Elah (King of Israel)
Ask about Elah (King of Israel)
Elah was the son of Baasha and reigned two years over Israel from Tirzah. While he was 'drinking himself drunk' in the house of Arza, the steward of his household, Zimri, the commander of half his chariots, came in and killed him. Zimri then destroyed every male of Baasha's house, fulfillling the word of the LORD spoken against Baasha by the prophet Jehu son of Hanani. Scripture joins Elah with his father in provoking the LORD to anger with their 'vanities,' a word often used for idols.
Biography
- Occupation
- King of Israel
- Tribe
- Issachar
- Father
- Baasha
- Era
- Divided Kingdom
- Nationality
- Israelite
Family
Did You Know?
Elah was killed at a drinking party in his steward's house while the army was away besieging Gibbethon (1 Kings 16:9, 15), leaving the capital open to a coup.
His father's dynasty, like Jeroboam's, lasted only two kings, just as the prophet Jehu son of Hanani had warned Baasha (1 Kings 16:3, 12).
Elah is a Hebrew word for the terebinth or oak tree; the valley of Elah, where David fought Goliath, bears the same name (1 Samuel 17:2).
Key Chapters
Key Passages
Elah Succeeds Baasha
1 Kings 16:6-8
Elah begins to reign under a prophetic sentence already pronounced on his father's house.
6o Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah: and Elah his son reigned in his stead.
Murdered While Drunk
1 Kings 16:9-10
While the army is in the field, the king is at a drinking party, and his own officer cuts him down.
9nd his servant Zimri, captain of half his chariots, conspired against him, as he was in Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza steward of his house in Tirzah.
The House of Baasha Destroyed
1 Kings 16:11-14
The fall of Baasha's dynasty mirrors the fall of Jeroboam's, just as the prophet had said.
11nd it came to pass, when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne, that he slew all the house of Baasha: he left him not one that pisseth against a wall, neither of his kinsfolks, nor of his friends.
