King James Version · The united kingdom
2 Samuel 19
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And it was told , Behold, the king weepeth and mourneth for . And the victory that day was turned into unto all the people: for the people heard say that day how the king was grieved for his son. And the people gat them by stealth that day into the city, as people being steal away when they flee in battle. But the king covered , and the king cried with a loud voice, O my son , O , my son, my son! And came into the house to the king, and said, Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, which this day have thy life, and the lives of thy sons and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy ; In that thou lovest thine , and hatest thy friends. For thou hast declared this day, that thou regardest neither princes nor servants: for this day I perceive, that if had lived, and all we had this day, then it had pleased thee well. Now therefore arise, go forth, and speak comfortably unto thy servants: for I by , if thou go not forth, there will not tarry one with thee this night: and that will be worse unto thee than all the evil that befell thee from thy youth until now. Then the king arose, and sat in the . And they told unto all the people, saying, Behold, the king doth sit in the . And all the people came before the king: for Israel had fled every man to his tent. And all the people were at strife throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, The king us out of the hand of our , and he us out of the hand of the ; and now he is fled out of the land for . And , whom we over us, is in battle. Now therefore why speak ye not a word of bringing the king back? And king sent to and to the priests, saying, Speak unto the of Judah, saying, Why are ye the last to bring the king back to his house? seeing the speech of all Israel is come to the king, even to his house. Ye are my brethren, ye are my bones and my : wherefore then are ye the last to bring back the king? And say ye to , Art thou not of my bone, and of my ? do so to me, and more also, if thou be not captain of the host before me continually in the room of . And he bowed of all the men of Judah, even as of one man; so that they sent this word unto the king, Return thou, and all thy servants. So the king returned, and came to Jordan. And Judah came to , to go to meet the king, to conduct the king over Jordan. And the son of , a , which was of Bahurim, hasted and came down with the men of Judah to meet king . And there were a thousand men of with him, and the the house of , and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they went over Jordan before the king. And there went over a ferry boat to carry over the king’s household, and to do what he thought good. And the son of fell down before the king, as he was come over Jordan; And said unto the king, Let not my impute unto me, neither do thou remember that which thy servant did perversely the day that my the king went out of , that the king should take it to . For thy servant doth know that I have : therefore, behold, I am come the first this day of all the to go down to meet my the king. But the son of answered and said, Shall not be put to for this, because he ’s ? And said, What have I to do with you, ye sons of , that ye should this day be unto me? shall there any man be put to this day in Israel? for do not I know that I am this day king over Israel? Therefore the king said unto , Thou shalt not . And the king sware unto him. And the son of came down to meet the king, and had neither dressed his feet, nor trimmed his beard, nor washed his clothes, from the day the king departed until the day he came again in peace. And it came to pass, when he was come to to meet the king, that the king said unto him, Wherefore wentest not thou with me, ? And he answered, My , O king, my servant deceived me: for thy servant said, I will saddle me an ass, that I may ride thereon, and go to the king; because thy servant is lame. And he hath slandered thy servant unto my the king; but my the king is as of : do therefore what is good in thine eyes. For all of ’s house were but men before my the king: yet didst thou set thy servant among them that did eat at thine own table. What right therefore have I yet to cry any more unto the king? And the king said unto him, Why speakest thou any more of thy matters? I have said, Thou and divide the land. And said unto the king, Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my the king is come again in peace unto his own house. And the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and went over Jordan with the king, to conduct him over Jordan. Now was a very aged man, even fourscore years old: and he had provided the king of sustenance while he lay at ; for he was a very great man. And the king said unto , Come thou over with me, and I will feed thee with me in . And said unto the king, How long have I to live, that I should go up with the king unto ? I am this day fourscore years old: and can I discern between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my the king? Thy servant will go a little way over Jordan with the king: and why should the king it me with such a reward? Let thy servant, I thee, again, that I may in mine own city, and be buried by the of and of my mother. But behold thy servant ; let him go over with my the king; and do to him what shall seem good unto thee. 38And the king answered, shall go over with me, and I will do to him that which shall seem good unto thee: and whatsoever thou shalt require of me, that will I do for thee. And all the people went over Jordan. And when the king was come over, the king kissed , and him; and he returned unto his own place. Then the king went on to , and went on with him: and all the people of Judah conducted the king, and also half the people of Israel. And, behold, all the men of Israel came to the king, and said unto the king, Why have our brethren the men of Judah stolen thee away, and have brought the king, and his household, and all ’s men with him, over Jordan? And all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, Because the king is near of kin to us: wherefore then be ye angry for this matter? have we eaten at all of the king’s cost? or hath he given us any gift? And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, We have ten parts in the king, and we have also more right in than ye: why then did ye despise us, that our should not be first had in bringing back our king? And the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. 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.