Zimri

Seven days was all Zimri got. A captain of half the king’s chariots, he found Elah “drinking himself drunk” in Tirzah, killed him, and “slew all the house of Baasha,” which 1 Kings says fulfilled what the LORD had spoken through the prophet Jehu. The army in the field made Omri king instead, and Omri besieged Tirzah. When Zimri saw the city was taken, he burnt the king’s house over him and died. The writer’s verdict is short: he had walked “in the way of Jeroboam.” The story runs from 1 Kings 16:9 to 20.

14 verses

1 Kings

1 Kings 16:9

And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him, as he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza steward of his house in Tirzah.

1 Kings 16:10

And Zimri went in and smote him, and killed him, in the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his stead.

1 Kings 16:11

And it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he slew all the house of Baasha: he left him not one that pisseth against a wall, neither of his kinsfolks, nor of his friends.

1 Kings 16:12

Thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Baasha, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake against Baasha by Jehu the prophet,

1 Kings 16:13

For all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, by which they sinned, and by which they made Israel to sin, in provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their vanities.

1 Kings 16:14

Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?

1 Kings 16:15

In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri reign seven days in Tirzah. And the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines.

1 Kings 16:16

And the people that were encamped heard say, Zimri hath conspired, and hath also slain the king: wherefore all Israel made Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that day in the camp.

1 Kings 16:17

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

1 Kings 16:18

And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the palace of the king's house, and burnt the king's house over him with fire, and died,

1 Kings 16:19

For his sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of the LORD, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, to make Israel to sin.

1 Kings 16:20

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?

1 Chronicles

1 Chronicles 8:36

And Ahaz begat Jehoadah; and Jehoadah begat Alemeth, and Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri begat Moza,

Jeremiah

Jeremiah 25:25

And all the kings of Zimri, and all the kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes,

From Easton's Bible Dictionary

Matthew George Easton, 1897

Praise-worthy. (1.) A son of Salu, slain by Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, because of his wickedness in bringing a Midianitish woman into his tent (Num. 25:6-15).

(2.) Murdered Elah at Tirzah, and succeeded him on the throne of Israel (1 Kings 16:8-10). He reigned only seven days, for Omri, whom the army elected as king, laid siege to Tirzah, whereupon Zimri set fire to the palace and perished amid its ruins (11-20). Omri succeeded to the throne only after four years of fierce war with Tibni, another claimant to the throne.

From Smith's Bible Dictionary

William Smith, 1884

(1.) The son of Salu, a Simeonite chieftain, slain by Phinehas with the Midianitish princess Cozbi. (Numbers 25:14). (B.C. 1450.)

(2.) Fifth sovereign of the separate kingdom of Israel, of which he occupied the throne for the brief period of seven days, B.C. 930 or 929. Originally in command of half the chariots in the royal army, he gained the crown by the murder of King Elah; son of Baasha. But the army made their general, Omri, king, who marched against Tirzah, where Zimri was. Zimri retreated into the innermost part of the late king’s palace, set it on fire, and perished in the ruins. (1 Kings 16:9-20)

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(3.) One of the five sons of Zerah the son of Judah. (1 Chronicles 2:6) (B.C. after 1706.)

(4.) Son of Jehoadah and descendant of Saul. (1 Chronicles 8:36; 9:42)

(5.) An obscure name, mentioned (Jeremiah 25:25) in probable connection with Dedan, Tema, Buz, Arabia, the "mingled people." Nothing further is known respecting Zimri, but the name may possibly be the same as, or derived from, ZIMRAN, which see.