World English Bible · The united kingdom
Psalms 24
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A Psalm by . The earth is , with its fullness; the world, and those who in it. For he has founded it on the seas, and established it on the floods. Who may ascend to hill? Who may stand in his place? He who has clean hands and a pure ; who has not lifted up his to falsehood, and has not deceitfully. He shall receive a from , from the of his . This is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek your —even . . Lift up your heads, you ! Be lifted up, you doors, and the King of will come in. Who is the King of ? strong and mighty, mighty in battle. 9Lift up your heads, you ; yes, lift them up, you doors, and the King of will come in. Who is this King of ? of Armies is the King 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.
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