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1 Then the word of the LORD came to Jehu the son of Hanani against Baasha, saying, 2 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 to anger with their sins; 3 Behold, I will take away the posterity of Baasha, and the posterity of his house; and will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat. 4 Him that dieth of Baasha in the city shall the dogs eat; and him that dieth of his in the fields shall the fowls of the air eat. 5 Now the rest of the acts of Baasha, and what he did, and his might, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 6 So Baasha slept with his fathers, and was buried in Tirzah: and Elah his son reigned in his stead. 7 And also by the hand of the prophet Jehu the son of Hanani came the word of the LORD against Baasha, and against his house, even for all the evil that he did in the sight of the LORD, in provoking him to anger with the work of his hands, in being like the house of Jeroboam; and because he killed him. 8 In the twenty and sixth year of Asa king of Judah began Elah the son of Baasha to reign over Israel in Tirzah, two years. 9 And 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. 10 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. 11 And 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. 12 Thus did Zimri destroy all the house of Baasha, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake against Baasha by Jehu the prophet, 13 For all the sins of Baasha, and the sins of Elah his son, by which they sinned, and by which they made Israel to sin, in provoking the LORD God of Israel to anger with their vanities. 14 Now the rest of the acts of Elah, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 15 In the twenty and seventh year of Asa king of Judah did Zimri reign seven days in Tirzah. And the people were encamped against Gibbethon, which belonged to the Philistines. 16 And the people that were encamped heard say, Zimri hath conspired, and hath also slain the king: wherefore all Israel made Omri, the captain of the host, king over Israel that day in the camp. 17 And Omri went up from Gibbethon, and all Israel with him, and they besieged Tirzah. 18 And it came to pass, when Zimri saw that the city was taken, that he went into the palace of the king's house, and burnt the king's house over him with fire, and died, 19 For his sins which he sinned in doing evil in the sight of the LORD, in walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin which he did, to make Israel to sin. 20 Now the rest of the acts of Zimri, and his treason that he wrought, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 21 Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts: half of the people followed Tibni the son of Ginath, to make him king; and half followed Omri. 22 But the people that followed Omri prevailed against the people that followed Tibni the son of Ginath: so Tibni died, and Omri reigned. 23 In the thirty and first year of Asa king of Judah began Omri to reign over Israel, twelve years: six years reigned he in Tirzah. 24 And he bought the hill Samaria of Shemer for two talents of silver, and built on the hill, and called the name of the city which he built, after the name of Shemer, owner of the hill, Samaria. 25 But Omri wrought evil in the eyes of the LORD, and did worse than all that were before him. 26 For he walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin, to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger with their vanities. 27 Now the rest of the acts of Omri which he did, and his might that he shewed, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? 28 So Omri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria: and Ahab his son reigned in his stead. 29 And in the thirty and eighth year of Asa king of Judah began Ahab the son of Omri to reign over Israel: and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty and two years. 30 And Ahab the son of Omri did evil in the sight of the LORD above all that were before him. 31 And it came to pass, as if it had been a light thing for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, that he took to wife Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Zidonians, and went and served Baal, and worshipped him. 32 And he reared up an altar for Baal in the house of Baal, which he had built in Samaria. 33 And Ahab made a grove; and Ahab did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him. 34 In his days did Hiel the Bethelite build Jericho: he laid the foundation thereof in Abiram his firstborn, and set up the gates thereof in his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Joshua the son of Nun.
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[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on 1 Kings 16:1
[Baasha] was appointed king by God and was sent to restore the true religion which had been destroyed by Jeroboam and his successor Nadab, and to take revenge on the evil that was committed as well as impiety. He was certainly able to accomplish in the best possible way his first task, as he completely erased the progeny of both Jeroboam and Nadab. However, with regard to his second task, he promoted their impiety by perversely and foolishly worshiping the idols of both [his predecessors] and did not destroy at all the calves made by Jeroboam but incited his own subjects to adore them. Therefore the prophet Jehu harshly condemns the crime of Baasha’s ungrateful soul in this passage and proclaims the revenge which will strike him shortly. So Baasha was deprived of his kingdom and life for this reason, and after the killing of Elah, his son and successor, in the second year of his reign, Zimri took hold of the power and kept it for seven days, as is written. Then he was put under siege by Omri in Tirzah, and after the city had been conquered, [Zimri] took refuge in the palace and set himself on fire together with the royal house. Omri, the founder of Samaria, succeeded him. He died after twelve years and left his reign to his son.

