King Elah

Elah
King of Israel
Elah from "Guillaume Rouillé's Promptuarii Iconum Insigniorum
Predecessor	Baasha of Israel
Successor	Zimri

Elah (Hebrew: אֵלָה‎‎ ’Êlāh; Greek: Ἠλά; Latin: Ela) was the fourth king of Israel, the son and successor of Baasha. William F. Albright has dated his reign to 877 BC - 876 BC, while E. R. Thiele offers the dates 886 BC - 885 BC.^[1]

Chapter 16 of 1 Kings relates how Elah and all his family members were murdered by his chariot commander Zimri, who became his successor.

Biblical account

And the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasa, saying: "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 with their sins; behold, I will utterly sweep away Baasa and his house; and I will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. Him that dieth of Baasa in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth of his in the field shall the fowls of the air eat."

Now the rest of the acts of Baasa, and what he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? And Baasa slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah; and Elah his son reigned in his stead. And moreover by the hand of the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came the word of the LORD against Baasa, and against his house, both because of all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD, to provoke Him with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam, and because he smote him.

In the twenty and sixth year of Asa king of Judah began Elah the son of Baasa to reign over Israel in Tirzah, and reigned two years. And his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him; now he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah; and Zimri went in and smote him, and killed him, in the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah, and reigned in his stead.

And it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he smote all the house of Baasa; he left him not a single man-child, neither of his kinsfolks, nor of his friends. Thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Baasa, according to the word of the LORD, which He spoke against Baasa by Jehu the prophet, for all the sins of Baasa, and the sins of Elah his son, which they sinned, and wherewith they made Israel to sin, to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, with their vanities.

References

1. Edwin Thiele, The Mysterious Numbers of the Hebrew Kings, (1st ed.; New York: Macmillan, 1951; 2d ed.; Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1965; 3rd ed.; Grand Rapids: Zondervan/Kregel, 1983). ISBN 0-8254-3825-X, 9780825438257

External links

• 1 Kings Chapter 16
• "Elah", Jewish encyclopedia