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And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him, as he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza steward of his house in Tirzah.
1 Kings 16:9 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB His servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him. Now he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah;
  • BSB However, while Elah was in Tirzah getting drunk in the house of Arza the steward of his household there, Elah’s servant Zimri, the commander of half his chariots, conspired against him.
  • NKJV Now his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him as he was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, steward of his house in Tirzah.
  • NASB And his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. Now Elah was in Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was in charge of the household in Tirzah.
  • NLT Then Zimri, who commanded half of the royal chariots, made plans to kill him. One day in Tirzah, Elah was getting drunk at the home of Arza, the supervisor of the palace.

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

Zimri, a chariot commander, conspires against Elah while the king is getting drunk at a servant's house.

Overview

Elah is found indulging in drunkenness, neglecting his royal duties, when his officer Zimri plots his murder. The contrast between the king's self-indulgence and the danger closing in highlights the moral and political decay of the northern kingdom. Drunken carelessness becomes the occasion for the judgment God had decreed against Baasha's house.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 24

  • Gen 24:2And Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh:
  • Gen 39:4And Joseph found grace in his sight, and he served him: and he made him overseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hand.
  • 1 Kgs 18:3And Ahab called Obadiah, which was the governor of his house. (Now Obadiah feared the LORD greatly:
  • Dan 5:1–4Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.
  • Hab 2:15–16Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also, that thou mayest look on their nakedness!
  • Gen 39:9There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?
  • Gen 24:10And the servant took ten camels of the camels of his master, and departed; for all the goods of his master were in his hand: and he arose, and went to Mesopotamia, unto the city of Nahor.
  • Jer 51:57And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.
  • Gen 15:2And Abram said, LORD God, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
  • Prov 23:29–35Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
  • 1 Kgs 15:27And Baasha the son of Ahijah, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him; and Baasha smote him at Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines; for Nadab and all Israel laid siege to Gibbethon.
  • 1 Sam 25:36–38And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal’s heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.
  • 2 Kgs 9:30–33And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window.
  • 2 Kgs 9:14So Jehu the son of Jehoshaphat the son of Nimshi conspired against Joram. (Now Joram had kept Ramothgilead, he and all Israel, because of Hazael king of Syria.
  • Dan 5:30In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.
  • Matt 24:49–51And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
  • 2 Kgs 15:30And Hoshea the son of Elah made a conspiracy against Pekah the son of Remaliah, and smote him, and slew him, and reigned in his stead, in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah.
  • 2 Sam 13:28–29Now Absalom had commanded his servants, saying, Mark ye now when Amnon’s heart is merry with wine, and when I say unto you, Smite Amnon; then kill him, fear not: have not I commanded you? be courageous, and be valiant.
  • Nah 1:10For while they be folden together as thorns, and while they are drunken as drunkards, they shall be devoured as stubble fully dry.
  • 2 Kgs 15:25But Pekah the son of Remaliah, a captain of his, conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the palace of the king’s house, with Argob and Arieh, and with him fifty men of the Gileadites: and he killed him, and reigned in his room.
  • 1 Kgs 20:16And they went out at noon. But Benhadad was drinking himself drunk in the pavilions, he and the kings, the thirty and two kings that helped him.
  • Luke 21:34And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
  • 2 Kgs 15:10And Shallum the son of Jabesh conspired against him, and smote him before the people, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.
  • 2 Kgs 12:20And his servants arose, and made a conspiracy, and slew Joash in the house of Millo, which goeth down to Silla.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (12)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — 1 Kings videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on 1 Kings 16:9YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on 1 KingsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

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 16:9 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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