World English Bible · The divided kingdom
2 Chronicles 19
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the king of Judah returned to his house in peace to . the son of the went out to meet him, and said to King , "Should you help , and love those who hate ? Because of this, is on you from before . Nevertheless there are good things found in you, in that you have the Asheroth out of the land, and have set to seek ." lived at ; and he went out again among the people from to the hill country of , and brought them back to , the of their fathers. He set judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, and said to the judges, "Consider what you do, for you don't judge for man, but for ; and he is with you in the . Now therefore let the be on you. Take heed and do it; for there is no with our , nor respect of persons, nor taking of bribes." Moreover in appointed certain , priests, and heads of the fathers' households of Israel to give for and for controversies. They returned to . He commanded them, saying, "You shall do this in the , faithfully, and with a perfect . Whenever any controversy comes to you from your brothers who in their cities, between and , between law and , and ordinances, you must warn them, that they not be guilty toward , and so come on you and on your brothers. Do this, and you will not be guilty. Behold, the is over you in all matters of ; and the son of , the ruler of the house of Judah, in all the king's matters. Also the shall be officers before you. Deal courageously, and may be with the good."
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. 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.