1 Kings 16:17

And Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

16:15-28 When men forsake God, they will be left to plague one another. Proud aspiring men ruin one another. Omri struggled with Tibni some years. Though we do not always understand the rules by which God governs nations and individuals in his providence, we may learn useful lessons from the history before us. When tyrants succeed each other, and massacres, conspiracies, and civil wars, we may be sure the Lord has a controversy with the people for their sins; they are loudly called to repent and reform. Omri made himself infamous by his wickedness. Many wicked men have been men of might and renown; have built cities, and their names are found in history; but they have no name in the book of life.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Went up - The expression "went up" marks accurately the ascent of the army from the Shephelah, where Gibbethon was situated Joshua 19:44, to the hill country of Israel, on the edge of which Tirzah stood 1 Kings 14:17.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

15-18. did Zimri reign seven days—The news of his conspiracy soon spread, and the army having proclaimed their general, Omri, king, that officer immediately raised the siege at Gibbethon and marched directly against the capital in which the usurper had established himself. Zimri soon saw that he was not in circumstances to hold out against all the forces of the kingdom; so, shutting himself up in the palace, he set it on fire, and, like Sardanapalus, chose to perish himself and reduce all to ruin, rather than that the palace and royal treasures should fall into the hands of his successful rival. The seven days' reign may refer either to the brief duration of his royal authority, or the period in which he enjoyed unmolested tranquillity in the palace.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

No text from Poole on this verse.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him,.... He, and the army under him, broke up the siege of that place, and marched to Tirzah; which, according, to Bunting (c) were thirty six miles distant from each other: and they besieged Tirzah; the royal city, in which Zimri was.

(c) Travels, &c. p. 162.

Geneva Study Bible

And Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged {h} Tirzah.

(h) Where Zimri holed up.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

17. and they besieged Tirzah] Which must therefore have been a fortified town, and not a mere pleasance of the kings of Israel.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 17. - And Omri went up from Gibbethon ["The expression, 'went up,' accurately marks the ascent of the army from the Shephelah, where Gibbethon was situated, to the hill country of Israel, on the edge of which Tirzah stood" (Rawlinson)], and all Israel [see on ver. 16] with him, and they besieged Tirzah. [It is probable that they arrived before the city on the sixth or seventh day after the assassination of Elah. This period would just allow sufficient time for the news of the conspiracy to travel to Gibbethon and for the march of the army.] 1 Kings 16:17

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The Reign of Zimri lasted only seven days. As soon as the people of war (העם), who were besieging Gibbethon (see at 1 Kings 15:27), heard of his conspiracy, his usurpation of the throne, and his murderous deeds, they proclaimed Omri king in the camp of the military commanders, and he at once, with all Israel, i.e., all the army, raised the siege of Gibbethon, to lay siege to Thirza. Now when Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the castle of the royal palace and burned the king's house over his own head, as Sardanapalus did, according to Justin (Hist. i. 3). ארמון does not mean harem (Ewald), but the high castle (from ארם, to be high); here and in 2 Kings 15:25, the citadel of the royal palace, which consisted of several buildings.