World English Bible · The united kingdom
2 Chronicles 1
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was firmly established in , and his was with him, and made him exceedingly great. spoke to all Israel, to the captains of thousands and of hundreds, to the judges, and to every prince in all Israel, the heads of the fathers' households. Then , and all with him, went to the that was at ; for was there, which servant had made in . But had brought ark up from to the place that had prepared for it; for he had pitched a tent for it at . Moreover the bronze that the son of , the son of Hur, had made was there before ; and and were seeking there. went up there to the bronze before , which was at the , and offered one thousand burnt offerings on it. That night, appeared to and said to him, "Ask for what you want me to give you." said to , "You have shown great to , and have made me king in his place. Now, , let your promise to be established; for you have made me king over a people like of the earth in multitude. Now give me and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this great people of yours?" said to , "Because this was in , and you have not asked riches, wealth, , or the life of those who hate you, nor yet have you asked for long life; but have asked for and knowledge for yourself, that you may judge my people, over whom I have made you king, therefore and knowledge is granted to you. I will give you riches, wealth, and , such as none of the kings have had who have been before you, and none after you will have." So came from the that was at , from before the , to ; and he reigned over Israel. gathered chariots and horsemen. He had one thousand four hundred chariots and twelve thousand horsemen that he placed in the chariot cities, and with the king at . The king made silver and gold to be as common as stones in , and he made cedars to be as common as the sycamore trees that are in the lowland. The horses which had were brought out of and from Kue. The king's merchants purchased them from Kue. They imported from then exported a chariot for six hundred pieces of silver and a horse for one hundred fifty. They also exported them to the kings and the kings.
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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.