World English Bible · The united kingdom
Psalms 30
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A Psalm. A Song for the Dedication of . By . I will extol you, , for you have me up, and have not made my to rejoice over me. my , I cried to you, and you have healed me. , you have brought up from . You have kept me alive, that I should not go down to . Sing to , you of his. to his name. For his is but for a moment. His is for a lifetime. Weeping may stay for the night, but joy comes in the morning. As for me, I said in my prosperity, "I shall never be moved." You, , when you favored me, made my mountain stand strong; but when you hid your , I was troubled. I cried to you, . I made to : "What profit is there in my , if I go down to ? Shall you? Shall it declare your truth? Hear, , and have mercy on me. , be my helper." You have turned my into dancing for me. You have removed my , and clothed me with gladness, to the end that may sing to you, and not be silent. my , I will to you !
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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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