mh_parser/vol_split/11 - 1Kings/Chapter 16.xml

<div2 id="iKi.xvii" n="xvii" next="iKi.xviii" prev="iKi.xvi" progress="57.76%" title="Chapter XVI">
<h2 id="iKi.xvii-p0.1">F I R S T   K I N G S</h2>
<h3 id="iKi.xvii-p0.2">CHAP. XVI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="iKi.xvii-p1">This chapter relates wholly to the kingdom of
Israel, and the revolutions of that kingdom—many in a little time.
The utter ruin of Jeroboam's family, after it had been twenty-four
years a royal family, we read of in the foregoing chapter. In this
chapter we have, I. The ruin of Baasha's family, after it had been
but twenty-six years a royal family, foretold by a prophet
(<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.1-1Kgs.16.7" parsed="|1Kgs|16|1|16|7" passage="1Ki 16:1-7">ver. 1-7</scripRef>), and executed
by Zimri, one of his captains, <scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.8-1Kgs.16.14" parsed="|1Kgs|16|8|16|14" passage="1Ki 16:8-14">ver.
8-14</scripRef>. II. The seven days' reign of Zimri, and his sudden
fall, <scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.15-1Kgs.16.20" parsed="|1Kgs|16|15|16|20" passage="1Ki 16:15-20">ver. 15-20</scripRef>. III.
The struggle between Omri and Tibni, and Omri's prevalency, and his
reign, <scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.21-1Kgs.16.28" parsed="|1Kgs|16|21|16|28" passage="1Ki 16:21-28">ver. 21-28</scripRef>. IV.
The beginning of the reign of Ahab, of whom we shall afterwards
read much, <scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.29-1Kgs.16.32" parsed="|1Kgs|16|29|16|32" passage="1Ki 16:29-32">ver. 29-33</scripRef>.
V. The rebuilding of Jericho, <scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.34" parsed="|1Kgs|16|34|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:34">ver.
34</scripRef>. All this while, in Judah, things went well.</p>
<scripCom id="iKi.xvii-p0.1_1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16" parsed="|1Kgs|16|0|0|0" passage="1Ki 16" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="iKi.xvii-p0.2_1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.1-1Kgs.16.14" parsed="|1Kgs|16|1|16|14" passage="1Ki 16:1-14" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:1Kgs.16.1-1Kgs.16.14">
<h4 id="iKi.xvii-p1.9">Ruin of Baasha's Family
Foretold. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xvii-p1.10">b. c.</span> 931.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iKi.xvii-p2">1 Then the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xvii-p2.1">Lord</span> came to Jehu the son of Hanani against
Baasha, saying,   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, to provoke me to anger with their sins;   3 Behold, I
will take away the posterity of Baasha, and the posterity of his
house; and will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son
of Nebat.   4 Him that dieth of Baasha in the city shall the
dogs eat; and him that dieth of his in the fields shall the fowls
of the air eat.   5 Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, and
what he did, and his might, <i>are</i> they not written in the book
of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?   6 So Baasha slept
with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah: and Elah his son
reigned in his stead.   7 And also by the hand of the prophet
Jehu the son of Hanani came the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xvii-p2.2">Lord</span> against Baasha, and against his house, even
for all the evil that he did in the sight of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xvii-p2.3">Lord</span>, in provoking him to anger with the work of
his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam; and because he
killed him.   8 In the twenty and sixth year of Asa king of
Judah began Elah the son of Baasha to reign over Israel in Tirzah,
two years.   9 And his servant Zimri, captain of half
<i>his</i> chariots, conspired against him, as he was in Tirzah,
drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza steward of <i>his</i>
house in Tirzah.   10 And Zimri went in and smote him, and
killed him, in the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah,
and reigned in his stead.   11 And it came to pass, when he
began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, <i>that</i> he
slew all the house of Baasha: he left him not one that pisseth
against a wall, neither of his kinsfolks, nor of his friends.
