King James Version · The divided kingdom
2 Chronicles 26
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Then all the people of Judah took , who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his . He built , and restored it to Judah, after that the king slept with his fathers. Sixteen years old was when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and two years in . His mother’s name also was Jecoliah of . And he did that which was right in the sight of , according to all that his did. And he sought in the days of , who had understanding in the of : and as long as he sought , made him to prosper. And he went forth and warred against the , and brake down the wall of , and the wall of Jabneh, and the wall of , and built cities about , and among the . And helped him against the , and against the that dwelt in Gur–baal, and the Mehunims. And gave gifts to : and his name spread abroad even to the entering in of ; for he strengthened himself exceedingly. Moreover built towers in at the corner , and at the valley gate, and at the turning of the wall, and fortified them. Also he built towers in , and digged many wells: for he had much cattle, both in the low country, and in the plains: husbandmen also, and dressers in the mountains, and in : for he loved husbandry. Moreover had an host of fighting men, that went out to war by bands, according to the number of their account by the hand of Jeiel the and the ruler, under the hand of Hananiah, one of the king’s captains. 12The whole number of the chief of the fathers of the of valour were two thousand and six hundred. And under their hand was an army, three hundred thousand and seven thousand and five hundred, that made war with mighty , to help the king against . And prepared for them throughout shields, and spears, and helmets, and habergeons, and bows, and slings to cast stones. And he made in engines, invented by cunning men, to be on the towers and upon the bulwarks, to shoot arrows and great stones withal. And his name spread far abroad; for he was marvellously helped, till he was strong. But when he was strong, was lifted up to his : for he transgressed against his , and went into of to upon the . And the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of , that were valiant men: And they withstood the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth not unto thee, , to unto , but to the priests the sons of , that are to : go out of ; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine from . Then was wroth, and had a censer in his hand to : and while he was wroth with the priests, the even rose up in his forehead before the priests in the , from beside the . And the , and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because had smitten him. And the king was a unto the day of his , and dwelt in a several house, being a ; for he was the : and his son was over the king’s house, judging the people of the land. Now the rest of the acts of , first and last, did the , the son of , write. So slept with his fathers, and they with his fathers in the field of the burial which belonged to the kings; for they said, He is a : and his son reigned in his stead.
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.