(8) In the twenty-sixth year of King Asa of Judah, Elah son of Baasha became king over Israel, at Tirzah—for two years. (9) His officer Zimri, commander of half the chariotry, committed treason against him while he was at Tirzah drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was in charge of the palace at Tirzah. (10) Zimri entered, struck him down, and killed him; he succeeded him as king in the twenty-seventh year of King Asa of Judah. (11) No sooner had he become king and ascended the throne than he struck down all the House of Baasha; he did not leave a single male of his, nor any kinsman or friend. (12) Thus Zimri destroyed all the House of Baasha, in accordance with the word that the LORD had spoken through the prophet Jehu— (13) because of the sinful acts which Baasha and his son Elah committed, and which they caused Israel to commit, vexing the LORD, the God of Israel, with their false gods. (14) The other events of Elah’s reign and all his actions are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Israel.
(15) During the twenty-seventh year of King Asa of Judah, Zimri reigned in Tirzah for seven days. At the time, the troops were encamped at Gibbethon of the Philistines. (16) When the troops who were encamped there learned that Zimri had committed treason and had struck down the king, that very day, in the camp, all Israel acclaimed the army commander Omri king over Israel. (17) Omri and all Israel then withdrew from Gibbethon and laid siege to Tirzah. (18) When Zimri saw that the town was taken, he went into the citadel of the royal palace and burned down the royal palace over himself. And so he died— (19) because of the sins which he committed and caused Israel to commit, doing what was displeasing to the LORD and following the ways of Jeroboam. (20) The other events of Zimri’s reign, and the treason which he committed, are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Israel.
(21) Then the people of Israel split into two factions: a part of the people followed Tibni son of Ginath to make him king, and the other part followed Omri. (22) Those who followed Omri proved stronger than those who followed Tibni son of Ginath; Tibni died and Omri became king. (23) In the thirty-first year of King Asa of Judah, Omri became king over Israel—for twelve years. He reigned in Tirzah six years. (24) Then he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver; he built [a town] on the hill and named the town which he built Samaria, after Shemer, the owner of the hill.
Rabbi Yoḥanan says: For what virtue was Omri, king of Israel, who was Ahab’s father, privileged to ascend to the monarchy? It is due to the fact that he added one city in Eretz Yisrael, as it is stated: “And he bought the hill of Samaria from Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city that he built after Shemer, the owner of the hill, Samaria” (I Kings 16:24).
(25) Omri did what was displeasing to the LORD; he was worse than all who preceded him. (26) He followed all the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat and the sins which he committed and caused Israel to commit, vexing the LORD, the God of Israel, with their futilities. (27) The other events of Omri’s reign, [and] his actions, and the exploits he performed, are recorded in the Annals of the Kings of Israel. (28) Omri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria; and his son Ahab succeeded him as king.
(29) Ahab son of Omri became king over Israel in the thirty-eighth year of King Asa of Judah, and Ahab son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria for twenty-two years. (30) Ahab son of Omri did what was displeasing to the LORD, more than all who preceded him. (31) Not content to follow the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he took as wife Jezebel daughter of King Ethbaal of the Phoenicians, and he went and served Baal and worshiped him.
With regard to Ahab, it is written: “And it came to pass, the most minor of his transgressions was his walking in the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat” (I Kings 16:31). Rabbi Yoḥanan says: The minor sins that Ahab performed were on par with the major sins that Jeroboam performed, as the transgressions committed by Ahab were much more serious than those committed by Jeroboam. And for what reason did the verse attribute the sins of all the kings of Israel to Jeroboam, even though the sins of Ahab were more substantial? It is due to the fact that he was first to engage in iniquity. With regard to the verse: “Their altars shall also be like droppings in the furrows of the field” (Hosea 12:12), Rabbi Yoḥanan says: You do not have even one furrow in Eretz Yisrael upon which Ahab did not place an object of idol worship and bow to it.
(32) He erected an altar to Baal in the temple of Baal which he built in Samaria. (33) Ahab also made an Asheirah. Ahab did more to vex the LORD, the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel who preceded him.
