King James Version · The united kingdom
Proverbs 25
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These are also of , which the men of king of Judah copied out. It is the of to conceal a thing: but the of kings is to search out a matter. The for height, and the earth for depth, and of kings is unsearchable. Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a for the finer. Take away from before the king, and his shall be established in . Put not forth thyself in the of the king, and stand not in the place of great men: For better it is that it be said unto thee, Come up hither; than that thou shouldest be put lower in the of the prince whom thine eyes have seen. Go not forth hastily to strive, lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof, when thy neighbour hath put thee to . Debate thy cause with thy neighbour himself; and discover not a secret to another: 10Lest he that heareth it put thee to , and thine infamy turn not away. A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver. As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a reprover upon an obedient ear. As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a to them that send him: for he refresheth the of his masters. Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without . By long forbearing is a prince persuaded, and a soft breaketh the bone. Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it. 17Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbour’s house; lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee. A man that beareth false against his neighbour is a maul, and a , and a sharp arrow. Confidence in an man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint. As he that taketh away a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to an heavy . If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: For thou shalt heap coals of upon his head, and shall reward thee. The north wind driveth away : so doth an angry countenance a backbiting . It is better to in the corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman and in a wide house. As cold waters to a thirsty , so is from a far country. A man falling down before is as a troubled fountain, and a corrupt spring. It is not good to eat much honey: so for men to search their own is not . He that hath no his own is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.
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.