1 Kings 16:15

THE SEVEN-DAY REIGN OF ZIMRI

"In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri reign seven days in Tirzah. Now the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. And the people which were encamped heard say, Zimri hath conspired, and hath also smitten the king: wherefore all Israel made Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that day in the camp. And Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. And it came to pass when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the castle of the king's house, and burned the king's house over him with fire, and died, for his sins which he sinned in doing that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and in his sin which he did in making Israel to sin. Now 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?"

This paragraph concludes the record of Zimri's brief reign. The tenderness with which some writers discuss these wicked kings amazes us. Snaith tells us that Zimri "assassinated Elah while he was feasting"![11] Also, Matheney spoke of extra-Biblical sources which give "a more just estimate of Omri's activities,"[12] bemoaning the fact, as he called it, that, "It is a testimony of the religious bias of the historian that such a short section (on Omri) is given to such a talented king"![13] It is the viewpoint of this writer that the Biblical record is truthful and absolutely unbiased, and as for that "feasting" of Elah, that is the most polite term we have ever heard for "drinking himself drunk'! It occurs to this writer that the "bias" is not in the Bible but in such critics!

"Wherefore the people ... made Omri ... king" (1 Kings 16:16). There were two excellent reasons why the army of Israel would not accept Zimri as king: (1) He was a subordinate commander to Omri; and (2) "His murder of a host of Elah's friends, along with Elah, and all of their sons must have made him a host of bitter enemies."[14] The army's elevation of their commander to the kingship is a reminder of the way it was during the period of the Phantom Emperors of Rome. As soon as any king died, the army promptly made the head of the troops king.

"The death of Zimri is another illustration of the curse that was upon the monarchs of Israel on account of their persistence in the sins of Jeroboam."[15]

Zimri's suicide is one of only four that are mentioned in the Bible; for a list of these see my comment under Ahithophel in 2 Samuel 17:23.

"For his sins" (1 Kings 16:19). "This sets forth the ultimate ground of Zimri's terribly swift end. Divine judgment had been visited upon him."[16]