King James Version · The divided kingdom
2 Chronicles 25
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was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and nine years in . And his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of . And he did that which was right in the sight of , but not with a perfect . Now it came to pass, when was established to him, that he slew his servants that had killed the king his . But he slew not their children, but did as in in the book of , where commanded, saying, The fathers shall not for the children, neither shall the children for the fathers, but every man shall for his own . Moreover gathered Judah together, and made them captains over thousands, and captains over hundreds, according to the houses of their fathers, throughout all Judah and : and he numbered them from twenty years old and above, and found them three hundred thousand choice men, able to go forth to war, that could handle spear and shield. 6He hired also an hundred thousand of valour out of Israel for an hundred of silver. But there came a to him, saying, O king, let not the army of Israel go with thee; for is not with Israel, to wit, with all the children of . But if thou wilt go, do it, be strong for the battle: shall make thee fall before : for hath to help, and to cast down. And said to the , But what shall we do for the hundred which I have given to the army of Israel? And the answered, is able to give thee much more than this. Then separated them, to wit, the army that was come to him out of , to go home again: wherefore their was greatly kindled against Judah, and they returned home in great . And strengthened himself, and led forth his people, and went to the valley of salt, and smote of the children of ten thousand. And other ten thousand left alive did the children of Judah carry away , and brought them unto the top of , and cast them down from the top of , that they all were broken in pieces. But the soldiers of the army which sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, fell upon the cities of Judah, from even unto , and smote three thousand of them, and took much spoil. Now it came to pass, after that was come from the slaughter of the , that he brought the gods of the children of , and set them up to be his gods, and himself before them, and unto them. Wherefore the of was kindled against , and he sent unto him a , which said unto him, Why hast thou sought after the gods of the people, which could not their own people out of thine hand? And it came to pass, as he talked with him, that the king said unto him, Art thou made of the king’s ? forbear; why shouldest thou be smitten? Then the forbare, and said, I know that hath determined to destroy thee, because thou hast done this, and hast not hearkened unto my . Then king of Judah took , and sent to , the son of Jehoahaz, the son of , king of Israel, saying, Come, let us see one another in the . And king of Israel sent to king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in sent to the cedar that was in , saying, Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in , and trode down the thistle. Thou sayest, Lo, thou hast smitten the ; and thine lifteth thee up to boast: now at home; why shouldest thou meddle to thine hurt, that thou shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee? But would not hear; for it came of , that he might them into the hand of their , because they sought after the gods of . So the king of Israel went up; and they saw one another in the , both he and king of Judah, at , which belongeth to Judah. And Judah was put to the worse before Israel, and they fled every man to his tent. And the king of Israel took king of Judah, the son of , the son of Jehoahaz, at , and brought him to , and brake down the wall of from the of to the corner , four hundred . And he took all the gold and the silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of with , and the of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to . And the son of king of Judah lived after the of son of Jehoahaz king of Israel fifteen years. Now the rest of the acts of , first and last, behold, are they not written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel? Now after the time that did turn away from following they made a conspiracy against him in ; and he fled to : but they sent to after him, and slew him there. And they brought him upon horses, and with his fathers in the city of Judah.
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 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.