World English Bible · The united kingdom
1 Samuel 28
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In those days, the gathered their armies together for warfare, to fight with Israel. said to , "Know assuredly that you will go out with me in the army, you and your men." said to , "Therefore you will know what can do." said to , "Therefore I will make you my bodyguard ." Now was , and all Israel had mourned for him and in , even in his own city. had sent away those who had familiar spirits and the wizards out of the land. The gathered themselves together, and came and encamped in ; and gathered all Israel together, and they encamped in Gilboa. When saw the army of the , he was afraid, and trembled greatly. When inquired of , didn't answer him by , by , or by . Then said to his servants, "Seek for me a woman who has a familiar , that I may go to her and inquire of her." His servants said to him, "Behold, there is a woman who has a familiar at ." disguised himself and put on other clothing, and went, he and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night. Then he said, "Please consult for me by the familiar , and bring me up whomever I shall name to you." The woman said to him, "Behold, you know what has done, how he has those who have familiar spirits and the wizards out of the land. Why then do you lay a snare for my life, to cause me to ?" to her by , saying, "As lives, no punishment will happen to you for this thing." 11Then the woman said, "Whom shall I bring up to you?" He said, "Bring up for me." When the woman saw , she cried with a loud voice; and the woman spoke to , saying, "Why have you deceived me? For you are !" The king said to her, "Don't be afraid! What do you see?" The woman said to , "I see a coming up out of the earth." He said to her, "What does he look like?" She said, "An old man comes up. He is covered with a robe." perceived that it was , and he bowed with to the ground, and showed respect. said to , "Why have you disturbed me, to bring me up?" answered, "I am very distressed; for the make war against me, and has departed from me, and answers me no more, by , or by . Therefore I have called you, that you may make known to me what I shall do." said, "Why then do you ask me, since has departed from you and has become your adversary? has done to you as he spoke by me. has torn out of your hand and given it to your neighbor, even to . Because you didn't voice, and didn't execute his fierce on , therefore has done this thing to you today. Moreover will Israel also with you into the hand of the ; and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. will the army of Israel also into the hand of the ." Then fell immediately his full length on the earth, and was terrified, because of words. There was no strength in him, for he had eaten all day long or all night long. The woman came to and saw that he was very troubled, and said to him, "Behold, has listened to your voice, and I have put my life in my hand, and have listened to your words which you spoke to me. 22Now therefore, please listen also to the voice of , and let me set a morsel of bread before you. Eat, that you may have strength when you go on your way." But he refused, and said, "I will not eat." But his servants, together with the woman, constrained him; and he listened to their voice. So he arose from the earth and sat on the bed. The woman had a fattened calf in the house. She hurried and killed it; and she took flour and kneaded it, and baked of it. 25She brought it before and before his servants, and they ate. Then they rose up and went away that night.
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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.