1 Kings 16:24

24. Samaria “As Constantine’s sagacity is fixed by his choice of Constantinople, so is that of Omri by his choice of Samaria. It was the only great city of Palestine created by the sovereigns. All the others had been already consecrated by patriarchal tradition or previous possession. But Samaria was the choice of Omri alone, and in Assyrian inscriptions it bears the name of Beth-Khumri the house, or palace, of Omri. Six miles from Shechem, in the same well-watered valley, here opening into a wide basin, rises an oblong hill, with steep yet accessible sides, and a long level top. This was the mountain of Samaria, or, as it is called in the original, Shomeron, so named after its owner Shemer, who there lived in state, and who sold it to the king for the great sum of two talents of silver. [About $3,320.] It combined in a union not elsewhere found in Palestine, strength, beauty, and fertility. It commanded a full view of the sea and the plain of Sharon on the one hand, and of the vale of Shechem on the other. The town sloped down from the summit of the bill; a broad wall with a terraced top ran round it. 2Ki 6:26 ; 2 Kings 6:30. Outside the gate lived a colony of unhappy lepers, (2 Kings 7:3,) such as are still to be seen under the walls of Jerusalem. In front of the gates was a wide, open space, or threshingfloor, where the kings of Samaria sat on great occasions. 1 Kings 22:10. The inferior houses were built of white brick, with rafters of sycamore; the grander, of hewn stone and cedar. Isaiah 9:9-10. It stood amidst a circle of hills, commanding a view of its streets and slopes, itself the crown and glory of the whole scene. Isaiah 28:1. Its soft, rounded, oblong platform was, as it were, a vast luxurious couch, in which its nobles rested securely, propped and cushioned up on both sides, as in the cherished corner of a rich divan.” Stanley. It continued to be the capital city of the northern kingdom, and sustained many sieges, until Shalmaneser carried away Israel into Assyrian captivity. 2 Kings 17:6.