King James Version · The united kingdom
1 Samuel 23
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Then they told , saying, Behold, the fight against , and they rob the threshingfloors. Therefore enquired of , saying, Shall I go and smite these ? And said unto , Go, and smite the , and . And ’s men said unto him, Behold, we be afraid here in Judah: how much more then if we come to against the armies of the ? Then enquired of yet again. And answered him and said, Arise, go down to ; for I will the into thine hand. 5So and his men went to , and fought with the , and brought away their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter. So the inhabitants of . And it came to pass, when the son of fled to to , that he came down with an in his hand. And it was told that was come to . And said, hath him into mine hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that hath and bars. 8And called all the people together to war, to go down to , to besiege and his men. And knew that secretly practised mischief against him; and he said to the priest, Bring hither the . Then said , O of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that seeketh to come to , to destroy the city for my sake. Will the men of me up into his hand? will come down, as thy servant hath heard? O of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And said, He will come down. Then said , Will the men of me and my men into the hand of ? And said, They will thee up. Then and his men, which were about six hundred, arose and departed out of , and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told that was escaped from ; and he forbare to go forth. And abode in in strong holds, and remained in a mountain in of . And sought him every day, but him not into his hand. 15And saw that was come out to seek his life: and was in of in a wood. And ’s son arose, and went to into the wood, and strengthened his hand in . And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee; and that also knoweth. And they two made a before : and abode in the wood, and went to his house. Then came up the Ziphites to to , saying, Doth not hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill of , which is on the south of Jeshimon? Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the of thy to come down; and our part shall be to him into the king’s hand. And said, be ye of ; for ye have on me. Go, I you, prepare yet, and know and see his place where his haunt is, and who hath seen him there: for it is told me that he dealeth very subtilly. See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me with the certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah. And they arose, and went to before : but and his men were in of , in the plain on the south of Jeshimon. also and his men went to seek him. And they told : wherefore he came down into a , and abode in of . And when heard that, he pursued after in of . And went on this side of the mountain, and and his men on that side of the mountain: and made haste to get away for fear of ; for and his men compassed and his men round about to take them. But there came a unto , saying, Haste thee, and come; for the have invaded the land. 28Wherefore returned from pursuing after , and went against the : therefore they called that place –hammahlekoth. And went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds at En–gedi.
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.