World English Bible · The united kingdom
Psalms 148
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! from ! him in the heights! him, all his ! him, all his army! him, sun and moon! him, all you shining stars! him, you of , you waters that are above . Let them name, for he commanded, and they were created. He has also established them and ever. He has made a which will not pass away. from the earth, you great sea creatures, and all depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy wind, fulfilling his word, mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all livestock, small creatures and flying birds, kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all judges of the earth, both young men and maidens, old men and children. Let them name, for his name alone is exalted. His is above the earth and . He has lifted up of his people, the of all his , even of the , a people near to him. !
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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