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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>F I R S T K I N G S</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XVI.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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This chapter relates wholly to the kingdom of Israel, and the
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revolutions of that kingdom--many in a little time. The utter ruin of
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Jeroboam's family, after it had been twenty-four years a royal family,
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we read of in the foregoing chapter. In this chapter we have,
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I. The ruin of Baasha's family, after it had been but twenty-six years
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a royal family, foretold by a prophet
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:1-7">ver. 1-7</A>),
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and executed by Zimri, one of his captains,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:8-14">ver. 8-14</A>.
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II. The seven days' reign of Zimri, and his sudden fall,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:15-20">ver. 15-20</A>.
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III. The struggle between Omri and Tibni, and Omri's prevalency, and
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his reign,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:21-28">ver. 21-28</A>.
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IV. The beginning of the reign of Ahab, of whom we shall afterwards
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read much,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:29-32">ver. 29-33</A>.
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V. The rebuilding of Jericho,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:34">ver. 34</A>.
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All this while, in Judah, things went well.</P>
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<A NAME="1Ki16_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Ruin of Baasha's Family Foretold.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 931.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 Then the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> came to Jehu the son of Hanani
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against Baasha, saying,
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2 Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust, and made thee
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prince over my people Israel; and thou hast walked in the way of
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Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to
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anger with their sins;
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3 Behold, I will take away the posterity of Baasha, and the
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posterity of his house; and will make thy house like the house of
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Jeroboam the son of Nebat.
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4 Him that dieth of Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat; and
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him that dieth of his in the fields shall the fowls of the air
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eat.
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5 Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, and what he did, and his
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might, <I>are</I> they not written in the book of the chronicles of
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the kings of Israel?
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6 So Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah:
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and Elah his son reigned in his stead.
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7 And also by the hand of the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani
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came the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> against Baasha, and against his house,
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even for all the evil that he did in the sight of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, in
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provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like
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the house of Jeroboam; and because he killed him.
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8 In the twenty and sixth year of Asa king of Judah began Elah
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the son of Baasha to reign over Israel in Tirzah, two years.
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9 And his servant Zimri, captain of half <I>his</I> chariots,
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conspired against him, as he was in Tirzah, drinking himself
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drunk in the house of Arza steward of <I>his</I> house in Tirzah.
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10 And Zimri went in and smote him, and killed him, in the
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twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his
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stead.
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11 And it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he
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sat on his throne, <I>that</I> he slew all the house of Baasha: he
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left him not one that pisseth against a wall, neither of his
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kinsfolks, nor of his friends.
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12 Thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Baasha, according to
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the word of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, which he spake against Baasha by Jehu the
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prophet,
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13 For all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, by
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which they sinned, and by which they made Israel to sin, in
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provoking the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of Israel to anger with their vanities.
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14 Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, <I>are</I>
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they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of
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Israel?
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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Here is,
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I. The ruin of the family of Baasha foretold. He was a man likely
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enough to have raised and established his family--active, politic, and
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daring; but he was an idolater, and this brought destruction upon his
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family.</P>
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<P>
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1. God sent him warning of it before.
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(1.) That, if he were thereby wrought upon to repent and reform, the
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ruin might be prevented; for God threatens, that he may not strike, as
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one that desires not the death of sinners.
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(2.) That, if not, it might appear that the destruction when it did
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come, whoever might be instruments of it, was the act of God's justice
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and the punishment of sin.</P>
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<P>
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2. The warning was sent by <I>Jehu the son of Hanani.</I> The father
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was a seer, or prophet, at the same time
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+16:7">2 Chron. xvi. 7</A>),
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and was sent to Asa king of Judah; but the son, who was young and more
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active, was sent on this longer and more dangerous expedition to Baasha
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king of Israel. <I>Juniores ad labores--Toil and adventure are for the
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young.</I> This Jehu was a prophet and the son of a prophet. Prophecy,
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thus happily entailed, was worthy of so much the more honour. This Jehu
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continued long in his usefulness, for we find him reproving Jehoshaphat
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+19:2">2 Chron. xix. 2</A>)
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above forty years after, and writing the annals of that prince,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ch+20:34">2 Chron. xx. 34</A>.
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The message which this prophet brought to Baasha is much the same with
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that which Ahijah sent to Jeroboam by his wife.</P>
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<P>
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(1.) He reminds Baasha of the great things God had done for him
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>):
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<I>I exalted thee out of the dust</I> to the <I>throne of glory,</I> a
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great instance of the divine sovereignty and power,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Sa+2:8">1 Sam. ii. 8</A>.
