And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him.
Parallel translations
- WEB Ahab the son of Omri did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight above all that were before him.
- BSB However, Ahab son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD, more than all who were before him.
- NKJV Now Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord, more than all who were before him.
- NASB Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the Lord more than all who were before him.
- NLT But Ahab son of Omri did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, even more than any of the kings before him.
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
Ahab did more evil in God's sight than all the kings of Israel before him.
Overview
Ahab surpasses even Omri in wickedness, marking him as the worst northern king to this point. This superlative verdict prepares the reader for the unprecedented idolatry his reign will introduce. It frames the coming Elijah narratives as God's dramatic confrontation with Israel's deepest apostasy.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- 1 Kgs 16:25But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the LORD, and did worse than all that were before him.
- 1 Kgs 21:25But there was none like unto Ahab, which did sell himself to work wickedness in the sight of the LORD, whom Jezebel his wife stirred up.
- 1 Kgs 14:9But 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:
- 2 Kgs 3:2And he wrought evil in the sight of the LORD; but not like his father, and like his mother: for he put away the image of Baal that his father had made.
- 1 Kgs 16:33And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him.
- 1 Kgs 16:31And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 16:30 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.