Source: ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 16:1
[AD 856] Rabanus Maurus on 1 Kings 16:2-4
“Since I exalted you out of the dust and made you leader over my people Israel, and you have walked in the way of Jeroboam and have caused my people Israel to sin, provoking me to anger with their sins, therefore, I will consume the past actions of Baasha and the past actions of his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat. Anyone belonging to Baasha who dies in the city the dogs shall eat; and anyone of his who dies in the field the birds of the air shall eat.” These words were pronounced against all sinners, and especially against the pagans and the heretics. Indeed, those who always add new sins to their old sins and are depraved by the examples of evil become the greatest in their crimes. “I will cut off the past actions of Baasha,” [the Lord] says, “and the past actions of his house, and I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat.” The Lord cuts off the past actions of Baasha when he takes revenge on the sin of the wicked after the end of life. And he cuts off the past actions of his house when he condemns the inhabitants of that house to eternal torments. And he will make the house of Baasha like the house of Jeroboam son of Nabat when he gives the sinners who persevere in their iniquity to the torments of hell together with the devil and his angels. In fact, Baasha, as we have already said, is interpreted as “confusion” or “dryness,” Jeroboam as “he who divides the people,” and Nabat as “spontaneous.” Therefore, when one follows the confusions of errors and sinners and neglects the possibility of having a wife of spiritual grace, then his past actions will be cut off as those of the devil.

Source: COMMENTARY ON THE THIRD BOOK OF KINGS 15
[AD 850] Ishodad of Merv on 1 Kings 16:7
“… In being like the house of Jeroboam, and also because he destroyed it.” This does not mean that Elah killed Jeroboam, but that Baasha, father of Elah, killed the son of Jeroboam. And he is not threatened with evils by the prophet because he killed him but because he does not fear the punishment which was performed by his hands as a consequence of Nadab’s sins. And since he is at the moment imitating the evil actions of that one, he will undergo the same punishment as well.

Source: BOOKS OF SESSIONS 1 KINGS 16:7
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on 1 Kings 16:23
In the one and thirtieth year: Amri began to reign in the seven and twentieth year of Asa; but had not quiet possession of the kingdom till the death of his competitor Thebni, which was in the one and thirtieth year of Asa's reign.
[AD 1781] Richard Challoner on 1 Kings 16:26
With their vanities: That is, their idols their golden calves, vain, false, deceitful things.
[AD 373] Ephrem the Syrian on 1 Kings 16:29-30
This is that Ahab who thought that he would make little progress in the new religion [i.e., idolatry] if he worshiped only the gods introduced by Jeroboam. Therefore he established rites for Baal, the god of the Sidonians, built his temple in the royal city, erected altars and planted sacred groves. And these actions bitterly enraged the prophets and the other worshipers of the true God.

Source: ON THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS 16:29
[AD 735] Bede on 1 Kings 16:34
"In his days, Hiel of Bethel built Jericho." [1 Kings 16:34] What is written about the times of Ahab's reign: 'In his days, Hiel of Bethel built Jericho. He laid its foundations with Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with Segub his youngest,' the sense is clear: when the stated builder of the city began to lay its foundations, his firstborn, named Abiram, died; and when, with the city built, he tried to fortify its gates, he lost his youngest son named Segub. This was foretold by Joshua, who, when dedicating the destroyed and cursed city Jericho, predicted it with an imprecation: 'Cursed before the Lord is the man who rises up and rebuilds this city Jericho. He shall lay its foundation at the cost of his firstborn, and at the cost of his youngest he shall set up its gates' (Joshua 6). That Ahiel, living for God, interpreted as Bethel which means house of God, restores the walls of Jericho that were destroyed and cursed by Joshua, is evident when one among those who have assumed the habit of religion in the Church returns to commit the crimes that the Lord Jesus forgave him on the day of his baptism, and those pomps of the devil which he himself anathema-tized, he returns to by living luxuriously; when he prefers the dogmas of heretics or the fables of pagans to the churchly truth in which he was imbued, it is as if, departing from Bethel, he resurrects the ruins of Jericho. And rightly is such a person cursed before the Lord, and loses both the first of his sons in the foundation of the wicked city and the youngest in the setting up of its gates. Because he loses the foundations of faith with which he should have begun good buildings, and the house of good action with which he should have finished. These things I have expounded in an allegorical sense, to remind you how true is the word of the apostle, who says that all these things happened to them as examples, and were written down for our instruction (1 Corinthians 10).

Source: Questions on the Book of Kings #16
[AD 850] Ishodad of Merv on 1 Kings 16:34
Jericho remained in ruins as a sign and memory of the power of God and the victory of the people of Israel. But the insolent Ahab decided to refute the words of Joshua and said, “As the words of his master Moses, who said, ‘The sky over your head shall be bronze and the earth under you iron’3 did not happen, so the words of his disciple will not happen.” However, when [the city] was re-established at the cost of Abiram’s death, his firstborn, the people feared God and showed him that he was not allowed to rebuild the city, so he stopped. But, a bit later, he attributed all these events to chance and resumed his work by setting the gates of the city. Then Segub, his youngest son, died. For this reason Elijah burned with zeal and stopped heaven for three and a half years.

Source: BOOKS OF SESSIONS 1 KINGS 16:7