World English Bible · The united kingdom
2 Samuel 11
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At the return of the year, at the time when kings go out, sent and his servants with him, and all Israel; and they destroyed and besieged . But stayed at . At evening, arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king's house. From the roof, he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to look at. sent and inquired after the woman. One said, "Isn't this , the daughter of Eliam, the wife?" sent , and took her; and she came in to him, and he lay with her (for she was purified from her uncleanness); and she returned to her house. The woman conceived; and she sent and told , and said, "I am with child." sent to , "Send me the ." sent to . When had come to him, asked him how did, and how the people fared, and how the war prospered. said to , "Go down to your house and wash your feet." departed out of the king's house, and a gift from the king was sent after him. But slept at the door of the king's house with all the servants of his , and didn't go down to his house. 10When they had told , saying, " didn't go down to his house," said to , "Haven't you come from a journey? Why didn't you go down to your house?" said to , "The ark, Israel, and Judah, are staying in tents; and my and the servants of my are encamped in the open field. Shall I then go into my house to eat and to drink, and to lie with my wife? As you live, and as your lives, I will not do this thing!" said to , "Stay here today also, and tomorrow I will let you depart." So stayed in that day and the next day. When had called him, he ate and drank before him; and he made him drunk. At evening, he went out to lie on his bed with the servants of his , but didn't go down to his house. In the morning, wrote a letter to and sent it by the hand of . He wrote in the letter, saying, "Send to the forefront of the hottest battle, and retreat from him, that he may be struck and ." When kept watch on the city, he assigned to the place where he knew that valiant men were. The men of the city went out and fought with . Some of the people fell, even of servants; and the also. 18Then sent and told all the things concerning the war; 19and he commanded , saying, "When you have finished telling all the things concerning the war to the king, 20it shall be that, if the king's arise, and he asks you, 'Why did you go so near to the city to fight? Didn't you know that they would shoot from the wall? Who struck Abimelech the son of ? Didn't a woman cast an upper millstone on him from the wall, so that he at Thebez? Why did you go so near the wall?' then you shall say, ' the is also .'" 22So went, and came and showed all that had sent him for. 23 said to , "The men prevailed against us, and came out to us into the field; and we were on them even to the entrance of the . 24The shooters shot at your servants from off the wall; and some of the king's servants are , and the is also ." Then said to , "Tell , 'Don't let this thing displease you, for devours one as well as another. Make your battle stronger against the city, and overthrow it.' Encourage him." When wife heard that her husband was , she mourned for her husband. When the was past, sent and took her home to his house, and she became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that had done displeased .
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · The united kingdom, 1050 BC to 931 BC ›
Saul, David, and Solomon. A rare window when both Egypt and Mesopotamia are weak, which is how a small kingdom in the corridor between them could briefly become a regional power.
- The power vacuum
- This is the whole political explanation for the united kingdom. Egypt is fragmented, Assyria is recovering but still local, the Hittites are gone, and nobody is in a position to object to a strong state in the corridor. It lasts about a century, and Israel's golden age fits exactly inside it.
- Phoenicia
- Tyre under Hiram is the commercial power of the coast, and supplies the cedar, the craftsmen, and the shipping for Solomon's building programme. The alliance is trade, not charity: Israel had grain and a land route, Tyre had timber and ships.
- Egypt
- Weak enough that a pharaoh gives a daughter in marriage to an Israelite king, which is the opposite of Egyptian practice in stronger centuries. Late in the era it recovers under a new house, and Shishak will invade within five years of Solomon's death.
- Further afield
- Greece is still in its dark age but beginning to recover, and will adopt the Phoenician alphabet within a century or two. Carthage is founded by settlers from Tyre by tradition in 814 BC. In the Americas the Olmec centre shifts to La Venta.