"And he said ... ' ... every scribe who has become a disciple of the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house, who gives out from his store things new and old'."
Showing posts with label academia.edu Simcha Jacobovici Exodus Decoded. Show all posts
Showing posts with label academia.edu Simcha Jacobovici Exodus Decoded. Show all posts
ROME — In his final public appearance of 2014, Pope Francis on Wednesday invited believers to a serious “examination of conscience” about sins both personal and communal during the past year, especially whether “the poor, weak, and marginalized are the center of our thoughts and daily actions.”
“We need a great daily attitude of Christian liberation,” the pope said, “to defend the poor rather than defending ourselves from the poor, and to defend the weak rather than defending ourselves from the weak.”
In his homily for a New Year’s Eve vespers service, Pope Francis set up a contrast between what he described as the liberation offered by Christ and the slavery imposed by sin.
“Paradoxically,” he said, “often more or less unconsciously we prefer slavery,” he said, arguing that the responsibility implied by freedom “frightens us.”
“A great Italian artist recently said that it was easier for the Lord to remove the Israelites from Egypt than to remove Egypt from the hearts of the Israelites,” the pope said, referring to a recent program on the Ten Commandments by Italian comedian and actor Roberto Benigni broadcast on Italian television.
“Liberty frightens us … [while] slavery reduces our sense of time to the present moment,” the pope said. “We live these moments disconnected from our past and our future, rather than being fully and really present facing eternity.”
“Slavery makes us believe we can’t dream, can’t fly and can’t hope,” Francis said.
As the Bishop of Rome, Francis placed special emphasis on the need for Romans to live up to their heritage as citizens of a city based on the “witness and martyrdom of Sts. Peter and Paul,” calling on them to fight corruption and to build “a more just city based on solidarity.”
Referring to traditional New Year’s fireworks displays, the pontiff said “they last only a few instants,” and called on people not to be seduced by “the fascination of the moment.”
It was another somber performance from Francis during the holiday season, after a Dec. 22 address to the elites of the Vatican cataloguing a series of “spiritual diseases” with which he believes they’re at times infected, and a Christmas Day message in which the pope lamented the suffering of children and of refugees in Iraq and Syria.
As is customary for popes on New Year’s Eve, Pope Francis led a vespers service followed by the traditional Te Deum hymn of praise in thanksgiving for the preceding year. The title comes from the Latin opening of the hymn, Te Deum laudamus, which means “Thee, O God, we praise.”
In his final tweet of 2014, Francis dispatched the simple message, “Thank you, Lord.” The pope’s Twitter feed, @Pontifex, is translated into nine languages and reaches some 17 million followers.
The Wednesday evening liturgy also involved a Eucharistic blessing by the pope and an exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, capped by singing the traditional Christmastime hymn Adeste Fideles, or “O Come, All You Faithful.”
A Vatican spokesman said the pontiff would likely return to his residence afterward to watch a traditional year-end address by the Italian President, Giorgio Napolitano, who is in the final year of an unusual second term for Italian presidents.
Earlier on New Year’s Eve, Francis sent a message of closeness and support to survivors and the families of victims of a 2004 fire at the República Cromañón nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which took place on Dec. 30 and killed 164 people and left more than 600 injured.
The fire was considered a symbol of government failure in Argentina, since the nightclub had received a permit despite lacking basic safety measures such as fire extinguishers, and the future pope had developed close relations with the survivors.
On Thursday, Francis will celebrate a morning Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica for the Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God. Since 1968, at the direction of Pope Paul VI, Jan. 1 has also been marked by the Catholic Church as the World Day of Peace.
During his noontime Angelus address tomorrow, Francis is expected to ask the crowd assembled in St. Peter’s Square to listen to the ringing of a famous Italian bell in the province of Trent erected to commemorate the fallen of the First World War, and which has since become a national symbol of peace.
Pope Francis released his message for the World Day of Peace on Dec. 8, devoting this year’s observation to the fight against human trafficking and slavery.
“Even though the international community has adopted numerous agreements aimed at ending slavery in all its forms, and has launched various strategies to combat this phenomenon, millions of people today — children, women and men of all ages — are deprived of freedom and are forced to live in conditions akin to slavery,” the pope wrote.
The pope listed exploited laborers, migrants, people forced into prostitution, people trafficked for the sale of organs, forcibly enrolled soldiers, and kidnap victims by terrorist groups as examples of modern slaves.
“I invite everyone, in accordance with his or her specific role and responsibilities, to practice acts of fraternity towards those kept in a state of enslavement,” Francis wrote.
“I urgently appeal to all men and women of good will, and all those near or far, including the highest levels of civil institutions, who witness the scourge of contemporary slavery, not to become accomplices to this evil,” he said.
The Vatican’s holiday period closes Jan. 6 with a Mass celebrated by Pope Francis for the feast of the Epiphany, which commemorates the visit of the Magi, or wise men, to the Christ child, and thus the revelation of God as a human being.
Then the pope resumes a busy working schedule, with his annual address to the diplomatic corps set for Jan. 12; later that day, he’s scheduled to depart for a week-long visit to Sri Lanka and the Philippines.
Following yesterday’s Moses featurette, we now have a look at Ramses in Ridley Scot’s Exodus: Gods and Kings, opening in theaters on December 12. Watch the video below to see Joel Edgerton talking about his character!
Exodus: Gods and Kings is the story of one man’s daring courage to take on the might of an empire. sing state of the art visual effects and 3D immersion, Scott brings new life to the story of the defiant leader Moses (Christian Bale) as he rises up against the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses (Joel Edgerton), setting 600,000 slaves on a monumental journey of escape from Egypt and its terrifying cycle of deadly plagues.
