King James Version · The divided kingdom
2 Chronicles 10
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And went to : for to were all Israel come to make him king. And it came to pass, when Jeroboam the son of , who was in , whither he had fled from the of the king, heard it, that Jeroboam returned out of . And they sent and called him. So Jeroboam and all Israel came and spake to , saying, Thy made our grievous: now therefore ease thou somewhat the grievous servitude of thy , and his heavy that he put upon us, and we will thee. And he said unto them, Come again unto me after three days. And the people departed. And king with the old men that had stood before his while he yet lived, saying, What give ye me to return answer to this people? And they spake unto him, saying, If thou be kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be thy servants for ever. But he forsook the which the old men gave him, and with the young men that were brought up with him, that stood before him. And he said unto them, What give ye that we may return answer to this people, which have spoken to me, saying, Ease somewhat the that thy did put upon us? And the young men that were brought up with him spake unto him, saying, Thus shalt thou answer the people that spake unto thee, saying, Thy made our heavy, but make thou it somewhat lighter for us; thus shalt thou say unto them, My little finger shall be thicker than ’s loins. For whereas put a heavy upon you, I will put more to your : chastised you with whips, but I will you with scorpions. So Jeroboam and all the people came to on the third day, as the king bade, saying, Come again to me on the third day. And the king answered them roughly; and king forsook the of the old men, And answered them after the of the young men, saying, made your heavy, but I will add thereto: chastised you with whips, but I will you with scorpions. So the king hearkened not unto the people: for the cause was of , that might perform his word, which he spake by the hand of the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of . And when all Israel saw that the king would not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, What have we in ? and we have none in the son of : every man to your tents, O Israel: and now, , see to thine own house. So all Israel went to their tents. But as for the that dwelt in the cities of Judah, reigned over them. Then king sent that was over the tribute; and the stoned him with stones, that he . But king made speed to get him up to his chariot, to flee to . And Israel rebelled against the house of unto this day.
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 divided kingdom, 931 BC to 745 BC ›
Israel in the north and Judah in the south, often at odds, with Aram of Damascus as the immediate threat and Assyria growing in the distance.
- Aram of Damascus
- The immediate enemy for most of two centuries, close enough to raid every campaigning season and strong enough to take territory. Most of the wars in Kings that read like national emergencies are border wars with Damascus.
- Assyria
- Growing steadily in the distance. Shalmaneser III fights a coalition at Qarqar in 853 BC and his own inscription lists King Ahab of Israel among his opponents with two thousand chariots, the earliest Assyrian mention of an Israelite king. A later monument shows Jehu bowing and paying tribute. Assyria is not yet the destroyer, but it is already taking notes.
- Egypt
- Divided and unreliable, capable of the occasional raid, such as Shishak stripping the temple in Rehoboam's fifth year, but no longer an empire that governs the Levant.
- Further afield
- The Greeks adopt the alphabet, hold the first Olympiad by tradition in 776 BC, and begin to compose the Homeric poems. Rome is founded by tradition in 753 BC, a village of huts at this point. This is the century in which the classical world begins.