World English Bible · The united kingdom
1 Samuel 3
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The child ministered to before . word was rare in those days. There were not many , then. At that time, when was laid down in his place (now his eyes had begun to grow dim, so that he could not see), and lamp hadn't yet gone out, and had laid down in temple where ark was, called . He said, "Here I am." 5He ran to and said, "Here I am; for you called me." He said, "I didn't call. Lie down again." He went and lay down. called yet again, "!" arose and went to and said, "Here I am; for you called me." He answered, "I didn't call, my son. Lie down again." Now didn't yet know , neither was word yet to him. called again the third time. He arose and went to and said, "Here I am; for you called me." perceived that had called the child. Therefore said to , "Go, lie down. It shall be, if he calls you, that you shall say, 'Speak, ; for hears.'" So went and lay down in his place. came, and stood, and called as at other times, "! !" Then said, "Speak; for hears." said to , "Behold, I will do a thing in Israel at which both the ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. In that day I will perform against all that I have spoken concerning his house, even to the end. For I have told him that I will judge his house for the which he knew, because his sons brought on themselves, and he didn't restrain them. Therefore I have to the house of that the of house shall not be removed with or ." lay until the morning, and opened the doors of house. was afraid to show the . 16Then called and said, ", my son!" He said, "Here I am." He said, "What is the thing that he has spoken to you? Please don't hide it from me. do so to you, and more also, if you hide anything from me of all the things that he spoke to you." told him every bit, and hid nothing from him. He said, "It is . Let him do what seems good to him." grew, and was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground. All Israel from Dan even to knew that was established to be a of . appeared again in ; for himself to in by word.
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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.