King James Version · The united kingdom
Psalms 59
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To the , Al–taschith, Michtam of ; when sent, and they watched the house to kill him. me from mine , O my : defend me from them that rise up against me. me from the workers of , and me from bloody men. For, lo, they lie in wait for : the mighty are gathered against me; not for my , nor for my , O . They run and prepare themselves without my fault: awake to help me, and behold. Thou therefore, O of hosts, the of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any transgressors. . They return at evening: they make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city. Behold, they belch out with their : are in their : for who, say they, doth hear? But thou, O , shalt laugh at them; thou shalt have all the heathen in derision. Because of his strength will I wait upon thee: for is my defence. The of my mercy shall prevent me: shall let me see my upon mine . them not, lest my people forget: scatter them by thy ; and bring them down, O our shield. For the of their and the words of their let them even be taken in their pride: and for and lying which they speak. Consume them in , consume them, that they may not be: and let them know that ruleth in unto the ends of the earth. . And at evening let them return; and let them make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city. Let them wander up and down for meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied. But I will sing of thy ; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble. Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for is my defence, and the of my mercy.
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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