World English Bible · The united kingdom
2 Samuel 1
Touch any underlined name to see who or where it is. Tap a verse number to see where it is taken up elsewhere.
1After the of , when had returned from the slaughter of , and had stayed two days in , on the third day, behold, a man came out of the camp from , with his clothes torn and earth on his head. When he came to , he fell to the earth and showed respect. said to him, "Where do you come from?" He said to him, "I have escaped out of the camp of Israel." said to him, "How did it go? Please tell me." He answered, "The people have fled from the battle, and many of the people also have fallen and are . and his son are also." said to the young man who told him, "How do you know that and his son are ?" The young man who told him said, "As I happened by chance on , behold, was leaning on his spear; and behold, the chariots and the horsemen followed close behind him. When he looked behind him, he saw me and called to me. I answered, 'Here I am.' He said to me, 'Who are you?' I answered him, 'I am an .' 9He said to me, 'Please stand beside me, and kill me, for anguish has taken hold of me because my life lingers in me.' So I stood beside him and killed him, because I was sure that he could not live after he had fallen. I took the that was on his head and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them here to my ." Then took hold on his clothes and tore them; and all the men who were with him did likewise. They mourned, wept, and until evening for and for his son, and for the people of , and for the , because they had fallen . said to the young man who told him, "Where are you from?" He answered, "I am the son of a , an ." said to him, "Why were you not afraid to stretch out your hand to destroy ?" called one of the young men and said, "Go near, and cut him down!" He struck him so that he . said to him, "Your be on your head, for your has testified against you, saying, 'I have slain .'" with this over and over his son (and he commanded them to teach the children of Judah the song of the bow; behold, in the book of Jashar): "Your , Israel, was slain on your ! How the mighty have fallen! Don't tell it in . Don't publish it in the streets of , lest the daughters of the rejoice, lest the daughters of the triumph. You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no or on you, and no fields of ; for there the shield of the mighty was defiled and cast away, the shield of was not with oil. From of the slain, from the mighty, bow didn't . didn't return empty. and were lovely and pleasant in their lives. In their , they were not divided. They were swifter than eagles. They were stronger than lions. You daughters of Israel, weep over , who clothed you delicately in scarlet, who put ornaments of gold on your clothing. How the mighty have fallen in the middle of the battle! was slain on your . I am distressed for you, my brother . You have been very pleasant to me. Your love to me was wonderful, surpassing the love of women. How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war have !"
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. 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.