World English Bible · The united kingdom
1 Samuel 15
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said to , " sent me to anoint you to be king over his people, over Israel. Now therefore listen to words. of Armies says, 'I remember what did to Israel, how he set himself against him on when he came up out of . Now go and strike , and all that they have, and don't spare them; but kill both man and woman, infant and nursing baby, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'" summoned the people, and counted them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 came to the city of , and set an ambush in the valley. said to the , "Go, depart, go down from among , lest I destroy you with them; for you showed kindness to all the when they came up out of ." So the departed from among . struck , from as you go to , which is before . He took the king of alive, and all the people with the edge of . But and the people spared and the best of the sheep, of the cattle, of calves, of the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to them; but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly. 10Then word came to , saying, "It grieves me that I have set up to be king, for he has turned back from following me, and has not performed my ." was angry; and he cried to all night. rose early to meet in the morning; and was told, saying, " came to , and behold, he set up a monument for himself, turned, passed on, and went down to ." came to ; and said to him, "You are by ! I have performed the of ." said, "Then what does this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the cattle which I hear mean?" said, "They have brought them from ; for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the cattle, to to your . We have the rest." Then said to , "Stay, and I will tell you what said to me last night." He said to him, "Say on." said, "Though you were little in your own sight, weren't you made the head of the tribes of Israel? you king over Israel; and sent you on a journey, and said, 'Go, and the , and fight against them until they are consumed.' Why then didn't you voice, but took the plunder, and did that which was evil in sight?" said to , "But I have voice, and have gone which sent me, and have brought the king of , and have . But the people took of the plunder, sheep and cattle, the best of the , to to your in ." said, "Has as great delight in and , as in obeying voice? Behold, to is better than , and to listen than rams. For rebellion is as the of , and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected word, he has also rejected you from being king." said to , "I have ; for I have transgressed the of and your words, because I feared the people and their voice. Now therefore, please pardon my , and turn again with me, that I may ." said to , "I will not return with you; for you have rejected word, and has rejected you from being king over Israel." As turned around to go away, grabbed the of his robe, and it tore. said to him, " has torn of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you. Also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor ; for he is not a man, that he should ." Then he said, "I have ; yet please me now before the of my people and before Israel, and come back with me, that I may your ." 31So went back with ; and . Then said, "Bring the king of here to me!" came to him cheerfully. said, "Surely the bitterness of is past." said, "As your has made women , so your mother will be among women!" Then cut in pieces before in . Then went to ; and went up to his house to of . came no more to see until the day of his , but mourned for . grieved that he had made king over Israel.
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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.