From a worldly standpoint Omri was a successful ruler. He did a great deal to bring peace and prosperity to his troubled land. His name occurs on the famous Moabite Stone, which records Omri’s occupation of Moab (see Additional Note on 2 Kings 3). Israel came to be known to the Assyrians as “the land of Omri,” while even Jehu, the extirpator of the house of Omri, is termed a “son of Omri”. But in the Lord’s sight Omri did worse than all the evil kings before him. In addition to an acceptance of the old idolatry, he probably went further, and introduced and encouraged the worship of the Sidonian Baal. The “statutes of Omri” are referred to by Micah (Micah 6:16), in connection with the “works of the house of Ahab,” as symbols of hardened and hopeless apostasy.