Who is King Zimri in the Bible?

Quick Facts

Length of his reign: 7 days, 1 Kings 16:15
Succession: 5th king
Predecessor: King Elah, 1 Kings 16:9-10
Successor: King Omri, 1 Kings 16:17-22
Reign: 885 BC
Kingdom: Kingdom of Israel
Morality: evil, 1 Kings 16:19-20
Biblical History: 1 Kings 16:8-20

Zimri reign in Israel

Zimri, like Adolf Hitler and Co, represents persons across the ages who for the sake of power suffered a tragic end. Zimri was the 5th king of the Kingdom of Israel and he ruled in Tirzah in the year 885 BC. He was of no royal descent. His genealogy was not mentioned, nor was anything mentioned about his tribe of origin. He is introduced in the Bible as the captain of half his chariots. Said differently, Zimri was the commander of half the chariots of the army of the Kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Elah. If any attention is given to Zimri today, it was because he assassinated King Elah and usurped his throne only to reign for just seven days – the shortest reign ever in history (1Ki 16:8).  

At that time, the army of Israel had gone to besiege Gibbathon to wage war against the Philistines, but King Elah was at Tirzah. Without the army, the king’s guard was down and he was insecure. Zimri with the intent of staging a coup d’etat cleverly sought to strike at such a time. Moreover, King Elah, before his death, partied in the house of his palace administrator Arza and he drank to excess to become drunk, making himself more vulnerable. Zimri and his company attacked Elah, killed him in the house of Arza, and usurped the throne. Upon seizing the throne, Zimri proceeded to kill all the relatives of King Elah. In fact, the entire family of Elah’s father King Baasha was killed. After having done that, it might have appeared to Zimri that he had secured the throne for himself, but he was wrong. (1 Kings 16:8-14)

When the army that had encamped at Gibbethon heard that Zimri had killed King Elah and had usurped the throne, they denied him their support; rather, they made Omri the army commander king of the Kingdom of Israel. Having the army on his side, Omri marched out against Zimri and laid siege to Tirzah and he succeeded in capturing it. Zimri lost. More so, he was lost for ideas as to what to do for there was no means of escape and he was close to being captured.  If Zimri had been captured, certainly, he would have been killed. But before his death would come, all the torture and the humiliation befitting a kingslayer and a usurper would have been meted out to him in full. (1 Kings 16:15-20)

Now seeing that the enemies had taken the gates, captured the city, and were fast closing in to capture him, Zimri brought a tragic end to his own life through suicide; that is, he went into the palace, set fire to it, and burnt it over himself, and he died (1Ki 16:18).

Credit to Zimri

God used his greed for power to fulfill His judgment (1Ki 16:1-4) against the house of King Baasha because Baasha perpetuated the sin of Jeroboam. (1 Kings 16:8-14)

Major events during Zimri’s reign

  • The army of the Northern Kingdom had encamped at Gibbethon to fight against the Philistines. (1 Kings 16:15)
  • Omri was made a king by the army at Gibbethon. (1 Kings 16:16)
  • Omeri led the army to capture Tirzah and depose Zimri. (1 Kings 16:17)

Contemporaries of Zimri

King Asa of Judah had reigned for 27 years when Zimri became a king. (1 Kings 16:15)

Category; Zimri belongs to:

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