Bible Figure
Zimri
King of Israel (Northern Kingdom)
Zimri was an Israelite military commander who assassinated King Elah and ruled the northern kingdom for only seven days before dying in the burning royal palace.
Biography
Zimri commanded half of Elah's chariots and killed the king at Tirzah while the Israelite army was at Gibbethon. He immediately destroyed the house of Baasha in fulfillment of prophetic judgment. When the army heard of the coup, however, it proclaimed its commander Omri king. Omri besieged Tirzah. Seeing that the city had fallen, Zimri entered the citadel of the royal palace, set it on fire around himself, and died. Kings attributes his downfall to doing evil and following Jeroboam's sins.
Biblical Significance
Zimri's seven-day reign is an extreme example of the northern kingdom's dynastic violence. His name later became a byword for treacherous assassination when Jezebel contemptuously addressed Jehu as 'Zimri.'