With regard to the verse: “And Ahab made the ashera; and Ahab did more to provoke the Lord, God of Israel, to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him” (I Kings 16:33), Rabbi Yoḥanan says: It means that he wrote on the doors of Samaria: Ahab denies the existence of the God of Israel, therefore he has no share in the God of Israel.
(10) For the land that you are about to enter and possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come. There the grain you sowed had to be watered by your own labors, like a vegetable garden; (11) but the land you are about to cross into and possess, a land of hills and valleys, soaks up its water from the rains of heaven. (12) It is a land which the LORD your God looks after, on which the LORD your God always keeps His eye, from year’s beginning to year’s end.
(18) No Israelite woman shall be a cult prostitute, nor shall any Israelite man be a cult prostitute. (19) You shall not bring the fee of a whore or the pay of a dog into the house of the LORD your God in fulfillment of any vow, for both are abhorrent to the LORD your God.
(1) The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: (2) Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: I the LORD am your God. (3) You shall not copy the practices of the land of Egypt where you dwelt, or of the land of Canaan to which I am taking you; nor shall you follow their laws. (4) My rules alone shall you observe, and faithfully follow My laws: I the LORD am your God. (5) You shall keep My laws and My rules, by the pursuit of which man shall live: I am the LORD. (6) None of you shall come near anyone of his own flesh to uncover nakedness: I am the LORD.
(34) During his reign, Hiel the Bethelite fortified Jericho. He laid its foundations at the cost of Abiram his first-born, and set its gates in place at the cost of Segub his youngest, in accordance with the words that the LORD had spoken through Joshua son of Nun.
(26) At that time Joshua pronounced this oath: “Cursed of the LORD be the man who shall undertake to fortify this city of Jericho: he shall lay its foundations at the cost of his first-born, and set up its gates at the cost of his youngest.”
(1) Elijah the Tishbite, an inhabitant of Gilead, said to Ahab, “As the LORD lives, the God of Israel whom I serve, there will be no dew or rain except at my bidding.”
It is taught in a baraita that this includes a prohibition not to build Jericho even after changing its name to the name of another city, and not to build another city after giving it the name of Jericho, as it is written: “Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho; with Abiram, his firstborn, he laid its foundation, and with his young son Segub set up its gates” (I Kings 16:34). It is taught in a baraita: From the death of Abiram, his firstborn, the wicked, it was not incumbent upon him to learn not to build Jericho, as Abiram’s death could be attributed to chance. But with the death of Segub his young son, it was incumbent upon him to learn that it was due to Joshua’s curse that they died. The Gemara asks: What did Abiram and Segub do that they are characterized as wicked, and what is the baraita saying? The Gemara answers that this is what the baraita is saying: From the death of Abiram, his firstborn, that wicked man Hiel should have learned about the cause of the death of Segub his young son. By inference from that which is stated: “With Abiram, his firstborn,” do I not know that Segub was his young son? Rather, what is the meaning when the verse states: “His young son Segub”? It teaches that he gradually buried all his sons from Abiram through Segub, and he should have suspected that Joshua’s curse caused the deaths. Ahab was Hiel’s close friend and groomsman. He and Elijah came to inquire about Hiel’s welfare in the house of mourning [bei tamya]. Hiel sat and said: Perhaps when Joshua cursed, this is what he cursed: Not to build Jericho even after changing its name to the name of another city, and not to build another city after giving it the name of Jericho. Elijah said to him: Yes, that is the curse. Ahab said to Elijah: Now the curse of Moses is not fulfilled, as it is written: “And you go astray and worship other gods,” and it is written: “Then the Lord’s anger will flare against you, and He will close the heavens, and there will be no rain” (Deuteronomy 11:16–17). And that man, referring to himself, established an object of idol worship on each and every furrow in the kingdom of Israel, and the rain is so plentiful that it does not allow him to go and worship it; will the curse of his student, Joshua, be fulfilled? The verse relates Elijah’s reaction: Immediately: “And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said to Ahab: As the Lord God of Israel lives, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew or rain these years, but according to my word” (I Kings 17:1). Elijah prayed for mercy and they gave him the key to rainfall enabling him to dictate when it would rain, and he arose and went.