  12 Thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Baasha, according
to the word of the <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xvii-p2.4">Lord</span>, which he
spake against Baasha by Jehu the prophet,   13 For all the
sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, by which they sinned,
and by which they made Israel to sin, in provoking the <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xvii-p2.5">Lord</span> God of Israel to anger with their vanities.
  14 Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did,
<i>are</i> they not written in the book of the chronicles of the
kings of Israel?</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xvii-p3">Here is, I. The ruin of the family of
Baasha foretold. He was a man likely enough to have raised and
established his family—active, politic, and daring; but he was an
idolater, and this brought destruction upon his family.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xvii-p4">1. God sent him warning of it before. (1.)
That, if he were thereby wrought upon to repent and reform, the
ruin might be prevented; for God threatens, that he may not strike,
as one that desires not the death of sinners. (2.) That, if not, it
might appear that the destruction when it did come, whoever might
be instruments of it, was the act of God's justice and the
punishment of sin.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xvii-p5">2. The warning was sent by <i>Jehu the son
of Hanani.</i> The father was a seer, or prophet, at the same time
(<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.16.7" parsed="|2Chr|16|7|0|0" passage="2Ch 16:7">2 Chron. xvi. 7</scripRef>), and was
sent to Asa king of Judah; but the son, who was young and more
active, was sent on this longer and more dangerous expedition to
Baasha king of Israel. <i>Juniores ad labores—Toil and adventure
are for the young.</i> This Jehu was a prophet and the son of a
prophet. Prophecy, thus happily entailed, was worthy of so much the
more honour. This Jehu continued long in his usefulness, for we
find him reproving Jehoshaphat (<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.19.2" parsed="|2Chr|19|2|0|0" passage="2Ch 19:2">2
Chron. xix. 2</scripRef>) above forty years after, and writing the
annals of that prince, <scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p5.3" osisRef="Bible:2Chr.20.34" parsed="|2Chr|20|34|0|0" passage="2Ch 20:34">2 Chron. xx.
34</scripRef>. The message which this prophet brought to Baasha is
much the same with that which Ahijah sent to Jeroboam by his
wife.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xvii-p6">(1.) He reminds Baasha of the great things
God had done for him (<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.2" parsed="|1Kgs|16|2|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>): <i>I exalted thee out of the dust</i> to the
<i>throne of glory,</i> a great instance of the divine sovereignty
and power, <scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:1Sam.2.8" parsed="|1Sam|2|8|0|0" passage="1Sa 2:8">1 Sam. ii. 8</scripRef>.
Baasha seemed to have raised himself by his own treachery and
cruelty, yet there was a hand of Providence in it, to bring about
God's counsel, concerning Jeroboam's house; and God's owning his
advancement as his act and deed does by no means amount to the
patronising of his ambition and treachery. It is God that puts
power into bad men's hands, which he makes to serve his good
purposes, notwithstanding the bad use they make of it. <i>I made
thee prince over my people.</i> God calls Israel his people still,
though wretchedly corrupted, because they retained the covenant of
circumcision, and there were many good people among them; it was
not till long after that they were called <i>Loammi, not a
people,</i> <scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Hos.1.9" parsed="|Hos|1|9|0|0" passage="Ho 1:9">Hos. i. 9</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xvii-p7">(2.) He charges him with high crimes and
misdemeanours, [1.] That he had caused <i>Israel to sin,</i> had
seduced God's subjects from their allegiance and brought them to
pay to dunghill-deities the homage due to him only, and herein he
had <i>walked in the way of Jeroboam</i> (<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p7.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.2" parsed="|1Kgs|16|2|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:2"><i>v.</i> 2</scripRef>), and been <i>like his house,</i>
<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p7.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.7" parsed="|1Kgs|16|7|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. [2.] That he
had himself <i>provoked God to anger with the work of his
hands,</i> that is, by worshipping images, the <i>work of men's
hands;</i> though perhaps others made them, yet he served them and
thereby avowed the making of them, and they are therefore called