Rock samples underwater for eons are likely to be better preserved, researchers say. Expectations are high that the lowest place on Earth can answer questions --- on climate change and other key matters
JewishWorldReview.com |
EAD SEA —(MCT)If you thought you couldn't get any lower than the Dead Sea, think again. You can go under it.Scientists here are drilling 1,640 feet beneath the bottom of the Dead Sea, to a depth of more than 2,600 feet below sea level.Rock samples that have been underwater for eons are likely to be better preserved, they say, than samples taken from under an exposed surface, which can be damaged by aridity and erosion.
As a result, the Dead Sea bore hole is expected to contain priceless information about the planet's past and to offer insight on its future. Expectations are high that the lowest place on Earth can answer questions on climate change, earthquake risk and untapped natural resources.
Since the region was mentioned in biblical contexts that include Sodom and Gomorrah, the ruins of which some scholars believe are submerged under the Dead Sea, the $2.5-million project might also crack an ancient mystery or two.
It's a massive undertaking. A unique rig was constructed and then towed more than 4 miles into the salty sea, where drilling will go on for 40 days and nights, perhaps appropriate for the region.
Forty scientists from six countries are taking part in the deep-drilling program, sponsored by the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and the German-based International Continental Scientific Drilling Program, which conducts deep sea and lake drilling worldwide.
The samples are expected to provide a sort of tree-ring-style annual log that will enable experts to say, for example, that year X "was a very rainy year," says Zvi Ben-Avraham, head of the Minerva Dead Sea Research Center at Tel-Aviv University.
At a nearby laboratory, the rings are clearly visible through Plexiglas tubes containing the first samples. A pair of layers, brown and white, represent a normal year with a wet season and a dry one. Variations bear witness to drought, flood and trauma. "These are the pages of our history," says Amotz Agnon of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The Dead Sea — a lake, really — is what has remained of the series of ancient bodies of water in the Jordan Valley. It fills one of Earth's deepest holes, located in a depression on the border between two tectonic plates forming part of the long Syro-African fault line. The plates are still moving. Small tremors are not infrequent, but Ben-Avraham says the region is relatively calm. The last big quake occurred in 1927.
Experts say the Dead Sea should provide invaluable historical data because the region served as a corridor through which humankind migrated from Africa.
Filled tubes are kept in a freezer outside an unassuming lab in Kibbutz Ein Gedi, in the hills above the water. Early batches have been passed through a scanner that buzzes and beeps while sending data to a computer.
More tubes lie on the floor of the lab, soon to be put through the machine. In one, a 4-inch stretch of mud reflects a century-long wet period around 400 years ago, in what is known as the Little Ice Age. Deeper samples should corroborate other documented events such as the volcanic eruption of Santorini about 3,500 years ago.
Data contained in these "archives," as Moti Stein of the Geological Survey of Israel puts it, are of global importance. The data of past relations between two climate belts, the Mediterranean and the desert, will help prepare climate models in times of global warming and desertification, Stein says.
The Dead Sea itself is as unusual as the drilling project.
Fresh water flowing into the sea is trapped; with no outflow, the only way out is up. High evaporation rates in this hot, arid zone result in extreme hyper-salinity.
The buoyancy draws tourists who come for a float. Others are attracted by the purported cosmetic and healing properties of the minerals, fabled since antiquity, or simply for the striking landscape.
But the Dead Sea is in trouble. Receding about 3 feet a year, the water, pessimists warn, could soon vanish. Stein says the lake has naturally recovered from catastrophic aridity before.
But humans are playing a role. "We're not helping," says Michael Lazar, the marine geophysicist from the University of Haifa who manages the project.
Tectonic plates aren't the only things grating against each other. There's regional politics too. The Dead Sea fills an area shared by Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians. The site's nomination for the Seven Wonders of the World competition was almost undone by conflicting political claims.
Though no Jordanian or Palestinian scientists were to be seen during a recent media tour of the site, organizers said the multinational project includes both. A project official said Arab scientists were keeping a low profile because of political sensitivities.
"The Dead Sea doesn't belong to Israel, Jordan or the Palestinians," Lazar said. "They're in, and we're happy to have them."
Because of widespread misconceptions on the historicity of the early Israelite kings we endeavor here to make a comparison study to show how things fit together. Especially the very existence of King Solomon has come under criticism because of the apparent lack of corroborating evidence from excavations in Israel itself. How can we explain that? Shouldn't there be at least some evidence attributable to King Solomon or David by way of inscriptions? To be sure small items have been found, i.e. a Solomonic seal for instance, but we are looking more for larger items. Egypt's kings left inscriptions on buildings, statues, stela - why is there such a lack of the same in Israel from any king?
This is a fair question to ask and we must address this issue. On the outset we would like to say that the lack of inscriptions, carvings, ornate stone reliefs in Israel and Judah must have a definite reason and that it does we shall try to explain. Of course they were very much aware of the richness of Egyptian inscriptions and stone carvings, after all they used to live there.
The evidence for that however is very early in their experience, right after they had left Egypt. Arriving at Mt. Sinai they clamored for the same things they were used to have around them in Egypt. The Israelites wanted images to dance around and worship - something they could see. But the faith they were taught about of the very God who had led them out of slavery was directed at worshipping Him in faith and deeds rather than by representations.