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Baasha seemed to have raised himself by his own treachery and cruelty,
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yet there was a hand of Providence in it, to bring about God's counsel,
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concerning Jeroboam's house; and God's owning his advancement as his
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act and deed does by no means amount to the patronising of his ambition
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and treachery. It is God that puts power into bad men's hands, which
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he makes to serve his good purposes, notwithstanding the bad use they
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make of it. <I>I made thee prince over my people.</I> God calls Israel
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his people still, though wretchedly corrupted, because they retained
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the covenant of circumcision, and there were many good people among
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them; it was not till long after that they were called <I>Loammi, not a
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people,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+1:9">Hos. i. 9</A>.</P>
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<P>
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(2.) He charges him with high crimes and misdemeanours,
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[1.] That he had caused <I>Israel to sin,</I> had seduced God's
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subjects from their allegiance and brought them to pay to
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dunghill-deities the homage due to him only, and herein he had
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<I>walked in the way of Jeroboam</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:2"><I>v.</I> 2</A>),
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and been <I>like his house,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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[2.] That he had himself <I>provoked God to anger with the work of his
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hands,</I> that is, by worshipping images, the <I>work of men's
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hands;</I> though perhaps others made them, yet he served them and
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thereby avowed the making of them, and they are therefore called the
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<I>work of his hands.</I>
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[3.] That he had <I>destroyed the house of Jeroboam</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>),
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<I>because he killed him,</I> namely, Jeroboam's son and all his: if he
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had done that with an eye to God, to his will and glory, and from a
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holy indignation against the sins of Jeroboam and his house, he would
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have been accepted and applauded as a minister of God's justice; but,
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as he did it, he was only the tool of God's justice, but a servant to
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his own lusts, and is justly punished for the malice and ambition which
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actuated and governed him in all he did. Note, Those who are in any way
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employed in denouncing or executing the justice of God (magistrates or
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ministers) are concerned to do it from a good principle and in a holy
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manner, lest it turn into sin to them and they make themselves
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obnoxious by it.</P>
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<P>
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(3.) He foretels the same destruction to come upon his family which he
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himself had been employed to bring upon the family of Jeroboam,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:3,4"><I>v.</I> 3, 4</A>.
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Note, Those who resemble others in their sins may expect to resemble
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them in their plagues, especially those who seem zealous against such
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sins in others as they allow themselves in; the house of Jehu was
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reckoned with for the blood of the house of Ahab,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ho+1:4">Hos. i. 4</A>.</P>
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<P>
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II. A reprieve granted for some time, so long that Baasha himself dies
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in peace, and is buried with honour in his own royal city
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>),
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so far is he from being a prey either to the dogs or to the fowls,
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which yet was threatened to his house,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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He lives not either to see or feel the punishment threatened, yet he
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was himself the greatest delinquent. Certainly there must be a future
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state, in which impenitent sinners will suffer in their own persons,
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and not escape, as often they do in this world. Baasha died under no
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visible stroke of divine vengeance for aught that appears, but <I>God
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laid up his iniquity for his children,</I> as Job speaks,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+21:19"><I>ch.</I> xxi. 19</A>.
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Thus he often visits sin. Observe, Baasha is punished by the
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destruction of his children after his death, and his children are
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punished by the abuse of their bodies after their death; that is the
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only thing which the threatening specifies
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
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that the dogs and the fowls of the air should eat them, as if herein
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were designed a tacit intimation that there are punishments after
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death, when death has done its worst, which will be the sorest
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punishments and are most to be dreaded; these judgments on the body and
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posterity signified judgments on the soul when separated from the body,
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by him who, <I>after he has killed, has power to cast into
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hell.</I></P>
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<P>
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III. Execution done at last. Baasha's son Elah, like Jeroboam's son
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Nadab, reigned two years, and then was slain by Zimri, one of his own
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soldiers, as Nadab was by Baasha; so like was his house made to that of
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Jeroboam, as was threatened,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:3"><I>v.</I> 3</A>.
