1 Kings 16

1 Then the word [message from God, divine utterance] of the LORD [Yehovah] came to Jehu [prophet and son of Hanani] son of Hanani [gracious, a faithful servant] against Baasha [king of Israel, usurper], saying [to speak, proclaim, or command]: word study 2 “Even though I lifted you out of the dust [dry earth, or clay] and made you ruler [leader, commander, or captain] over My people [nation, or community] Israel, you have walked [followed, or lived] in the way [road, path, or manner] of Jeroboam and have caused My people Israel to sin [miss the mark, or go wrong] and to provoke [anger, or irritate] Me to anger by their sins [guilt, or punishment for sin]. word study 3 So now I will consume [utterly sweep away, destroy] Baasha [the king of Israel] and his house [family, dynasty], and I will make your house [family, legacy] like that of Jeroboam [the son of Nebat, a king of Israel] son of Nebat [an Ephraimite from Zereda]: word study 4 Anyone belonging to Baasha [the king of Israel, descendant of a royal line] who dies [meets their mortal end, perishes] in the city [a populated urban area, a town] will be eaten by dogs [despised animals, scavengers], and anyone who dies [succumbs to death, meets their end] in the field [a rural area, open countryside] will be eaten by the birds [fowl, creatures of the air] of the air [the atmosphere, heavenly realm].” word study 5 As for the rest [remainder, what is left] of the acts [deeds, accomplishments] of Baasha [king of Israel, founder of the second dynasty], along with his accomplishments [achievements, mighty works] and might [strength, power, bravery], are they not [is it not the case] written [recorded, inscribed] in the Book [scroll, written document] of the Chronicles [history, events, and words] of the Kings [rulers, monarchs] of Israel [God’s chosen people, descendants of Jacob]? word study 6 And Baasha [slept, died] rested with [together, in the company of] his fathers [ancestors, forefathers] and was buried [laid to rest, interred] in Tirzah [the capital city], and his son [descendant, offspring] Elah reigned [ruled, governed] in his place [stead, position]. word study 7 Moreover, the word [message, declaration] of the LORD [Yehovah, the covenant God] came through the prophet [one who speaks for God] Jehu son of Hanani against Baasha and his house, because of all the evil [wickedness, moral badness] he had done in the sight [presence, awareness] of the LORD, provoking [angering, offending] Him to anger with the work [deeds, actions] of his hands and becoming like the house [family, dynasty] of Jeroboam, and also because Baasha had struck down [killed, destroyed] the house of Jeroboam. word study 8 In the twenty-sixth year of Asa’s [King of Judah, son of Abijam] reign [to rule, to advise] over Judah, Elah [meaning an oak valley] son of Baasha [a king of Israel] became king [a royal person, a ruler] of Israel, and he reigned [to counsel, to rule] in Tirzah [a city in ancient Palestine] two years [a period of time, a cycle of seasons]. word study 9 However, while Elah was in Tirzah [a city in ancient Palestine, the capital of Israel] getting drunk [intoxicated, under the influence] in the house [dwelling place, palace] of Arza [housekeeper] the steward [manager, overseer] of his household [royal court, family] there, Elah’s servant [slave, attendant] Zimri [a commander, leader], the commander [captain, ruler] of half [a division, a part] his chariots [vehicles, cavalry], conspired [plotted, planned] against him. word study 10 So in the twenty-seventh [twenty and seventh] year of Asa’s [king of Judah, son of Abijam] reign [rule, kingdom] over Judah [the tribe descended from Judah], Zimri [a leader of Israel] went in [entered, approached], struck [smote, attacked] Elah down [to the ground, in a vulnerable position], and killed [put to death, slew] him. And Zimri reigned [ruled, took the throne] in his place [stead, position as king]. word study 11 As soon as Zimri began [to establish his rule] to reign and was seated [to dwell, to sit in power] on the throne, he struck down [to smite, to utterly destroy] the entire household [family, descendants] of Baasha [the king of Israel]. He did not leave [to remain, to spare] a single male [one who urinates against a wall, a man], whether a kinsman [relative, family member] or friend [neighbor, companion]. word study 12 So Zimri [the king of Israel] destroyed [annihilated, utterly ruined] the entire [all, every member of] household [family, dynasty] of Baasha, according to the word [promise, declaration] that the LORD [Yehovah, the covenant God] had spoken [declared, proclaimed] against Baasha [the king of Israel] through [by the means of, by the hand of] Jehu [the prophet of God] the prophet [spokesman for God]. word study 13 This happened because of all [every