Self glorification of rulers also was not in accord with their beliefs. Only God deserved veneration and being written about. If Solomon would have left inscriptions in his cities the Jewish people themselves would have defaced and done away with them not to leave any trace. This may be not good for us today who are trying to understand those times from the remains, but it is why we should not even expect such artifacts. Those who want to make comparisons to Egypt and argue because of the lack of artifacts in Israel that these kings did not really live and reign as we are told just don't seem to take into account the times they lived in and the Jewish mind. We cannot impose Egyptian conventions on the Jewish people.
However, other scholars note that there are other blank spots in Jerusalem's archaeological record during periods when the city is known to have been occupied, and they caution against reading too much into a lack of evidence. Ronny Reich, an archaeologist with the Israel Antiquities Authority, notes, for example, that excavations near the Gihon spring outside the present Old City have turned up "no pottery, nothing" from the Byzantine era–roughly A.D. 330-1450. "Does that mean there were no people in Jerusalem?" Reich asks. "Of course not. How do you explain it? You can't."[J.L. Sheler, `News from the Holy Land'] In fact the lack of such personal records carved on stone is evidence in itself that we are at the right place of Jewish habitation. But a few reminders of the early Israelite monarchy are being found often in the form of the stone masons skill to produce smooth stones, with no chisel marks for constructions. All other cultures in the ancient Near East were much closer to Egyptian conventions with respect to artifacts, the Jewish lands are quite singular on the lack of such. But we must not forget that the kinds of artifacts like idols, ushabtis, scarabs and the like found in Palestine are probably those used and on occasion hidden or kept by Israelites who employed them in trade or, in the case of idols perhaps, had become unfaithful to their God.Laws pertaining to royalty - "When you enter the land...and you say: `Let us set a king over us like the nations around us' be sure to appoint over you the king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your own brethren. Do not place a foreigner over you, one who is not an Israelite. The king...must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of them, for the Lord has told you, `You are not to go back that way again.' He must not take many wives, or his heart will be led astray. He must not accumulate large amounts of silver and gold." Deuteronomy 17:14-17
Critics also often doubt the existence of the early Israelite accounts of constructions and achievements because during excavations they are unable to locate any of these supposed palaces, city gates, walls or dwellings. The cities of Hazor, Gezer and Megiddo have been excavated to a great extend. A stratum containing remains of palaces, temples and fortifications was found in each of these cities but strangely enough the name of Solomon was not found but that of Pharaoh Amenhotep III was. How can that be? In conventional thinking Pharaoh Amenhotep III reigned from about 1405-1367 BC, long before Solomon. No wonder critics are baffled and discount the scriptural account of history. But let us see what happens when we apply revised chronology.
In revised view Pharaoh Amenhotep III reigned from about 878-870 as coruler with Amenhotep II, and sole from 870-843 BC, right in the middle of the El Amarna Age. That is just 60 years after the death of King Solomon. He, like Solomon, inherited a vast, glorious and rich empire with connections from the Nile to the Euphrates river. He left a wealth of evidence of his existence in his many constructions of palaces, temples, monuments, documents, art unparalleled and numerous except perhaps that of Ramses II. It was during the reign of Amenhotep III that cities like Gezer were refortified and Egyptian garrisons were set up in strategic locations. Why? Because of the many incursions into Palestine by restless rulers from Damascus, Syria, the great deserts and Assyria. For the Egyptians Palestine was a buffer zone. Stop any would-be-enemies before they reach the border of Egypt. We just need to read about the troubles involving Palestine in the days of Jehoshaphat, Ahab and their sons to understand how desperate the situation sometimes could become. So when we mentioned the palaces of Gezer, Hazor and Megiddo - we must be blind not to realize that they are the ones we had been looking for as belonging to the time of the early Israelite kings. What has been hiding their presence from us is not sand and dirt, but a false, conventional, Egyptian chronology, for Amenhotep III did not live 400 years before Solomon but 60 years after him.
It appears that Amenhotep III patterned his life after that of Solomon. But he was not hampered by religious oriented restrictions like Solomon, he could freely create idols, images of himself and vain glorious monuments to his greatness. But as the reader may recall we claim that Solomon most likely was Senenmut, the most trusted noble of Queen-Pharaoh Hatshepsut. It appears that in time Solomon, after having married an Egyptian princess, may have felt himself too restricted in his own kingdom and during the second half of his 40 year reign his gaze was directed toward Egypt. Being a cozy friend with the Egyptian king, he became the highest official and closest adviser to Hatshepsut. What he could not do in Israel he could do in Egypt - leave inscriptions, representations and monuments with his name on them. No wonder his own people would not leave any stone unturned in their homeland which would remind anyone of their wayward king.
Having said this we may get an idea about the importance of correct chronology before we go around and teach doubt and reproof of the Hebrew sources. But we realize that the majority of those who have voiced opinions on the ancient history of the Bible lands are still captivated by the rightness of conventional chronology. How can so many famous historians, scholars, archaeologists, scientists be wrong and so few, nameless new people be right? Could it be that sometimes being too close to something for too long disables us to get a clear view? Should we trust in the pronouncements of famous people just because `they must know what they are saying for they dig it out themselves and see it?' Yes, they certainly do, but still their interpretations are colored by their scholarly upbringing. What can we say? Explaining the same history in line with revised chronology will open up so many more intrinsic, grand views of enchanting history that it is well worth to try and study and think our way into it.
(JTA) — With a rabbi and a Muslim sheik as his travel companions, Pope Francis is heading to the Middle East with what he hopes will be a powerful message of interfaith respect.
