World English Bible · The united kingdom
Psalms 135
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! name! him, you servants of , you who stand in house, in the courts of our house. , for is good. Sing to his name, for that is pleasant. For has chosen for himself, Israel for his own possession. For I know that is great, that our is above all gods. Whatever pleased, that he has done, in and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps. He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightnings with the . He brings the wind out of his treasuries. He struck of , both of man and animal. He sent signs and wonders into the middle of you, , on , and on all his servants. He struck many nations, and killed mighty kings— king of the , king of , and all the kingdoms of — and gave their land for a heritage, a heritage to Israel, his people. Your name, , endures ; your renown, , throughout all generations. For will judge his people and have on his servants. The idols of the nations are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they can't speak. They have eyes, but they can't see. 17They have ears, but they can't hear, neither is there any breath in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them, yes, everyone who trusts in them. , ! House of , ! 20, ! You who , ! be from , who dwells in . !
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.
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