World English Bible · The united kingdom
2 Samuel 3
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Now there was long war between house and house. grew stronger and stronger, but house grew weaker and weaker. Sons were born to in . His was , of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess; and his second, Chileab, of the wife of the ; and the third, the son of the daughter of Talmai king of Geshur; and the fourth, the son of Haggith; and the fifth, Shephatiah the son of Abital; 5and the sixth, Ithream, of Eglah, wife. These were born to in . While there was war between house and house, made himself strong in house. Now had a , whose name was , the daughter of ; and said to , "Why have you gone in to ?" Then was very angry about words, and said, "Am I a dog's head that belongs to Judah? Today I show kindness to your house, to his brothers, and to his friends, and have not you into the hand of ; and yet you charge me today with a fault concerning this woman! do so to , and more also, if, as has to , I don't do even so to him: to transfer from house, and to set up over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to ." 11He could not answer another word, because he was afraid of him. sent to on his behalf, saying, "Whose is the land?" and saying, "Make your alliance with me, and behold, my hand will be with you to bring all Israel around to you." said, "Good. I will make a treaty with you, but one thing I require of you. That is, you will not see unless you first bring , daughter, when you come to see ." sent to , son, saying, " me my wife , whom I was given to marry for one hundred foreskins of the ." sent and took her from her husband, the son of . Her husband went with her, weeping as he went, and followed her to Bahurim. Then said to him, "Go! Return!" and he returned. 17 had communication with the , saying, "In times past, you sought for to be king over you. Now then do it! For has spoken of , saying, 'By the hand of my servant , I will my people Israel out of the hand of the , and out of the hand of all their .'" also spoke in the ears of ; and went also to speak in the ears of in all that seemed good to Israel and to the whole house of . So came to to , and twenty men with him. made and the men who were with him a feast. said to , "I will arise and go, and will gather all Israel to my the king, that they may make a with you, and that you may reign over all that your ." sent away; and he went in peace. 22Behold, servants and came from a raid and brought in a great plunder with them; but was not with in , for he had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. 23When and who was with him had come, they told , " the son of came to the king, and he has sent him away, and he has gone in peace." Then came to the king and said, "What have you done? Behold, came to you. Why is it that you have sent him away, and he is already gone? You know the son of . He came to deceive you, and to know your going out and your coming in, and to know all that you do." When had come out from , he sent after , and they brought him back from the well of Sirah; but didn't know it. When had returned to , took him aside into the middle of the to speak with him quietly, and struck him there in the body, so that he for of his brother. Afterward, when heard it, he said, "I and my kingdom are guiltless before of of the son of . Let it fall on the head of and on all his house. Let there not fail from the house of one who has a discharge, or who is a , or who leans on a , or who falls , or who lacks bread." So and his brother killed , because he had killed their brother at in the battle. said to and to all the people who were with him, "Tear your clothes, and clothe yourselves with , and mourn in front of ." King followed the bier. They buried in ; and the king lifted up his voice and wept at ; and all the people wept. The king for , and said, "Should as a fool dies? Your hands weren't bound, and your feet weren't put into fetters. As a man falls before the children of , so you fell." All the people wept again over him. All the people came to urge to eat bread while it was yet day; but , saying, " do so to me, and more also, if I taste bread or anything else, until the sun goes down." All the people took notice of it, and it pleased them, as whatever the king did pleased all the people. 37So all the people and all Israel understood that day that it was not of the king to kill the son of . The king said to his servants, "Don't you know that a prince and a great man has fallen today in Israel? I am weak today, though king. These men, the sons of are too hard for me. May reward the evildoer according to his wickedness."
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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.