And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. That he might not go so far as Tyre or Zidon; and for his wife's convenience also he built a temple in Samaria for Baal, and erected an altar there to offer sacrifices upon it unto him; so open and daring was he in his idolatrous practices. read more
And Ahab made a grove ,.... About the temple of Baal, or elsewhere, in which he placed an idol, and where all manner of filthiness was secretly committed; or rather "Asherah", rendered "grove", is Astarte, the goddess of the Zidonians, an image of which Ahab made: and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him : his idolatries being more open and barefaced, and without any excuse, presence, or colour, as well as more... read more
In the thirty and first year of Asa - There must be a mistake here in the number thirty-one; for, in 1 Kings 16:10 ; and 1 Kings 16:15 , it is said that Zimri slew his master, and began to reign in the twenty-seventh year of Asa; and as Zimri reigned only seven days, and Omri immediately succeeded him, this could not be in the thirty-first, but in the twenty-seventh year of Asa, as related above. Rab. Sol. Jarchi reconciles the two places thus: "The division of the kingdom... read more
He bought the hill Samaria of Shemer - This should be read, "He bought the hill of Shomeron from Shomer, and called it Shomeron, (i.e., Little Shomer), after the name of Shomer, owner of the hill." At first the kings of Israel dwelt at Shechem, and then at Tirzah; but this place having suffered much in the civil broils, and the place having been burnt down by Zimri, Omri purposed to found a new city, to which he might transfer the seat of government. He fixed on a hill that... read more
Did worse than all - before him - Omri was, An idolater in principle; An idolater in practice; He led the people to idolatry by precept and example; and, which was that in which he did worse than all before him, 4. He made statutes in favor of idolatry, and obliged the people by law to commit it. See Micah 6:16 , where this seems to be intended: For the statutes of Omri are kept, and all the works of the house of Ahab. read more
He took to wife Jezebel - This was the head and chief of his offending; he took to wife, not only a heathen, but one whose hostility to the true religion was well known, and carried to the utmost extent. She was the idolatrous daughter of an idolatrous king; She practiced it openly; She not only countenanced it in others, but protected it, and gave its partisans honors and rewards; She used every means to persecute the true religion; She was hideously cruel, and put to... read more
Ahab made a grove - אשרה Asherah , Astarte, or Venus; what the Syriac calls an idol, and the Arabic, a tall tree; probably meaning, by the last, an image of Priapus, the obscene keeper of groves, orchards, and gardens. read more
Change without improvement. I. OMRI 'S INDEBTEDNESS TO DIVINE GOODNESS . 1 . His success against Zimri ( 1 Kings 16:15-25 ). The traitor fell before him almost without a struggle. 2 . Against Tibni . Israel was equally divided, yet his life was preserved and the kingdom given to him. Men pass up to place and means and influence through a pathway which, if it is only looked back upon and considered, is full of power to touch the heart and bow it under the will of... read more
In the thirty and first year of Asa, king of Judah began Omri to reign over Israel, twelve years [As Omri was proclaimed king in the twenty-seventh and died in the thirty-eighth year of Asa (cf. 1 Kings 16:15 , 1 Kings 16:29 ), he cannot in any case have reigned twelve full years; whereas if his reign is to be dated, as it is here, from the thirty-first year of Asa, it is obvious that he would only have reigned seven, or, according to the Jewish mode of reckoning, eight years.... read more
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John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 1 Kings 16:31
And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sin of Jeroboam the son of Nebat ,.... To worship the golden calves he set up: that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians ; who is called Ithobalus and Itobalus king of the Tyrians, by Heathen historians F8 Menander apud Joseph. Antiqu. l. 8. c. 13. sect. 1, 2. & contr. Apion. l. 1. c. 21. Diodor. Sicul. apud Junium in loc. ; and, by Theophilus of Antioch F9 Ad... read more