King James Version · The united kingdom
1 Samuel 1
Touch any underlined name to see who or where it is. Tap a verse number to see where it is taken up elsewhere.
Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim–zophim, of mount , and his name was , the son of , the son of , the son of Tohu, the son of , an Ephrathite: And he had two wives; the name of the one was , and the name of the other Peninnah: and Peninnah had children, but had . And this man went up out of his city yearly to and to unto of hosts in . And the two sons of , Hophni and , the priests of , were there. And when the time was that offered, he gave to Peninnah his wife, and to all her sons and her daughters, portions: But unto he gave a worthy ; for he loved : but had . And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because had . And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the , so she provoked her; therefore she wept, and did not eat. Then said her husband to her, , why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons? So rose up after they had eaten in , and after they had drunk. Now the priest sat upon a seat by a post of of . And she was in bitterness of , and unto , and wept sore. And she a , and said, O , if thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of thine handmaid, and remember me, and not forget thine handmaid, but wilt give unto thine handmaid a man child, then I will give him unto all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head. And it came to pass, as she continued praying before , that marked her . Now , she spake in her ; only her moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore thought she had been drunken. And said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken? thy from thee. And answered and said, No, my , I am a woman of a sorrowful : I have drunk neither nor , but have poured out before . Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto. Then answered and said, Go in peace: and the of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him. And she said, Let thine handmaid find in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad. And they rose up in the morning early, and before , and returned, and came to their house to : and knew his wife; and remembered her. Wherefore it came to pass, when the time was come about after had conceived, that she a son, and called his name , saying, Because I have asked him of . And the man , and all his house, went up to offer unto the yearly , and his . But went not up; for she said unto her husband, I will not go up until the child be weaned, and then I will bring him, that he may appear before , and there for ever. And her husband said unto her, Do what seemeth thee good; tarry until thou have weaned him; only establish his word. So the woman abode, and gave her son suck until she weaned him. And when she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bullocks, and one ephah of flour, and a bottle of , and brought him unto the in : and the child was young. And they slew a bullock, and brought the child to . And she said, Oh my , as thy liveth, my , I am the woman that stood by thee here, praying unto . For this child I ; and hath given me my petition which I asked of him: Therefore also I have lent him to ; as long as he liveth he shall be lent to . And he there.
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.