King James Version · The united kingdom
2 Chronicles 1
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And was strengthened in , and his was with him, and magnified him exceedingly. Then spake unto all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, and to the judges, and to every governor in all Israel, the chief of the fathers. So , and all with him, went to the that was at ; for there was the of of , which the had made in . But the had brought up from Kirjath–jearim to the place which had prepared for it: for he had pitched a tent for it at . Moreover the brasen , that Bezaleel the son of , the son of Hur, had made, he put before the of : and and sought unto it. And went up thither to the brasen before , which was at the of , and offered a thousand burnt offerings upon it. In that night did appear unto , and said unto him, Ask what I shall give thee. And said unto , Thou hast shewed great mercy unto , and hast made me to reign in his stead. Now, O , let thy promise unto be established: for thou hast made me king over a people like of the earth in multitude. Give me now and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that is so great? And said to , Because this was in thine , and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or , nor the life of thine , neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king: and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and , such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like. Then came from his journey to the that was at to , from before the of , and reigned over Israel. And gathered chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, which he placed in the chariot cities, and with the king at . And the king made silver and gold at as plenteous as stones, and cedar trees made he as the sycomore trees that are in the vale for abundance. And had horses brought out of , and linen yarn: the king’s merchants received the linen yarn at a price. And they fetched up, and brought forth out of a chariot for six hundred of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so brought they out horses for all the kings of the , and for the kings of , by their means.
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.