World English Bible · The divided kingdom
2 Chronicles 23
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In the seventh year, strengthened himself, and took the captains of hundreds— the son of , the son of , the son of Obed, the son of , and Elishaphat the son of —into a with him. They went around in Judah and gathered the out of all the cities of Judah, and the heads of fathers' households of Israel, and they came to . All made a with the king in house. said to them, "Behold, the king's son must reign, as has spoken concerning the sons of . This is the thing that you must do: a third part of you, who come in on the , of the priests and of the , shall be gatekeepers of the thresholds. A third part shall be at the king's house; and a third part at the of the foundation. All the people will be in the courts of house. But let no one come into house except the priests and those who minister of the . They shall come in, for they are , but all the people shall follow instructions. The shall surround the king, every man with his weapons in his hand. Whoever comes into the house, let him be slain. Be with the king when he comes in and when he goes out." So the and all Judah did according to all that the priest commanded. They each took his men, those who were to come in on the , with those who were to go out on the , for the priest didn't dismiss the shift. the priest to the captains of hundreds the spears, bucklers, and shields that had been king , which were in house. He set all the people, every man with his weapon in his hand, from the right side of the house to the left side of the house, near the and the house, around the king. Then they brought out the king's son, put the on him, gave him , and made him king. and his sons him, and they said, "Long live the king!" When heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people into house. Then she looked, and behold, the king stood by his pillar at the entrance, with the captains and the trumpeters by the king. All the people of the land rejoiced and blew . The singers also played musical instruments, and led the singing of . Then tore her clothes, and said, "Treason! treason!" the priest brought out the captains of hundreds who were set over the army, and said to them, "Bring her out between the ranks; and whoever follows her, let him be slain with ." For the priest said, "Don't kill her in house." So they made way for her. She went to the entrance of the horse gate to the king's house; and they killed her there. made a between himself, all the people, and the king, that they should be people. All the people went to the house of , broke it down, broke his and his in pieces, and killed Mattan the priest of before the . appointed the officers of house under the hand of the priests, whom had distributed in house, to offer the burnt offerings of , as in of , with rejoicing and with singing, as had ordered. He set the gatekeepers at the of house, that no one who was in anything should enter in. He took the captains of hundreds, the nobles, the governors of the people, and all the people of the land, and brought the king down from house. They came through the upper to the king's house, and set the king on of . So all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet. They had slain with .
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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.