King James Version · The united kingdom
2 Samuel 6
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Again, gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. And arose, and went with all the people that were with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from thence the , whose name is called by the name of of hosts that dwelleth between the cherubims. And they set the upon a new cart, and brought it out of the house of that was in : and Uzzah and , the sons of , drave the new cart. And they brought it out of the house of which was at , accompanying the : and went before the ark. And and all the played before on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals. And when they came to Nachon’s threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the , and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And the of was kindled against Uzzah; and smote him there for his error; and there he by the . And was displeased, because had made a breach upon Uzzah: and he called the name of the place –uzzah to this day. And was afraid of that day, and said, How shall the come to me? So would not remove the unto him into : but carried it aside into the house of the . And the continued in the house of the three months: and , and all his household. And it was told king , saying, hath the house of , and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the . So went and brought up the from the house of into with gladness. And it was so, that when they that the had gone six paces, he oxen and fatlings. And danced before with all his might; and was girded with a linen . So and all the brought up the with shouting, and with the sound of the . And as the came into , ’s daughter looked through a window, and saw king leaping and dancing before ; and she despised him in her . And they brought in the , and set it in his place, in the midst of the that had pitched for it: and offered and before . And as soon as had made an end of and , he the people in the name of of hosts. And he dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, as well to the women as men, to every one a cake of bread, and a good piece of , and a flagon of . So all the people departed every one to his house. Then returned to his household. And the daughter of came out to meet , and said, How was the king of Israel to day, who uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself! And said unto , It was before , which chose me before thy , and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of , over Israel: therefore will I play before . And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in . Therefore the daughter of had no child unto the day of her .
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.