World English Bible · The united kingdom
2 Samuel 18
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counted the people who were with him, and set captains of thousands and captains of hundreds over them. sent the people out, a third part under the hand of , and a third part under the hand of the son of , brother, and a third part under the hand of the . The king said to the people, "I will also surely go out with you myself." But the people said, "You shall not go out, for if we flee away, they will not care for us, neither if half of us , will they care for us. But you are worth ten thousand of us. Therefore now it is better that you are ready to help us out of the city." The king said to them, "I will do what seems best to you." The king stood beside the , and all the people went out by hundreds and by thousands. The king commanded and and , saying, "Deal gently for my sake with the young man ." All the people heard when the king commanded all the captains concerning . So the people went out into the field against Israel; and the battle was in the forest of . The people of Israel were struck there before servants, and there was a great slaughter there that day of twenty thousand men. For the battle was there spread over the surface of all the country, and the forest devoured more people that day than devoured. happened to meet servants. was riding on his mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak; and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was hanging between and earth; and the mule that was under him went on. 10A certain man saw it, and told , and said, "Behold, I saw hanging in an oak." 11 said to the man who told him, "Behold, you saw it, and why didn't you strike him there to the ground? I would have given you ten pieces of silver and a sash." The man said to , "Though I should receive a thousand pieces of silver in my hand, I still wouldn't stretch out my hand against the king's son; for in our hearing the king commanded you and and , saying, 'Beware that no one touch the young man .' Otherwise, if I had dealt falsely against his life (and there is no matter hidden from the king), then you yourself would have set yourself against me." Then said, "I'm not going to wait like this with you." He took three darts in his hand and thrust them through while he was still alive in the middle of the oak. 15Ten young men who bore armor surrounded and struck , and killed him. blew the , and the people returned from pursuing after Israel; for held the people back. They took and cast him into a great pit in the forest, and over him a very great heap of stones. Then all Israel fled, each to his own tent. Now in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself which is in the king's valley, for he said, "I have no son to keep my name in memory." He called after his own name. It is called monument, to this day. Then the son of said, "Let me now run and carry the king news, how has him of his ." said to him, "You must not be the bearer of news today, but you must carry news another day. But today you must carry no news, because the king's son is ." 21Then said to the , "Go, tell the king what you have seen!" The bowed himself to , and ran. Then the son of said yet again to , "But come what may, please let me also run after the ." said, "Why do you want to run, my son, since you will have no reward for the news?" "But come what may," he said, "I will run." He said to him, "Run!" Then ran by of the Plain, and outran the . Now was sitting between the two ; and the watchman went up to the roof of the to the wall, and lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, a man running alone. 25The watchman shouted and told the king. The king said, "If he is alone, there is news in his ." He came closer and closer. 26The watchman saw another man running; and the watchman called to the gatekeeper and said, "Behold, a man running alone!" The king said, "He also brings news." The watchman said, "I think the running of the first one is like the running of the son of ." The king said, "He is a good man, and comes with ." called, and said to the king, "All is well." He bowed himself before the king with to the earth, and said, " is your , who has up the men who lifted up their hand against my the king!" The king said, "Is it well with the young man ?" answered, "When sent the king's servant, even me , I saw a great tumult, but I don't know what it was." 30The king said, "Come and stand here." He came and stood still. Behold, the came. The said, " for my the king, for has you today of all those who rose up against you." The king said to the , "Is it well with the young man ?" The answered, "May the of my the king, and all who rise up against you to do you harm, be as that young man is." The king was much moved, and went up to the room over the and wept. As he went, he said, "My son ! My son, my son ! I wish I had instead of you, , my son, my son!"
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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.