King James Version · The united kingdom
1 Samuel 9
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Now there was a man of , whose name was , the son of , the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a , a mighty man of . And he had a son, whose name was , a choice young man, and a goodly: and there was not among the a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he was higher than any of the people. And the asses of ’s were lost. And said to his son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go seek the asses. And he passed through mount , and passed through the land of Shalisha, but they found them not: then they passed through the land of Shalim, and there they were not: and he passed through the land of the , but they found them not. And when they were come to the land of , said to his servant that was with him, Come, and let us return; lest leave caring for the asses, and take thought for us. And he said unto him, Behold now, there is in this city a , and he is an honourable man; all that he saith cometh surely to pass: now let us go thither; peradventure he can shew us our way that we should go. Then said to his servant, But, behold, if we go, what shall we bring the man? for the bread is spent in our vessels, and there is not a present to bring to the : what have we? 8And the servant answered again, and said, Behold, I have here at hand the fourth part of a of silver: that will I give to the , to tell us our way. (Beforetime in Israel, when a man went to enquire of , thus he spake, Come, and let us go to the : for he that is now called a was beforetime called a .) Then said to his servant, Well said; come, let us go. So they went unto the city where the was. And as they went up the hill to the city, they found young maidens going out to draw water, and said unto them, Is the here? And they answered them, and said, He is; behold, he is before you: make haste now, for he came to day to the city; for there is a of the people to day in the : As soon as ye be come into the city, ye shall straightway find him, before he go up to the to eat: for the people will not eat until he come, because he doth the ; and afterwards they eat that be bidden. Now therefore get you up; for about this time ye shall find him. 14And they went up into the city: and when they were come into the city, behold, came out against them, for to go up to the . Now had told in his ear a day before came, saying, To morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of , and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may my people out of the hand of the : for I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me. And when saw , said unto him, Behold the man whom I spake to thee of! this same shall reign over my people. 18Then drew near to in the , and said, Tell me, I thee, where the ’s house is. And answered , and said, I am the : go up before me unto the ; for ye shall eat with me to day, and to morrow I will let thee go, and will tell thee all that is in thine . And as for thine asses that were lost three days ago, set not thy on them; for they are found. And on whom is all the of Israel? Is it not on thee, and on all thy ’s house? And answered and said, Am not I a , of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of ? wherefore then speakest thou so to me? And took and his servant, and brought them into the parlour, and made them sit in the chiefest place among them that were bidden, which were about thirty persons. And said unto the cook, Bring the which I gave thee, of which I said unto thee, Set it by thee. And the cook took up the shoulder, and that which was upon it, and set it before . And said, Behold that which is left! set it before thee, and eat: for unto this time hath it been kept for thee since I said, I have invited the people. So did eat with that day. And when they were come down from the into the city, communed with upon the top of the house. And they arose early: and it came to pass about the spring of the day, that called to the top of the house, saying, Up, that I may send thee away. And arose, and they went out both of them, he and , abroad. And as they were going down to the end of the city, said to , Bid the servant pass on before us, (and he passed on,) but stand thou still a while, that I may shew thee the word of .
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.