1 Kings 16:1. _Then_[R.V. AND] _the word of the Lord came_ The conjunction is the simple copula, and this verse is in close connexion with the closing sentence of the previous chapter. _Jehu the son of Hanani_ This prophet, named in this chapter and in 2Ch 19:2; 2 Chronicles 20:34, was the son of th... [ Continue Reading ]
_I exalted thee out of the dust_ This may signify that Baasha was of humble origin; but to be chosen of God and called to the position of a ruler of Israel was great exaltation out of any station. _prince over my people_ Though Israel has offended, they are still God's people. They have rejected Hi... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will take away the posterity of Baasha, and the posterity of his house_ R.V. I WILL UTTERLY SWEEP AWAY BAASHA AND HIS HOUSE. Here we have precisely the same expression as in the closing words of 1 Kings 14:10, where the A.V. rendered -take away the remnant." See note there.... [ Continue Reading ]
_So_[R.V. AND] _Baasha slept with his fathers_ He had reigned not quite twenty-four full years. Cf. 1 Kings 15:33 with 1 Kings 16:8. Tirzah was now sufficiently distinguished to be made a burial place by the kings of Israel.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And also_[R.V. MOREOVER] _by the hand of the prophet Jehu_ -Moreover" connects the two prophetic messages more directly than the -also" of A. V. The LXX. omits the words -the prophet." _even for_(R.V. BOTH BECAUSE OF] _all the evil_ There are two reasons given for the divine message sent to Baasha... [ Continue Reading ]
Elah king of Israel (Not in Chronicles) 8. _In the twenty and sixth year of Asa king of Judah began_ These words, like most other chronological dates, are omitted by the LXX. _in Tirzah, two years_ Here as in 1 Kings 15:33 the R.V. inserts in italics after -Tirzah" the words _and reigned_, which m... [ Continue Reading ]
_And his servant Zimri_ The LXX. omits -his servant." The expression is used of any officer who served under the king, and has no mean signification. Here -the servant" was a chief commander of the royal troops. _as_[NOW R.V.] _he was in Tirzah_ The strongest stop in the Hebrew occurs immediately b... [ Continue Reading ]
_in the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah_ Omitted as usual by the LXX. Here again if we refer to 1 Kings 16:8, it is plain that Elah's two years cannot have been full years.... [ Continue Reading ]
that _he slew_ R.V. SMOTE. The verb is the same that is constantly so rendered in all these descriptions. Zimri made a complete end, he left not a single man child. _he left … house of Baasha_ All this passage is left out by the LXX.... [ Continue Reading ]
by _which they sinned, and_by _which they made_ R.V. WHICH THEY SINNED AND WHEREWITH THEY MADE, as in other places. The LXX. has nothing to represent -by which they sinned." _vanities_ This word is often employed in the Old Testament of false gods, and the worship paid to them. The idea is that suc... [ Continue Reading ]
Zimri king of Israel. Omri proclaimed king by the army (Not in Chronicles) 15. _In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah_ The chronological note is omitted by the LXX. _And_[R.V. NOW] _the people_were _encamped against Gibbethon_ The LXX. explains -the people" by ἡ παρεμβολὴ = the camp.... [ Continue Reading ]
_heard say_ The distance was not great between Tirzah and Gibbethon, and it was to the army that such news would quickly be brought. _hath also slain_ R.V. SMITTEN. The change is made for consistency. _wherefore all Israel_ The voice of the army being regarded as the voice of the nation. So -all I... [ Continue Reading ]
_and they besieged Tirzah_ Which must therefore have been a fortified town, and not a mere pleasance of the kings of Israel.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the palace_[R.V. CASTLE] _of the king's house_ The word is most frequently rendered -palace" in A.V.; but here and in 2 Kings 15:25, the sense required is some strong and well barricaded part of the royal residence, where any one might retire and the enemy be unable to reach him. The root of the no... [ Continue Reading ]
_in doing evil_ See on 1 Kings 15:34. There must have been in Zimri's conduct some very prominent acts to indicate adhesion to the worship of the calves; otherwise in a reign of seven days he would hardly have been coupled with Jeroboam as leading the people into sin. Perhaps he endeavoured to win p... [ Continue Reading ]
Two parties in Israel. Omri's followers prevail. Reign of Omri, and the building of Samaria (Not in Chronicles) 21. _divided into two parts_ Probably it was the civil population, which at first followed Zimri, and after his death, Tibni, while the military strength declared for their commander-in-c... [ Continue Reading ]
_so Tibni died_ Here the LXX. says -and Thamni died and his brother Joram at that time, and Ambri reigned after Thamni." This is one of those additions which can hardly have arisen except from the existence of a different Hebrew text.... [ Continue Reading ]
_over Israel, twelve years_ The R.V. inserts in italics - _and reigned_," after -Israel" to make the sense clear. See on 1 Kings 15:33. _six years reigned he_ The four years of the struggle for the throne are not counted either to Tibni or to Omri. For the commencement of Ahab's reign is put (see 1... [ Continue Reading ]
_the hill Samaria_ This is the first historic mention of the place which subsequently became famous, as the chief city in Israel, and gave name to a people and a district. Where the word occurs in 1 Kings 13:32, it is a later writer who is using, before its proper date, a name which to him and his r... [ Continue Reading ]
_But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord_ R.V. AND OMRI DID THAT WHICH WAS EVIL IN THE SIGHT OF THE LORD. Thus translating as in other passages. _and did worse than_ R.V. AND DEALT WICKEDLY ABOVE. Cf. 2 Kings 21:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
_in his sin_[R.V. SINS]. In the Hebrew text there is a various reading, the margin (_Keri_) having the singular, the text (_Kethib_) the plural, which the R.V. always translates where it can be done.... [ Continue Reading ]
At the close of this verse the LXX. inserts words almost identical with chap. 1 Kings 22:41-50, about the accession and the acts of Jehoshaphat. The only variation worth noting is that it is said that Jehoshaphat began to reign in the _eleventh year of Omri_, whereas in 1 Kings 22:41, the date of hi... [ Continue Reading ]
Ahab king of Israel. His excess of wickedness (Not in Chronicles) 29. _And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa_ Here the LXX. gives -in the second year of Jehoshaphat." This is in harmony with the inserted passage just noticed, but of course disagrees with the date in 1 Kings 22:41 both in the LXX... [ Continue Reading ]
_as if it had been a light thing_ i.e. He was unwarned by all the visitations which had befallen the kings before him for their worship of the calves. He went further than this and introduced the worship of a false god into the land. _he took_to _wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zido... [ Continue Reading ]
in _the house of Baal_ The LXX. renders by ἐν οἴκῳ τῶν προσοχθισμάτων αὐτοῦ = in the house of his abominations. This is after the fashion of the Jews who preferred to use the word -bosheth" = _shame_, rather than the name -Baal" when the latter could be avoided. Cf. the names -Ishbosheth" and -Mephi... [ Continue Reading ]
_And Ahab made a grove_ R.V. THE ASHÊRAH. That is, the image which was to represent the female divinity, of which Baal was the male. _to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger_ Here the LXX. adds -and that his soul should be destroyed.... [ Continue Reading ]
The rebuilding of Jericho (Not in Chronicles) 34. _Hiel the Bethelite_ We may perhaps trace the influence here of evil surroundings. Hiel had been living at one of the seats of Jeroboam's calf-worship, and the neglect of one command had led to ignorance or disregard of another. _did … build Jerich... [ Continue Reading ]