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,
Parallel translations
- WEB When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the fortified part of the king’s house, and burned the king’s house over him with fire, and died,
- BSB When Zimri saw that the city was captured, he entered the citadel of the royal palace and burned it down upon himself. So he died
- NKJV And it happened, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house down upon himself with fire, and died,
- NASB When Zimri saw that the city was taken, he went into the citadel of the king’s house and burned the king’s house over himself with fire, and died,
- NLT When Zimri saw that the city had been taken, he went into the citadel of the palace and burned it down over himself and died in the flames.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Trapped by Omri, Zimri burns the palace down over himself and dies in the flames.
Overview
Rather than surrender, Zimri commits suicide by setting fire to the royal citadel, perishing in his own stronghold. His self-destruction is a fitting picture of the futility of a kingdom built on murder. The man who killed to gain a throne is consumed by it within a week.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- 2 Sam 17:23And when Ahithophel saw that his counsel was not followed, he saddled his ass, and arose, and gat him home to his house, to his city, and put his household in order, and hanged himself, and died, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.
- 1 Sam 31:4–5Then said Saul unto his armourbearer, Draw thy sword, and thrust me through therewith; lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and abuse me. But his armourbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword, and fell upon it.
- Judg 9:54Then he called hastily unto the young man his armourbearer, and said unto him, Draw thy sword, and slay me, that men say not of me, A woman slew him. And his young man thrust him through, and he died.
- Job 2:9–10Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.
- Matt 27:5And he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, and departed, and went and hanged himself.
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Christ at the center
Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
How 1 Kings 16:18 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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