Omri
| Omri | |
|---|---|
 Omri from Guillaume Rouillé's Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum | |
| King of Northern Israel | |
| Reign | 885 BCE – 874 BCE |
| Predecessor | Tibni |
| Successor | Ahab |
| Issue | Ahab Athaliah Nimshi? |
| House | House of Omri |
Omri (tribal origin. One possibility, though unproven, is that he was of the tribe of Issachar.[1]
Nothing is said in Scripture about the lineage of Omri. His name may be
Amorite, Arabic, or Hebrew in origin.[2] Omri is credited with the construction of Samaria and establishing it as his capital. Although the Bible is silent about other actions taken during his reign, he is described as doing more evil than all the kings who preceded him.[3] An alternative modern hypothesis maintains that, as founder of the House of Omri, an Israelite royal house, his kingdom formed the first state in the Land of Israel, and that the Kingdom of Judah only achieved statehood later.[4]
Extrabiblical sources such as the
apical founder of the Kingdom of Israel rather than one denoting an actual historical king.[4]
Reign
Struggle for the succession
According to the biblical narrative, Omri was "commander of the army" of
King Elah when Zimri, "commander of half the king's chariots", murdered Elah and made himself king. Instead, the troops at Gibbethon chose Omri as king, and he led them to Tirzah where they besieged it. When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he committed suicide by shutting himself in the royal palace and setting it ablaze. He died after a reign of only seven days. Although Zimri was eliminated, "half of the people" supported Tibni in opposition to Omri. It took Omri four years to subdue Tibni and at last proclaim himself undisputed king of Israel.[3]
Samaria and successor
Initially, the capital was in
Jewish Encyclopedia suggests that "the associations of Tirzah were so repellent and sanguinary, and the location so poor for a capital, that Omri purchased a new site" for his residence.[5] This was in Samaria, on a hill purchased from Shemer for two talents of silver, where Omri built a new capital for the kingdom. In Samaria, Omri reigned until his death and was buried there. His son Ahab became the next king.[3]
Date
Omri became king of Israel in the 31st year of
E. R. Thiele offers the dates of 888 BCE to 880 BCE for his rivalry with Tibni and 880–874 BCE for his sole reign,[6] while Paul L. Maier affirms that it happened between 881–873 BCE.[7]
Archaeological sources
Moabite inscription
The fortress at
Jezreel was situated on one of the main east–west routes through the kingdom. Hugh Williamson believes it served not only a military function, but also a political one; a very visible example of grandiose public works used as a means of social control and to assert claims of legitimacy.[8]
The Moabite
House of Omri" (Bit-Humria),[9] with the term "Israel" being used less and less as history progressed (the other defining term for "Israel" is "Samaria", beginning in the reign of Joash).[citation needed] Thomas L. Thompson (The Bible in History),[full citation needed] however, interprets the Mesha stele as suggesting that Omri is an eponym
, or legendary founder of the kingdom rather than an historical person.
The Assyrian
The Omride Dynasty
The
Transjordan
, and these factors combined brought economic prosperity to the kingdom.
On the other hand, peace with Sidon also resulted in the penetration of
Aram based in Damascus, and Israel soon found itself at war in the northeast. Most threatening, however, was the ascendancy of Assyria, which was beginning to expand westward from Mesopotamia: the Battle of Qarqar (853 BCE), which pitted Shalmaneser III of Assyria
against a coalition of local kings, including Ahab, was the first clash between Assyria and Israel. It was the first in a series of wars that would eventually lead to the destruction of the Kingdom of Israel in 722 BCE and the reduction of the Kingdom of Judah to an Assyrian tributary state.
In 841 BCE, the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III campaigned along the Mediterranean coast and forced Jehu to pay tribute. Assyrian kings frequently referred to Omri's successors as belonging to the "House of Omri" (Bit Hu-um-ri-a).[9]
See also
References
- ISBN 9780664212629. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
- ^ Thiel, W., "Omri", The Anchor Bible Dictionary, p. 17, vol. 5, D.N. Freedman (ed.). New York: Doubleday (1992)
- ^ ISBN 9780195297515.
- ^ ISBN 9780567045409. (Lemche-Thompson hypothesis)
- ^ Singer, Isidore; Adler, Cyrus (1905). The Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk & Wagnalls. p. 401.
- ISBN 0-8254-3825-X, 9780825438257
- ^ Paul L. Maier Josephus: The Essential Writings, 1988; Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, Michigan
- ^ Williamson, Hugh G.M., "Tel Jezreel and the Dynasty of Omri", Palestine Exploration Quarterly 128: p. 49, (1996)
- ^ ISBN 0-691-03503-2
- ^ McCarter, P. Kyle "'Yaw, Son of Omri': A Philological Note on Israelite Chronology." Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research, No. 216 (Dec. 1974), pp. 5–7.
- JSTOR 1356296.
- ^ Rogers, Robert William (1912). Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament. Eaton & Mains. p. 304.
- ISBN 1145519350.
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