World English Bible · The united kingdom
Psalms 56
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. To the tune of "Silent in Distant Lands." A poem by , when the seized him in . Be merciful to me, , for man wants to swallow me up. All day long, he attacks and oppresses me. want to swallow me up all day long, for they are many who fight proudly against me. When I am afraid, I will put my in you. In , I his word. In , I put my . I will not be afraid. What can do to me? All day long they twist my words. All their are against me for evil. They conspire and lurk, watching my steps. They are eager to take my life. Shall they escape by ? In cast down the peoples, . You count my wanderings. You put my tears into your container. Aren't they in your book? Then shall in the day that I call. I know this: that is for me. In , I will his word. In , I will his word. I have put my in . I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? Your are on me, . I will give thank to you. For you have from , and prevented my feet from falling, that I may walk before in of the living.
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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