It will be the first time that leaders of other faiths are part of an official papal delegation. The aim is to send “an extremely strong and explicit signal” about interfaith dialogue and the “normality” of having friends of other religions, chief Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi told reporters.
Starting Saturday, the three-day pilgrimage will take the 77-year-old pontiff to Jordan, the West Bank and Israel. The packed agenda includes courtesy calls on government leaders; open-air Masses; meetings with Christian, Muslim and Jewish religious authorities; and visits to holy sites of the three religions.
The two men joining Francis are friends with whom the pope frequently collaborated when he was the archbishop of Buenos Aires: Rabbi Abraham Skorka, former rector of the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary in Buenos Aires, and Sheik Omar Abboud, a former secretary-general of the Islamic Center of Argentina.
“I don’t expect Francis to wave a magic wand and bring together Jews and Palestinians,” Skorka told the Italian Catholic newspaper Avvenire. “But his charisma and his great humility can give a powerful message of peace for the whole Middle East.”
Since being elected to the papacy in February 2013, Francis, the first non-European pope in more than 1,200 years, has become known — and widely hailed — for breaking protocol, shunning the grand trappings of papal power and reaching out to the faithful on a personal level.
On his upcoming trip, Francis has insisted that he will not travel in a bulletproof vehicle or special Popemobile. Rather, he’ll get around in “a normal car or open-topped jeep” in order to be closer to the people who come out to greet him, according to the Vatican spokesman.
Eric Greenberg, the director of communications, outreach and interfaith for the Multi-Faith Alliance for Syrian Refugees, said Francis’ ability to captivate world media means every step of his visit will be watched closely.
“There will be opportunities to deepen the important bilateral relationship between Catholics and Jews, and to boost the larger dialogue among Catholics, Jews and Muslims,” Greenberg said.
Francis will begin his trip in Jordan and proceed the next day by helicopter to Bethlehem for a 6 1/2-hour stay. He will meet there with Palestinian officials, celebrate an open-air Mass in Manger Square and visit with children from Palestinian refugee camps.
The official Vatican program says the pope will be visiting “the state of Palestine,” which has prompted rumors that the Vatican may announce recognition of an independent Palestinian state.
From Bethlehem, Francis will fly by helicopter to Ben Gurion Airport and then to Jerusalem. He will visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust center and the Western Wall, where like his predecessors Benedict XVI and John Paul II, he will leave a message in a crack between the stones.
The pope also will visit Christian sites and the Temple Mount, a site that is sacred to both Jews and Muslims and the locus of recent clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians protesting Jewish visitors.
In recent years, the Vatican has made the state of Christians in the Middle East a priority issue. Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal, the top Roman Catholic clergyman in the Holy Land, said this month that the recent spate of anti-Christian graffiti attacks by Israeli Jewish extremists “poisons the atmosphere of coexistence” surrounding the papal visit. He chided Israeli authorities for not cracking down.
Rabbi David Rosen, the American Jewish Committee’s international director for interreligious affairs, said the media attention resulting from the papal trip has prompted some action to be taken against the extremists.
Francis will be the fourth reigning pope to visit Jerusalem. His trip marks the 50th anniversary of the first papal visit to the Holy Land, Pope Paul VI’s pilgrimage in January 1964. On the trip, Paul’s meeting in Jerusalem with Patriarch Athenagoras, the spiritual leader of Orthodox Christians, was a major first step toward reconciling the 1,000-year rift between Western and Eastern Christianity.
The centerpiece of Francis’ stay will be his meeting with Ecumenical Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew and an ecumenical joint prayer service with leaders of other Christian churches in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem.
Paul’s trip, the first by a reigning pope outside of Italy, came in a vastly different context than today in terms of Jewish-Catholic and Vatican-Israel relations. The visit came one year before the Second Vatican Council promulgated its Nostra Aetate declaration, which opened the way to interreligious dialogue between Catholics and Jews.
It also took place decades before the Vatican and Israel established diplomatic relations with a Fundamental Agreement signed at the end of 1993. During his stay in Jerusalem, Paul did not even pronounce the word “Israel.”
For the past 20 years, Israel and the Holy See have attempted to reach agreement on several outstanding bilateral issues, including establishing the juridical rights of the Catholic Church in Israel as well as regulating property and taxation issues.
Just ahead of the pope’s visit, Israeli officials quashed rumors that Israel planned to transfer the Cenacle — the site where Jesus’ Last Supper took place — to the Vatican. Francis is to celebrate Mass at the Cenacle, which is revered by Christians.
Jews venerate the site as King David’s Tomb, and on May 12, hundreds of haredi Orthodox protested there demanding that Israel retain control.
All of these factors and more mean that it is impossible to separate bilateral Israel-Vatican relations from Catholic-Jewish relations, the AJC’s Rosen says.
Papal visits to Israel, he said, demonstrate “the remarkable new Catholic and Christian positive affirmation of the roots of its identity and its commitment to the welfare of the Jewish people.”
Moreover, he said, “I greatly hope that there will still be an opportunity for an interfaith encounter with local representatives of the faiths communities in this land somewhere on the papal itinerary. I actually think that to bring along an Argentinian rabbi and imam is very nice, but if there is no interfaith meeting with the locals, it might be seen locally as rather disingenuous.”
