World English Bible · The united kingdom
1 Samuel 1
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Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim Zophim, of the hill country of , and his name was , the son of , the son of , the son of Tohu, the son of , an . He had two wives. The name of one was , and the name of the other Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but had . This man went up out of his city from year to year to and to to of Armies in . The two sons of , Hophni and , priests to , were there. When the day came that , he gave portions to Peninnah his wife and to all her sons and her daughters; but he gave a double to , for he loved , but had . Her rival provoked her severely, to irritate her, because had . So year by year, when she went up to house, her rival provoked her. Therefore she wept, and didn't eat. her husband said to her, ", why do you weep? Why don't you eat? Why is grieved? Am I not better to you than ten sons?" So rose up after they had finished eating and drinking in . Now the priest was sitting on his seat by the doorpost of temple. She was in bitterness of , and to , weeping bitterly. She a , and said, ", if you will indeed look at the affliction of and remember me, and not forget , but will give to a boy, then I will give him to all the days of his life, and no razor shall come on his head." As she continued praying before , saw her . Now spoke in her . Only her moved, but her voice was not heard. Therefore thought she was drunk. said to her, "How long will you be drunk? Get rid of your !" answered, "No, my , I am a woman of a sorrowful . I have not been drinking or , but I poured out before . Don't consider a woman; for I have been speaking out of the abundance of my complaint and my provocation." Then answered, "Go in peace; and may the of Israel grant your petition that you have asked of him." She said, "Let find in your sight." So the woman went her way and ate; and her facial expression wasn't sad any more. They rose up in the morning early and , then returned and came to their house to . Then knew his wife; and remembered her. When the time had come, conceived, and bore a son; and she named him , saying, "Because I have asked him of ." The man , and all his house, went up to offer to the yearly and his . But didn't go up, for she said to her husband, "Not until the child is weaned; then I will bring him, that he may appear before , and stay there ." her husband said to her, "Do what seems good to you. Wait until you have weaned him; only may establish his word." So the woman waited and nursed her son until she weaned him. When she had weaned him, she took him up with her, with three bulls, and one ephah of meal, and a container of , and brought him to house in . The child was young. They killed the bull, and brought the child to . She said, "Oh, my , as your lives, my , I am the woman who stood by you here, praying to . I for this child, and has given me my petition which I asked of him. Therefore I have also given him to . As long as he lives he is given to ." He there.
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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.