the <i>work of his hands.</i> [3.] That he had <i>destroyed the
house of Jeroboam</i> (<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p7.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.7" parsed="|1Kgs|16|7|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:7"><i>v.</i>
7</scripRef>), <i>because he killed him,</i> namely, Jeroboam's son
and all his: if he had done that with an eye to God, to his will
and glory, and from a holy indignation against the sins of Jeroboam
and his house, he would have been accepted and applauded as a
minister of God's justice; but, as he did it, he was only the tool
of God's justice, but a servant to his own lusts, and is justly
punished for the malice and ambition which actuated and governed
him in all he did. Note, Those who are in any way employed in
denouncing or executing the justice of God (magistrates or
ministers) are concerned to do it from a good principle and in a
holy manner, lest it turn into sin to them and they make themselves
obnoxious by it.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xvii-p8">(3.) He foretels the same destruction to
come upon his family which he himself had been employed to bring
upon the family of Jeroboam, <scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p8.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.3-1Kgs.16.4" parsed="|1Kgs|16|3|16|4" passage="1Ki 16:3,4"><i>v.</i> 3, 4</scripRef>. Note, Those who resemble
others in their sins may expect to resemble them in their plagues,
especially those who seem zealous against such sins in others as
they allow themselves in; the house of Jehu was reckoned with for
the blood of the house of Ahab, <scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p8.2" osisRef="Bible:Hos.1.4" parsed="|Hos|1|4|0|0" passage="Ho 1:4">Hos. i.
4</scripRef>.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xvii-p9">II. A reprieve granted for some time, so
long that Baasha himself dies in peace, and is buried with honour
in his own royal city (<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.6" parsed="|1Kgs|16|6|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>), so far is he from being a prey either to the dogs or
to the fowls, which yet was threatened to his house, <scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.4" parsed="|1Kgs|16|4|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>. He lives not either to
see or feel the punishment threatened, yet he was himself the
greatest delinquent. Certainly there must be a future state, in
which impenitent sinners will suffer in their own persons, and not
escape, as often they do in this world. Baasha died under no
visible stroke of divine vengeance for aught that appears, but
<i>God laid up his iniquity for his children,</i> as Job speaks,
<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p9.3" osisRef="Bible:Job.21.19" parsed="|Job|21|19|0|0" passage="Job 21:19"><i>ch.</i> xxi. 19</scripRef>. Thus
he often visits sin. Observe, Baasha is punished by the destruction
of his children after his death, and his children are punished by
the abuse of their bodies after their death; that is the only thing
which the threatening specifies (<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p9.4" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.4" parsed="|1Kgs|16|4|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:4"><i>v.</i> 4</scripRef>), that the dogs and the fowls of
the air should eat them, as if herein were designed a tacit
intimation that there are punishments after death, when death has
done its worst, which will be the sorest punishments and are most
to be dreaded; these judgments on the body and posterity signified
judgments on the soul when separated from the body, by him who,
<i>after he has killed, has power to cast into hell.</i></p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xvii-p10">III. Execution done at last. Baasha's son
Elah, like Jeroboam's son Nadab, reigned two years, and then was
slain by Zimri, one of his own soldiers, as Nadab was by Baasha; so
like was his house made to that of Jeroboam, as was threatened,
<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.3" parsed="|1Kgs|16|3|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:3"><i>v.</i> 3</scripRef>. Because his
idolatry was like his, and one of the sins for which God contended
with him being the destruction of Jeroboam's family, the more the
destruction of his own resembled that, the nearer did the
punishment resemble the sin, as face answers to face in a
glass.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xvii-p11">1. As then, so now, the king himself was
first slain, but Elah fell more ingloriously than Nadab. Nadab was
slain in the field of action and honour, he and his army then
besieging Gibbethon (<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.15.27" parsed="|1Kgs|15|27|0|0" passage="1Ki 15:27"><i>ch.</i> xv.
