World English Bible · The united kingdom
Psalms 85
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. A Psalm by the sons of . , you have been favorable to your land. You have restored the fortunes of . You have forgiven the of your people. You have covered all their . . You have taken away all your . You have turned from the fierceness of your . Turn us, of our , and cause your toward us to cease. Will you be angry with us ? Will you draw out your ? Won't you revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? Show us your , . Grant us your . I will hear what , , will speak, for he will speak peace to his people, his ; but let them not turn again to folly. Surely his is near those who fear him, that may in our land. meet together. and peace have kissed each other. Truth springs out of the earth. has looked down from . Yes, will give that which is good. Our land will yield its increase. goes before him, and prepares for his steps.
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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