1 Kings 16:22
But the people that followed Omri prevailed against the people that followed Tibni the son of Ginath: so Tibni died, and Omri reigned. But the people that followed Omri prevailed against the people that followed Tibni the son of Ginath: so Tibni died, and Omri reigned.
The verse records that the followers of Omri overcame the followers of Tibni the son of Ginath, so that Tibni died and Omri became king. The struggle for the throne lasted four years with half the people holding to Tibni, while Omri held the capital and commanded the army until Tibni's death left Omri to reign alone. Omri was captain of Israel's host who rose against the traitor Zimri and overthrew him after a reign of only seven days, then stood as the strongest power among the ten tribes until the short-lived rival party was crushed. The verse belongs to Israel's apostasy in which her kings led her away from the worship of the living God and His plan pointing to Christ and salvation to the impure and degrading worship of idols and of Baal and Ashtoreth, reaching its climax when Ahab the son of Omri took the throne. It thus introduces the setting of Elijah's ministry under the weak king Ahab and his Baal-worshiping wife Jezebel, a decisive conflict between the Lord and Baal with great consequence for God's people in which God still found a faithful remnant.
Throne Contest and History
The verse records that the people who followed Omri prevailed over the people who followed Tibni the son of Ginath, so that Tibni died and Omri reigned as king. The contest for the throne lasted four years, with half the people choosing Tibni, while Omri held the capital and commanded the army. Tibni's death ended the contest, leaving Omri to reign alone.
Omri was captain of Israel's host who rose against the traitor Zimri and slew him after Zimri had reigned only seven days. After that he became the strongest influence among the Ten Tribes, while the rival following that opposed him lasted only a little time before it was crushed out. The verse belongs to the history of the separate kingdoms of Judah and Israel and to the account of the reigns of their kings.
The division into Judah and Israel came because Solomon multiplied wives to himself and turned his heart from God. The verse stands in the succession of northern kings Nadab, Baasha, Elah, and Zimri and before the wicked Ahab, amid continuing war and strife between the two divisions. It marks the end of the two-generation house of Baasha and the beginning of Omri's sole reign, which was strong but wicked and was marked by his building of Samaria.
The struggle was part of a period of bloodshed in which four kings or would-be kings died violently within about fifty years. Omri became the ancestor of Ahab, who was the second ruler of Omri's dynasty and reigned twenty-two years. The Moabite Stone provides historical accounts of Omri's reign that add information to the biblical record of his rule.
Apostasy and Elijah's Conflict
1 Kings 16:22 belongs to the account in 1 Kings 15 and 16 of the apostasy of Israel, in which the nation was led by her kings to forsake the worship of the living God and turn to the worship of idols. That turning was a turning away from the God-given plan of worship which pointed to Christ and revealed the way of salvation from sin. It was a forsaking of all that was pure and true and uplifting for that which was impure, untrue, and degrading, for the worship of Baal and Ashtoreth, for the worship of the creature instead of the Creator. The events of 1 Kings 16 come to a climax with Ahab the son of Omri ascending the throne.
It stands within a great apostasy in Israel during the days of Elijah, when God found a faithful remnant that responded to His prophet's call. It records the setting of Elijah's ministry, when Israel was ruled by the weak king Ahab and his Baal-worshiping wife Jezebel, whose idolatry corrupted the nation and led it to transgress God's commandments. It marks the end of the two-generation house of Baasha and the beginning of Omri's sole reign, which was strong but wicked and was marked by his building of Samaria. That reign was followed by the weak and wicked reign of Ahab under the domination of his idolatrous and abominable wife Jezebel.
Together with what follows through verse 29 it places Ahab's reign in the history of Israel, and that reign was a turning point marked by a decisive conflict between the Lord and Baal and a period with great consequences for God's people and their faith. The verse records that Omri's supporters defeated those of Tibni, after which Tibni died and Omri became king, and it is included in the account of Ahab's times whose figures stand as types of later persons and movements working for or against God.