27</scripRef>); but the siege being then raised upon that disaster,
and the city remaining still in the Philistines' hands, the army of
Israel was now renewing the attempt (<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.15" parsed="|1Kgs|16|15|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>) and Elah should have been with
them to command in chief, but he loved his own ease and safety
better than his honour or duty, or the public good, and therefore
staid behind to take his pleasure; and, when he was <i>drinking
himself drunk in his servant's house,</i> Zimri killed him,
<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.9-1Kgs.16.10" parsed="|1Kgs|16|9|16|10" passage="1Ki 16:9,10"><i>v.</i> 9, 10</scripRef>. Let it
be a warning to drunkards, especially to those who designedly drink
themselves drunk, that they know not but death may surprise them in
that condition. (1.) Death comes easily upon men when they are
drunk. Besides the chronic diseases which men frequently bring
themselves into by hard drinking, and which cut them off in the
midst of their days, men in that condition are more easily overcome
by an enemy, as Amnon by Absalom, and are liable to more bad
accidents, being unable to help themselves, (2.) Death comes
terribly upon men in that condition. Finding them in the act of
sin, and incapacitated for any act of devotion, that day <i>comes
upon them unawares</i> (<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:Luke.21.34" parsed="|Luke|21|34|0|0" passage="Lu 21:34">Luke xxi.
34</scripRef>), like a thief.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xvii-p12">2. As then, so now, the whole family was
cut off, and rooted out. The traitor was the successor, to whom the
unthinking people tamely submitted, as if it were all one to them
what kind they had, so that they had one. The first thing Zimri did
was to <i>slay all the house of Baasha;</i> thus he held by cruelty
what he got by treason. His cruelty seems to have extended further
than Baasha's did against the house of Jeroboam, for he left to
Elah <i>none of his kinsfolks or friends</i> (<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.11" parsed="|1Kgs|16|11|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>), <i>none of his avengers</i>
(so the word is), none that were likely to avenge his death; yet
divine justice soon avenged it so remarkably that it was used as a
proverb long after, <i>Had Zimri peace who slew his master?</i>
<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.9.31" parsed="|2Kgs|9|31|0|0" passage="2Ki 9:31">2 Kings ix. 31</scripRef>. In this,
(1.) The word of God was fulfilled, <scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p12.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.12" parsed="|1Kgs|16|12|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>. (2.) The sins of Baasha and
Elah were reckoned for, with which they <i>provoked God by their
vanities,</i> <scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p12.4" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.13" parsed="|1Kgs|16|13|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:13"><i>v.</i>
13</scripRef>. Their idols are called their <i>vanities,</i> for
they cannot profit nor help. Miserable are those whose deities are
vanities.</p>
</div><scripCom id="iKi.xvii-p0.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.15-1Kgs.16.28" parsed="|1Kgs|16|15|16|28" passage="1Ki 16:15-28" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:1Kgs.16.15-1Kgs.16.28">
<h4 id="iKi.xvii-p12.6">Zimri's Death; Reign of
Omri. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xvii-p12.7">b. c.</span> 929.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iKi.xvii-p13">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 <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xvii-p13.1">Lord</span>, 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xvii-p13.2">Lord</span>, 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xvii-p13.3">Lord</span> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xvii-p14">Solomon observes (<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Prov.28.2" parsed="|Prov|28|2|0|0" passage="Pr 28:2">Prov. xxviii. 2</scripRef>) 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 class="indent" id="iKi.xvii-p15">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 (<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p15.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.16" parsed="|1Kgs|16|16|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>)
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 class="indent" id="iKi.xvii-p16">II. How he conquered Zimri, who is said to
have reigned seven days (<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.15" parsed="|1Kgs|16|15|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:15"><i>v.</i>
15</scripRef>), 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, <scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p16.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.19" parsed="|1Kgs|16|19|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:19"><i>v.</i> 19</scripRef>. Tirzah was a beautiful city,
but not fortified, so that Omri soon made himself master of it
(<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p16.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.17" parsed="|1Kgs|16|17|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>), forced
Zimri into the palace, which being unable to defend, and yet
unwilling to surrender, he burnt, and himself in it, <scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p16.4" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.18" parsed="|1Kgs|16|18|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. 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 class="indent" id="iKi.xvii-p17">III. How he struggled with Tibni, and at
length got clear of him: <i>Half of the people followed this
Tibni</i> (<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.21" parsed="|1Kgs|16|21|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:21"><i>v.</i> 21</scripRef>),
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
(<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p17.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.15" parsed="|1Kgs|16|15|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>) 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> <scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p17.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.22" parsed="|1Kgs|16|22|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:22"><i>v.</i> 22</scripRef>.
