World English Bible · The united kingdom
2 Samuel 5
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Then all the tribes of Israel came to at and spoke, saying, "Behold, we are your bone and your . In times past, when was king over us, it was you who led Israel out and in. said to you, 'You will be of my people Israel, and you will be prince over Israel.'" So all the came to the king to , and King made a with them in before ; and they king over Israel. was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. In he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah. The king and his men went to against the , the inhabitants of the land, who spoke to , saying, "The blind and the lame will keep you out of here," thinking, " can't come in here." Nevertheless took the of . This is city. said on that day, "Whoever strikes the , let him go up to the watercourse and strike those lame and blind, who are hated by ." Therefore they say, "The blind and the lame can't come into the house." lived in the , and called it city. built around from and inward. grew greater and greater, for , the of Armies, was with him. king of sent to , with cedar trees, carpenters, and masons; and they built a house. perceived that had established him king over Israel, and that he had exalted for his people Israel's sake. took more and wives for himself out of , after he had come from ; and more sons and daughters were born to . These are the names of those who were born to him in : , , , , Ibhar, Elishua, , Japhia, Elishama, Eliada, and . When the heard that they had king over Israel, all the went up to seek , but heard about it and went down to the . Now the had come and spread themselves in the valley of . inquired of , saying, "Shall I go up against the ? Will you them into my hand?" said to , "Go up; for I will certainly the into your hand." came to , and struck them there. Then he said, " has broken before me, like the breach of waters." Therefore he called the name of that place . They left their there, and and his men took them away. The came up yet again and spread themselves in the valley of . When inquired of , he said, "You shall not go up. Circle around behind them, and attack them in front of the mulberry trees. When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then stir yourself up; for then has gone out before you to strike the army of the ." did so, as commanded him, and struck the all from to .
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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.