King James Version · The united kingdom
Psalms 147
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ye : for it is good to sing unto our ; for it is pleasant; and is comely. doth build up : he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. He healeth the broken in , and bindeth up their wounds. He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names. Great is our , and of great : his understanding is infinite. lifteth up the meek: he casteth down to the ground. Sing unto with ; sing upon the harp unto our : Who covereth the with clouds, who prepareth for the earth, who maketh grass to grow upon the mountains. He giveth to his food, and to the young ravens which cry. He delighteth not in the strength of the horse: he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man. taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that in his mercy. , O ; thy , O . For he hath strengthened the bars of thy ; he hath thy children within thee. He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat. He sendeth forth his upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly. He giveth snow like wool: he scattereth the hoarfrost like . He casteth forth his ice like morsels: who can stand before his cold? He sendeth out his word, and melteth them: he causeth his wind to blow, and the waters flow. He sheweth his word unto , his and his judgments unto Israel. He hath not dealt so with any nation: and as for his judgments, they have not known them. ye .
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.
All of Psalms
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