No book has made a greater impact on world literature than the Bible. "It has colored the talk of the household and the street, as well as molded the language of the scholars. It has been something more than a 'well of English undefiled', it has become part of the spiritual atmosphere. We hear the echoes of its speech everywhere and the music of its familiar phrases haunts all the fields and groves of our fine literature" (Ackermann 9). Shakespeare's debt to Scripture is profound; biblical imagery is woven into every play. No writer has integrated the expressions and themes found in the Bible into his own work more magnificently than Shakespeare. It would take volumes to examine comprehensively Shakespeare’s use of biblical imagery, so I will limit the discussion to one play -- Macbeth. Please note that the biblical quotes used in this article are taken from the King James Authorized Version, unless otherwise stated. Shakespeare himself would have been most familiar with an earlier version of the Bible, possibly the Geneva Bible, the Bishop’s Bible, or the Great Bible, because the first edition of the King James Bible (Authorized Version) did not appear until 1611. I have divided the discussion of biblical imagery in Macbeth into acts and scenes for easy reference.
Act 1, Scene 2 Sergeant: Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds,
Or memorise another Golgotha (1.2.45) Commentary: A reference to Christ's death upon Mount Calvary, as reported in Matthew 27.33: "And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is to say, a place of a skull." According to John 29.34, a Roman soldier pierced Christ's side as he hanged from the cross. Shakespeare's Sergeant tells King Duncan that the army he has just encountered is as violent and remorseless as the soldiers who put Christ to death. Ross: God save the king! (1.2.48) Commentary: Although Shakespeare would have been familiar with this now commonplace salutation simply by living under monarchical rule, the saying originated in the Bible. In 1 Samuel 10.24 the people greet King Saul: "And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king."
Act 1, Scene 3 First Witch: All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, thane of Glamis! (1.3.51) Commentary: "All hail" is a common greeting in the New Testament, but one use of the phrase stands out in particular when discussing this passage from Macbeth. In Matthew 26.49, Judas prepares to betray Jesus to the Sanhedrin and Roman soldiers. His plan is to identify Jesus by greeting him with a kiss so that the soldiers will know which man to arrest. Judas approaches Jesus, saying, "Hail Master." The Witches greet Macbeth in a similar fashion, and, as Judas betrayed Jesus, so do the Witches betray Macbeth. Banquo: If you can look into the seeds of time,
And say which grain will grow and which will not,
Speak then to me (1.3.60) Commentary: Banquo, unconvinced that the Witches can forsee the future, makes reference to Ecclesiastes 11.6: "In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thine hand: for thou knowest not whether shall prosper, either this or that, or whether they both shall be alike good."
Banquo: And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,
The instruments of darkness tell us truths, (1.3.123-4) Commentary: Satan using Holy Scripture to lead us into sin is a common theme throughout the Bible. In Corinthians 11.13-14 we are told, "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light". In Matthew 4.6, Satan attempts to use Scripture to tempt the Lord: "If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee; and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone." Jesus replies, "It is written again/Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God."
Macbeth: Come what come may
Time and the hour runs through the roughest day. (1.3.156-7) Commentary: A reference to two passages from the Bible: John 9.4: "I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh when no man works"; and Job 7.1,2: "Is there not an appointed time to man upon the earth? and are not his days as the days of an hireling. As a servant longeth for the shadow, and as an hireling looketh for the end of his work."
Act 1, Scene 4 Duncan: There's no art
To find the mind's construction in the face (1.4.15-6) Commentary: Note the similarities to Samuel 16.7: "For God seeth not as man seeth: for man looketh upon the outward appearance, but the Lord beholdeth the heart". Duncan: I have begun to plant thee, and will labour
To make thee full of growing. Noble Banquo,
That hast no less deserved, nor must be known (35)
No less to have done so, let me enfold thee
And hold thee to my heart. (1.4.34-7) Commentary: The metaphor of growth permeates the Bible, particularly the Old Testament. Notice Jeremiah 11.16: "For the Lord called thy name, a green olive tree, fair, and of goodly fruit; with the noise of a great tumult he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are broken."; Jeremiah 12.2: "Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins."; and Psalms 92.12,13: "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon/Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God." In the New Testament, the metaphor appears in Corinthians 3.6,7: "I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase/So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase". Shakespeare is careful to illustrate Duncan's status as divinely appointed king throughout the play. Duncan's goodness is necessary to enhance Macbeth's feelings of guilt and remorse. Act 1, Scene 5 Lady Macbeth: Come, thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell,
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes (1.5.50) Commentary: A reference to Job 24.13: "These are they that abhor the light: they know not the ways thereof, nor continue in the paths thereof. The murderer riseth early and killeth the poor and the needy, and in the night he is as a thief". The connection between hell and smoke is found in Revelation 14.11: "And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up forever and ever..."; and in Revelation 18.9: "And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning". Lady Macbeth here calls upon the darkness to enshroud her in a veil of smoke so that she may not see the evil deed she desires to commit. Macbeth: My dearest love, 65
Duncan comes here to-night. Lady Macbeth: And when goes hence? Macbeth: To-morrow, as he purposes. Lady Macbeth: O, never
Shall sun that morrow see! (1.5.65-70) Commentary: A thought expressed in James 4.13: "Go to now, ye that say, today or tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away."
Act 1, Scene 6 Duncan: This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air
Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself
Unto our gentle senses. Banquo: This guest of summer,
The temple-haunting martlet, does approve (1.6.1) Commentary: Tradition tells us that the gentle martlet will not build a nest in or near unjust houses. Notice the irony in Banquo's approval of the castle that will be the location of Duncan's murder. The reference to the "temple-haunting martlet" comes from Psalms 84.2,3: "Yea, the sparrow hath found her an house, and the swallow a nest for her, where she may lay her young: even by thine altars, O Lord of Hosts". A similar passage can be found in Baruch 6.20: "In the temple the owls, swallows, and birds fly."
