The Meaning of 1 Kings 16:15 Explained

1 Kings 16:15

KJV: In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri reign seven days in Tirzah. And the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines.

YLT: In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah, reigned hath Zimri seven days in Tirzah; and the people are encamping against Gibbethon, which is to the Philistines;

Darby: In the twenty-seventh year of Asa king of Judah, Zimri reigned seven days in Tirzah. Now the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines.

ASV: In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri reign seven days in Tirzah. Now the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

In the twenty  and seventh  year  of Asa  king  of Judah  did Zimri  reign  seven  days  in Tirzah.  And the people  [were] encamped  against Gibbethon,  which [belonged] to the Philistines. 

What does 1 Kings 16:15 Mean?

Context Summary

1Kings 16:15-28 - Persistence In Sinful Ways
These chapters afford a dreary record of apostasy and revolution, of idolatry and national disaster. Perhaps the great mass of the people-the peasantry-were not greatly affected by these dynastic changes, though severe judgments of famine and drought were soon to make the nation realize what an evil and bitter thing it is to desert the Fountain of living waters for broken cisterns that can hold no water, Jeremiah 2:13. Four times in this chapter we meet the phrase, "provoke to anger," 1 Kings 16:7; 1 Kings 16:13; 1 Kings 16:26; 1 Kings 16:33. To idolatry was added intemperance, 1 Kings 16:9, and the fruit was suicide, anarchy, and civil war, 1 Kings 16:18; 1 Kings 16:21-22. But great as these evils were, they were to be surpassed, I Kings 1 Kings 16:30.
The one sufficient bulwark against universal anarchy is the maintenance of true religion. People talk with glib tongues against the Puritan conscience and demand the secularization of the Lord's day, but they are surely imperiling the stability and order of the commonwealth. More than is ordinarily realized are the relations between man and man affected by the relation between the nation and God. The writings of Voltaire helped to bring on the French Revolution; while the religious revivals of the eighteenth century, both in England and in America, contributed greatly to solid national progress. [source]

Chapter Summary: 1Kings 16

1  Jehu's prophecy against Baasha
5  Elah succeeds him
8  Zimri, conspiring against Elah, succeeds him
11  Zimri executes Jehu's prophecy
15  Omri, made king by the soldiers, forces Zimri desperately to burn himself
21  The kingdom being divided, Omri prevails against Tibni
23  Omri builds Samaria
25  His wicked reign
27  Ahab succeeds him
29  Ahab's most wicked reign
34  Joshua's curse upon Hiel the builder of Jericho

What do the individual words in 1 Kings 16:15 mean?

in the year twenty and seven year of Asa king of Judah had reigned Zimri seven days in Tirzah And the people [were] encamped against Gibbethon which [belonged] to the Philistines
בִּשְׁנַת֩ עֶשְׂרִ֨ים וָשֶׁ֜בַע שָׁנָ֗ה לְאָסָא֙ מֶ֣לֶךְ יְהוּדָ֔ה מָלַ֥ךְ זִמְרִ֛י שִׁבְעַ֥ת יָמִ֖ים בְּתִרְצָ֑ה וְהָעָ֣ם חֹנִ֔ים עַֽל־ גִּבְּת֖וֹן אֲשֶׁ֥ר לַפְּלִשְׁתִּֽים

בִּשְׁנַת֩  in  the  year 
Parse: Preposition-b, Noun, feminine singular construct
Root: שָׁנָה  
Sense: year.
עֶשְׂרִ֨ים  twenty 
Parse: Number, common plural
Root: עֶשְׂרִים  
Sense: twenty, twentieth.
וָשֶׁ֜בַע  and  seven 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Number, feminine singular
Root: שֶׁבַע  
Sense: seven (cardinal number).
שָׁנָ֗ה  year 
Parse: Noun, feminine singular
Root: שָׁנָה  
Sense: year.
לְאָסָא֙  of  Asa 
Parse: Preposition-l, Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: אָסָא  
Sense: king of Judah, son of Abijam, father of Jehoshaphat.
מֶ֣לֶךְ  king 
Parse: Noun, masculine singular construct
Root: מֶלֶךְ 
Sense: king.
יְהוּדָ֔ה  of  Judah 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: יְהוּדָה  
Sense: the son of Jacob by Leah.
מָלַ֥ךְ  had  reigned 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Perfect, third person masculine singular
Root: מָלַךְ 
Sense: to be or become king or queen, reign.
זִמְרִ֛י  Zimri 
Parse: Proper Noun, masculine singular
Root: זִמְרִי 
Sense: the son of Salu, a Simeonite chieftain, slain by Phinehas with the Midianitish princess Cozbi.
שִׁבְעַ֥ת  seven 
Parse: Number, masculine singular construct
Root: שֶׁבַע  
Sense: seven (cardinal number).
יָמִ֖ים  days 
Parse: Noun, masculine plural
Root: יׄום 
Sense: day, time, year.
בְּתִרְצָ֑ה  in  Tirzah 
Parse: Preposition-b, Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: תִּרְצָה 
Sense: one of the 7 daughters of Zelophehad the son of Hepher of the tribe of Manasseh.
וְהָעָ֣ם  And  the  people 
Parse: Conjunctive waw, Article, Noun, masculine singular
Root: עַם 
Sense: nation, people.
חֹנִ֔ים  [were]  encamped 
Parse: Verb, Qal, Participle, masculine plural
Root: חָנָה  
Sense: to decline, incline, encamp, bend down, lay siege against.
עַֽל־  against 
Parse: Preposition
Root: עַל 
Sense: upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside, in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against.
גִּבְּת֖וֹן  Gibbethon 
Parse: Proper Noun, feminine singular
Root: גִּבְּתֹון  
Sense: a Philistine town in Dan allocated to the Kohathite Levites.
אֲשֶׁ֥ר  which  [belonged] 
Parse: Pronoun, relative
Root: אֲשֶׁר 
Sense: (relative part.).
לַפְּלִשְׁתִּֽים  to  the  Philistines 
Parse: Preposition-l, Article, Proper Noun, masculine plural
Root: פְּלִשְׁתִּי  
Sense: an inhabitant of Philistia; descendants of Mizraim who immigrated from Caphtor (Crete?) to the western seacoast of Canaan.