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Zimri

Biblical
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

King of Israel who reigned seven days after assassinating Elah, then died by suicide

Detailed Definition
Zimri murdered Elah and exterminated Baasha’s family but was besieged by Omri and burned his palace down around himself (1 Kings 16:8–20). In poetry, Zimri represents the self-destructive nature of treachery, the brevity of ill-gotten power, and how divine judgment accelerates the downfall of the wicked.
Example
Example in poetry:
In 1 Kings 16:8–20, Zimri’s seven-day reign inspires historical poetry about political instability; 19th-century verse depicts Zimri’s assassination of Elah and suicide as emblem of chaos; Contemporary poems use Zimri to explore the futility of power seized by violence; In poems about legacy, Zimri’s name becomes synonymous with fleeting ambition; Some chronological poems list Zimri among Israel’s kings who “did evil in the sight of the Lord”; Educational poems cite Zimri to teach about dynastic collapse in the northern kingdom.
Additional Notes
Zimri appears as a king of Israel who reigned only seven days before dying in a palace fire (1 Kings 16), and as a Simeonite who defied Moses by taking a Midianite woman (Numbers 25); both stories end in violent death, marking Zimri as a symbol of rash ambition or defiant desire; poets may use him to explore the brevity of power, zealotry, or the collision of personal passion and communal law.
Also Known As
Zimri king of Israel Zimri son of Zerah
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