Act 1, Scene 7 Macbeth: If it were done when 'tis done, then 'twere well
It were done quickly (1.7.1) Commentary: Within this passage is a clear reference to the words spoken by Jesus to Judas in John 13.27: "That thou doest, do quickly." Macbeth is painfully aware of his bond with Judas. Macbeth: But in these cases
We still have judgment here; that we but teach
Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return
To plague the inventor: (1.7.8-11) Commentary: Macbeth's speech reflects the common biblical theme known best by the passage from Galatians 6.7: "Be not deceived: God is not mocked: for what so ever a man soeth, that shall he also reap". The theme is continued in Job 4.8: "They that plow iniquity and sow wickedness, reap the same"; and in Wisdom of Solomon 11.13: "Wherewith a man sinneth, by the same also shall he be punished."
Macbeth: I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself (1.7.25-7) Commentary: The "vaulting ambition" to which Macbeth refers is the pride so condemned in the Bible. In Matthew 23.12 we read: "For whosoever will exault himself, shall be brought low"; and in Proverbs 29.23 we read: "The pride of a man shall bring him low". Proverbs 16.18 tells us that: "Pride goeth before destruction, and a high mind before the fall." Act 2, Scene 1 Macbeth: Thou sure and firm-set earth,
Hear not my steps, which way they walk, for fear
Thy very stones prate of my whereabout,
And take the present horror from the time (2.1.65-9) Commentary: Macbeth knows that, although those around him are unaware of his crimes, the earth and the heavens know all. Notice the similarities to Job 20.27: "The heaven shall declare his wickedness, and the earth shall rise up against him". Notice also the connection to Habakkuk 2.10,11: "Thou hast consulted shame to thine own house, by destroying many people, and hast sinned against thine own soule. For the stone shall cry out of the wall and the beam out of the timber shall answer it, woe unto him that buildeth a town with blood." Macbeth: the bell invites me.
Hear it not, Duncan; for it is a knell
That summons thee to heaven or to hell. (2.1.72-4) Commentary: Macbeth is about to send King Duncan to his judgment before God. In Matthew 25.31, we are told that "When the Son of man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He shall sit upon the throne of His glory/And before Him shall be gathered all nations..." to be judged.
Act 2, Scene 2 Macbeth: I have done the deed (2.2.22) Commentary: Comparable to 1 Corinthians 5.2,3: "And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you/For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath done this thing". Macbeth surely knows these words well and is aware that he has already been judged for his crime. Lady Macbeth: Go get some water,
And wash this filthy witness from your hand. (2.2.58) Commentary: The imagery of unclean hands comes from Matthew 27.24, when Pilate comes before the masses gathered to witness the trial of Jesus: "When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it."
Macbeth: Whence is that knocking?
How is't with me, when every noise appals me? (2.2.72-3) Commentary: Macbeth, of course, hears knocking because Macduff has arrived at the castle, and there is great emphasis placed upon Macduff's knocking since it startles Macbeth and his Lady and forces them to quickly cover up their involvement in the murder. However, the knocking can also be seen as symbolic, particularly if we make reference to the Bible. In Luke 12.36, we are told that the Lord "cometh and knocketh", and in Revelation 3.20, we are told again that Christ will "stand at the door and knock". The fact that even the smallest noise now unnerves Macbeth also has parallels in the Bible, particularly in Leviticus 26.36, where we are told that God "will send even a faintness" into the hearts of sinners, and "the sound of a shaken leaf shall chase them."
Macbeth: What hands are here? ha! they pluck out mine eyes. (2.2.74) Commentary: A reference to Matthew 18.8: "Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire."
Act 2, Scene 3 Porter: Here's a knocking indeed! If a
man were porter of hell-gate, he should have
old turning the key....Who's there, in the other devil's
name? Faith, here's an equivocator, that could
swear in both the scales against either scale;
who committed treason enough for God's sake, 15
yet could not equivocate to heaven: O, come
in, equivocator. (2.3.1-22) Commentary: Christ first mentions the "gates of hell" in Matthew 16.18: "And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it". As Thomas Carter points out in his examination of Shakespeare and Holy Scripture, the Porter's reference to "an equivocator", who "committed treason enough for God's sake" is possibly related to the English martyr, Jesuit Henry Garnett, who was executed in 1606. Lennox: The night has been unruly: where we lay,
Our chimneys were blown down; and, as they say, (70)
Lamentings heard i' the air; strange screams of death,
And prophesying with accents terrible
Of dire combustion and confused events
New hatch'd to the woeful time: the obscure bird
Clamour'd the livelong night: some say, the earth (75)
Was feverous and did shake. (2.3.69-76) Commentary: Lennox reports events similar to those found in Matthew 24:6, when Christ tells of the signs of the end of the world: "And ye shall hear wars and rumours of wars....For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places". Moreover, in his attempt to accent the divine right of King Duncan, Shakespeare draws parallels to the events surrounding the death of Christ, when "the earth did quake, and the stones were cloven" (Matthew 27.51). Duncan's death has also brought about a "feverous" and shaking earth.
