World English Bible · The united kingdom
1 Samuel 13
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was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty-two years. chose for himself three thousand men of Israel, of which two thousand were with in and in the Mount of , and one thousand were with in of . He sent the rest of the people to their own tents. struck the garrison of the that was in , and the heard of it. blew the throughout all the land, saying, "Let the hear!" All Israel heard that had struck the garrison of the , and also that Israel was considered an to the . The people were gathered together after to . The assembled themselves together to fight with Israel: thirty thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in , eastward of Beth . When the men of Israel saw that they were in trouble (for the people were distressed), then the people hid themselves in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in , and in pits. Now some of the had gone over to the land of Gad and ; but as for , he was yet in , and all the people followed him trembling. He stayed seven days, according to the time set by ; but didn't come to , and the people were scattering from him. said, "Bring the to me here, and the ." He offered the . It came to pass that as soon as he had finished the , behold, came; and went out to meet him, that he might greet him. said, "What have you done?" said, "Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you didn't come within the days appointed, and that the assembled themselves together at , therefore I said, 'Now the will come down on me to , and I haven't entreated the of .' I forced myself therefore, and offered the ." said to , "You have done foolishly. You have not kept the of your , which he commanded you; for now would have established your kingdom on Israel . But now your kingdom will not continue. has sought for himself a man after his own , and has appointed him to be prince over his people, because you have not kept that which commanded you." arose, and went from to of . counted the people who were present with him, about six hundred men. , and his son, and the people who were present with them, stayed in of ; but the encamped in . The raiders came out of the camp of the in three companies: one company turned to that leads to , to the land of ; another company turned to ; and another company turned of the border that looks down on the valley of Zeboim toward . Now there was no blacksmith found throughout all the land of Israel, for the said, "Lest the make themselves or spears"; 20but all the went down to the , each man to sharpen his own plowshare, mattock, ax, and sickle. 21The price was one payim each to sharpen mattocks, plowshares, pitchforks, axes, and goads. So it came to pass in the day of battle that neither nor spear was found in the hand of any of the people who were with and ; but and his son had them. The garrison of the went out to the pass of .
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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.