World English Bible · The united kingdom
1 Kings 5
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king of sent his servants to , for he had heard that they had him king in the place of his , and had always loved . sent to , saying, "You know that could not build a house for the name of his because of the wars which were around him on every side, until put his under the soles of his feet. But now my has given me rest on every side. There is no enemy and no evil occurrence. Behold, I intend to build a house for the name of my , as spoke to , saying, 'Your son, whom I will set on your in your place shall build the house for my name.' Now therefore command that cedar trees be cut for me out of . My servants will be with your servants; and I will give you wages for your servants according to all that you say. For you know that there is nobody among us who knows how to cut timber like the ." When heard the words of , he rejoiced greatly, and said, " is today, who has given to a son to this great people." sent to , saying, "I have heard the message which you have sent to me. I will do all your concerning timber of cedar, and concerning cypress timber. My servants will bring them down from to the sea. I will make them into rafts to go by sea to the place that you specify to me, and will cause them to be broken up there, and you will receive them. You will accomplish my , in giving food for my household." 10So gave cedar timber and cypress timber according to all his . gave twenty thousand cors of wheat for food to his household, and twenty cors of pure oil. gave this to year by year. gave , as he promised him. There was peace between and , and the two of them made a treaty together. King a levy out of all Israel; and the levy was thirty thousand men. He sent them to , ten thousand a month by courses: for a month they were in , and two months at home; and was over the men subject to forced labor. had seventy thousand who bore burdens, and eighty thousand who were stone cutters in the mountains, besides chief officers who were over the work: three thousand three hundred who ruled over the people who labored in the work. The king commanded, and they cut out large stones, costly stones, to lay the foundation of the house with worked stone. builders and builders and the Gebalites cut them, and prepared the timber and the stones to build the house.
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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.