World English Bible · The united kingdom
2 Samuel 9
Touch any underlined name to see who or where it is. Tap a verse number to see where it is taken up elsewhere.
said, "Is there yet any who is left of house, that I may show him kindness for sake?" There was of house a servant whose name was , and they called him to ; and the king said to him, "Are you ?" He said, "I am ." The king said, "Is there not yet any of house, that I may show the kindness of to him?" said to the king, " still has a son, who is lame in his feet." The king said to him, "Where is he?" said to the king, "Behold, he is in the house of the son of , in Lo Debar." 5Then King sent and brought him out of the house of the son of , from Lo Debar. , the son of , the son of , came to , fell on , and showed respect. said, "?" He answered, "Behold, !" said to him, "Don't be afraid, for I will surely show you kindness for your sake, and will restore to you all the land of your . You will eat bread at my table continually." He , and said, "What is , that you should look at such a dog as I am?" Then the king called to , servant, and said to him, "All that belonged to and to all his house I have given to your master's son. Till the land for him—you, your sons, and your servants. Bring in the harvest, that your master's son may have bread to eat; but your master's son will always eat bread at my table." Now had fifteen sons and twenty servants. Then said to the king, "According to all that my the king commands his servant, so will do." So ate at the king's table like one of the king's sons. had a young son, whose name was . All who lived in house were servants to . So lived in , for he ate continually at the king's table. He was lame in both his feet.
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.