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 class="indent" id="iKi.xvii-p18">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, <scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.24" parsed="|1Kgs|16|24|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>. 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> <scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p18.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.25" parsed="|1Kgs|16|25|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>. 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> <scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p18.3" osisRef="Bible:Mic.6.16" parsed="|Mic|6|16|0|0" passage="Mic 6:16">Mic. vi. 16</scripRef>. Jeroboam caused Israel
to sin by temptation, example, and allurement; but Omri did it by
compulsion.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xvii-p19">V. How he ended his reign, <scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.27" parsed="|1Kgs|16|27|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:27"><i>v.</i> 27, 28</scripRef>. 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>
</div><scripCom id="iKi.xvii-p0.4" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.29-1Kgs.16.34" parsed="|1Kgs|16|29|16|34" passage="1Ki 16:29-34" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Bible:1Kgs.16.29-1Kgs.16.34">
<h4 id="iKi.xvii-p19.3">Ahab's Reign. (<span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xvii-p19.4">b. c.</span> 925.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="iKi.xvii-p20">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 <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xvii-p20.1">Lord</span> 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xvii-p20.2">Lord</span> 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 <span class="smallcaps" id="iKi.xvii-p20.3">Lord</span>, which he spake by
Joshua the son of Nun.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xvii-p21">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 class="indent" id="iKi.xvii-p22">I. He exceeded all his predecessors in
wickedness, <i>did evil above all that were before him</i>
(<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p22.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.30" parsed="|1Kgs|16|30|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:30"><i>v.</i> 30</scripRef>), 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> <scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p22.2" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.33" parsed="|1Kgs|16|33|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:33"><i>v.</i> 33</scripRef>. 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> <scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p22.3" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.31" parsed="|1Kgs|16|31|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:31"><i>v.</i> 31</scripRef>. 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 class="indent" id="iKi.xvii-p23">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> (<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.31" parsed="|1Kgs|16|31|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:31"><i>v.</i> 31</scripRef>), a zealous idolater, extremely
imperious and malicious in her natural temper, addicted to
witchcrafts and whoredoms (<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.9.22" parsed="|2Kgs|9|22|0|0" passage="2Ki 9:22">2 Kings ix.
22</scripRef>), and every way vicious. The false prophetess spoken
of <scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:Rev.2.20" parsed="|Rev|2|20|0|0" passage="Re 2:20">Rev. ii. 20</scripRef> 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 (<scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p23.4" osisRef="Bible:2Kgs.9.33" parsed="|2Kgs|9|33|0|0" passage="2Ki 9:33">2 Kings ix.
33</scripRef>), we shall find in the following story; this one
strange wife debauched Israel more than all the strange wives of
Solomon.</p>
<p class="indent" id="iKi.xvii-p24">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 class="indent" id="iKi.xvii-p25">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, <scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p25.1" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.16.34" parsed="|1Kgs|16|34|0|0" passage="1Ki 16:34"><i>v.</i> 34</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="iKi.xvii-p25.2" osisRef="Bible:Josh.6.26" parsed="|Josh|6|26|0|0" passage="Jos 6:26">Josh. vi. 26</scripRef>. 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>
</div></div2>