1 Kings 16:15 - Meaning and Application

Solomon says that when a land sins, it often has many rulers, but when its ruler is wise and understanding, the land lasts longer (Proverbs 28:2). That is what happened in Israel, while Judah was being preserved under Asa. When people turn away from God, they lose the path to peace and stability. Here, Zimri, Tibni, and Omri are all fighting for the crown. Proud and ambitious people destroy one another, and they pull others into the ruin with them. These troubles end with Omri settling on the throne, so we need to follow him through this part of the story.

First, consider how he was chosen. Like some Roman emperors were, he was chosen by the army in the field, which was then camped before Gibbethon. Soon they heard that Zimri had killed their king (1 Kings 16:16) and set himself up in Tirzah, the royal city. So they made Omri king in the camp, hoping to avenge Elah’s death at once. Elah had been lazy and drunk, but he was still their king, and they would not quietly submit to his murderer or let treason go unpunished. They had not tried to avenge Nadab’s death on Baasha, perhaps because Baasha’s family had ruled more gently than Jeroboam’s family had, but Zimri would feel the anger of the offended army. So the siege of Gibbethon was abandoned. When Israelites quarrel, the Philistines are the ones who gain.

Second, see how he overcame Zimri, who is said to have reigned seven days (1 Kings 16:15). He had ruled that long before Omri was publicly made king and before he was openly declared a traitor. Still, we may think it was longer before he died, because he lived long enough to show that he followed Jeroboam’s ways and to make himself guilty before God by supporting idolatry (1 Kings 16:19). Tirzah was a beautiful city, but it was not strongly fortified, so Omri quickly took control of it (1 Kings 16:17). He drove Zimri into the palace, and since Zimri could not defend it and would not surrender, he burned the palace and himself in it (1 Kings 16:18). He did not want his rival to enjoy that rich palace, so he destroyed it. And fearing that if he were taken by the army, alive or dead, he would be treated with shame, he destroyed himself there too. See what desperate acts wickedness can lead people to. It drives them into their own ruin. See the kind of spirit found in those who set palaces and kingdoms on fire, even though they may perish in the flames themselves.

Third, there was his struggle with Tibni, which he finally won. Half the people followed Tibni (1 Kings 16:21), likely the same people who favored Zimri, along with others who did not want a king chosen in the camp, because they feared rule by the sword and by a standing army. They wanted a king chosen by the nation’s leaders instead. This contest lasted some years, and it likely cost much blood on both sides. Omri was first elected in the twenty-seventh year of Asa (1 Kings 16:15), and that is where his twelve-year reign is counted from. But he did not reign without a rival until the thirty-first year of Asa. Then Tibni died, likely in battle, and Omri ruled alone (1 Kings 16:22). Sir Walter Raleigh asks here why, in all these confusions in Israel, they never thought of returning to the house of David and joining themselves again to Judah, where things were better for them. He thinks the reason was that the kings of Judah ruled with a heavier, more absolute power than the kings of Israel. That heavy yoke was what they had complained about when they first broke away from David’s house, and the fear of it kept them from ever going back. So they stayed attached to kings of their own, who ruled more by law and under the limits of a limited monarchy.

Fourth, see how he ruled once he was firmly settled on the throne. He became known for building Samaria, which afterward became the royal city of Israel, because the palace at Tirzah had been burned. In time, Samaria became so important that it gave its name to the middle part of Canaan, the land between Galilee in the north and Judea in the south, and to the people who lived there, called Samaritans. He bought the land for two talents of silver, a little more than 700 pounds by our money, since a talent was worth 353 pounds, 11 shillings, and 10 1/2 pence. Perhaps Shemer, the former owner, let him have it for less on the condition that the city would be named after him. Otherwise, it would have taken the buyer’s name. It was called Samaria, or Shemeren, as the Hebrew has it, from Shemer (1 Kings 16:24). The kings of Israel kept changing their royal seats, first Shechem, then Tirzah, and now Samaria. But the kings of Judah stayed with Jerusalem, the city of God. Those who hold fast to the Lord become settled, but those who leave him keep wandering.

He also made himself notorious by his sin, for he did worse than all who had ruled before him (1 Kings 16:25). Even though he came to the throne through great difficulty, and God had clearly helped him rise, he became more ungodly, more superstitious, and a greater persecutor than either the house of Jeroboam or the house of Baasha. He went further than they had in making evil into law and forcing his people to go along with it. Scripture later speaks of the statutes of Omri, and keeping them brought ruin on Israel (Micah 6:16). Jeroboam led Israel into sin through temptation, example, and attraction. Omri did it through force.

Finally, see how his reign ended (1 Kings 16:27, 1 Kings 16:28). He had some honor for the strength he showed. Many wicked men have been brave men. He died in his bed, like Jeroboam and Baasha before him. But, like them, he left it to his descendants to finish filling up the measure of his sin and then to pay for it.