World English Bible · The divided kingdom
2 Kings 14
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In the second year of , son of Joahaz, king of Israel, the son of king of Judah began to reign. 2He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign; and he reigned twenty-nine years in . His mother's name was Jehoaddin of . He did that which was right in eyes, yet not like his . He did according to all that his had done. However the were not taken away. The people still and in the . As soon as was established in his hand, he killed his servants who had slain the king his , but the children of the he didn't put to , according to that which is written in the book of of , as commanded, saying, "The fathers shall not be put to for the children, nor the children be put to for the fathers; but every man shall for his own ." He killed ten thousand in the Valley of Salt, and took by war, and called its name Joktheel, to this day. Then sent to , the son of son of , king of Israel, saying, "Come, let's look one another in the ." the king of Israel sent to king of Judah, saying, "The thistle that was in sent to the cedar that was in , saying, 'Give your daughter to my son as wife.' Then a wild animal that was in passed by, and trampled down the thistle. You have indeed struck , and has lifted you up. Enjoy the of it, and stay at home; for why should you meddle to your harm, that you fall, even you, and Judah with you?" But would not listen. So king of Israel went up; and he and king of Judah looked one another in the at , which belongs to Judah. Judah was defeated by Israel; and each man fled to his tent. king of Israel took king of Judah, the son of the son of , at and came to , then broke down the wall of from the of to the corner , four hundred . He took all the gold and silver and all the vessels that were found in house and in the of the king's house, the hostages also, and returned to . Now the rest of the acts of which he did, and his might, and how he fought with king of Judah, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? slept with his fathers, and was buried in with the kings of Israel; and his son reigned in his place. the son of king of Judah lived after the of son of , king of Israel, fifteen years. Now the rest of the acts of , aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Judah? They made a conspiracy against him in , and he fled to ; but they sent after him to and killed him there. They brought him on horses, and he was buried at with his fathers in city. All the people of Judah took , who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the place of his . He built Elath and restored it to Judah. After that the king slept with his fathers. In the fifteenth year of the son of king of Judah, the son of king of Israel began to reign in for forty-one 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 . He restored the border of Israel from the entrance of to the sea of the , according to , the of Israel's word, which he spoke by his servant the son of , the , who was from . For saw the affliction of Israel, that it was very bitter for all, and free; and there was no helper for Israel. didn't say that he would blot out the name of Israel from under ; but he them by the hand of the son of . Now the rest of the acts of , and all that he did, and his might, how he fought, and how he recovered , and , which had belonged to Judah, for Israel, aren't they written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel? slept with his fathers, even with the kings of Israel; and his son reigned in his place.
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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.