kind of] the sins [transgressions, rebellions] Baasha [the king of Israel] and his son Elah [his successor] had committed [done wrong, acted sinfully] and had caused Israel [the nation, God’s people] to commit [to sin, to err], provoking [angering, offending] the LORD [Yehovah, the God of the covenant], the God [Elohim, the supreme deity] of Israel [the chosen people], to anger [wrath, indignation] with their worthless [empty, vain] idols [false gods, vanities]. word study 14 As for the rest [remainder, what is left] of the acts [accomplishments, deeds] of Elah [a king of Israel, an oak valley], along with all [everything, the entirety] his accomplishments [achievements, works], are they not [is it not the case] written [recorded, inscribed] in the Book [scroll, written document] of the Chronicles [events, history] of the Kings [rulers, monarchs] of Israel [God’s chosen people, descendants of Jacob]? word study 15 In the twenty-seventh [twenty and seventh] year of Asa’s [king of Judah, son of Abijam] reign [to rule, advise, or counsel] over Judah, Zimri [a name meaning’praise’ or’my praise’] reigned [to advise or counsel as a king] in Tirzah [a city in ancient Palestine, one of the kingdoms conquered by Joshua] for seven days. Now the troops [people, nation, or army] were encamped [to set up camp or pitch a tent] against Gibbethon [a town in Palestine, meaning’mound’, a Philistine town] of the Philistines [a people from the region of Philistia, immigrants from other places], word study 16 and the people [the nation of Israel, a multitude] in the camp [a group of tents, an army encampment] heard that Zimri [a rebellious leader] had not only conspired [plotted, made a secret plan] but had also struck down [killed, overthrown] the king [the ruler, the monarch]. So there in the camp [the encampment, the army’s headquarters] that very day [at that exact moment, on that same day], all Israel [the entire nation, every tribe] proclaimed Omri [a powerful commander, the captain of the host], the commander [the leader, the ruler] of the army [the military forces, the troops], king [the ruler, the sovereign] over Israel [the nation, the people of God]. word study 17 Then Omri [a king of Israel, succeeding Elah] and all [the entire nation of] the Israelites marched up [to ascend, went up] from Gibbethon [a town in Palestine, a Philistine town in Dan] and besieged [to confine, surround] Tirzah [a city in ancient Palestine, one of the kingdoms conquered by Joshua]. word study 18 When Zimri [the king, a ruler of Israel] saw that the city [a fortified town, a place of gathering] was captured [taken, seized by force], he entered [went into, approached] the citadel [a high palace, a strong fortress] of the royal palace [the king’s house, a place of authority] and burned [set on fire, kindled flames] it down upon himself [over him, above his own head]. So he died [passed away, met his end, to cease to live, to expire] word study 19 because of the sins [transgressions, rebellions] he had committed, doing evil [wickedness, bad] in the sight [presence, eye] of the LORD [Yehovah, the Lord God] and following the example [way, path] of Jeroboam [the people will contend] and the sin [guilt, punishment] he had committed and had caused Israel [God’s chosen people] to commit [to miss the mark, to go wrong]. word study 20 As for the rest [remainder, what is left] of the acts [deeds, events] of Zimri [the king who rebelled] and the treason [conspiracy, unlawful alliance] he committed [wrought, made], are they not [not at all, in no way] written [recorded, inscribed] in the Book [scroll, written document] of the Chronicles [history, events] of the Kings [rulers, monarchs] of Israel [God’s chosen people]? word study 21 At that time [then, in a past moment] the people [a nation, a tribe] of Israel [the descendants of Jacob] were divided [split into two parts, separated]: Half [one part, a portion] of the people supported [followed, backed] Tibni [the son of Ginath, an Israelite leader] son of Ginath [an Israelite man] as king [a ruler, a leader], and half [the other part, a remaining portion] supported [followed, gave allegiance to] Omri [a king of Israel, a ruler]. word study 22 But the followers [supporters, people] of Omri [pupil of Jehovah] proved stronger [prevailed, to strengthen] than those of Tibni [the son of Ginath, a contestant for the throne] son of Ginath [an Israelite man]. So Tibni [the rival king] died [to die, as a punishment] and Omri [the king of Israel] became king [to reign, ruled as king]. word study 23 In the thirty-first [thirtieth and first] year of Asa’s [son of Abijam, king of Judah] reign [to rule, to have dominion] over Judah [the tribe descended from Judah], Omri [pupil of Jehovah] became king [to reign, to advise] of Israel [the symbolic name of Jacob], and he