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Because his idolatry was like his, and one of the sins for which God
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contended with him being the destruction of Jeroboam's family, the more
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the destruction of his own resembled that, the nearer did the
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punishment resemble the sin, as face answers to face in a glass.</P>
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<P>
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1. As then, so now, the king himself was first slain, but Elah fell
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more ingloriously than Nadab. Nadab was slain in the field of action
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and honour, he and his army then besieging Gibbethon
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+15:27"><I>ch.</I> xv. 27</A>);
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but the siege being then raised upon that disaster, and the city
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remaining still in the Philistines' hands, the army of Israel was now
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renewing the attempt
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>)
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and Elah should have been with them to command in chief, but he loved
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his own ease and safety better than his honour or duty, or the public
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good, and therefore staid behind to take his pleasure; and, when he was
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<I>drinking himself drunk in his servant's house,</I> Zimri killed him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:9,10"><I>v.</I> 9, 10</A>.
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Let it be a warning to drunkards, especially to those who designedly
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drink themselves drunk, that they know not but death may surprise them
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in that condition.
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(1.) Death comes easily upon men when they are drunk. Besides the
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chronic diseases which men frequently bring themselves into by hard
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drinking, and which cut them off in the midst of their days, men in
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that condition are more easily overcome by an enemy, as Amnon by
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Absalom, and are liable to more bad accidents, being unable to help
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themselves,
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(2.) Death comes terribly upon men in that condition. Finding them in
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the act of sin, and incapacitated for any act of devotion, that day
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<I>comes upon them unawares</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Lu+21:34">Luke xxi. 34</A>),
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like a thief.</P>
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<P>
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2. As then, so now, the whole family was cut off, and rooted out. The
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traitor was the successor, to whom the unthinking people tamely
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submitted, as if it were all one to them what kind they had, so that
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they had one. The first thing Zimri did was to <I>slay all the house of
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Baasha;</I> thus he held by cruelty what he got by treason. His cruelty
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seems to have extended further than Baasha's did against the house of
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Jeroboam, for he left to Elah <I>none of his kinsfolks or friends</I>
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:11"><I>v.</I> 11</A>),
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<I>none of his avengers</I> (so the word is), none that were likely to
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avenge his death; yet divine justice soon avenged it so remarkably that
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it was used as a proverb long after, <I>Had Zimri peace who slew his
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master?</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+9:31">2 Kings ix. 31</A>.
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In this,
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(1.) The word of God was fulfilled,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:12"><I>v.</I> 12</A>.
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(2.) The sins of Baasha and Elah were reckoned for, with which they
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<I>provoked God by their vanities,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:13"><I>v.</I> 13</A>.
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Their idols are called their <I>vanities,</I> for they cannot profit
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nor help. Miserable are those whose deities are vanities.</P>
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<A NAME="1Ki16_26"> </A>
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<A NAME="1Ki16_27"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki16_28"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Zimri's Death; Reign of Omri.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 929.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>15 In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah did
|
|
Zimri reign seven days in Tirzah. And the people <I>were</I> encamped
|
|
against Gibbethon, which <I>belonged</I> to the Philistines.
|
|
16 And the people <I>that were</I> encamped heard say, Zimri hath
|
|
conspired, and hath also slain the king: wherefore all Israel
|
|
made Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that day in
|
|
the camp.
|
|
17 And Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him,
|
|
and they besieged Tirzah.
|
|
18 And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the city was taken,
|
|
that he went into the palace of the king's house, and burnt the
|
|
king's house over him with fire, and died,
|
|
19 For his sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of
|
|
the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which
|
|
he did, to make Israel to sin.
|
|
20 Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his treason that he
|
|
wrought, <I>are</I> they not written in the book of the chronicles of
|
|
the kings of Israel?
|
|
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.
|
|
22 But the people that followed Omri prevailed against the
|
|
people that followed Tibni the son of Ginath: so Tibni died, and
|
|
Omri reigned.
|
|
23 In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah began Omri
|
|
to reign over Israel, twelve years: six years reigned he in
|
|
Tirzah.
|
|
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
|
|
which he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill,
|
|
Samaria.
|
|
25 But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and did worse
|
|
than all that <I>were</I> before him.
|
|
26 For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat,
|
|
and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin, to provoke the
|
|
L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of Israel to anger with their vanities.
|
|
27 Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his might
|
|
that he showed, <I>are</I> they not written in the book of the
|
|
chronicles of the kings of Israel?
