King Zimri (Israel)

Zimri, a chariot commander, murdered King Elah in Tirzah and wiped out the house of Baasha, but his reign lasted only seven days (1 Kings 16:9–20). The army, encamped against Gibbethon, refused to accept him and proclaimed its general Omri king on the spot. Omri marched on Tirzah and besieged it; when Zimri saw the city taken, he went into the citadel of the royal palace, set it on fire over himself, and died in the flames.

His death did not end the crisis: Israel split for some four years between Omri and a rival claimant, Tibni son of Ginath, before Omri prevailed and founded the dynasty that built Samaria. Zimri's name became a byword for treachery. When Jehu killed King Jehoram decades later, Jezebel greeted him from her window with "Is it peace, Zimri, murderer of his master?" (2 Kings 9:31).