King James Version · The united kingdom
1 Chronicles 12
Touch any underlined name to see who or where it is. Tap a verse number to see where it is taken up elsewhere.
Now these are they that came to to , while he yet kept himself close because of the son of : and they were among the , helpers of the war. They were armed with bows, and could use both and the left in hurling stones and shooting arrows out of a bow, even of ’s brethren of . The chief was , then , the sons of Shemaah the Gibeathite; and Jeziel, and Pelet, the sons of ; and Berachah, and the Antothite, And Ismaiah the Gibeonite, a mighty man among , and over ; and , and , and , and Josabad the Gederathite, 5Eluzai, and , and Bealiah, and , and Shephatiah the Haruphite, 6, and Jesiah, and Azareel, and Joezer, and , the Korhites, And Joelah, and , the sons of of Gedor. And of the there separated themselves unto into the hold to men of might, and men of war fit for the battle, that could handle shield and buckler, whose faces were like the faces of lions, and were as swift as the roes upon the mountains; 9 the first, the second, Eliab the third, 10Mishmannah the fourth, the fifth, 11Attai the sixth, the seventh, 12 the eighth, Elzabad the ninth, 13 the tenth, Machbanai the eleventh. These were of the sons of Gad, captains of the host: one of the least was over an hundred, and the greatest over a thousand. These are they that went over Jordan in the first month, when it had overflown all his banks; and they put to flight all them of the valleys, both toward the east, and toward the west. 16And there came of the children of and Judah to the hold unto . And went out to meet them, and answered and said unto them, If ye be come peaceably unto me to help me, mine shall be knit unto you: but if ye be come to betray me to mine , seeing there is no wrong in mine hands, the of our fathers look thereon, and rebuke it. Then came upon , who was chief of the captains, and he said, Thine are we, , and on thy side, thou son of : peace, peace be unto thee, and peace be to thine helpers; for thy helpeth thee. Then received them, and made them captains of the band. And there fell some of to , when he came with the against to battle: but they helped them not: for the lords of the upon advisement sent him away, saying, He will fall to his master to the jeopardy of our heads. As he went to , there fell to him of , Adnah, and , and , and , and , and , and Zilthai, captains of the thousands that were of . And they helped against the band of the rovers: for they were all of valour, and were captains in the host. For at that time day by day there came to to help him, until it was a great host, like the host of . And these are the numbers of the bands that were ready armed to the war, and came to to , to turn of to him, according to the word of . 24The children of Judah that shield and spear were six thousand and eight hundred, ready armed to the war. 25Of the children of , of valour for the war, seven thousand and one hundred. 26Of the children of four thousand and six hundred. And was the leader of the Aaronites, and with him were three thousand and seven hundred; And , a young man mighty of valour, and of his ’s house twenty and two captains. And of the children of , the kindred of , three thousand: for hitherto the greatest part of them had kept the ward of the house of . And of the children of twenty thousand and eight hundred, of valour, famous throughout the house of their fathers. And of the half tribe of eighteen thousand, which were expressed by name, to come and make king. And of the children of , which were men that had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do; the heads of them were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their . Of , such as went forth to battle, expert in war, with all instruments of war, fifty thousand, which could keep rank: they were not of double . 34And of a thousand captains, and with them with shield and spear thirty and seven thousand. 35And of the expert in war twenty and eight thousand and six hundred. And of Asher, such as went forth to battle, expert in war, forty thousand. And on the other side of Jordan, of the , and the , and of the half tribe of , with all manner of instruments of war for the battle, an hundred and twenty thousand. All these men of war, that could keep rank, came with a perfect to , to make king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one to make king. And there they were with three days, eating and drinking: for their brethren had prepared for them. Moreover they that were nigh them, even unto and and , brought bread on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, and meat, meal, cakes of figs, and bunches of raisins, and , and oil, and oxen, and sheep abundantly: for there was joy in Israel.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · The united kingdom, 1050 BC to 931 BC ›
Saul, David, and Solomon. A rare window when both Egypt and Mesopotamia are weak, which is how a small kingdom in the corridor between them could briefly become a regional power.
- The power vacuum
- This is the whole political explanation for the united kingdom. Egypt is fragmented, Assyria is recovering but still local, the Hittites are gone, and nobody is in a position to object to a strong state in the corridor. It lasts about a century, and Israel's golden age fits exactly inside it.
- Phoenicia
- Tyre under Hiram is the commercial power of the coast, and supplies the cedar, the craftsmen, and the shipping for Solomon's building programme. The alliance is trade, not charity: Israel had grain and a land route, Tyre had timber and ships.
- Egypt
- Weak enough that a pharaoh gives a daughter in marriage to an Israelite king, which is the opposite of Egyptian practice in stronger centuries. Late in the era it recovers under a new house, and Shishak will invade within five years of Solomon's death.
- Further afield
- Greece is still in its dark age but beginning to recover, and will adopt the Phoenician alphabet within a century or two. Carthage is founded by settlers from Tyre by tradition in 814 BC. In the Americas the Olmec centre shifts to La Venta.