King James Version · The united kingdom
2 Samuel 3
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Now there was long war between the house of and the house of : but waxed stronger and stronger, and the house of waxed weaker and weaker. And unto were sons born in : and 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, by Eglah ’s wife. These were born to in . And it came to pass, while there was war between the house of and the house of , that made himself strong for the house of . And had a , whose name was , the daughter of : and said to , Wherefore hast thou gone in unto ’s ? Then was very wroth for the words of , and said, Am I a dog’s head, which against Judah do shew kindness this day unto the house of thy , to his brethren, and to his friends, and have not thee into the hand of , that thou chargest me to day with a fault concerning this woman? So do to , and more also, except, as hath to , even so I do to him; To translate from the house of , and to set up of over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beer–sheba. 11And he could not answer a word again, because he feared him. And sent to on his behalf, saying, Whose is the land? saying also, Make thy league with me, and, behold, my hand shall be with thee, to bring about all Israel unto thee. And he said, Well; I will make a league with thee: but one thing I require of thee, that is, Thou shalt not see , except thou first bring ’s daughter, when thou comest to see . And sent to ’s son, saying, me my wife , which I espoused to me for an hundred foreskins of the . And sent, and took her from her husband, even from Phaltiel the son of . And her husband went with her along weeping behind her to Bahurim. Then said unto him, Go, return. And he returned. 17And had communication with the , saying, Ye sought for in times past to be king over you: Now then do it: for hath 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 . And also spake in the ears of : and went also to speak in the ears of in all that seemed good to Israel, and that seemed good to the whole house of . So came to to , and twenty men with him. And made and the men that were with him a feast. And said unto , I will arise and go, and will gather all Israel unto my the king, that they may make a league with thee, and that thou mayest reign over all that thine desireth. And sent away; and he went in peace. 22And, behold, the servants of and came from pursuing a troop, and brought in a great spoil with them: but was not with in ; for he had sent him away, and he was gone in peace. 23When and that was with him were come, they told , saying, the son of came to the king, and he hath sent him away, and he is gone in peace. Then came to the king, and said, What hast thou done? behold, came unto thee; why is it that thou hast sent him away, and he is quite gone? Thou knowest the son of , that he came to deceive thee, and to know thy going out and thy coming in, and to know all that thou doest. And when was come out from , he sent after , which brought him again from the well of Sirah: but knew it not. And when was returned to , took him aside in the to speak with him quietly, and smote him there under the fifth rib, that he , for of his brother. And afterward when heard it, he said, I and my kingdom are guiltless before for ever from of the son of : Let it rest on the head of , and on all his ’s house; and let there not fail from the house of one that hath an issue, or that is a , or that leaneth on a , or that falleth on , or that lacketh bread. So and his brother slew , because he had slain their brother at in the battle. And said to , and to all the people that were with him, Rend your clothes, and gird you with , and mourn before . And king himself followed the bier. And they buried in : and the king lifted up his voice, and wept at the of ; and all the people wept. And the king over , and said, as a fool dieth? Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet put into fetters: as a man falleth before men, so fellest thou. And all the people wept again over him. And when all the people came to cause to eat meat while it was yet day, sware, saying, So do to me, and more also, if I taste bread, or ought else, till the sun be down. And all the people took notice of it, and it pleased them: as whatsoever the king did pleased all the people. 37For all the people and all Israel understood that day that it was not of the king to the son of . And the king said unto his servants, Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel? And I am this day weak, though king; and these men the sons of be too hard for me: shall reward the doer of evil according to his wickedness.
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.