reigned [to rule, to have dominion] twelve years, six [a number of imperfection and man] of them in Tirzah [a city in ancient Palestine, a place of beauty]. word study 24 He bought [acquired, purchased] the hill [mountain, high place] of Samaria [watch mountain, a region in northern Palestine] from Shemer [the owner, lord of the hill] for two talents [units of weight or currency] of silver [money, payment] and built [constructed, established] a city [town, settlement] there, calling [naming, designating] it Samaria [in honor of the previous owner] after the name of Shemer [the original owner, lord of the hill], who had owned [possessed, controlled] the hill. word study 25 But Omri [a king of Israel, succeeding Elah] did evil [wrought evil, morally bad] in the sight [eyes, presence] of the LORD [Yehovah, The covenant Name of God] and acted more wickedly [dealt wickedly, did worse] than all [everything, everyone] who were before him [preceding him, those who came before]. word study 26 For he walked [followed, lived] in all the ways [paths, manner of life] of Jeroboam [the people will contend] son of Nebat and in his sins [guilt, rebellion], which he caused Israel [the descendants of Jacob] to commit, provoking [angering, offending] the LORD [Yehovah], the God [Elohim, supreme Creator] of Israel, to anger [wrath, indignation] with their worthless [empty, vain] idols [vanities, false gods]. word study 27 As for the rest [remainder, what is left] of the acts [deeds, accomplishments] of Omri [a king of Israel, succeeding Elah], along with his accomplishments [mighty works, achievements] and the might [strength, power] he exercised [showed, demonstrated], are they not [is it not the case] written [recorded, inscribed] in the Book [scroll, document] of the Chronicles [events, history] of the Kings [rulers, monarchs] of Israel [God’s chosen people]? word study 28 And Omri [slept with his fathers] rested with his fathers [ancestors, predecessors] and was buried [laid to rest, interred] in Samaria [the capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel, watch mountain], and his son [descendant, offspring] Ahab [a king of Israel, successor] reigned [ruled, governed] in his place [stead, position]. word study 29 In the thirty-eighth year of Asa’s [King of Judah, son of Abijam] reign [rule, kingdom] over Judah, Ahab [a king of Israel] son of Omri became king [ruler, monarch] of Israel, and he reigned [ruled, governed] in Samaria [the capital city of Israel, watch mountain] twenty-two [twenty and two] years. word study 30 However, Ahab [a king of Israel] son of Omri did [committed, practiced] evil [bad, wicked, morally wrong] in the sight [presence, before the eyes] of the LORD [Yehovah, the Lord God], more [above, beyond] than all [everything, everyone] who were before him [previously, in the past]. word study 31 And as if it were not enough [a light thing, a small matter] for him to walk [live, follow] in the sins [transgressions, rebellions] of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he even married [took to wife] Jezebel [a Sidonian princess] the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians [the Zidonians, a Phoenician people], and he then proceeded to serve [worship, obey] and worship [bow down to, pay homage to] Baal [the Phoenician deity, a false god]. word study 32 First, Ahab set up [reared up, erected] an altar [place of sacrifice] for Baal [the Phoenician deity, a false god] in the temple [house, dwelling place] of Baal [the Phoenician deity, a false god] that he had built [established, constructed] in Samaria [the capital city of the northern kingdom of Israel, watch mountain]. word study 33 Then he set up an Asherah pole [a sacred tree or wooden image]. Thus Ahab did more to provoke [anger or irritate, stir up] the LORD [Yehovah, the one true God], the God [Elohim, the supreme deity] of Israel [the symbolic name of Jacob, referring to his descendants], to anger [intense displeasure or wrath] than all [everything, the entirety] the kings [rulers or monarchs] of Israel before him. word study 34 In Ahab’s days [during his reign, in his time], Hiel [an inhabitant of Bethel] the Bethelite rebuilt [restored, reconstructed] Jericho [the city of the moon, a place of spiritual significance]. At the cost [with the loss, as a sacrifice] of Abiram [my father is exalted] his firstborn he laid its foundation [established its base, set its cornerstone], and at the cost [with the loss, as a sacrifice] of Segub [exalted, lifted up] his youngest he set up [erected, established] its gates [doors, entrances], according to the word [the command, the prophecy] that the LORD [Yehovah, The covenant Name of God] had spoken [declared, proclaimed] through Joshua [the leader, the successor of Moses] son of Nun [the father of Joshua, a man of faith]. word study