World English Bible · The divided kingdom
2 Chronicles 21
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slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in city; and his son reigned in his place. He had brothers, the sons of : , Jehiel, , , Michael, and Shephatiah. All these were the sons of king of Israel. Their gave them great gifts of silver, of gold, and of precious things, with fortified cities in Judah; but he gave to , because he was . Now when had up over of his , and had strengthened himself, he killed all his brothers with , and also some of the princes of Israel. was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in . He walked in of the kings of Israel, as did house, for he had daughter as his wife. He did that which was evil in sight. However would not destroy house, because of that he had made with , and as he promised to give a lamp to him and to his children always. In his days revolted from under the hand of Judah, and made a king over themselves. 9Then went there with his captains and all his chariots with him. He rose up by night and struck the who surrounded him, along with the captains of the chariots. So has been in revolt from under the hand of Judah to this day. Then revolted at the same time from under his hand, because he had forsaken , the of his fathers. Moreover he made in the mountains of Judah, and made the inhabitants of play the , and led Judah astray. A letter came to him from the , saying, ", the of your , says, 'Because you have not walked in the ways of your , nor in the ways of king of Judah, but have walked in of the kings of Israel, and have made Judah and the inhabitants of to play the like house did, and also have slain your brothers of your house, who were better than yourself, behold, will strike your people with a great plague, including your children, your wives, and all your possessions; and you will have great sickness with a disease of your bowels, until your bowels fall out by reason of the sickness, day by day.'" stirred up against of the and of the who are beside the ; and they came up against Judah, broke into it, and all the possessions that were found in the king's house, including his sons and his wives, so that there was no son left to him except Jehoahaz, the youngest of his sons. After all this struck him in his bowels with an incurable disease. In process of time, at the end of two years, his bowels fell out by reason of his sickness, and he of severe diseases. His people made no burning for him, like the burning of his fathers. He was thirty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in eight years. He departed with no one's regret. They in city, but not in the of the kings.
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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.