World English Bible · The united kingdom
Proverbs 9
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has built her house. She has carved out her seven pillars. She has prepared her meat. She has mixed her . She has also set her table. She has sent out her maidens. She cries from the highest places of the city: "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!" As for him who is void of , she says to him, "Come, eat some of my bread, Drink some of the which I have mixed! Leave your simple ways, and live. Walk in of ." One who corrects a mocker invites insult. One who reproves a man invites abuse. Don't reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you. Reprove a person, and he will love you. Instruct a person, and he will be still wiser. Teach a person, and he will increase in learning. The is the beginning of . The knowledge of the One is . For by me your days will be multiplied. The years of your life will be increased. If you are , you are for yourself. If you mock, you alone will bear it. The foolish woman is loud, undisciplined, and knows nothing. She sits at the door of her house, on a seat in the of the city, to call to those who pass by, who go straight on their ways, "Whoever is simple, let him turn in here." As for him who is void of , she says to him, "Stolen water is sweet. Food eaten in secret is pleasant." But he doesn't know that the departed spirits are there, that her guests are in the depths of .
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.