1 Yahweh spoke to Jehu, son of Ha nani, to condemn Baasha. He said,
2 “I have raised you from the dust to make you rule over my people Israel, but you have made me angry by going the way of Jeroboam and dragging my people Israel into sin.
3 I will therefore sweep away Baasha and his family and deal with them as I did with Jeroboam, son of Nebat.
4 Dogs will devour those of Baasha’s line who die in the City, the birds of the air will feed on those who die in the country.”
5 The rest of the events of Baasha’s reign, his deeds and achievements are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Isra el.
6 Baasha rested with his fathers and was buried at Tirzah, while Elah his son reigned in his place.
7 Yahweh indeed spoke through the proph et Jehu, son of Hanani, to condemn Baasha and his family, not only for doing what displeased Yahweh, making him angry as Jeroboam had done, but also because he murdered the family of Jero boam.
Elah, king of Israel
8 In the twenty-sixth year of Asa king of Ju dah, Elah, son of Baasha, began to reign over Israel in Tirzah and was king for two years.
9 But his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, plotted against him. While Elah was get ting himself drunk in the house of Arza, governor of Tirzah,
10 Zimri came in, struck him down and killed him. This happened in the twenty-seventh year of Asa, king of Judah. Then Zimri reigned in his place.
11 As soon as Zimri began to reign, he had the entire family of Baasha killed, leaving him not a single male relative or friend.
12 Zimri wiped out the entire house of Baasha according to Yahweh’s pronouncement against him as spoken by Jehu, the prophet.
13 And this happened because of the sins which Baasha and his son had committed, dragging Israel into sin and making Yahweh angry with their idols.
14 Now the rest of the events of Elah’s reign and all his deeds are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
Omri, king of Israel
15 It happened in the twenty-seventh year of Asa, king of Judah, that Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah.
16 For the army was besieging Gibbethon of the Philistines when Zimri plotted against Elah, and, on hearing that he had killed the king, they proclaimed Omri, com mander of the army, king of Israel.
17 Om ri went up with the Israelites from Gibbethon and attacked Tirzah.
18 When Zimri saw that the city was to be captured, he went into the citadel of the ro yal palace; he set the royal palace on fire, and he died.
19 He died thus because of the sins he had committed, doing what displeased Yahweh and go ing the way of Jeroboam by dragging Is rael into sin.
20 The rest of the acts of Zimri and his plot are written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel.
21 The Israelites were then divided; half of them followed Tibni, son of Ginath to make him king; the other half followed Omri.
22 Those who followed Omri overcame those who followed Tibni, son of Ginath. And so, Tibni died and Omri became king.
23 In the thirty-first year of Asa, king of Judah, Omri began to reign over Israel. He reigned for twelve years, six years of which he reigned in Tirzah.
24 Then he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver. He built a city on the hill and called it Sama ria, after Shemer, the owner of the hill.
25 Omri did what displeased Yahweh, even more than all those who preceded him.
26 He went the way of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, and dragged Israel into sin, thereby provoking the anger of Yahweh, the God of Israel, by their idols.
27 The rest of the acts of Omri and his bravery are written in the Book of the Chron icles of the Kings of Israel.
28 Then Omri rested with his fathers and was buried in Samaria while Ahab, his son, reigned in his place.
Ahab, king of Israel
29 Ahab, son of Omri became king in the thirty-eighth year of Asa, king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel in Samaria for twenty-two years.
30 Ahab, son of Omri did what displeased Yahweh, even more than all those who pre ceded him.
31 Apparently the example and the sins of Jero boam son of Nebat were not enough for him; he even married Jezebel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians. So he served Baal and worshiped him.
32 He set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal which he built in Samaria
33 and proceeded to make an Asherah. So Ahab did everything that could make Yahweh angry, even more than any of the kings of Israel who ruled before him.
34 During his reign, Hiel of Bethel re built Jericho. On laying its foundation he sacrificed Abirma, his firstborn. And when he set up the gates of the city, he sacrificed his youngest son, Segub, in accordance with the word of Yahweh spoken through Joshua, son of Nun.
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Comments 1 Kings, Chapter 16
• 16.29 Ahab, son of Omri did what displeased Yahweh, even more than all those who preceded him. Starting with this text and in the following six chapters, the story enlarges on the rule of Ahab in Israel. For this was the time when Israel’s faith was saved by the greatest of the prophets, Elijah, and his successor, Elisha.
He even married Jezebel, daughter of Eth baal, king of the Sidonians. The Tyrians and Sidonians were an ancient and prosperous people living in the north ern ports of Pales tine; they were also called Phoenicians. Their king, Hiram, had been David’s ally, but, from their cities, pagan influences reached Israel. The reign of Ahab brought to Israel years of prosperity and military glory but the crisis of faith reached its highest point as well.
By his victories, David had integrated numerous Canaanite groups into his kingdom. They held onto their pagan practices which contaminated Israel’s faith. Fervor visibly diminished. When the culture of the Tyrians, who were of the same religion as the Ca naanites, strongly entered, it suddenly became clear that this reli gion had supplanted the people’s faith in Yahweh: the Israelites allowed themselves to be dragged to the table of Baal and Asheroth.
The Baals were gods, masters of life, sex, rain and the seasons (see Introduction to Judges). Be lieving that these gods had control over fecundity, people made vows to them about meeting prostitutes consecrated to them. Because of this the word prostitution in the Bible re fers both to licentiousness and to abandoning Yahweh by prostituting oneself to other gods. Not everything was bad in this very permissive religion: it did not err in celebrating life. Nevertheless, it kept the people at the level of their instincts.
Jezebel uses her power to bring about a bloody persecution. First to be assassinated are Yah weh’s prophets. These are the fellow pro phets whom we presented in 1 Samuel 19:18 and 2 Kings 2:15. They are opposed by rival communities of the prophets of Baal.
Hiel sacrificed his youngest son, Segub. With the influence of pagan cults, the practice of sacrificing children increased.