Then the word of the Lord came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasa, saying:
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2 Forasmuch as I have 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:
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3 Behold, I will cut down the posterity of Baasa, and the posterity of his house, and I will make thy house as the house of Jeroboam the son of Nabat.
4 Him that dieth of Baasa in the city, the dogs shall eat: and him that dieth of his in the country, the fowls of the air shall devour.
5 But the rest of the acts of Baasa and all that he did, and his battles, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
6 So Baasa slept with his fathers, and was buried in Thersa: and Ela his son reigned in his stead.
7 And when the word of the Lord came in the hand of Jehu the son of Hanani the prophet, against Baasa, and against his house, and against all the evil that he had done before the Lord, to provoke him to anger by the works of his hands, to become as the house of Jeroboam: for this cause he slew him, that is to say, Jehu the son of Hanani, the prophet.
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8 In the six and twentieth year of Asa king of Juda, Ela the son of Baasa reigned over Israel in Thersa two years.
9 And his servant Zambri, who was captain of half the horsemen, rebelled against him: now Ela was drinking in Thersa, and drunk in the house of Arsa the governor of Thersa.
10 And Zambri rushing in, struck him and slew him in the seven and twentieth year of Asa king of Juda, and he reigned in his stead.
11 And when he was king and sat upon his throne, he slew all the house of Baasa, and he left not one thereof to piss against a wall, and all his kinsfolks and friends.
12 And Zambri destroyed all the house of Baasa, according to the word of the Lord, that he had spoken to Baasa in the hand of Jehu the prophet,
13 For all the sins of Baasa, and the sins of Ela his son, who sinned, and made Israel to sin, provoking the Lord the God of Israel with their vanities.
14 But the rest of the acts of Ela, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
15 In the seven and twentieth year of Asa king of Juda, Zambri reigned seven days in Thersa: now the army was besieging Gebbethon a city of the Philistines.
16 And when they heard that Zambri had rebelled, and slain the king, all Israel made Amri their king, who was general over Israel in the camp that day.
17 And Amri went up, and all Israel with him from Gebbethon, and they besieged Thersa.
18 And Zambri seeing that the city was about to be taken, went into the palace and burnt himself with the king’s house: and he died
19 In his sins, which he had sinned, doing evil before the Lord, and walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin, wherewith he made Israel to sin.
20 But the rest of the acts of Zambri, and of his conspiracy and tyranny, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
21 Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts: one half of the people followed Thebni the son of Gineth, to make him king: and one half followed Amri.
22 But the people that were with Amri, prevailed over the people that followed Thebni the son of Gineth: and Thebni died, and Amri reigned.
23 In the one and thirtieth year of Asa king of Juda, Amri reigned over Israel twelve years: in Thersa he reigned six years.
24 And he bought the hill of Samaria of Semer for two talents of silver: and he built upon it, and he called the city which he built Samaria, after the name of Semer the owner of the hill.
25 And Amri did evil in the sight of the Lord, and acted wickedly above all that were before him.
26 And he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, and in his sins wherewith he made Israel to sin: to provoke the Lord the God of Israel to anger with their vanities.
27 Now the rest of the acts of Amri, and the battles he fought, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
28 And Amri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria, and Achab his son reigned in his stead.
29 Now Achab the son of Amri reigned over Israel in the eight and thirtieth year of Asa king of Juda. And Achab the son of Amri reigned over Israel in Samaria two and twenty years.
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30 And Achab the son of Amri did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him.
31 Nor was it enough for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat: but he also took to wife Jezabel daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians. And he went, and served Baal, and adored him.
32 And he set up an altar for Baal in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria,
33 And he planted a grove: and Achab did more to provoke the Lord the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel that were before him.
34 In his days Hiel of Bethel built Jericho: in Abiram his firstborn he laid its foundations: and in his youngest son Segub he set up the gates thereof: according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke in the hand of Josue the son of Nun.
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Ephrem the Syrian
“[Baasha] was appointed king by God and was sent to restore the true religion which had been destroyed by Jeroboam and his successor Nadab, and to take revenge on the evil that was committed as well as impiety. He was certainly able to accomplish in the best possible way his first task, as he completely erased the progeny of both Jeroboam and Nadab. However, with regard to his second task, he promoted their impiety by perversely and foolishly worshiping the idols of both [his predecessors] and did not destroy at all the calves made by Jeroboam but incited his own subjects to adore them. Therefore the prophet Jehu harshly condemns the crime of Baasha's ungrateful soul in this passage and proclaims the revenge which will strike him shortly. So Baasha was deprived of his kingdom and life for this reason, and after the killing of Elah, his son and successor, in the second year of his reign, Zimri took hold of the power and kept it for seven days, as is written. Then he was put under siege by Omri in Tirzah, and after the city had been conquered, [Zimri] took refuge in the palace and set himself on fire together with the royal house. Omri, the founder of Samaria, succeeded him. He died after twelve years and left his reign to his son.”
