World English Bible · The divided kingdom
2 Kings 13
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In the twenty-third year of the son of , king of Judah, the son of began to reign over Israel in for seventeen years. He did that which was evil in sight, and followed the of the son of , with which he made Israel to . He didn't depart from it. burned against Israel, and he them into the hand of king of , and into the hand of the son of , continually. begged , and listened to him; for he saw the of Israel, how the king of oppressed them. ( gave Israel a , so that they went out from under the hand of ; and the lived in their tents as before. Nevertheless they didn't depart from the of the house of , with which he made Israel to , but walked in them; and the also remained in .) For he didn't leave to of the people any more than fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of destroyed them and made them like in . Now the rest of the acts of , and all that he did, and his might, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? slept with his fathers; and they in ; and his son reigned in his place. 10In -seventh year of king of Judah, the son of began to reign over Israel in for sixteen years. He did that which was evil in sight. He didn't depart from all the of the son of , with which he made Israel to ; but he walked in them. Now the rest of the acts of , and all that he did, and his might with which he fought against king of Judah, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? slept with his fathers; and sat on his . was buried in with the kings of Israel. Now became sick with the illness of which he ; and the king of Israel came down to him, and wept over him, and said, ", , the chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" 15 said to him, "Take bow and arrows;" and he took bow and arrows for himself. He said to the king of Israel, "Put your hand on the bow;" and he put his hand on it. on the king's hands. He said, "Open the window eastward;" and he opened it. Then said, "Shoot!" and he shot. He said, " arrow of victory, even the arrow of victory over ; for you will strike in until you have consumed them." He said, "Take the arrows;" and he took them. He said to the king of Israel, "Strike the ground;" and he struck three times, and stopped. The was angry with him, and said, "You should have struck five or six times. Then you would have struck until you had consumed it, but now you will strike three times." , and they . Now the bands of the invaded the land at the coming in of the year. As they were burying a man, behold, they saw a band of raiders; and they threw the man into . As soon as the man touched bones, he revived, and stood up on his feet. king of oppressed Israel all the days of . But was to them, and had on them, and favored them because of his with , , and , and would not destroy them and he didn't cast them from his as yet. king of ; and his son reigned in his place. the son of took again out of the hand of the son of the cities which he had taken out of the hand of his by war. struck him three times, and recovered the cities of Israel.
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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.