Macduff: Most sacrilegious murder hath broke ope
The Lord's anointed temple, and stole thence
The life o' the building! (2.3.86-8) Commentary: Macbeth has "broke ope/The Lord's anointed temple" -- he has destroyed the anointed body of the King. 1 Corinthians tells us that human beings are "the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth" in each of us. "If any man destroy the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which ye are". Shakespeare's use of the phrase "Lord's anointed temple" to describe Duncan's body highlights Duncan's status as divinely sanctioned ruler. It also emphasizes the heinousness of Macbeth's crime against God's consecrated sovereign.
Lady Macbeth: What's the business,
That such a hideous trumpet calls to parley
The sleepers of the house? (2.3.102-4) Commentary: "Macduff has spoken of the great Doomsday when the graves shall give up their dead, and Lady Macbeth takes up the thought and speaks of the Trumpet which shall call the sleepers to the Judgment." (Carter 421) The sounding of a trumpet occurs several times in the Bible. Note Matthew 24.31: "And He shall send his Angels with a great sound of a trumpet"; and 1 Corinthians 15.52: "In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet: for the trumpet shall blow and the dead shall be raised."
Donalbain: There's daggers in men's smiles: the near in blood,
The nearer bloody (2.3.74-5) Commentary: A possible reference to Psalms 62.4: "They delight in lies: they bless with their mouth, but they curse inwardly". Also a possible reference to Psalms 28.3: "Draw me not away with the wicked, and with the workers of iniquity, which speak peace to their neighbours, but mischief is in their hearts."
Act 2, Scene 4 Ross: Ah, good father,
Thou seest, the heavens, as troubled with man's act,
Threaten his bloody stage: by the clock, 'tis day,
And yet dark night strangles the travelling lamp:
Is't night's predominance, or the day's shame,
That darkness does the face of earth entomb,
When living light should kiss it? (2.4.6-11) Commentary: A reference to the events surrounding the Crucifixion, as reported in Matthew 27.45,51: "Now from the sixth hour was there darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour...And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened."
Old Man: God's benison go with you; and with those
That would make good of bad, and friends of foes! (2.4.52-3) Commentary: An echo of one of the fundamental teachings of Christ, told in Matthew 5.9: "Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God; and also in Matthew 5.44: "But I say unto you, love your enemies; bless them that curse you: do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Act 3, Scene 1 Macbeth: For Banquo's issue have I fil'd my mind;
For them the gracious Duncan have I murder'd;
Put rancours in the vessel of my peace
Only for them; and mine eternal jewel
Given to the common enemy of man,
To make them kings, the seed of Banquo kings!(3.1.69-74) Commentary: Macbeth's selfish lamentation reflects the words found in Mark 8.36: "For what shall it profit a man, though he win the world if he lose his soul. Or what exchange shall a man give for his soul". Note that "mine eternal jewel" means Macbeth's "immortal soul", and echoes Christ's analogy of the soul to a pearl, found in Matthew 13.45: "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls." Macbeth: Do you find Your patience so predominant in your nature
That you can let this go? Are you so gospell'd
To pray for this good man and for his issue,
Whose heavy hand hath bow'd you to the grave (3.1.93-8) Commentary: A reference to Luke 6.28: "Love your enemies: do well to them which hate you. Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you". Also a reference to Matthew 5.44, which is very similar to Luke 6.28.
Macbeth: every one
According to the gift which bounteous nature
Hath in him closed; (3.1.105-07) Commentary: Here Shakespeare alludes to Matthew 25.15, in which Christ recites the parable of the talents: "And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey".
Act 3, Scene 2 Lady Macbeth: Nought's had, all's spent,
Where our desire is got without content (3.2.7-8) Commentary: Lady Macbeth's desires have been fulfilled, but she is nonetheless miserable. This reflects a common motif in the Bible, particularly in Ecclesiastes 4.6: "Better is an handful with quietness, then both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit". Also note the similarities between Lady Macbeth's words and the warning issued in Proverbs 13.7: "There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing"; and in Psalms 106.15: "But He gave them their request: but sent leanness into their soul." Macbeth: Light thickens; and the crow
Makes wing to the rooky wood:
Good things of day begin to droop and drowse;
While night's black agents to their preys do rouse. (3.2.57-60) Commentary: Compare to Psalms 104.20: "Thou makest darkness, and it is night: wherein all the beasts of the forest do creep forth."
Act 3, Scene 4 Macbeth: It will have blood; they say, blood will have blood: (3.4.147) Commentary: A possible reference to Genesis 9.6: "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed". Also a reference to Genesis 4.10: "The voice of thy brother's blood cryeth unto Me from the earth, therefore thou art cursed from the earth."
Act 3, Scene 5 Hecate: And you all know, security
Is mortals' chiefest enemy. (3.5.33-4) Commentary: Security is a caveat discussed in Ecclus. 5.7: "Make no tarrying to turn unto the Lord, and put not off from day to day: for suddenly shall the wrath of the Lord break forth and in thy security thou shalt be destroyed"; and also in 1 Corinthians 10.12: "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." Act 4, Scene 1 Macbeth: Let this pernicious hour
Stand aye accursed in the calendar! (4.1.148-9) Commentary: Macbeth borrows Job's curse, found in 3.5: "Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it: let the cloud remain upon it, and let them make it fearful as a bitter day. Let darkness possess that night, let it not be joined unto the days of the year, nor let it come into the count of months." Macbeth: No boasting like a fool;
This deed I'll do before this purpose cool. (4.1.71-2) Commentary: A reference to 2 Corinthians 11.16: "I say again, Let no man think me a fool; if otherwise, yet as a fool receive me, that I may also boast myself a little."
