World English Bible · The united kingdom
1 Samuel 8
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When was old, he made his sons judges over Israel. Now the name of his was Joel, and the name of his second, Abijah. They were judges in . His sons didn't walk in his ways, but turned away after dishonest gain, took bribes, and perverted justice. Then all the gathered themselves together and came to to . They said to him, "Behold, you are old, and your sons don't walk in your ways. Now make us a king to judge us like all the nations." But the thing displeased when they said, "Give us a king to judge us." to . said to , "Listen to the voice of the people in all that they tell you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected me as the king over them. According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of even to this day, in that they have forsaken me and other gods, so they also do to you. Now therefore, listen to their voice. However, you shall protest solemnly to them, and shall show them of the king who will reign over them." 10 told all words to the people who asked him for a king. He said, "This will be of the king who shall reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them as his servants, for his chariots and to be his horsemen; and they will run before his chariots. He will appoint them to him for captains of thousands and captains of fifties; and he will assign some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest; and to make his instruments of war and the instruments of his chariots. 13He will take your daughters to be perfumers, to be cooks, and to be bakers. He will take your fields, your vineyards, and your olive groves, even your best, and give them to his servants. He will take one tenth of and of your vineyards, and give it to his officers and to his servants. 16He will take your male servants, your female servants, your best young men, and your donkeys, and assign them to his own work. 17He will take one tenth of your flocks; and you will be his servants. You will cry out in that day because of your king whom you will have chosen for yourselves; and will not answer you in that day." But the people refused to listen to the voice of ; and they said, "No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles." heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of . said to , "Listen to their voice, and make them a king." said to the men of Israel, "Everyone go to your own city."
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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.