World English Bible · The divided kingdom
2 Kings 5
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Now , captain of the army of the king of , was a great man with his master, and honorable, because by him had given victory to ; he was also a mighty man of valor, but he was a . had gone out in bands, and had brought away out of the land of Israel a little girl, and she waited on wife. She said to her mistress, "I wish that my were with the who is in ! Then he would heal him of his ." Someone went in and told his , saying, "The girl who is from the land of Israel said this." The king of said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel." He departed, and took with him ten of silver, six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of clothing. 6He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, "Now when this letter has come to you, behold, I have sent my servant to you, that you may heal him of his ." When the king of Israel had read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, "Am I , to kill and to make alive, that this man sends to me to heal a man of his ? But please consider and see how he seeks a quarrel against me." It was so, when the heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent to the king, saying, "Why have you torn your clothes? Let him come now to me, and he shall know that there is a in Israel." So came with his horses and with his chariots, and stood at the door of the house of . sent a to him, saying, "Go and wash in seven times, and your shall come again to you, and you shall be clean." But was angry, and went away and said, "Behold, I thought, 'He will surely come out to me, and stand, and of his , and wave his hand over the place, and heal the .' Aren't Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of , better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn't I wash in them and be clean?" So he turned and went away in a rage. His servants came near and spoke to him, and said, ", if the had asked you do some great thing, wouldn't you have done it? How much rather then, when he says to you, 'Wash, and be clean'?" Then went he down and dipped himself seven times in , according to the saying of the ; and his was restored like of a little child, and he was clean. He returned to the , he and all his company, and came, and stood before him; and he said, "See now, I know that there is no in all the earth, but in Israel. Now therefore, please take a gift from ." But he said, "As lives, before whom I stand, I will receive none." He urged him to take it; but he refused. said, "If not, then, please let two mules' load of earth be given to ; for will from now on offer neither burnt offering nor to other gods, but to . In this thing may pardon : when my master goes into the house of to there, and he leans on my hand, and I bow myself in the house of . When I bow myself in the house of , may pardon in this thing." He said to him, "Go in peace." So he departed from him a little way. But the the , said, "Behold, my master has spared this the , in not receiving at his hands that which he brought. As lives, I will run after him, and take something from him." So followed after . When saw one running after him, he came down from the chariot to meet him, and said, "Is all well?" He said, "All is well. My master has sent me, saying, 'Behold, even now two young men of the sons of have come to me from the hill country of . Please give them a of silver and two changes of clothing.'" said, "Be pleased to take two ." He urged him, and bound two of silver in two bags, with two changes of clothing, and laid them on two of his servants; and they carried them before him. When he came to the hill, he took them from their hand, and stored them in the house. Then he let the men go, and they departed. But he went in, and stood before his master. said to him, "Where did you come from, ?" He said, " went nowhere." He said to him, "Didn't go with you when the man turned from his chariot to meet you? Is it a time to receive money, and to receive garments, and olive groves and vineyards, and sheep and cattle, and male servants and female servants? Therefore the of will cling to you and to ." He went out from his a , as white as snow.
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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.