World English Bible · The united kingdom
1 Samuel 20
Touch any underlined name to see who or where it is. Tap a verse number to see where it is taken up elsewhere.
fled from in , and came and said to , "What have I done? What is my ? What is my before your , that he seeks my life?" He said to him, "Far from it; you will not . Behold, does nothing either great or small, but that he discloses it to me. Why would hide this thing from me? It is not so." moreover, and said, "Your knows well that I have in your eyes; and he says, 'Don't let know this, lest he be grieved;' but truly as lives, and as your lives, there is but a step between me and ." 4Then said to , "Whatever your , I will even do it for you." said to , "Behold, tomorrow is the , and I should not fail to dine with the king; but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field to the third day at evening. If your misses me at all, then say, ' earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to , his city; for it is the yearly there for all the family.' If he says, 'It is well,' shall have peace; but if he is angry, then know that evil is determined by him. Therefore deal kindly with , for you have brought into a of with you; but if there is in me, kill me yourself, for why should you bring me to your ?" said, "Far be it from you; for if I should at all know that evil were determined by to come on you, then wouldn't I tell you that?" Then said to , "Who will tell me if your answers you roughly?" 11 said to , "Come! Let's go out into the field." They both went out into the field. said to , "By , the of Israel, when I have sounded out about this time tomorrow, or the third day, behold, if there is good toward , won't I then send to you and disclose it to you? do so to and more also, should it please to do you evil, if I don't disclose it to you and send you away, that you may go in peace. May be with you as he has been with . You shall not only show me the of while I still live, that I not ; but you shall also not your kindness from my house , no, not when has every one of the of from the surface of the earth." So made a with house, saying, " will require it at the hand of ." caused to again, for the love that he had to him; for he loved him as he loved his own . Then said to him, "Tomorrow is the , and you will be missed, because your seat will be empty. When you have stayed three days, go down quickly and come to the place where you hid yourself when this started, and by the stone Ezel. 20I will shoot three arrows on its side, as though I shot at a mark. Behold, I will send the boy, saying, 'Go, find the arrows!' If I tell the boy, 'Behold, the arrows are on this side of you. Take them;' then come, for there is peace to you and no danger, as lives. But if I say this to the boy, 'Behold, the arrows are beyond you,' then go your way, for has sent you away. Concerning the matter which you and I have spoken of, behold, is between you and me ." So hid himself in the field. When the had come, the king sat himself down to eat food. The king sat on his seat, as at other times, even on the seat by the wall; and stood up, and sat by side, but place was empty. Nevertheless didn't say anything that day, for he thought, "Something has happened to him. He is not clean. Surely he is not clean." On the next day after the , the second day, place was empty. said to his son, "Why didn't the son of come to eat, either yesterday, or today?" answered , " earnestly asked permission of me to go to . He said, 'Please let me go, for our family has a in the city. My brother has commanded me to be there. Now, if I have in your eyes, please let me go away and see my brothers.' Therefore he has not come to the king's table." Then burned against , and he said to him, "You son of a perverse rebellious woman, don't I know that you have chosen the son of to your own , and to the of your mother's ? For as long as the son of lives on the earth, you will not be established, nor will your kingdom. Therefore now send and bring him to me, for he shall surely !" answered his , and said to him, "Why should he be put to ? What has he done?" cast his spear at him to strike him. By this knew that his was determined to put to . So arose from the table in , and ate no food the second day of the month; for he was grieved for , because his had treated him shamefully. In the morning, went out into the field at the time appointed with , and a little boy with him. He said to his boy, "Run, find now the arrows which I shoot." As the boy ran, he shot an arrow beyond him. When the boy had come to the place of the arrow which had shot, cried after the boy, and said, "Isn't the arrow beyond you?" cried after the boy, "Go ! Hurry! Don't delay!" boy gathered up the arrows, and came to his master. 39But the boy didn't know anything. Only and knew the matter. 40 gave his weapons to his boy, and said to him, "Go, carry them to the city." As soon as the boy was gone, arose out of the south, and fell on to the ground, and bowed himself three times. They kissed one another and wept with one another, and wept the most. said to , "Go in peace, because we have both in name, saying, ' is between me and you, and between my and , .'" He arose and departed; and went into the city.
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. 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.