If Omri, and by extension his name, were indeed of Israelite provenance, a number of Hebrew etymologies have been proposed for ‘Omrī: including a hypocorism of the unattested personal name ‘Omrīyyā (עָמְרִיָּה‎ "servant of Yah"), and derivation from the verb ‘āmar (עָמַר‎) meaning "to bind, gather".

The Jewish Encyclopedia suggests that "the associations of Tirzah were so repellent and sanguinary, and the location so poor for a capital, that Omri purchased a new site" for his residence.

[11] This was in Samaria, on a hill purchased from Shemer for two talents of silver, where Omri built a new capital for the kingdom.

Hugh Williamson believes it served not only a military function, but also a political one; a very visible example of grandiose public works used as a means of social control and to assert claims of legitimacy.

[14] The Moabite Mesha stele (on display in the Louvre) indicates that Omri expanded his holdings to include northern Moab east of the Jordan River.

[16][17] The short-lived dynasty founded by Omri constituted a new chapter in the history of the Northern Kingdom of Israel.

There was peace with the Kingdom of Judah to the south, and even cooperation between the two rival states, while relations with neighboring Sidon to the north were bolstered by marriages negotiated between the two royal courts.

In foreign affairs, this period paralleled the rise of the Kingdom of Aram based in Damascus, and Israel soon found itself at war in the northeast.

In 841 BCE, the Assyrian king Shalmaneser III campaigned along the Mediterranean coast and forced Jehu to pay tribute.