King James Version · The united kingdom
1 Kings 1
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Now king was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat. Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy , that my the king may get heat. So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. And the damsel was very fair, and cherished the king, and ministered to him: but the king knew her not. Then the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. And his had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also was a very goodly man; and his mother him after . And he conferred with the son of , and with the priest: and they following helped him. But the priest, and the son of , and the , and , and Rei, and the which belonged to , were not with . And slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by , and called all his brethren the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah the king’s servants: But the , and , and the , and his brother, he called not. Wherefore spake unto Bath–sheba the mother of , saying, Hast thou not heard that the son of Haggith doth reign, and our knoweth it not? Now therefore come, let me, I thee, give thee , that thou mayest thine own life, and the life of thy son . Go and get thee in unto king , and say unto him, Didst not thou, my , O king, unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my ? why then doth reign? Behold, while thou yet talkest there with the king, I also will come in after thee, and confirm thy words. And Bath–sheba went in unto the king into the chamber: and the king was very old; and the Shunammite ministered unto the king. And Bath–sheba bowed, and did obeisance unto the king. And the king said, What wouldest thou? And she said unto him, My , thou swarest by thy unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my . And now, behold, reigneth; and now, my the king, thou knowest it not: And he hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the sons of the king, and the priest, and the captain of the host: but thy servant hath he not called. And thou, my , O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on of my the king after him. Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son shall be counted offenders. And, lo, while she yet talked with the king, the also came in. And they told the king, saying, Behold the . And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with to the ground. And said, My , O king, hast thou said, shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my ? For he is gone down this day, and hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the king’s sons, and the captains of the host, and the priest; and, behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, king . But me, even me thy servant, and the priest, and the son of , and thy servant , hath he not called. Is this thing done by my the king, and thou hast not shewed it unto thy servant, who should sit on of my the king after him? 28Then king answered and said, Call me Bath–sheba. And she came into the king’s , and stood before the king. And the king sware, and said, As liveth, that hath out of all distress, Even as I sware unto thee by of Israel, saying, Assuredly thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my in my stead; even so will I certainly do this day. Then Bath–sheba bowed with her to the earth, and did reverence to the king, and said, Let my king live for ever. And king said, Call me the priest, and the , and the son of . And they came before the king. The king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your , and cause my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to : And let the priest and the anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the , and say, king . Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my ; for he shall be king in my stead: and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah. And the son of answered the king, and said, : of my the king say so too. As hath been with my the king, even so be he with , and make his greater than of my king . So the priest, and the , and the son of , and the , and the , went down, and caused to ride upon king ’s mule, and brought him to . And the priest took an of oil out of the , and . And they blew the ; and all the people said, king . And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them. And and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. And when heard the sound of the , he said, Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar? And while he yet spake, behold, Jonathan the son of the priest came: and said unto him, Come in; for thou art a valiant man, and bringest good tidings. 43And Jonathan answered and said to , Verily our king hath made king. 44And the king hath sent with him the priest, and the , and the son of , and the , and the , and they have caused him to ride upon the king’s mule: And the priest and the have him king in : and they are come up from thence rejoicing, so that the city rang again. This is the noise that ye have heard. And also sitteth on of . And moreover the king’s servants came to our king , saying, make the name of better than thy name, and make his greater than thy . And the king bowed himself upon the bed. And also thus said the king, be of Israel, which hath given one to sit on my this day, mine eyes even seeing it. And all the guests that were with were afraid, and rose up, and went every man his way. And feared because of , and arose, and went, and caught hold on the of the . 51And it was told , saying, Behold, feareth king : for, lo, he hath caught hold on the of the , saying, Let king unto me to day that he will not his servant with . And said, If he will shew himself a worthy man, there shall not an hair of him fall to the earth: but if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall . So king sent, and they brought him down from the . And he came and bowed himself to king : and said unto him, Go to thine house.
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.