Rabanus Maurus
“"Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have caused my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, therefore, I will consume the past actions of Baasha and the past actions of his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat. Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the dogs shall eat; and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the air shall eat." These words were pronounced against all sinners, and especially against the pagans and the heretics. Indeed, those who always add new sins to their old sins and are depraved by the examples of evil become the greatest in their crimes. "I will cut off the past actions of Baasha," [the Lord] says, "and the past actions of his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat." The Lord cuts off the past actions of Baasha when he takes revenge on the sin of the wicked after the end of life. And he cuts off the past actions of his house when he condemns the inhabitants of that house to eternal torments. And he will make the house of Baasha like the house of Jeroboam son of Nabat when he gives the sinners who persevere in their iniquity to the torments of hell together with the devil and his angels. In fact, Baasha, as we have already said, is interpreted as "confusion" or "dryness," Jeroboam as "he who divides the people," and Nabat as "spontaneous." Therefore, when one follows the confusions of errors and sinners and neglects the possibility of having a wife of spiritual grace, then his past actions will be cut off as those of the devil.”
Ishodad of Merv
“"… In being like the house of Jeroboam, and also because he destroyed it." This does not mean that Elah killed Jeroboam, but that Baasha, father of Elah, killed the son of Jeroboam. And he is not threatened with evils by the prophet because he killed him but because he does not fear the punishment which was performed by his hands as a consequence of Nadab's sins. And since he is at the moment imitating the evil actions of that one, he will undergo the same punishment as well.”
Ephrem the Syrian
“This is that Ahab who thought that he would make little progress in the new religion [i.e., idolatry] if he worshiped only the gods introduced by Jeroboam. Therefore he established rites for Baal, the god of the Sidonians, built his temple in the royal city, erected altars and planted sacred groves. And these actions bitterly enraged the prophets and the other worshipers of the true God.”
Bede
“"In his days, Hiel of Bethel built Jericho." [1 Kings 16:34] What is written about the times of Ahab's reign: 'In his days, Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundations with Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with Segub his youngest,' the sense is clear: when the stated builder of the city began to lay its foundations, his firstborn, named Abiram, died; and when, with the city built, he tried to fortify its gates, he lost his youngest son named Segub. This was foretold by Joshua, who, when dedicating the destroyed and cursed city Jericho, predicted it with an imprecation: 'Cursed before the Lord is the man who rises up and rebuilds this city Jericho. He shall lay its foundation at the cost of his firstborn, and at the cost of his youngest he shall set up its gates' (Joshua 6). That Ahiel, living for God, interpreted as Bethel which means house of God, restores the walls of Jericho that were destroyed and cursed by Joshua, is evident when one among those who have assumed the habit of religion in the Church returns to commit the crimes that the Lord Jesus forgave him on the day of his baptism, and those pomps of the devil which he himself anathema-tized, he returns to by living luxuriously; when he prefers the dogmas of heretics or the fables of pagans to the churchly truth in which he was imbued, it is as if, departing from Bethel, he resurrects the ruins of Jericho. And rightly is such a person cursed before the Lord, and loses both the first of his sons in the foundation of the wicked city and the youngest in the setting up of its gates. Because he loses the foundations of faith with which he should have begun good buildings, and the house of good action with which he should have finished. These things I have expounded in an allegorical sense, to remind you how true is the word of the apostle, who says that all these things happened to them as examples, and were written down for our instruction (1 Corinthians 10).”
Ishodad of Merv
“Jericho remained in ruins as a sign and memory of the power of God and the victory of the people of Israel. But the insolent Ahab decided to refute the words of Joshua and said, "As the words of his master Moses, who said, 'The sky over your head shall be bronze and the earth under you iron'3 did not happen, so the words of his disciple will not happen." However, when [the city] was re-established at the cost of Abiram's death, his firstborn, the people feared God and showed him that he was not allowed to rebuild the city, so he stopped. But, a bit later, he attributed all these events to chance and resumed his work by setting the gates of the city. Then Segub, his youngest son, died. For this reason Elijah burned with zeal and stopped heaven for three and a half years.”