But his servant Zimri, commander of half his chariots, conspired against him. When he was at Tirzah, drinking himself drunk in the house of Arza, who was over the household in Tirzah,
Here is, I. The ruin of the family of Baasha foretold. He was a man likely enough to have raised and established his family - active, politic, and daring; but he was an idolater, and this brought destruction upon his family. 1. God sent him warning of it before.
Commenting on 1 Kings 16:1-14
And it came to pass when he began to reign, as soon as he sat on his throne,.... Perhaps the very first day, that he slew all the house of Baasha; his whole family, all the children that he had, that there might be none to make pretensions to the throne: he left him not one that pisseth against a wall, neither of his kinsfolks...
ZIMRI'S CONSPIRACY. (Kg1 16:9-22) Zimri . . . conspired against him--"Arza which was over his house." During a carousal in the house of his chamberlain, Zimri slew him, and having seized the sovereignty, endeavored to consolidate his throne by the massacre of all the royal race.