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Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents
15:25-16:34 From Nadab to Ahab. The fulfillment of the prophecy against the house of Jeroboam has been delayed until it has been made clear how differently God treats the house of David, whose wicked kings do not bring the downfall of the dynasty "because for David's sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem" (15:4). Now, however, everything turns out as Ahijah had prophesied in ch. 14.
15:29 He left to the house of Jeroboam not one that breathed. Baasha fulfills the prophecy of 14:10-11.
16:1-7 God's judgment would come upon Baasha and his house (v. 3; cf. v. 11) both because of his being like the house of Jeroboam and because he destroyed Jeroboam's house (v. 7; cf. 15:29). The fact that God had ordained that Jeroboam's house be destroyed did not absolve Baasha of moral responsibility for his actions. Similar revulsion to bloodshed is expressed in Hos. 1:4, even though that bloodshed was also God-ordained, according to 1 Kings 21:21-24 (cf. 2 Kings 9:14-10:17).
16:11 he struck down all the house of Baasha. Zimri in turn fulfills the word of the prophet Jehu (v. 7), although he then reigns for only (v. 15)--just before the civil war described in vv. 21-22, from which Omri emerges as king.
16:17 Omri attacked Zimri at Tirzah. This site is probably to be identified with modern Tell el-Farah that was excavated in the . The first Iron Age level at the site is covered by an ash layer, which indicates a destruction, perhaps Omri's capture of the city.
16:24 The only recorded events of Omri's reign are the purchase of the hill of Samaria and the building of a new northern capital on it. The authors of 1-2 Kings did not consider anything else of any great importance, even though Omri's house held the throne for and the northern kingdom in due course became so identified with this dynasty that even after the Omride period it could be referred to in Assyrian records as "the land of Omri." This suggests that Omri was a more substantial international figure than could be deduced simply from 1 Kings. Archaeologists have determined that the city of Samaria was inhabited from the time of Omri () till it was destroyed by the Assyrians in .
16:31-33 went and served Baal and worshiped him . . . made an Asherah. The last and worst of the Israelite kings who ruled during the reign of Asa in Judah (see note on 15:17) was Ahab son of Omri. He added to the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat a marriage to a foreign woman, Jezebel, who inevitably led him into the worship of a foreign god, Baal. Baal is not strictly a name but a title (meaning "lord") for the ancient Semitic god Hadad--"Lord Hadad" (Baal-Hadad)--first known from the ancient city of Ebla in northwestern Syria and from Egypt, but most thoroughly understood through the Ugaritic texts from Ras Shamra on the Syrian coast. These texts depict Baal (Hadad) as a storm god; the fertility of the land depends on his sending rain. He is son of the high god El and husband of the goddess Anat; his enemies are Yam ("Sea") and Mot ("Death"); his weapons are thunder and lightning; and his symbolic representation is the bull. Baal worship presented an attractive alternative or supplement to the worship of the Lord (Yahweh) for many Israelites throughout their time in Canaan, no doubt partly because that land was so utterly dependent on rain for its fertility. On "Asherah," see note on 14:15.
16:34 Hiel . . . built Jericho. . . . at the cost of Abiram his firstborn, and . . . his youngest son Segub. Joshua had pronounced a curse on anyone who might rebuild Jericho (Josh. 6:26), and the authors of 1-2 Kings understand this curse as the prophetic word of the Lord. Although the text does not say specifically how the two sons of Hiel died, it is possible that he offered them in sacrifice, or that they died as a special judgment from God, in fulfillment of Joshua's curse. Child sacrifice was a prominent feature among the polytheistic Canaanite religions of the day. Israel's Scriptures, however, were steadfastly opposed to any such practice. Solomon's altars for Chemosh and Molech (1 Kings 11:7) could have been the point of entry of this pagan abomination into Israel, and the Phoenician Jezebel would have encouraged it. If the sons of Hiel died by sacrifice, this would be evidence of the difference between Israel's past under Joshua and its present under an apostate monarchy; Israelites no longer conquer the Canaanites at Jericho but rather embrace their religion there.
