World English Bible · The united kingdom
Psalms 84
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. On an instrument of . A Psalm by the sons of . How lovely are your dwellings, ! longs, and even faints for the courts of . and my cry out for the living . Yes, the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young, near your , , my King, and my . are those who in your house. They are always praising you. . are those whose strength is in you, who have set their on a pilgrimage. Passing through the valley of Weeping, they make it a place of springs. Yes, the autumn covers it with . They go from strength to strength. Every one of them appears before in . 8, of Armies, hear my . Listen, of . . Behold, our shield, look at the of your . For a day in your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my , than to in the tents of wickedness. For is a sun and a shield. will give and . He withholds no good thing from those who walk blamelessly. , is the man who trusts in you.
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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