King James Version · The united kingdom
Psalms 57
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To the , Al–taschith, Michtam of , when he fled from in the cave. Be merciful unto me, O , be merciful unto me: for trusteth in thee: yea, in the shadow of thy will I make my refuge, until these calamities be overpast. I will cry unto ; unto that performeth all things for me. He shall send from , and me from the of him that would swallow me up. . shall send forth his mercy and his truth. is among lions: and I lie even among them that are set on , even the sons of men, whose teeth are spears and arrows, and their a sharp . Be thou exalted, O , above ; let thy be above all the earth. They have prepared a net for my steps; is : they have digged a pit before me, into the midst whereof they are fallen themselves. . is fixed, O , is fixed: I will sing and give . Awake up, my ; awake, psaltery and harp: I myself early. I will thee, O , among the people: I will sing unto thee among the nations. For thy mercy is great unto , and thy truth unto the clouds. Be thou exalted, O , above : let thy be above all the earth.
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.
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