1 Kings 16:21, commentary and pictures

The verse belongs to the history of the divided monarchy, when Israel and Judah had separate kings after the kingdom was divided into Israel with ten tribes and Judah with two and a half tribes. That division was followed by war and strife between the two divisions. More narrowly it belongs to the history of the northern kingdom told in 1 Kings 12 to 16. There it names Omri as one of the kings who reigned over Israel in succession with Nadab and Baasha and Elah and Zimri and the wicked Ahab.

It shows Omri taking power in a rapid turnover of kings after Jeroboam. After Jeroboam came Nadab with a two-year reign ending the house of Jeroboam, then Baasha who slew Nadab with a twenty-four-year reign. Then came his son Elah with a drunken two-year reign ending the house of Baasha, then Zimri the captain who slew Elah with a reign of only seven days, whom Omri slew to take his place. The verse itself records that half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath to make him king and half followed Omri. This division began a four-year contest for the throne in which Omri held the capital and commanded the army, and after Tibni died Omri ruled over the whole kingdom. The passage does not explain the division between their followers.

Omri soon overcame the opposition, became king, established and built Samaria as Israel's capital, and reigned wickedly for twelve years. His rise to kingship followed a division among the people, with one part supporting him and another supporting Tibni, and he was succeeded by his weak and wicked son Ahab, who was dominated by Jezebel. The account is part of Israel's apostasy and the events leading to Ahab's reign and the setting of Elijah's ministry. From Omri sprang the wicked Ahab, with whose reign and Elijah's work the following history is concerned. Under the weak king Ahab and his Baal-worshiping wife Jezebel, Israel was corrupted by idolatry and transgressed God's commandments.

As history it belongs to the sad record of 1 Kings showing the general downward moral tendency in Israel and Judah after David, yet full of lessons. Whenever the people sought God, God wrought for them and through them abundantly. Great responsibility rested on leaders, for whenever king and priest were faithful to God and strong for Him they molded the people immensely, but whenever leaders failed to lead in right ways the people failed with them. It belongs to the account of a great apostasy in Israel during the days of Elijah, in which even in this time of apostasy God found a faithful remnant that responded to his prophet's call. The account of Omri belongs to history illuminated by records gathered from the Moabite Stone discovered at Dibon, which provide historical information about the reigns of Omri, Ahab, and the king of Moab.