King James Version · The united kingdom
2 Samuel 1
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1Now it came to pass after the of , when was returned from the slaughter of , and had abode two days in ; It came even to pass on the third day, that, behold, a man came out of the camp from with his clothes rent, and earth upon his head: and so it was, when he came to , that he fell to the earth, and did obeisance. And said unto him, From whence comest thou? And he said unto him, Out of the camp of Israel am I escaped. And said unto him, How went the matter? I thee, tell me. And he answered, That the people are fled from the battle, and many of the people also are fallen and ; and and his son are also. And said unto the young man that told him, How knowest thou that and his son be ? And the young man that told him said, As I happened by chance upon , behold, leaned upon his spear; and, lo, the chariots and horsemen followed hard after him. And when he looked behind him, he saw me, and called unto me. And I answered, Here am I. And he said unto me, Who art thou? And I answered him, I am an . 9He said unto me again, Stand, I thee, upon me, and me: for anguish is come upon me, because my life is yet whole in me. So I stood upon him, and slew him, because I was sure that he could not live after that he was fallen: and I took the that was upon his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither unto my . Then took hold on his clothes, and rent them; and likewise all the men that were with him: And they mourned, and wept, and until even, for , and for his son, and for the people of , and for the ; because they were fallen . And said unto the young man that told him, Whence art thou? And he answered, I am the son of a , an . And said unto him, How wast thou not afraid to stretch forth thine hand to destroy ’s ? And called one of the young men, and said, Go near, and fall upon him. And he smote him that he . And said unto him, Thy be upon thy head; for thy hath testified against thee, saying, I have slain ’s . And with this over and over his son: (Also he bade them teach the children of Judah the use of the bow: behold, in the book of Jasher.) The beauty of Israel is slain upon thy : how are the mighty fallen! Tell it not in , publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the rejoice, lest the daughters of the triumph. Ye mountains of Gilboa, let there be no , neither let there be , upon you, nor fields of : for there the shield of the mighty is vilely cast away, the shield of , as though he had not been with oil. From of the slain, from the mighty, the bow of turned not back, and of returned not empty. and were lovely and pleasant in their lives, and in their they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, they were stronger than lions. Ye daughters of Israel, weep over , who clothed you in scarlet, with other delights, who put on ornaments of gold upon your apparel. How are the mighty fallen in the midst of the battle! O , thou wast slain in thine . I am distressed for thee, my brother : very pleasant hast thou been unto me: thy love to me was wonderful, passing the love of women. How are the mighty fallen, and the weapons of war !
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.