 11 And it came to pass when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, he slew all the house of Baasha: he left him not a male, neither of his kinsmen nor of his friends. |
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| 12 And Zimri destroyed all the house of Baasha, according to the word of Jehovah, which he spoke against Baasha through Jehu the prophet, |
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| 13 for all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned and wherewith they made Israel to sin, provoking Jehovah the God of Israel to anger with their vanities. |
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| 14 And the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? |
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| 15 In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. Now the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. |
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| 16 And the people that were encamped heard say, Zimri has conspired, and has also smitten the king; and all Israel made Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that day in the camp. |
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| 17 And Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. |
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| 18 And it came to pass when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the citadel of the king's house, and burned the king's house over him with fire; |
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| 19 and he died for his sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of Jehovah, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, making Israel to sin. |
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| 20 And the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his conspiracy which he wrought, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?
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| 21 Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king; and half followed Omri. |
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| 22 But the people that followed Omri overcame the people that followed Tibni the son of Ginath; and Tibni died, and Omri reigned. |
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| 23 In the thirty-first year of Asa king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel, --twelve years; he reigned six years in Tirzah. |
Omri – A great general, he succeeded Jeroboam on the throne. His dynasty was a successful one according to worldly standards but a failure from the divine standpoint. R4729:2
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| 24 And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver; and built on the hill, and called the name of the city that he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria. |
City which he built – Omri strengthened his hold upon the people by the building of a new capital city, Samaria. R3399:2
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| 25 And Omri wrought evil in the sight of Jehovah, and did worse than all that were before him. |
Omri wrought evil – Outranked Jeroboam as a misleader. Worldly wisdom suggested a still further departure from God. R4729:3
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| 26 And he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sins wherewith he made Israel to sin, provoking Jehovah the God of Israel to anger with their vanities. |
In his sin – Introducing idolatry and licentious practices. R3399:2
Vanities – Vain religious ceremonies, provocative of greater evils. R3399:2
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| 27 And the rest of the acts of Omri, what he did, and his might which he shewed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? |
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| 28 And Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria; and Ahab his son reigned in his stead. |
Omri slept – We are not to draw the inference that, as a wicked man, he went to eternal torment and that the nature of the torment is sleep. R4729:3, R3399:2
With his fathers – The Grecian theory, that when people die they become more alive than ever, had not yet been introduced. R3399:2
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| 29 And Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah; and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years. |
And Ahab – Typical of the Roman empire. B256; R234:3
Typified the civil government, symbolically called the "dragon" in Revelation. OV268:3; R4730:4
Ahab's name signified "like his father." Surely he was. His was a reign still more successful in unrighteousness. R4729:3
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| 30 And Ahab the son of Omri wrought evil in the sight of Jehovah more than all that were before him. |
Did evil – For 22 years he devoted himself to the further undermining of true religion and to the introduction of the worst forms of licentious, heathen idolatry. R4730:4, R4729:5
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| 31 And it came to pass, as if it was a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took as wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians; and he went and served Baal and worshipped him. |
To wife Jezebel – Typical of the apostate Church of Rome. R5629:1; B256
The improper marriage of Ahab and Jezebel, contrary to the Jewish Law, typified the marriage, or union, of church and state. R4730:4, R234:3
Typified a religious system. She was a desperate character, used to symbolize the great mystery of iniquity in the book of Revelation. (Rev. 2:20) R3399:4
In marrying her Ahab secured an able accomplice in evil. R3399:4
Her name signifies "chaste"; yet she used her great influence for the furtherance of unchastity in connection with the worship of Baal and Ashtoreth. R4729:5
The effect of the prosperity of Ahab and Jezebel was two-fold: degrading one class, while separating from itself another class--the true worshippers of God. So it is today. R4730:1
Ethbaal – A priest of Baal who murdered his father, the king of Tyre, and then succeeded him. R3399:4
Served Baal – Or Bel; type of the god of Babylon, the Pope. D40
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| 32 And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he built in Samaria. |
An altar for Baal – The ordained worship in the Temple was neglected and image worship established. Thus was the true Temple and priesthood counterfeited. Similarly, we have in nominal spiritual Israel a great counterfeit system. PD46/56; R3399:5
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| 33 And Ahab made the Asherah; and Ahab did more to provoke Jehovah the God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him. |
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| 34 In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho; he laid its foundation in Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates in Segub his youngest, according to the word of Jehovah which he spoke through Joshua the son of Nun. |
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