1 Kings 16:1–7, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
1 Kings 16:1–7
Jehu condemns Baasha's dynasty and his violence
Jehu's word meets a king who used a gift of rule to copy Jeroboam
The word of the LORD comes against Baasha by Jehu son of Hanani. Forasmuch as I exalted thee out of the dust, and made thee prince over my people Israel, and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins.
Elevation from the dust is not a private compliment. It becomes the ground of the charge. Baasha received rule and spent it on the same public sin he had destroyed another house for.
The dynasty will share Jeroboam's fate, and the violence is also indicted
Behold, I will take away the posterity of Baasha, and the posterity of his house, and will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam. Him that dieth of Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth of his in the fields shall the fowls of the air eat.
Baasha sleeps with his fathers and is buried in Tirzah; Elah his son reigns. Then the narrator adds that Jehu's word came also by the hand of the prophet, for all the evil Baasha did, in provoking the LORD, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he killed him. Fulfillment through massacre does not wash the massacre. Prophetic judgment here names both idolatry and the killing that seated Baasha.
How this should shape us
If a person rises from little and then repeats the harm they replaced, say both things. Do not treat a bloody path to office as cancelled because an older house had also been condemned.
Teach it back
Explain 1 Kings 16:1–7 in your own words: include the movement “Jehu condemns Baasha's dynasty and his violence,” one source-supported observation, one limit, and one harm the unit does not authorize.
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The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where does uncertainty remain?
Best judgment: The received Hebrew narrative and its KJV presentation are clear enough to follow this movement, while precise source history, chronology, motives, textual development, and external correlation require graded confidence rather than invented certainty.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
1 Kings 16:1–7, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Hebrew wording and morphology used for lexical, grammatical, name, clause, and older-English checks; this is not a critical apparatus or historical proof.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Kgs.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 16:1–7
Supports: Only printed unit-level translation, lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, and verse-numbering notes; silence is not evidence.
NET Bible 1 Kings PDF, printed pp. 616–618, translation and translator notes for 16:1–7
Supports: Inspected full-text literary, compositional, historical, and theological orientation used as one synthesis rather than consensus.
Dietrich, '1 and 2 Kings,' Oxford Bible Commentary (2001), printed pp. 244–245, exposition covering 1 Kings 16:1–7
Supports: Publisher-visible framing of the Masoretic, Greek, and other textual witnesses; the full chapter was not inspected.
Tekoniemi, 'Textual History,' Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 55–66
Supports: Only publisher-visible discussion of links with Deuteronomy and Deuteronomistic History.
Müller, 'Kings, Deuteronomy, and Deuteronomistic History,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 83–97
Supports: Only publisher-visible authorship, dating, source, and redaction framing; detailed proposals remain alternatives.
Römer, 'Theories of the Composition of the Books of Kings,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 98–122
Supports: Abstract-level current framing of Solomon and Jeroboam traditions, history, and literary development.
Robker, 'Solomon and Jeroboam I,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 139–155
Supports: Abstract-level control for centralization, royal cult policy, and historical development without modern religious-persecution application.
Richelle, 'Cult Centralization,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 311–325
Supports: Publisher-visible treatment of prophets and prophetic narrative; miracle mechanics and private motives remain unrecovered.
Sauerwein, 'Prophecy,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 285–295
Supports: Abstract-level current analysis of Jezebel and reception; it does not erase the agency of Ahab or other actors.
Wray Beal, 'Jezebel and Jehu,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 167–178
Supports: Abstract-level gender-critical control that prevents women and foreignness from becoming explanatory stereotypes.
Quick, 'Gender Studies,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 506–519
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage.
Exact location: 1 Kings 16:1–7, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: 1 Kings
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Hebrew wording and morphology used for lexical, grammatical, name, clause, and older-English checks; this is not a critical apparatus or historical proof.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/1Kgs.xml, Masoretic words and morphology for 16:1–7
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: 1 Kings with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Only printed unit-level translation, lexical, grammatical, textual, historical, and verse-numbering notes; silence is not evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible 1 Kings PDF, printed pp. 616–618, translation and translator notes for 16:1–7
Open source ↗scholarly commentary chapter
1 and 2 Kings
Walter Dietrich
The Oxford Bible Commentary, Oxford University Press, 2001
Supports: Inspected full-text literary, compositional, historical, and theological orientation used as one synthesis rather than consensus.
Exact location: Dietrich, '1 and 2 Kings,' Oxford Bible Commentary (2001), printed pp. 244–245, exposition covering 1 Kings 16:1–7
Open source ↗scholarly handbook chapter abstract and metadata
Textual History
Timo Tekoniemi
The Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings, Oxford University Press, 2024
Supports: Publisher-visible framing of the Masoretic, Greek, and other textual witnesses; the full chapter was not inspected.
Exact location: Tekoniemi, 'Textual History,' Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 55–66
Open source ↗scholarly handbook chapter abstract and metadata
Kings, Deuteronomy, and Deuteronomistic History
Reinhard Muller
The Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings, Oxford University Press, 2024
Supports: Only publisher-visible discussion of links with Deuteronomy and Deuteronomistic History.
Exact location: Müller, 'Kings, Deuteronomy, and Deuteronomistic History,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 83–97
Open source ↗scholarly handbook chapter abstract and metadata
Theories of the Composition of the Books of Kings
Thomas Romer
The Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings, Oxford University Press, 2024
Supports: Only publisher-visible authorship, dating, source, and redaction framing; detailed proposals remain alternatives.
Exact location: Römer, 'Theories of the Composition of the Books of Kings,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 98–122
Open source ↗scholarly handbook chapter abstract and metadata
Solomon and Jeroboam I
Jonathan Miles Robker
The Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings, Oxford University Press, 2024
Supports: Abstract-level current framing of Solomon and Jeroboam traditions, history, and literary development.
Exact location: Robker, 'Solomon and Jeroboam I,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 139–155
Open source ↗scholarly handbook chapter abstract and metadata
Cult Centralization
Matthieu Richelle
The Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings, Oxford University Press, 2024
Supports: Abstract-level control for centralization, royal cult policy, and historical development without modern religious-persecution application.
Exact location: Richelle, 'Cult Centralization,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 311–325
Open source ↗scholarly handbook chapter abstract and metadata
Prophecy
Ruth Sauerwein
The Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings, Oxford University Press, 2024
Supports: Publisher-visible treatment of prophets and prophetic narrative; miracle mechanics and private motives remain unrecovered.
Exact location: Sauerwein, 'Prophecy,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 285–295
Open source ↗scholarly handbook chapter abstract and metadata
Jezebel and Jehu
Lissa M. Wray Beal
The Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings, Oxford University Press, 2024
Supports: Abstract-level current analysis of Jezebel and reception; it does not erase the agency of Ahab or other actors.
Exact location: Wray Beal, 'Jezebel and Jehu,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 167–178
Open source ↗scholarly handbook chapter abstract and metadata
Gender Studies
Laura Quick
The Oxford Handbook of the Books of Kings, Oxford University Press, 2024
Supports: Abstract-level gender-critical control that prevents women and foreignness from becoming explanatory stereotypes.
Exact location: Quick, 'Gender Studies,' Oxford Handbook (2024), official abstract and metadata for pp. 506–519
Open source ↗