World English Bible · The united kingdom
2 Samuel 7
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When the king lived in his house, and had given him rest from all his all around, the king said to the , "See now, I in a house of cedar, but ark dwells within curtains." said to the king, "Go, do all that is in , for is with you." That same night, word came to , saying, "Go and tell my servant , ' says, "Should you build me a house for me to in? For I have not lived in a house since the day that I brought the up out of , even to this day, but have moved around in a tent and in a . In all places in which I have walked with all the , did I say a word to anyone from the tribes of Israel whom I commanded to be of my people Israel, saying, 'Why have you not built me a house of cedar?'"' Now therefore tell my servant this: ' of Armies says, "I took you from the sheep pen, from following the sheep, to be prince over my people, over Israel. I have been with you wherever you went, and have all your from before you. I will make you a great name, like the name of the great ones who are in the earth. I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and will plant them, that they may in their own place and be moved no more. The children of wickedness will not afflict them any more, as at the first, and as from the day that I commanded judges to be over my people Israel. I will cause you to rest from all your . Moreover tells you that will make you a house. When your days are fulfilled and you sleep with your fathers, I will set up after you, who will proceed out of your body, and I will establish . He will build a house for my name, and I will establish of . I will be his , and he will be my son. If he commits , I will him with the of men and with the stripes of the children of men; but my will not depart from him, as I took it from , whom I before you. Your house and your kingdom will be made sure before you. Your will be established ."'" spoke to all these words, and according to all this . Then the king went in and sat before ; and he said, "Who am I, , and what is my house, that you have brought me this far? This was yet a small thing in your eyes, , but you have spoken also of house for a great while to come; and this among men, ! What more can say to you? For you know , . For your word's sake, and according to your own , you have worked all this greatness, to make know it. Therefore you are great, . For there is no one like you, neither is there any besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears. What one nation in the earth is like your people, even like Israel, whom went to to himself for a people, and to make himself a name, and to do great things for you, and awesome things for your land, before your people, whom you to yourself out of , from the nations and their gods? You established for yourself your people Israel to be your people ; and you, , became their . "Now, , the word that you have spoken concerning , and concerning his house, confirm it , and do as you have spoken. Let your name be magnified , saying, ' of Armies is over Israel; and the house of will be established before you.' For you, , the of Israel, have to , saying, 'I will build you a house.' Therefore has found in to this to you. "Now, O , you are , and your words are truth, and you have promised this good thing to . Now therefore, let it please you to the house of , that it may continue before you; for you, , have spoken it. Let the house of be with your ."
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. 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.