World English Bible · The united kingdom
2 Samuel 15
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After this, prepared a chariot and horses for himself, and fifty men to run before him. rose up early, and stood beside of the . When any man had a suit which should come to the king for , then called to him, and said, "What city are you from?" He said, " is of one of the tribes of Israel." said to him, "Behold, your matters are good and right; but there is no man deputized by the king to hear you." said moreover, "Oh that I were made judge in the land, that every man who has any suit or cause might come to me, and I would do him justice!" It was so, that when any man came near to to him, he stretched out his hand, took hold of him, and kissed him. did this sort of thing to all Israel who came to the king for . So stole the of the men of Israel. At the end of forty years, said to the king, "Please let me go and pay my , which I have to , in . For a while I stayed at Geshur in , saying, 'If shall indeed bring me again to , then I will .'" 9The king said to him, "Go in peace." So he arose and went to . But sent spies throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, "As soon as you hear the sound of the , then you shall say, ' is king in !'" Two hundred men went with out of , who were invited, and went in their simplicity; and they didn't know anything. sent for the , , from his city, even from , while he was the . The conspiracy was strong, for the people increased continually with . A came to , saying, "The of the men of Israel are after ." said to all his servants who were with him at , "Arise! Let's flee, or else none of us will escape from . Hurry to depart, lest he overtake us quickly and bring down evil on us, and strike the city with the edge of ." The king's servants said to the king, "Behold, your servants are ready to do whatever my the king chooses." The king went out, and all his household after him. The king left ten women, who were , to keep the house. The king went out, and all the people after him; and they stayed in Beth Merhak. All his servants passed on beside him; and all the , and all the , and all the Gittites, six hundred men who came after him from , passed on before the king. Then the king said to the , "Why do you also go with us? Return, and stay with the king; for you are a and also an . Return to your own place. Whereas you came but yesterday, should I today make you go up and down with us, since I go where I may? Return, and take back your brothers. be with you." answered the king and said, "As lives, and as my the king lives, surely in what place my the king is, whether for or for life, will be there also." 22 said to , "Go and pass over." the passed over, and all his men, and all the little ones who were with him. All the country wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over. The king also himself passed over the brook , and all the people passed over toward of . Behold, also came, and all the with him, bearing the of ; and they set down ark; and went up until all the people finished passing out of the city. The king said to , "Carry ark back into the city. If I find in eyes, he will bring me again, and show me both it and his habitation; but if he says, 'I have no delight in you,' behold, here I am. Let him do to me as seems good to him." The king said also to the priest, "Aren't you a ? Return into the city in peace, and your two sons with you, your son and the son of . Behold, I will stay at the fords of until word comes from you to inform me." 29 therefore and carried ark to again; and they stayed there. went up by the ascent of , and wept as he went up; and he had his head covered and went barefoot. All the people who were with him each covered his head, and they went up, weeping as they went up. Someone told , saying, " is among the conspirators with ." said, ", please turn the of into foolishness." When had come to the top, where was , behold, the came to meet him with his tunic torn and earth on his head. said to him, "If you pass on with me, then you will be a burden to me; but if you return to the city, and tell , 'I will be , O king. As I have been your servant in time past, so I will now be ; then you will defeat for me the of .' Don't you have and the priests there with you? Therefore whatever you hear out of the king's house, tell it to and the priests. Behold, they have there with them their two sons, , son, and , son. Send to me everything that you shall hear by them." So , friend, came into the city; and came into .
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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.