World English Bible · The united kingdom
Psalms 98
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A Psalm. a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His and his arm have worked for him. has his . He has openly shown his in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his and his toward the . All the ends of the earth have seen the of our . Make a joyful noise to , all the earth! Burst out and sing for joy, yes, sing ! Sing to with the harp, with the harp and the voice of melody. With and sound of the , make a joyful noise before the King, . Let the sea roar with its fullness; the world, and those who therein. Let the rivers clap their hands. Let the mountains sing for joy together. Let them sing before , for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world with , and the peoples with equity.
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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