|
|
28 So Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria:
|
|
and Ahab his son reigned in his stead.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
Solomon observes
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Pr+28:2">Prov. xxviii. 2</A>)
|
|
|
|
that <I>for the transgression of a land many were the princes
|
|
thereof</I> (so it was here in Israel), <I>but by a man of
|
|
understanding the state thereof shall be prolonged</I>--so it was with
|
|
Judah at the same time under Asa. When men forsake God they are out of
|
|
the way of rest and establishment. Zimri, and Tibni, and Omri, are here
|
|
striving for the crown. Proud aspiring men ruin one another, and
|
|
involve others in the ruin. These confusions end in the settlement of
|
|
Omri; we must therefore take him along with us through this part of the
|
|
story.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. How he was chosen, as the Roman emperors often were, by the army in
|
|
the field, now encamped before Gibbethon. Notice was soon brought
|
|
thither that Zimri had slain their king
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:16"><I>v.</I> 16</A>)
|
|
|
|
and set up himself in Tirzah, the royal city, whereupon they chose Omri
|
|
king in the camp, that they might without delay avenge the death of
|
|
Elah upon Zimri. Though he was idle and intemperate, yet he was their
|
|
king, and they would not tamely submit to his murderer, nor let the
|
|
treason go unpunished. They did not attempt to avenge the death of
|
|
Nadab upon Baasha, perhaps because the house of Baasha had ruled with
|
|
more gentleness than the house of Jeroboam; but Zimri shall feel the
|
|
resentments of the provoked army. The siege of Gibbethon is quitted
|
|
(Philistines are sure to gain when Israelites quarrel) and Zimri is
|
|
prosecuted.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. How he conquered Zimri, who is said to have reigned seven days
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>),
|
|
|
|
so long before Omri was proclaimed king and himself proclaimed traitor;
|
|
but we may suppose it was a longer time before he died, for he
|
|
continued long enough to show his inclination to the way of Jeroboam,
|
|
and to make himself obnoxious to the justice of God by supporting his
|
|
idolatry,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:19"><I>v.</I> 19</A>.
|
|
|
|
Tirzah was a beautiful city, but not fortified, so that Omri soon made
|
|
himself master of it
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:17"><I>v.</I> 17</A>),
|
|
|
|
forced Zimri into the palace, which being unable to defend, and yet
|
|
unwilling to surrender, he burnt, and himself in it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:18"><I>v.</I> 18</A>.
|
|
|
|
Unwilling that his rival should ever enjoy that sumptuous palace, he
|
|
burnt it; and fearing that if he fell into the hands of the army,
|
|
either alive or dead, he should be ignominiously treated, he burnt
|
|
himself in it. See what desperate practices men's wickedness sometimes
|
|
brings them to, and how it hurries them into their own ruin; see the
|
|
disposition of incendiaries, who set palaces and kingdoms on fire,
|
|
though they are themselves in danger of perishing in the flame.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. How he struggled with Tibni, and at length got clear of him:
|
|
<I>Half of the people followed this Tibni</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:21"><I>v.</I> 21</A>),
|
|
|
|
probably those who were in Zimri's interest, with whom others joined,
|
|
who would not have a king chosen in the camp (lest he should rule by
|
|
the sword and a standing army), but in a convention of the states. The
|
|
contest between these two lasted some years, and, it is likely, cost a
|
|
great deal of blood on both sides, for it was in the twenty-seventh
|
|
year of Asa that Omri was first elected
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:15"><I>v.</I> 15</A>)
|
|
|
|
and thence the twelve years of his reign are to be dated; but it was
|
|
not till the thirty-first year of Asa that he began to reign without a
|
|
rival; then Tibni died, it is likely in battle, <I>and Omri
|
|
reigned,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:22"><I>v.</I> 22</A>.
|
|
|
|
Sir Walter Raleigh, in his History of the World (2.19.6), enquires here
|
|
why it was that in all these confusions and revolutions of the kingdom
|
|
of Israel they never thought of returning to the house of David, and
|
|
uniting themselves again to Judah, <I>for then it was better with them
|
|
than now;</I> and he thinks the reason was because the kings of Judah
|
|
assumed a more absolute, arbitrary, and despotic power than the kings
|
|
of Israel. It was the heaviness of the yoke that they complained of
|
|
when they first revolted from the house of David, and the dread of that
|
|
made them ever after averse to it, and attached to kings of their own,
|
|
who ruled more by law and the rules of a limited monarchy.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. How he reigned when he was at length settled on the throne.
