OMRI

Was general of the army of Elah king of Israel; but being at the siege of Gibbethon, and hearing that his master Elah was assassinated by Zimri who had usurped his kingdom, he raised the siege, and being elected king by his army, marched against Zimri, attacked him at Tirzah, and forced him to burn himself and all his family in the palace in which he had shut himself up. After his death, half of Israel acknowledged Omri for king, the other half adhered to Tibni, son of Ginath, which division continued four years. When Tebni was dead, the people united in Acknowledging Omri as king of all Israel, who reigned twelve years, six years at Tirzah, and six at Samaria, 1Ki 16:8-28. Tirzah had previously been the chief residence of the kings of Israel; but when Omri purchased the hill of Shomeron, 1Ki 16:24, he built there a new city, which he called Samaria, from the name of the previous possessor, Shemer or Shomer, and here fixed his royal seat. From this time Samaria was the capital of the Kingdom of the ten tribes. It appears, under the name of Beth-Omri, on the stone tablets recently exhumed by Layard from the ruins of Nineveh.

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Omri. Omri
Servant of Jehovah. When Elah was murdered by Zimri at Tirzah (1 Kings 16:15-27), Omri, his captain, was made king (B.C. 931). For four years there was continued opposition to his reign, Tibni, another claimant to the throne, leading the opposing party; but at the close of that period all his rivals were defeated, and he became king of Israel, “Tibni died and Omri reigned” (B.C. 927). By his vigour and power he gained great eminence and consolidated the kingdom. He fixed his dynasty on the throne so firmly that it continued during four succeeding reigns. Tirza was for six years the seat of his government. He then removed the capital to Samaria (q.v.), where he died, and was succeeded by his son Ahab. “He wrought evil in the eyes of the Lord, and did worse than all that were before him.”

Beth-omri, “the house” or “city of Omri,” is the name usually found on Assyrian inscriptions for Samaria. In the stele of Mesha (the “Moabite stone”), which was erected in Moab about twenty or thirty years after Omri’s death, it is recorded that Omri oppressed Moab till Mesha delivered the land: “Omri, king of Israel, oppressed Moab many days, for Chemosh was angry with his land. His son succeeded him, and he also said, I will oppress Moab” (comp. 2 Kings 1:1; 3:4, 5). The “Moabite stone” also records that “Omri took the land of Medeba, and occupied it in his day and in the days of his son forty years.”

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Omri. sheaf of corn

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OMRI. 1. King of Israel
* Was commander of the army of Israel, and was proclaimed king by the army upon news of the assassination of King Elah 1Ki 16:16
* Defeats his rival, Tibni, and establishes himself 1Ki 16:17-22
* Surrendered cities to king of Syria 1Ki 20:34
* Wicked reign and death of 1Ki 16:23-28
* Denounced by Micah Mic 6:16

2. A son of Becher, grandson of Benjamin 1Ch 7:8 3. A descendant of Pharez 1Ch 9:4 4. Son of Michael, and ruler of the tribe of Issachar during the time of David 1Ch 27:18

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king of Israel, succeeds Elah 1Ki 16:16,22,28; Mic 6:16