KING OF ISRAEL · TWO KINGDOMS

Zimri. Seven days in Tirzah.

REIGNEDi

7 days c. 885 BC (dates vary)

CAPITAL

Tirzah

HOUSE

Zimri (no dynasty) 5th of 19 in Israel

VERDICT

✕ Did evil “his sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of the LORD”

PROPHETS

Jehu son of Hanani

ISRAEL (THE NORTH): 19 RULERS JEROBOAM I → HOSHEA

ACCESSION

How Zimri came to power

  • He conspired against Elah, killed him, “and reigned in his stead”; “as soon as he sat on his throne” he killed all Baasha's house. 1 Kings 16:9–11

SUCCESSION

The two kingdoms

THE VERDICT

How Scripture judges the reign

“his sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of the LORD”

1 Kings 16:19 (KJV) →

“in walking in the way of Jeroboam”

1 Kings 16:19 (KJV) →

BUT ALSO

  • Jezebel later throws his name at Jehu: “Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?” 2 Kings 9:31

ISRAEL (THE NORTH): 19 RULERS

✓ Did right ✕ Did evil ◐ Mixed ● No verdict formula

THE KINGDOM

Tirzah and the places of the reign

Israel (the north). Only places Scripture names are shown, each where the Atlas puts it.

EVENTS

Wars, works and turning points

Each mark sits at the year of the reign the Bible gives for it.

UNDATED IN SCRIPTURE

THE NATION

What the nation did

  • The army at Gibbethon refused him and chose Omri instead. 1 Kings 16:16

PROPHETS

Prophets of the reign

  • Je Jehu son of Hanani Zimri's slaughter of Baasha's house is said to fulfil Jehu's word.

ON THE WORLD STAGE

The powers of the day

PHILISTIA

DATES DIFFER

When was it?

THIELE, AS REVISED BY MCFALL AND YOUNG

c. 885 BC[1]

885/884 BC, seven days

ALBRIGHT (1945)

c. 876 BC[24]

Printed form: c. 876 (p. 20); 7 days.

TRADITIONAL (USSHER, 1658)

929 BC[2]

Year of the world 3075 (Annals, pp. 44–45)

IN SCRIPTURE

Every passage

CHAPTERS · 2

1 Kings 16 2 Kings 9

PASSAGES · 2

1 Kings 16:9–20 2 Kings 9:31

WHAT SCRIPTURE DOES NOT SAY

  • Scripture names no father, tribe or burial for Zimri.
  • Kings gives him a verdict of “doing evil” and “walking in the way of Jeroboam” though he reigned seven days; it does not say what he did in that time beyond the killings.

IDENTIFICATIONS THIS PAGE RELIES ON

  • “His servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots” — Scripture names no father for him. 1 Kings 16:9

SOURCES

Where this page comes from

  • Rodger C. Young, Chronological tables: Table 1, Chronology of the Kings of Israel; Table 3, Synchronisms, Israel to Judah (Thiele's system as revised by McFall and Young; dates cited as facts only) (undated web tables, read 2026-10-07), Tables 1 and 3.
  • James Ussher, The Annals of the World (English translation of the Annales) (1658), The fifth Age of the World, pp. 40–69 (read from the page scans).
  • D. D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, vol. 1 (Shalmaneser III to Tiglath-pileser III) (1926), §594 (the Monolith Inscription from Kurkh) and §611, p. 223.
  • D. D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, vol. 1 (Shalmaneser III to Tiglath-pileser III) (1926), §553 (the Black Obelisk) and §590, p. 211.
  • D. D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, vol. 1 (Shalmaneser III to Tiglath-pileser III) (1926), §672, p. 243 (annals, 18th year).
  • D. D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, vol. 1 (Shalmaneser III to Tiglath-pileser III) (1926), §§732, 739–740, pp. 260–263 (Adad-nirari III: reign dates; the slab from Calah).
  • D. D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, vol. 1 (Shalmaneser III to Tiglath-pileser III) (1926), §772, p. 276 (Tiglath-pileser III, annals).
  • D. D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, vol. 1 (Shalmaneser III to Tiglath-pileser III) (1926), §779, pp. 279–280 (Tiglath-pileser III).
  • D. D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, vol. 1 (Shalmaneser III to Tiglath-pileser III) (1926), §§815–816, p. 293 (Tiglath-pileser III, fragmentary annals text).
  • D. D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, vol. 2 (Sargon onward) (1927), §4, p. 2 (Sargon's annals, year 1).
  • D. D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, vol. 2 (Sargon onward) (1927), §55, p. 26 (Sargon's display inscription).
  • D. D. Luckenbill, Ancient Records of Assyria and Babylonia, vol. 2 (Sargon onward) (1927), §1198, p. 437 (eponym list with notes, years 727–723).
  • R. W. Rogers, Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament (1912), p. 296 (Monolith, Qarqar).
  • R. W. Rogers, Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament (1912), p. 304 (Black Obelisk, with Rogers's note 2 on “mar Humri”).
  • R. W. Rogers, Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament (1912), p. 308 (Tiglath-pileser and “Pulu”).
  • R. W. Rogers, Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament (1912), p. 316 (Tiglath-pileser's annals, line 150).
  • R. W. Rogers, Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament (1912), pp. 319–321 (Tiglath-pileser on Pekah and Hoshea).
  • R. W. Rogers, Cuneiform Parallels to the Old Testament (1912), pp. 323, 326 and 331 (Sargon and the fall of Samaria).
  • S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text of the Books of Samuel (Appendix: the Inscription of Mesha) (1890), pp. lxxxvii–lxxxviii (translation), lxxxix and xciv.
  • A. H. Sayce, “Moabite Stone”, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, vol. 3 (1915), p. 2072 (checked against the 1915 scan).
  • Edward Mack, “Chronology of the Old Testament”, International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, vol. 1 (1915), pp. 639–640 (checked against the 1915 scan).
  • A. K. Grayson, Assyrian and Babylonian Chronicles, Chronicle 1 (facts only; copyrighted, read in Livius's reproduction) (1975), Chronicle 1, column i, lines 27–28.
  • A. Biran and J. Naveh, “An Aramaic Stele Fragment from Tel Dan” (1993) and “The Tel Dan Inscription: A New Fragment” (1995), Israel Exploration Journal 43 and 45 (facts only; copyrighted) (1993, 1995), IEJ 43 (1993) 81–98; IEJ 45 (1995) 1–18.
  • W. F. Albright, "The Chronology of the Divided Monarchy of Israel", Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 100 (facts only) (1945), Chronological table, pp. 20–22.

Rooted in Scripture. Open for discovery.

A place to read slowly, ask deeply, and follow the connections. Scripture, study and the voices of Christian history, brought together for a lifetime of learning.

SPEND TIME IN THE WORD

  • Open the reader
  • Books & reading progress
  • Compare Scripture editions
  • Find a passage

FOLLOW YOUR QUESTIONS

  • Study collections
  • People & places
  • Faith & apologetics
  • Stories of faith

A library with a paper trail.

Meet the authors. Explore the collection. Trace each work to its source.

Download the code.

Open source on GitHub.