q i.e. This befell him forhis fins. r Which he might do, either before his Reign, in the whole courſe of his Life, which isjuſtly charged upon him, | becauſe of his Impenitency : or in the Seven Days of his Reign ; in which, he had time enough ro publiſh his Intentions or Decrees, about the continuance of the Worſhip of the Calves; or to Sacrifice to them, for his good Succeſs, either already obtained, or further deſired.
20 Now the reſt of the a&s of Zimri, and his treaſon that he wrought, are they not written in the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Iſrael * ?
21 © Then were the people of Iſrael divided into ewo parts s : half ot the people followed Tibni the ſon of Ginath, to make him king t and halt followed Orri «.
s Fell into a Civil War : yet neither this, nor any other of God's dreadful Judgments could win them to Repentance ; which is an Evidence oftheir prodigious lmpiety- and Incorrigibleneſs, and how ripe they were for Ruine. # Difdaining that the Soldiers ſhould uſurp luch a Power over the whole Kingdom. u Becauſe they approved the Perſon, though not the manner of his EleQtion. :
22 butthe people that fellowed Omri es x 4- ainſt the people that followed Tibnithe ſon of Ginath : o Tibni died y, and Omri reigned.
©'x Partly, becauſe they had the Army on their fide ; and princi-
pally, by the appointment and judgment of God, giving up the
Iſraelites to him who was much the worſt ; v. 25, 26+ y A violent
Death, in the Battel. :
23 © In the thirty and one year of Aſa king of Judah, began Omri to reign over Iſrael twelve ycars z : fix years reigned he in Tirzah. |
z i. e. And he Reigned twelve Years, not from this 31 Year of Aſa, for hedied in his 38 Year, v. 29. but from the beginning of his Reign, which was in 4/a's 27 Year, v. 15, 16. So he Reigned four Years in a ftate of War with 7ibn/, and cight Years peaceablys
"24 And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer, for
two talents of fiiver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of
+ Heb. : Shemer, . OWNer of the hill | * Samaria.
*See Chap:
-' a Towit, the City ; and eſpecially, a Royal Palace, becauſe that at Trzah was burnt, v. 18. "'25 © Bur * Omni wrought evil in the eyes of the LORD, and did worſe than all that vere before him.
. 26 For hewalked in all the ways of Jeroboam b the ſon of Nebat,and in his ſin wherewith he made iſrael to
ſin,: to provoke the LORD God of Lſrae] to avger with |
their vanities, +i e Didnotonly promote the Workkip of the Calves, as Jeroboam
$2 d all his Succeſſors hitherto had done ; bur did alſo imitate all
Jeroboam's other ſins, which doubtleſs were many and great ; and radventure he added this to the reſt, that together with the Calves,
Worſhipped Devils : 7.8. other Idols of the Heathens, as may be thought from 1 Cor. 10. 20. where his Worſhip of the Devils, and of the Calves is diſtinguiſhed. Beſides, though he did no more for the ſubſtance of the Attion, than his Predeceflors did; yet he might juſtly and truly be ſaid to as worſe than they, becauſe he did it with.
. %
- grezter Aggravations, after ſo many terrible Examples of Divine
Vengeance upon the Kings and People of 1/rael for that Sin ; or, 'becauſe he made ſeverer Laws concerning the Calf-Worſhip ; whence we read of the ſtatutes of Omri, Mich. 6.16. or did more induſtriouſly :and violently execute them, with greater Deſpight againſt God, -and Malice againſt his Servants. 27 Now the reſt of the as of Omri, which he did, and his might that he ſhewed, ere they not written in .the book of the Chronicles of the kings of Iſrael ? 28 So Omri ſlept with his fathers, and was buried in 'Samaria, and Ahab his ſon reigned in his tead. 29 © And in the thirty and eighth year of Aſa king of Judah, began Ahab the ſon of Omri to reign over Ifrael ; and Ahab the ſon of Omri reigned over Iſrael " In Samaria, twenty and two years - 20 And Ahab the ſon of Omri did evil in the ſight of the LORD, above all that were before him. 21 Andit came to paſs, | as if it had beena light
N G S.
thing for him c to walk in the ſins of Jeroboam the ſon of Nebat ; that be took to wife Jezebel 4 the daughter of Ethbaal e king of the Zidonians f, and went anq ſerved Baal g, and worſhipped him,
c As if that Sin were not big enough to expreſs hi of God ; as if he thought it hk this Wir and == me himſelf with ſuch a Vulgar Fault. Bur the Hebrew runs thus ww zt a light thing, ©'c? i. e. Was this but a ſmall Sin, that therefore 's needed to add more Abominations ? Where the Queſtion ax is uſual among the Hebrews, implies a ſtrong Denial ; and intimar - That this was no ſmall Sin, but a great Crime ; and might "Ins ſatisfied his wicked Mind withour any Additions. d A omg infamous for her Idolatry, and Cruelty, and Sorcery, and Filthineſ;, See Chap; 18: 4: and 21: 8: 2 Kings 9: 22: Rewel: 2: 20. e Called Ithobalus, or Itebalus in Heathen Writers f So the was of an He. theniſh and Idolatrous Race, and ſuch whom the Kings and Peo ; of I/rael were expreſly forbidden to Marry. g z. e. The Idol which the Sidonians Worthipped, which is thought to be Hercules : or falie gods : for this Name is common to all ſuch. And this Idolarr was much worſe than that of the Calves; becauſe in the Calve, they Worſhipped the True God ; but in theſe, falſe gods or Devils as 1s evident trom Chap; 18: 21, g
32 Andhe reared up an altar for Baal in the houſe of Baal, which he had built in Samaria.
33 And Ahab made a grove 5 ; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Iſrael to anger, than all the kings of Iſrael that were before him.
h Againſt God's expreſs Prohibition, Deut: 5: 5,
34 Inhis days ; did Hiel the Bethelite & build Jeri-
cho}: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firſt-
born, and ſet up the gates thereof in his youngeſt /iz
he Ipake by Joſhua » the ſon of Nun, .