1 Kings 16:24
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. 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.
Omri bought the hill of Samaria from its owner Shemer for two talents of silver, built a city upon it, and named the city Samaria after him. The hill was a strong, fertile and beautiful site with wide command of the surrounding country, and leaving Shechem Omri made the new city the royal capital of the ten tribes, which it remained throughout their kingdom until its name stood for the kingdom itself. The record belongs to a sad history of moral decline, for Omri walked in the way of Jeroboam and did worse than those before him, and his building of Samaria is the only deed noted here besides that evil course. That city then became the center of still deeper apostasy under his son Ahab, when Baal worship corrupted Israel, yet it also became the setting of Elijah's ministry and of God's preserving a faithful remnant. The account of Omri and his dynasty is confirmed by outside witness, for Assyrian records uphold the succession from Ahab to Jehu and the Moabite Stone agrees with the Bible concerning his conquest of Moab and its later independence.
Founding Samaria as Capital
Omri bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer, its owner, for two talents of silver, built a city on the hill, and called the city which he built after Shemer's name, Samaria. The purchase was of the hill itself and the territory belonging to it, and the naming preserved the memory of its former owner. This transaction belongs to the history of the kings of Israel after the division of the kingdom from Judah.
The hill lay about six miles from Shechem in a well-watered valley opening into a broad basin, almost on the eastern border of the great plain of Sharon stretching westward to the Mediterranean Sea. It was about five miles around and nearly five hundred feet above the surrounding plain, with steep but accessible sides and a long level summit. Its terraced slopes were planted with vines and olive trees, giving it strength, beauty, and fertility. Its summit commanded wide views of the sea and the plain of Sharon, the vale of Shechem, the surrounding hills, Mount Hermon, Mounts Ebal and Gerizim, and the Mediterranean, making it a notably commanding place, a natural stronghold, and an excellent site for a city and a capital.
Leaving Shechem, the former royal seat of the kingdom, because of its associations and to add luster and strength to his own reign, Omri made the new city the royal capital of Israel, the ten tribes. He beautified it, and it ever increased in grandeur and beauty under his hand. It remained the capital throughout their kingdom, and its name later became the name of the kingdom.
Omri was captain of Israel's host and a man of character, who became king when the people made him king after Zimri's seven-day reign ended with Zimri burning himself with his house. After rising against the traitor Zimri and slaying him, he became the strongest influence among the ten tribes, with brief opposition soon crushed out. He was one in the line of northern kings including Nadab, Baasha, Elah, Zimri, Omri, and Ahab who ruled the ten tribes after the kingdom was divided from Judah, when there was war and strife between the divisions. He reigned wickedly over Israel twelve years, before his son Ahab succeeded him.
Apostasy Decline and Confirmation
The verse stands in a sad record of moral decline that carries important lessons about the influence of leaders over a nation. It belongs to the reigns of Omri and his son Ahab which show the gradual downfall of Israel, for righteousness exalts a nation but sin is a reproach to any people. Both walked in the way of Jeroboam but in greater degree, each doing worse than any who went before him. Apart from following Jeroboam's way, the building of Samaria is the only fact here set down about Omri.
The verse introduces the setting of Elijah's ministry, when Ahab proved a weak king, Jezebel advanced the worship of Baal, and Israel was corrupted by idolatry and disobedience to God's commandments. Omri bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer and built a city there and named it after its former owner, and that city afterward became the scene of Ahab's worship of Baal and other idols. It became the capital of the ten tribes, whose history was marked by disobedience and destruction. Yet in that apostasy in Ahab's time God still preserved a faithful remnant that answered Elijah's call.
The reign of Omri and the founding of Ahab's dynasty thus placed in Israel's history is confirmed by Assyrian records of the succession from Ahab to Jehu and from Ben-hadad to Hazael. Omri's rule included his conquest of Moab and the tribute he laid upon it, which the Moabite Stone found at Dibon independently describes. That stone also states that Moab regained its independence after Ahab's death, agreeing with the biblical account of Israel's dealings with Moab. Omri's purchase of the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver and his building and naming of the city there therefore connects directly with history recovered from the Moabite Stone.