King James Version · The united kingdom
1 Kings 2
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Now the days of drew nigh that he should ; and he charged his son, saying, I go of all the earth: be thou strong therefore, and shew thyself a man; And keep the charge of thy , to walk in his ways, to keep his , and his , and his judgments, and his testimonies, as in of , that thou mayest prosper in all that thou doest, and whithersoever thou turnest thyself: That may continue his word which he spake concerning me, saying, If thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their and with all their , there shall not fail thee (said he) a man on of Israel. Moreover thou knowest also what the son of did to me, and what he did to the two captains of the hosts of Israel, unto Abner the son of , and unto the son of , whom he slew, and shed of war in peace, and put of war upon his girdle that was about his loins, and in his that were on his feet. Do therefore according to thy , and let not his hoar head go down to the in peace. But shew kindness unto the sons of the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at thy table: for so they came to me when I fled because of thy brother. And, behold, thou hast with thee the son of , a of Bahurim, which me with a grievous in the day when I went to : but he came down to meet me at Jordan, and I sware to him by , saying, I will not put thee to with . Now therefore hold him not guiltless: for thou art a man, and knowest what thou oughtest to do unto him; but his hoar head bring thou down to the with . So slept with his fathers, and was buried in . And the days that reigned over Israel were forty years: seven years reigned he in , and thirty and three years reigned he in . Then sat upon of his ; and was established greatly. And the son of Haggith came to Bath–sheba the mother of . And she said, Comest thou peaceably? And he said, Peaceably. He said moreover, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And she said, Say on. And he said, Thou knowest that was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign: howbeit is turned about, and is become my brother’s: for it was his from . And now I ask one petition of thee, deny me not. And she said unto him, Say on. And he said, Speak, I thee, unto the king, (for he will not say thee nay,) that he give me the Shunammite to wife. And Bath–sheba said, Well; I will speak for thee unto the king. Bath–sheba therefore went unto king , to speak unto him for . And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself unto her, and sat down on his , and caused a seat to be set for the king’s mother; and she sat hand. Then she said, I one small petition of thee; I thee, say me not nay. And the king said unto her, Ask on, my mother: for I will not say thee nay. And she said, Let the Shunammite be given to thy brother to wife. And king answered and said unto his mother, And why dost thou ask the Shunammite for ? ask for him also; for he is mine elder brother; even for him, and for the priest, and for the son of . Then king sware by , saying, do so to me, and more also, if have not spoken this word against his own life. Now therefore, as liveth, which hath established me, and set me on of , and who hath made me an house, as he promised, shall be put to this day. And king sent by the hand of the son of ; and he fell upon him that he . And unto the priest said the king, Get thee to , unto thine own fields; for thou art worthy of : but I will not at this time put thee to , because thou barest the before , and because thou hast been afflicted in all wherein was afflicted. So thrust out from being priest unto ; that he might fulfil the word of , which he spake concerning the house of in . Then tidings came to : for had turned after , though he turned not after . And fled unto the of , and caught hold on the of the . And it was told king that was fled unto the of ; and, behold, he is by the . Then sent the son of , saying, Go, fall upon him. 30And came to the of , and said unto him, Thus saith the king, Come forth. And he said, Nay; but I will here. And brought the king word again, saying, Thus said , and thus he answered me. And the king said unto him, Do as he hath said, and fall upon him, and bury him; that thou mayest take away the innocent , which shed, from me, and from the house of . And shall return his upon his own head, who fell upon two men more and better than he, and slew them with , not knowing thereof, to wit, Abner the son of , captain of the host of Israel, and the son of , captain of the host of Judah. Their shall therefore return upon the head of , and upon the head of for ever: but upon , and upon , and upon his house, and upon his , shall there be peace for ever from . So the son of went up, and fell upon him, and slew him: and he was buried in his own house in . And the king put the son of in his room over the host: and the priest did the king put in the room of . And the king sent and called for , and said unto him, Build thee an house in , and there, and go not forth thence any whither. For it shall be, that on the day thou goest out, and passest over the brook , thou shalt know for certain that thou shalt surely : thy shall be upon thine own head. And said unto the king, The saying is good: as my the king hath said, so will thy servant do. And dwelt in many days. And it came to pass at the end of three years, that two of the servants of ran away unto son of Maachah king of . And they told , saying, Behold, thy servants be in . And arose, and saddled his ass, and went to to to seek his servants: and went, and brought his servants from . 41And it was told that had gone from to , and was come again. And the king sent and called for , and said unto him, Did I not make thee to by , and protested unto thee, saying, Know for a certain, on the day thou goest out, and walkest abroad any whither, that thou shalt surely ? and thou saidst unto me, The word that I have heard is good. Why then hast thou not kept the of , and the that I have charged thee with? The king said moreover to , Thou knowest all the wickedness which thine is privy to, that thou didst to : therefore shall return thy wickedness upon thine own head; And king shall be , and of shall be established before for ever. So the king commanded the son of ; which went out, and fell upon him, that he . And was established in the hand of .
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.