|
|
|
|
1. He made himself famous by building Samaria, which, ever after, was
|
|
the royal city of the kings of Israel (the palace at Tirzah being
|
|
burnt), and in process of time grew so considerable that it gave name
|
|
to the middle part of Canaan (which lay between Galilee on the north
|
|
and Judea on the south) and to the inhabitants of that country, who
|
|
were called <I>Samaritans.</I> He bought the ground for <I>two talents
|
|
of silver,</I> somewhat more than 700<I>l.</I> of our money, for a
|
|
talent was 353<I>l.</I> 11<I>s.</I> 10 1/2<I>d.</I> Perhaps Shemer, who
|
|
sold him the ground, let him have it considerably the cheaper upon
|
|
condition that the city should be called after his name, for otherwise
|
|
it would have borne the name of the purchaser; it was called
|
|
<I>Samaria,</I> or <I>Shemeren</I> (as it is in the Hebrew), from
|
|
Shemer, the former owner,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:24"><I>v.</I> 24</A>.
|
|
|
|
The kings of Israel changed their royal seats, Shechem first, then
|
|
Tirzah, now Samaria; but the kings of Judah were constant to Jerusalem,
|
|
the city of God. Those that cleave to the Lord fix, but those that
|
|
leave him ever wander.
|
|
|
|
2. He made himself infamous by his wickedness; for <I>he did worse than
|
|
all that were before him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:25"><I>v.</I> 25</A>.
|
|
|
|
Though he was brought to the throne with much difficulty, and
|
|
Providence had remarkably favoured him in his advancement, yet he was
|
|
more profane, or more superstitious, and a greater persecutor, than
|
|
either of the houses of Jeroboam or Baasha. He went further than they
|
|
had done in <I>establishing iniquity by a law,</I> and forcing his
|
|
subjects to comply with him in it; for we read of the statutes of Omri,
|
|
the keeping of which made <I>Israel a desolation,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Mic+6:16">Mic. vi. 16</A>.
|
|
|
|
Jeroboam caused Israel to sin by temptation, example, and allurement;
|
|
but Omri did it by compulsion.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
V. How he ended his reign,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:27"><I>v.</I> 27, 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
He was in some repute for the might which he showed. Many a bad man has
|
|
been a stout man. He died in his bed, as did Jeroboam and Baasha
|
|
themselves; but, like them, left it to his posterity to fill up the
|
|
measure, and then pay off the scores, of his iniquity.</P>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki16_29"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki16_30"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki16_31"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki16_32"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki16_33"> </A>
|
|
<A NAME="1Ki16_34"> </A>
|
|
|
|
<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
|
|
<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
|
|
<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Ahab's Reign.</I></FONT></TD>
|
|
<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 925.</TD></TR>
|
|
<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
|
|
</TABLE>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
<FONT SIZE=+1>29 And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah began
|
|
Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel: and Ahab the son of
|
|
Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years.
|
|
30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
|
|
above all that <I>were</I> before him.
|
|
31 And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him
|
|
to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to
|
|
wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and
|
|
went and served Baal, and worshipped him.
|
|
32 And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal,
|
|
which he had built in Samaria.
|
|
33 And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>
|
|
God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were
|
|
before him.
|
|
34 In his days did Hiel the Beth-elite build Jericho: he laid
|
|
the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the
|
|
gates thereof in his youngest <I>son</I> Segub, according to the word
|
|
of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun.
|
|
</FONT></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
We have here the beginning of the reign of Ahab, of whom we have more
|
|
particulars recorded than of any of the kings of Israel. We have here
|
|
only a general idea given us of him, as the worst of all the kings,
|
|
that we may expect what the particulars will be. He reigned twenty-two
|
|
years, long enough to do a great deal of mischief.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
I. He exceeded all his predecessors in wickedness, <I>did evil above
|
|
all that were before him</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:30"><I>v.</I> 30</A>),
|
|
|
|
and, as if it were done with a particular enmity both to God and
|
|
Israel, to affront him and ruin them, it is said, <I>He did more</I>
|
|
purposely <I>to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger,</I> and,
|
|
consequently, to send judgments on his land, <I>than all the kings of
|
|
Israel that were before him,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>.
|
|
|
|
It was bad with the people when every successive king was worse than
|
|
his predecessor. What would they come to at last? He had seen the ruin
|
|
of other wicked kings and their families; yet, instead of taking
|
|
warning, his heart was hardened and enraged against God by it. He
|
|
thought it <I>a light thing to walk in the sins of Jeroboam,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>.
