World English Bible · The united kingdom
1 Kings 11
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Now King loved many foreign women, together with the daughter of : women of the , , , , and , of the nations concerning which said to the , "You shall not go among them, neither shall they come among you, for surely they will turn away after their gods." joined to these in love. He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred . His wives turned away. When was old, his wives turned away after other gods; and was not perfect with his , as of his was. For went after the goddess of the , and after the of . did that which was evil in sight, and didn't go fully after , as his did. Then built a for the of , on the mountain that is before , and for the of . So he did for all his foreign wives, who and to their gods. was angry with , because was turned away from , the of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he didn't keep that which commanded. Therefore said to , "Because this is done by you, and you have not kept my and , which I have commanded you, I will surely tear from you, and will give it to . Nevertheless, I will not do it in your days, for your sake; but I will tear it out of your son's hand. However, I will not tear away all ; but I will give one tribe to your son, for my servant's sake, and for sake which I have chosen." up an adversary to : the . He was one of the king's in . For when was in , and the captain of the army had gone up to bury the slain, and had struck every male in 16(for and all Israel remained there six months, until he had every male in ), fled, he and certain of his servants with him, to go into , when was still a little child. They arose out of and came to ; and they took men with them out of , and they came to , to king of , who gave him a house, and appointed him food, and gave him land. found great in the sight of , so that he gave him as wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen. The sister of Tahpenes bore him Genubath his son, whom Tahpenes weaned in house; and Genubath was in house among the sons of . When heard in that slept with his fathers, and that the captain of the army was , said to , "Let me depart, that I may go to my own country." Then said to him, "But what have you lacked with me, that behold, you seek to go to your own country?" He answered, "Nothing, however only let me depart." up an adversary to him, Rezon the son of Eliada, who had fled from his , king of . He gathered men to himself, and became captain over a troop, when killed them of . They went to and lived there, and reigned in . He was an adversary to Israel all the days of , in addition to the mischief of . He abhorred Israel, and reigned over . the son of , an of Zeredah, a , whose mother's name was Zeruah, a , also lifted up his hand against the king. This was the reason why he lifted up his hand against the king: built , and repaired the breach of his city. The man was a mighty man of valor; and saw the young man that he was industrious, and he put him in charge of all the labor of the . At that time, when went out of , the the Shilonite found him on . Now had clad himself with a new garment; and the two of them were alone in the field. took the new garment that was on him, and tore it in twelve pieces. He said to , "Take ten pieces; for , the of Israel, says, 'Behold, I will tear out of the hand of and will give ten tribes to you (but he shall have one tribe, for my servant sake and for sake, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel), because they have forsaken me, and have the goddess of the , the of , and the of . They have not walked in my ways, to do that which is right in my eyes, and to keep and my ordinances, as his did. "'However, I will not take the whole kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him prince all the days of his life for my servant's sake whom I chose, who kept my and , but I will take out of his son's hand and will give it to you, even ten tribes. I will give one tribe to his son, that my servant may have a lamp always before me in , the city which I have chosen for myself to put my name there. I will take you, and you shall reign according to all that your , and shall be king over Israel. It shall be, if you will listen to all that I command you, and will walk in my ways, and do that which is right in my eyes, to keep and my , as my servant did, that I will be with you, and will build you a sure house, as I built for , and will give Israel to you. I will afflict the of for this, but not .'" Therefore sought to kill , but arose and fled into , to king of , and was in until the of . Now the rest of the acts of , and all that he did, and his , aren't they written in the book of the acts of ? The time that reigned in over all Israel was forty years. slept with his fathers, and was buried in his city; and his son reigned in his place.
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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.