World English Bible · The united kingdom
2 Samuel 12
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sent to . He came to him, and said to him, "There were two men in one city: the one rich, and the other . The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but man had nothing, except one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and . It grew up together with him and with his children. It ate of his own food, drank of his own , and lay , and was like a daughter to him. A traveler came to the rich man, and he didn't want to take of his own flock and of his own herd to prepare for the wayfaring man who had come to him, but took man's lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him." burned hot against the man, and he said to , "As lives, the man who has done this deserves to ! He must restore fourfold, because he did this thing and because he had no !" said to , "You are the man! This is what , the of Israel, says: 'I you king over Israel, and I you out of the hand of . I gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your , and gave you the and of Judah; and if that would have been too little, I would have added to you many more such things. Why have you despised word, to do that which is evil in his sight? You have struck the with , have taken his wife to be your wife, and have slain him with of . Now therefore will never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife to be your wife.' ": 'Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he will lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did this secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and before the sun.'" said to , "I have against ." said to , " also has your . You will not . However, because by this deed you have given great occasion to to blaspheme, the child also who is born to you will surely ." Then departed to his house. struck the child that wife bore to , and he was very sick. therefore begged for the child; and , and went in and lay all night on the ground. The of his house arose beside him, to raise him up from the earth; but he would not, and he didn't eat bread with them. On the seventh day, the child . servants were afraid to tell him that the child was , for they said, "Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke to him and he didn't listen to our voice. How will he then harm himself if we tell him that the child is ?" 19But when saw that his servants were whispering together, perceived that the child was ; and said to his servants, "Is the child ?" They said, "He is ." Then arose from the earth, and washed and himself, and changed his clothing; and he came into house, and . Then he came to his own house; and when he requested, they set bread before him and he ate. Then his servants said to him, "What is this that you have done? You and wept for the child while he was alive, but when the child was , you rose up and ate bread." He said, "While the child was yet alive, I and wept; for I said, 'Who knows whether will not be to me, that the child may live?' But now he is . Why should I ? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me." comforted his wife, and went in to her, and lay with her. She bore a son, and he called his name . loved him; and he sent by the hand of the , and he named him Jedidiah, for sake. Now fought against of , and took the royal city. sent to , and said, "I have fought against . Yes, I have taken the city of waters. Now therefore gather the rest of the people together, and encamp against the city and take it; lest I take the city, and it be called by my name." 29 gathered all the people together and went to , and fought against it and took it. He took the of their king from off his head; and its weight was a of gold, and in it were precious stones; and it was set on head. He brought a great quantity of plunder out of the city. He brought out the people who were in it, and put them to work under saws, under iron picks, under axes of iron, and made them go to the brick kiln; and he did so to all the cities of . Then and all the people returned to .
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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.