World English Bible · Egypt and Sinai
Numbers 22
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The traveled, and encamped in beyond at . the son of saw all that Israel had done to the . was very afraid of the people, because they were many. was distressed because of the . said to the of , "Now this multitude will lick up all that is around us, as the ox licks up the grass of the field." the son of was king of at that time. He sent to the son of , to Pethor, which is by , to the land of the children of his people, to call him, saying, "Behold, there is a people who came out of . Behold, they cover the surface of the earth, and they are staying opposite me. Please come now therefore, and this people for me; for they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I shall prevail, that we may strike them, and that I may drive them out of the land; for I know that he whom you is , and he whom you is ." The of and the of departed with the rewards of in their hand. They came to , and spoke to him the words of . He said to them, "Lodge here this night, and I will bring you word again, as shall speak to me." The princes of stayed with . came to , and said, "Who are these men with you?" 10 said to , " the son of , king of , has said to me, 11'Behold, the people that has come out of covers the surface of the earth. Now, come them for me. Perhaps I shall be able to fight against them, and shall drive them out.'" said to , "You shall not go with them. You shall not the people, for they are ." rose up in the morning, and said to the princes of , "Go to your land; for refuses to permit me to go with you." The princes of rose up, and they went to , and said, " refuses to come with us." again sent princes, more, and more honorable than they. 16They came to , and said to him, " the son of says, 'Please let nothing hinder you from coming to me, for I will promote you to very great , and whatever you say to me I will do. Please come therefore, and this people for me.'" answered the servants of , "If would give me his house full of silver and gold, I can't go beyond the word of my , to do less or more. Now therefore please stay here tonight as well, that I may know what else will speak to me." came to at night, and said to him, "If the men have come to call you, rise up, go with them; but only the word which I speak to you, that you shall do." rose up in the morning, and saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of . burned because he went; and placed himself in as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two servants were with him. The donkey saw standing in , with his drawn in his hand; and the donkey turned out of , and went into the field. struck the donkey, to turn her into . 24Then stood in a narrow path between the vineyards, a wall being on this side, and a wall on that side. The donkey saw , and she thrust herself to the wall, and crushed foot against the wall. He struck her again. went further, and stood in a narrow place, where there was no way to turn either to or to the left. The donkey saw , and she lay down under . burned, and he struck the donkey with his . opened the of the donkey, and she said to , "What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?" said to the donkey, "Because you have mocked me, I wish there were a in my hand, for now I would have killed you." The donkey said to , "Am I not your donkey, on which you have ridden all your life long until today? Was I ever in the habit of doing so to you?" He said, "No." Then opened the eyes of , and he saw standing in , with his drawn in his hand; and he bowed his head, and fell on . said to him, "Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary, because your way is perverse before me. The donkey saw me, and turned away before me these three times. Unless she had turned away from me, surely now I would have killed you, and her alive." said to , "I have ; for I didn't know that you stood in against me. Now therefore, if it displeases you, I will go back again." said to , "Go with the men; but you shall only speak the word that I shall speak to you." So went with the princes of . When heard that had come, he went out to meet him to the City of , which is on the border of the , which is in the utmost part of the border. said to , "Didn't I earnestly send for you to summon you? Why didn't you come to me? Am I not able indeed to promote you to ?" said to , "Behold, I have come to you. Have I now any at all to speak anything? I will speak the word that puts in my ." 39 went with , and they came to Kiriath Huzoth. cattle and sheep, and sent to , and to the princes who were with him. In the morning, took , and brought him up into the of ; and he saw from there part of the people.
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The world at this moment · Egypt and Sinai, 1450 BC to 1200 BC ›
Israel in and then out of Egypt, at a period when Egypt was an imperial power that also controlled Canaan. The nation is formed as a people with a law before it has any land.
- Egypt
- The New Kingdom at its imperial peak, with a professional army, a chariot corps, and control reaching up through Canaan. Ramesses II reigns for sixty-six years and covers the country in monuments to himself. Egyptian power in this period is the reason Canaan is garrisoned rather than free.
- The Hittites
- The other superpower, in what is now Turkey, and Egypt's rival for the Levant. The two fight the largest chariot battle of the ancient world at Kadesh, then sign a treaty whose text survives from both sides. Hittite treaty form, with its historical prologue, stipulations, witnesses, blessings, and curses, is the shape the Sinai covenant takes, which is one of the stronger arguments for the antiquity of that material.
- The Aegean
- Mycenaean Greece: warrior kings in stone citadels at Mycenae and Pylos, keeping palace accounts in Linear B. The world of the Trojan War stories, whatever lies behind them.
- Further afield
- The Shang dynasty in China is casting extraordinary bronzes and writing questions to its ancestors on ox bones. In Mesoamerica the Olmec are beginning the first civilisation of the Americas.