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Easton's Bible Dictionary
praise-worthy.
(1) A son of Salu, slain by Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, because of his wickedness
in bringing a Midianitish woman into his tent ( Numbers 25:6-15 ).
(2) Murdered Elah at Tirzah, and succeeded him on the throne of Israel ( 1 Kings
16:8-10 ). He reigned only seven days, for Omri, whom the army elected as king,
laid siege to Tirzah, whereupon Zimri set fire to the palace and perished amid
its ruins (1 Kings 16:11 - 20). Omri succeeded to the throne only after four years
of fierce war with Tibni, another claimant to the throne.
Hitchcock's Dictionary of Bible Names
(no entry)
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(1) The son of Salu, a Simeonite chieftain, slain by
Phinehas with the Midianitish princess Cozbi. ( Numbers 25:14 ). (B.C. 1450.)
(2) Fifth sovereign (king) of the separate kingdom of Israel, of which he occupied
the throne for the brief period of seven days, B.C. 930 or 929. Originally in
command of half the chariots in the royal army, he gained the crown by the murder
of King Elah; son of Baasha. But the army made their general, Omri, king, who
marched against Tirzah, where Zimri was. Zimri retreated into the innermost part
of the late kings palace, set it on fire, and perished in the ruins. ( 1 Kings
16:9 - 20 )
(3) One of the five sons of Zerah the son of Judah. ( 1 Chronicles 2:6 ) (B.C.
after 1706.)
(4) Son of Jehoadah and descendant of Saul. ( 1 Chronicles 8:36 ; 9:42 )
(5) An obscure name, mentioned ( Jeremiah 25:25 ) in probable connection with
Dedan, Tema, Buz, Arabia, the "mingled people." Nothing further is known respecting
Zimri, but the name may possibly be the same as, or derived from, ZIMRAN, which
see.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
zim'-ri (zimri, "wild sheep" or "wild goat"; in 1 Maccabees,
with the King James Version, has Zambri; Codex Sinaiticus has Zambrei):
(1) A Simeonite prince
(Numbers 25:14; 1 Macc 2:26), slain by Phinehas, Aaron's
grandson. Numbers 25:1 - 5 records how the Israelites, while they were at Shittim,
began to consort with Moabite women and "they (i.e. the Moabite women) called
the people unto the sacrifices of their gods" (Numbers 25:2), i.e. as explained
by Numbrs 25:5 to take part in the immoral rites of the god Baal-peor. Moses is
bidden to have the offenders punished. The next paragraph (Numbers 25:6 - 9) relates
how the people engage in public mourning; but while they do this Zimri brings
in among his brethren a Midianitess. Phinehas sees this and goes after Zimri into
the qubbah, where he slays the two together, and thus the plague is stayed (Numbers
25:6 - 9).
The connection between these two paragraphs is difficult; Moabite women are mentioned
in the first, a Midianitess in the second; the plague of Numbers 25:8 f is not
previously referred to, although it seems clear that the plague is the cause of
the weeping in Numbers 25:6. The sequel, Numbers 25:16 - 18, makes the second
paragraph have something to do with Baal-peor. Critics assign 25:1-5 to J-E, 25:6-18
to P.
It seems, however, that the two accounts refer to similar circumstances. This
is evident if the meaning of qubbah in Numbers 25:8 be as the Vulgate (Jerome's
Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) renders it, lupinar, "a house of ill-repute." The difficulty
is that the word only occurs here in the Old Testament, but it has that meaning
in New Heb (see Gray, Nu, 385; BDB, however, translates it "a large vaulted tent."
While one narrative says the women were Moabitesses and the other Midianitesses,
the latter section presupposes something like the account in the former; and the
point is that Zimri, at the very time that the rest of the people publicly mourned
because of a plague that was due to their own dealings with foreign women, brought
a Midianite woman among the people, possibly to be his wife, for he was a prince
or chief, and she was the daughter of a Midianite chief. It may be urged that
if this be the case, there was nothing wrong in it; but according to Hebrew ideas
there was, and we only need to remember the evil influence of such marriages as
those entered into by Solomon, or especially that of Ahab with Jezebel, to see
at any rate a Hebrew justification for Zimri's death.
Numbers 31 describes the extermination of the Midianites at the bidding of Moses.
All the males are slain by the Israelites (Numbers 31:7), but the women are spared.
Moses is angry at this: "Have ye saved all the women alive? Behold, these caused
the children of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to commit trespass against
Yahweh in the matter of Peor, and so the plague was among the congregation of
Yahweh" (Numbers 31:15 f). Here we find, although the chapter is a Midrash (see
Gray, Numbers, 417), that the Hebrews themselves connected the two events of Numbers
25, but in addition the name of Balaam is also introduced, as again in Numbers
31:8, where he is said to have been slain along with the kings of Midian. See
further Deuteronomy 4:3, and Driver's note on the verse.
See BAAL-PEOR; BALAAM; PEOR.
(2) A king of Israel
(1 Kings 16:8-20). See special article.
(zimri; Septuagint Zambrei, Zambri): The 5th king of Israel, but who occupied
the throne only seven days (1 Kings 16:9 - 20). Zimri had been captain of half
the chariots under Elah, and, as it seems, made use of his position to conspire
against his master. The occasion for his crime was furnished by the absence of
the army, which, under the direction of Omri, was engaged in the siege of the
Philistine town Gibbethon. While Elah was in a drunken debauch in the house of
his steward Arza, who may have been an accomplice in the plot, he was foully murdered
by Zimri, who ascended the throne and put the remnant of Elah's family to death,
thus fulfilling the prophecy of Jehu concerning the house of Baasha. However,
the conspiracy lacked the support of the people, for word of the crime no sooner
reached Gibbethon, than the army raised Omri to the throne of Israel. Omri at
once hastened to Tirzah and captured the place, which as it seems offered little
resistance. Zimri resolved to die as king, and accordingly set fire to the palace
with his own hands, and perished in the flames that he had kindled. Thus came
to an ignominious end the short reign which remained as a blot even upon the blood-stained
record of the deeds of violence that ushered in the change of dynasties in the
Northern Kingdom, for the foul crime was abhorred even among arch plotters. When
Jehu entered Jezreel he was met with Jezebel's bitter taunt, "Is it peace, thou
Zimri, thy master's murderer?" (2 Kings 9:31). The historian too, in the closing
formula of the reign, specially mentions "his treason that he worked."(S. K. Mosiman)
(3) A Judahite "son" of Zerah (1 Chronicles 2:6) = "Zabdi" of Joshua 7:1,17 f. See ZABDI, (1).
(4) A Benjamite, descendant of King Saul (1 Chronicles 8:36; 9:42).
(5) In Jeremiah 25:25, where "all the kings of Zimri" are mentioned along with
those of Arabia (25:24) and Elam and the Medes. The name is as yet unidentified,
although thought to be that of a people called ZIMRAN (which see) in Genesis 25:2.
David Francis Roberts
Tags:
bible commentary, bible reference, bible study, define, history of, killed by phinehas, king for 7 days, king of israel, simeonite prince, zimri
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