|
|
|
|
It was nothing to break the second commandment by image-worship, he
|
|
would set aside the first also by introducing other gods; his little
|
|
finger should fall heavier upon God's ordinances than Jeroboam's loins.
|
|
Making light of less sins makes way for greater, and those that
|
|
endeavour to extenuate other people's sins will but aggravate their
|
|
own.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
II. He married a wicked woman, who he knew would bring in the worship
|
|
of Baal, and seemed to marry her with that design. <I>As if it had been
|
|
a light thing to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, he took to wife
|
|
Jezebel</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:31"><I>v.</I> 31</A>),
|
|
|
|
a zealous idolater, extremely imperious and malicious in her natural
|
|
temper, addicted to witchcrafts and whoredoms
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+9:22">2 Kings ix. 22</A>),
|
|
|
|
and every way vicious. The false prophetess spoken of
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Re+2:20">Rev. ii. 20</A>
|
|
|
|
is there called <I>Jezebel,</I> for a wicked woman could not be called
|
|
by a worse name than hers; what mischiefs she did, and what mischief at
|
|
last befel her
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+9:33">2 Kings ix. 33</A>),
|
|
|
|
we shall find in the following story; this one strange wife debauched
|
|
Israel more than all the strange wives of Solomon.</P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
III. He set up the worship of Baal, forsook the God of Israel and
|
|
served the god of the Sidonians, Jupiter instead of Jehovah, the sun
|
|
(so some think), a deified hero of the Phoenicians (so others): he was
|
|
weary of the golden calves, and thought they had been worshipped long
|
|
enough; such vanities were they that those who had been fondest of them
|
|
at length grew sick of them, and, like adulterers, much have variety.
|
|
In honour of this mock deity, whom they called <I>Baal--lord,</I> and
|
|
for the convenience of his worship,
|
|
|
|
1. Ahab built a temple in Samaria, the royal city, because the temple
|
|
of God was in Jerusalem, the royal city of the other kingdom. He would
|
|
have Baal's temple near him, that he might the better frequent it,
|
|
protect it, and put honour upon it.
|
|
|
|
2. He reared an altar in that temple, on which to offer sacrifice to
|
|
Baal, by which they acknowledged their dependence upon him and sought
|
|
his favour. O the stupidity of idolaters, who are at a great expense to
|
|
make one their friend whom they might have chosen whether they would
|
|
make a god of or no!
|
|
|
|
3. He made a grove about his temple, either a natural one, by planting
|
|
shady trees there, or, if those would be too long in growing, an
|
|
artificial one in imitation of it; for it is not said he
|
|
<I>planted,</I> but he <I>made</I> a grove, something that answered the
|
|
intention, which was to conceal and so countenance the abominable
|
|
impurities that were committed in the filthy worship of Baal. <I>Lucus,
|
|
a lucendo, quia non lucet</I>--<I>He that doeth evil hateth the
|
|
light.</I></P>
|
|
|
|
<P>
|
|
|
|
IV. One of his subjects, in imitation of his presumption, ventured to
|
|
build Jericho, in defiance of the curse Joshua had long since
|
|
pronounced on him that should attempt it,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=1Ki+16:34"><I>v.</I> 34</A>.
|
|
|
|
It comes in as an instance of the height of impiety to which men had
|
|
arrived, especially at Bethel, where one of the calves was, for of that
|
|
city this daring sinner was. Observe,
|
|
|
|
1. How ill he did. Like Achan he meddled with the accursed thing,
|
|
turned that to his own use which was devoted to God's honour. He began
|
|
to build, in defiance of the curse well known in Israel, jesting with
|
|
it perhaps as a bugbear, or fancying its force worn out by length of
|
|
time, for it was above 500 years since it was pronounced,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Jos+6:26">Josh. vi. 26</A>.
|
|
|
|
He went on to build, in defiance of the execution of the curse in part;
|
|
for, though his eldest son died when he began, yet he would proceed in
|
|
contempt of God and his wrath revealed from heaven against his
|
|
ungodliness.
|
|
|
|
2. How ill he sped. He built for his children, but God wrote him
|
|
childless; his eldest son died when he began, the youngest when he
|
|
finished, and all the rest (it is supposed) between. Note, Those whom
|
|
God curses are cursed indeed; none ever hardened his heart against God
|
|
and prospered. God keep us back from presumptuous sins, those great
|
|
transgressions!</P>
|
|
|
|
<!-- (End Body) -->
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1708)
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