World English Bible · The united kingdom
2 Samuel 23
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Now these are the last words of . the son of says, the man who was on high says, of the of , the sweet psalmist of Israel: " spoke by me. His word was on my . The of Israel said, of Israel spoke to me, 'One who rules over men righteously, who rules in , shall be as of the morning when the sun rises, a morning without clouds, when the tender grass springs out of the earth, through clear shining after .' Isn't my house so with ? Yet he has made with me an , ordered in all things, and sure, for it is all my and all my . Won't he make it grow? But all the ungodly will be as to be thrust away, because they can't be taken with the hand. The man who touches them must be armed with iron and the of a spear. They will be utterly burned with in their place." These are the names of the whom had: Josheb Basshebeth a Tahchemonite, chief of the captains; he was called the Eznite, who killed eight hundred at one time. After him was the son of Dodai the son of an , one of the three with when they defied the who were there gathered together to battle, and the men of Israel had gone away. He arose and struck the until his hand was weary, and his hand froze to ; and worked a great victory that day; and the people returned after him only to take plunder. After him was the son of Agee a . The had gathered together into a troop where there was a plot of ground full of lentils; and the people fled from the . But he stood in the middle of the plot and defended it, and killed the ; and worked a great victory. Three of chief men went down, and came to in the harvest time to the cave of ; and the troop of the was encamped in the valley of . was then in the ; and the garrison of the was then in . said longingly, "Oh that someone would give me water to drink from the well of , which is by the !" The three broke through the army of the , and drew water out of the well of that was by the and took it and brought it to ; but he would not drink of it, but poured it out to . He said, "Be it far from me, , that I should do this! Isn't this of the men who risked their lives to go?" Therefore he would not drink it. The three did these things. , the brother of , the son of , was chief of the three. He lifted up his spear against three hundred and killed them, and had a name among the three. Wasn't he most honorable of the three? Therefore he was made their captain. However he wasn't included as one of the three. the son of , the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, killed the two sons of of . He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit in a time of snow. He killed a huge , and the had a spear in his hand; but he went down to him with a and plucked the spear out of the hand, and killed him with his own spear. 22 the son of did these things, and had a name among the three . He was more honorable than , but he didn't attain to the three. set him over his guard. the brother of was one of : the son of of , the Harodite, Elika the Harodite, the Paltite, the son of the , the , the , the , the , Heleb the son of the , the son of Ribai of of the children of , a , of the brooks of Gaash. Abialbon the , the , the , the sons of , , the , the son of the Ararite, the son of , the son of the , Eliam the son of the , the , the Arbite, the son of of , the , the , the Beerothite, armor bearers to the son of , the , the , and the : thirty-seven in all.
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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.