16:23 In the thirty-first year of Asa’s reign over Judah, Omri became king over Israel. He ruled for twelve years, six of them in Tirzah. 16:24 He purchased the hill of Samaria 1 from Shemer for two talents 2 of silver. He launched a construction project there 3 and named the city he built after Shemer, the former owner of the hill of Samaria.
1 map For location see Map2-B1; Map4-D3; Map5-E2; Map6-A4; Map7-C1.
2 tn The Hebrew term כִּכָּר (kikkar, “circle”) refers generally to something that is round. When used of metals it can refer to a disk-shaped weight made of the metal or to a standard unit of weight, generally regarded as a talent. Since the accepted weight for a talent of metal is about 75 pounds, this would have amounted to about 150 pounds of silver.
3 tn Heb “he built up the hill.”