Heaping
1 Kings 16:15-2815In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri reign seven days in Tirzah. And the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. 16And the people that were encamped heard say, Zimri hath conspired, and hath also slain the king: wherefore all Israel made Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that day in the camp. 17And Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. 18And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the palace of the king's house, and burnt the king's house over him with fire, and died, 19For his sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of the Lord, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, to make Israel to sin. 20Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his treason that he wrought, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 21Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king; and half followed Omri. 22But the people that followed Omri prevailed against the people that followed Tibni the son of Ginath: so Tibni died, and Omri reigned. 23In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah began Omri to reign over Israel, twelve years: six years reigned he in Tirzah. 24And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria. 25But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all that were before him. 26For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin, to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger with their vanities. 27Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his might that he showed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 28So Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria: and Ahab his son reigned in his stead. (1 Kings 16:15‑28)
Contemporary Prophets: Elijah (?)
Civil war, that most deplorable of all forms of armed conflict, followed Omri’s assumption of the throne of Israel. We read that “all Israel made Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that day” in the camp—that is, the army that was encamped against Gibbethon. But a part of the tribes championed the cause of Tibni. “Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king; and half followed Omri.” Omri would be thus, during the four years’ contest, in the position of military dictator. And with the soldiery at his command, he could hardly fail to prevail in the end against his adversary, whose death probably put an end to the conflict. Then Omri as king began a new dynasty.
In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah began Omri to reign over Israel, twelve years: six years reigned he in Tirzah. And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria [Hebrew: Shomeron] (1 Kings 16:23-2423In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah began Omri to reign over Israel, twelve years: six years reigned he in Tirzah. 24And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria. (1 Kings 16:23‑24)).
In the siege of Tirzah, Omri may have seen its undesirability as a capital, from a military standpoint; or the pride of founding a new capital may have led him to choose the hill of Shemer. It lay about six miles to the northwest of Shechem, the old capital. The situation of Shemer, according to Josephus, combined strength, fertility, and beauty. The hill was six hundred feet above the surrounding country, and “the view,” one writes, “is charming.” But more attractive to the Christian heart, is the site of the old capital, Shechem, near the place where our Lord, “wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well.” And there, in the ears of Jacob’s erring daughter, He told of the free-giving God and of that living water, which if a man drink, he shall never more thirst (John 4).
“But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all that were before him. For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin, to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger with their vanities” (idolatries). He seems to have formulated laws making Jeroboam’s calf worship or other forms of idolatry obligatory throughout his realm. These laws remained in force until the end of the kingdom, more than two hundred years later. “For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab”—that is, Baal worship (Mic. 6:1616For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab, and ye walk in their counsels; that I should make thee a desolation, and the inhabitants thereof an hissing: therefore ye shall bear the reproach of my people. (Micah 6:16)). Such yokes men willingly bear and even cling to, so prone is the human heart to idolatry.
Omri was founder of the fourth and most powerful of the Israelite dynasties-combining ability with the establishment of the basest idolatry. He formed an alliance with Ben-hadad I king of Syria, who had streets made for, or assigned to, him in Samaria (see 1 Kings 20:3434And Ben-hadad said unto him, The cities, which my father took from thy father, I will restore; and thou shalt make streets for thee in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria. Then said Ahab, I will send thee away with this covenant. So he made a covenant with him, and sent him away. (1 Kings 20:34)). Samaria is called on the Assyrian monuments Beth Omri (“house of Omri”), in agreement with 1 Kings 16:2424And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria. (1 Kings 16:24). On the black obelisk, however, Jehu is mistakenly called “son of Omri.” His name appears on the Dibon stone, on which Mesha states that Omri subjected and oppressed Moab until he, Mesha, delivered them out of his hand.
“Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his might that he showed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?” He used his might, not to Israel’s deliverance, but for the furtherance and establishment of idolatry, to Israel’s ruin. His name was common to three tribes, Benjamin, Judah, and Issachar (see 1 Chron. 7:8; 9:4; 27:188And the sons of Becher; Zemira, and Joash, and Eliezer, and Elioenai, and Omri, and Jerimoth, and Abiah, and Anathoth, and Alameth. All these are the sons of Becher. (1 Chronicles 7:8)
4Uthai the son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, of the children of Pharez the son of Judah. (1 Chronicles 9:4)
18Of Judah, Elihu, one of the brethren of David: of Issachar, Omri the son of Michael: (1 Chronicles 27:18)); so it is not certain out of which tribe Omri came-though probably from Issachar (like Baasha). The murderous Athaliah, his granddaughter, is usually linked with his name in Scripture (see 2 Kings 8:2626Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. And his mother's name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri king of Israel. (2 Kings 8:26); 2 Chron. 22:22Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name also was Athaliah the daughter of Omri. (2 Chronicles 22:2)).
“So Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria. And Ahab his son reigned in his stead.” Omri means “heaping”; by his iniquity he helped to heap up wrath against his dynasty. God executed His indignation 36 years later on his great-grandson Joram, to the total extinction of the guilty house.