to do that only which was right in mine eyes; but hast done evil above all that were before thee: for thou hast gone and made thee other gods, and molten images, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back; therefore, behold, I will bring evil upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam every male, and him that is shut up and left in Israel, and will take away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as a man taketh away dung, till it be all gone. Him that dieth of Jeroboam in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth in the field shall the fowls of the air eat: for the LORD hath spoken it. Arise thou therefore, get thee to thine own house; and when thy feet enter into the city, the child shall die. And all Israel shall mourn for him, and bury him; for he only of Jeroboam shall come to the grave, because in him there is found some good thing toward the LORD God of Israel in the house of Jeroboam. Moreover, the LORD shall raise him up a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam that day; but what? even now. For the Lord shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river, because they have made their groves, provoking the LORD to anger. And he shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam who did sin, and who made Israel to sin. And Jeroboam's wife arose, and departed, and came to Tirzah :* and when she came to the threshold of the door, the child died; and they buried him; and all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by the hand of his servant Ahijah the prophet. And the days which Jeroboam reigned were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers; and Nadab his son reigned in his stead.

* A beautiful spot (Cant. vi. 4), the correct position of which is uncertain, selected by Jeroboam as his country residence. It continued to be the residence of the kings of Israel till the reign of Omri, when the latter bought the hill of Samaria, and transferred thither the seat of government.

NADAB.

[As this king ascended the throne in the second year of Asa, and Baasha succeeded him in the third, his reign cannot have lasted two full years. From this as well as from other statements which follow in the course of the history, it is obvious that years not fully complete are considered as whole ones. The question of Scripture chronology, however, of which this is only one small part, is an exceedingly difficult one.]

AND Nadab the son of Jeroboam began to reign over Israel in the second year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned over Israel two years. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin. 954 And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha

B.C.

smote him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines; (for Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon ;)* even in the third year of Asa king of Judah did Baasha slay him, and reigned in his stead. And it came to pass, when he reigned, that he smote all the house of Jeroboam; he left not to Jeroboam any that breathed, until he had destroyed him, according unto the saying of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Ahijah the Shilonite: because of the sins of Jeroboam which he sinned, and which he made Israel sin, by his provocation wherewith he provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger.

* Gibbethon, a Levitical city, belonging to the tribe of Dan (Josh. xxi. 23), and probably situated on the borders of Philistia. At this time it was occupied by the Philistines.

BAASHA.

[With this reign begins the second dynasty of the kingdom of Israel. Baasha was the divinely appointed instrument to cut off the house of Jeroboam, but, as in this he was influenced by his own cruelty and ambition, and as he continued to walk in the way of Jeroboam, judgment was executed also upon him and his house.]

B.C

In the third year of Asa king of Judah began Baasha the son of Ahijah to reign over all Israel in Tirzah, twenty and four years. And he did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin. And there was war between Asa and Baasha 952 king of Israel all their days. Then the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust, and made thee prince over my people Israel, and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins: behold, I will take away the posterity of Baasha, and the posterity of his house; and will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. Him that dieth of Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth of his in the field shall the fowls of the air eat. So Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah; and Elah his son reigned in his stead.

ELAH.

[According to Josephus, Zimri took advantage of the absence of the army at Gibbethon to accomplish his traitorous purpose.]

B.C.

IN the twenty and sixth year of Asa king of Judah began Elah the son of Baasha to reign over Israel in Tirzah, two years. And his servant Zimri (captain of half his chariots) conspired against him, as he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of 930 Arza, steward of his house in Tirzah. And Zimri went in and smote him, in the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his stead. And it came to pass when Zimri began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he slew all the house of Baasha: he left him not one male neither of his kinsfolk nor of his friends. 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: 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.

ZIMRI.

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. And the people that were encamped heard

B.C.

say, Zimri hath conspired, and hath also slain the 929 king: wherefore all Israel made Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that day in the camp. And Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. 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, 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.

OMRL

[This king was the founder of the third royal family in Israel. For the first four years after his appointment by the army, he was engaged in a struggle with Tibni, another competitor for the throne. This fact explains a serious difficulty as to the duration of his reign, especially in relation to Asa king of Judah. The twelve years he is said to have reigned are obviously reckoned from the year in which he was made king by the army, not from the death of Tibni when he attained the sole sovereignty.]

THEN were the people of Israel divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king: and half followed Omri. But the people that followed Omri prevailed against 929 the people that followed Tibni the son of Ginath; B.C. so Tibni died, and Omri reigned.

In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah began Omri to reign over Israel, twelve years: six years reigned he in Tirzah. 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. But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the LORD, and did worse than all that were before him. For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin, to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger with their vanities. So Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria: and Ahab his son reigned in his stead.