I Kings 16:21

But Omri did not come into possession of an undisputed sovereignty immediately upon the death of Zimri. The nation divided itself into two halves; one half was behind Tibni, the son of Ginath (i.e., declared in favour of Tibni), to make him king, the other adhered to Omri. Nevertheless Omri's gained the upper hand over the party of Tibni, and the latter died, whereupon Omri became king after four years, as we may see from a comparison of Kg1 16:15, Kg1 16:16 with Kg1 16:23. The "people of Israel" (Kg1 16:21) are probably the fighting people, so that the succession to the throne was decided by the military. אהרי היה as in Sa2 2:10. הזק, with an accusative instead of with על, in the sense of to overpower, as in Jer 20:7. According to Josephus (Ant. viii. 12, 5), Tibni was slain by his opponent; but this is not contained in the words; on the contrary, all that is implied in the connection of ויּמת with וגו ויּחזק וגו/ is that he met with his death in the decisive engagement in which the opposing party triumphed.

This chapter relates wholly to the kingdom of Israel, and the revolutions of that kingdom - many in a little time. The utter ruin of Jeroboam's family, after it had been twenty-four years a royal family, we read of in the foregoing chapter. In this chapter we have, I. The ruin of Baasha's family, after it had been but twenty-six years a royal family, foretold by a prophet (Kg1 16:1-7), and executed by Zimri, one of his captains (Kg1 16:8-14). II. The seven days' reign of Zimri, and his sudden fall (Kg1 16:15-20). III. The struggle between Omri and Tibni, and Omri's prevalency, and his reign (Kg1 16:21-28). IV. The beginning of the reign of Ahab, of whom we shall afterwards read much (Kg1 16:29-33). V. The rebuilding of Jericho (Kg1 16:34). All this while, in Judah, things went well.

16:21-22 Tibni is mentioned only here, and Ginath is unknown. According to the Greek Old Testament, Tibni received help in his failed bid for power from his brother Joram, and both were killed in the confrontation with Omri.