Act 4, Scene 2 Lady Macduff: All is the fear and nothing is the love; (4.2.15) Commentary: Lady Macduff's extended complaint over her husband's absence contains this direct reference to 1 John 4.18: "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment."
Act 4, Scene 3 Malcolm: Let us seek out some desolate shade, and there
Weep our sad bosoms empty. (4.3.15) Commentary: These lines are related to imagery found in Psalms 87.1: "By the rivers of Babel we sat, and there we wept, when we remembered Zion". For Malcolm, forced to flee his native Scotland and watch its destruction from afar, it is wholly appropriate to echo Psalms 87.1. Malcolm: Angels are bright still, though the brightest fell; (4.3.28) Commentary: A reference to the fall of Lucifer, reported in various books of the Bible, including Luke 10.18: "I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven"; Isaiah 14.12: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning"; and 2 Peter 2.4: "For if God spared not the Angels that sinned, but cast them down into hell."
Malcolm: When I shall tread upon the tyrant's head. (4.3.55) Commentary: Imagery directly linked to Psalms 108.13: "Through God we shall do valiantly; for he shall tread down our enemies."
Macduff: Not in the legions
Of horrid hell can come a devil more damn'd
In evils to top Macbeth. (4.3.67-9) Commentary: In Luke 8.30, Jesus asks an insane man, "What is thy name? And he said, Legion: because many devils were entered into him."
Macduff: the queen that bore thee,
Oftener upon her knees than on her feet,
Died every day she lived (4.3.127-9) Commentary: A reference to 1 Corinthians 15.31: "I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily."
Malcolm: But God above
Deal between thee and me! (4.3.139-40) Commentary: A common expression of covenant making in the Old Testament, found in 1 Samuel 20.23: "The Lord be between thee and me for ever"; and Genesis 21.23: "Thou shalt deal with me"; and Genesis 31.49: "The Lord look between me and thee."
Malcolm: Scarcely have coveted what was mine own,
At no time broke my faith, (4.3.146-7) Commentary: Here Malcolm assures Macduff that he has never broken God's tenth commandment, given in Exodus 20.17: "Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, not anything that is thy neighbour's."
Malcolm: And sundry blessings hang about his throne, That speak him full of grace. (4.3.179-80) Commentary: "Full of grace" is a common phrase to describe Jesus and the Virgin Mary, as seen in John 1.14: "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we behold his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth"; and in the prayer "The Hail Mary", which begins, "Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee."
Macduff: Did heaven look on,
And would not take their part?
Sinful Macduff,
They were all struck for thee!(4.3.264-7) Commentary: Here we find echoes of two biblical themes. The first is the theme of heaven watching over earth, as seen in Proverbs 15.3: "The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good"; and 2 Chronicles 16.9: "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth". The second is the theme of the sins of the father visited upon the children. Macduff believes that his family has died because of his sinful behaviour. Compare this to Exodus 20.5: "Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children"; and Ezekiel 18.2: "The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge."
Malcolm: Macbeth
Is ripe for shaking, and the powers above
Put on their instruments. (4.3.279-81) Commentary: Macbeth, and thus his stronghold, is "ripe for shaking". Compare Malcolm's words to Nahum 3.12: "All thy strongholds shall be like fig trees with the firstripe figs: if they be shaken, they shall even fall into the mouth of the eater." Act 5, Scene 1 Gentlewoman: Neither to you nor any one; having no witness to
confirm my speech. (5.1.16-7) Commentary: Comparable to Matthew 18.16: "But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established." Lady Macbeth: Here's the smell of the blood still: all the
perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand (5.1.46-7) Commentary: As seen in Act 2, the imagery of unclean hands is derived from Matthew 27.24: "When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it". However, now that Lady Macbeth feels the full impact of her crimes, we recall other biblical passages, including Isaiah 59.2,3: "But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear/For your hands are defiled with blood and you fingers with iniquity; you lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness."
Act 5, Scene 3 Macbeth:This push
Will cheer me ever, or disseat me now. (5.3.25-6) Commentary: Compare to Daniel 11.40: "And at the end of the time shall the king of the South push at him." Macbeth welcomes the attack or "push" by Macduff and his army. Macbeth: I have lived long enough: my way of life
Is fall'n into the sear, the yellow leaf;
And that which should accompany old age, (5.3.27-9) Commentary: A reference to to Isaiah 1.30: "For ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water."
Act 5, Scene 5 Macbeth: To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day
To the last syllable of recorded time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death (5.5.23-7) Commentary: Macbeth's profound final soliloquy is rich with biblical imagery. The following are the most significant relevant passages from Scripture:
2 Corinthians 6.2: "Behold now, the accepted time: behold now the day of salvation." Isiah 45.6: "Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near." Psalms 22.15: "Thou hast brought me into the dust of death." Job 18.5-6: "The light of the wicked shall be quenched...and his candle shall be out out with him." Job 8.9: "We are but of yesterday and are ignorant: for our days upon earth are but a shadow." Wisdom of Solomon 2.4: Our life shall pass away as the trace of a cloud, and come to nought as the mist that is driven away with the beams of the sun. For our time is as a shadow that passeth away and after our end there is no returning." Wisdom of Solomon 5.9: "Passed away like a shadow, and as a post that passeth by." Psalms 52.11: "My days are like a shadow that fadeth, and I am withered like grass."
Macbeth: I pull in resolution, and begin
To doubt the equivocation of the fiend
That lies like truth: (5.5.48-50) Commentary: In Scripture, Satan is the great equivocator, lying "like truth" to confound the hearts of men. The temptation of Eve in the Garden of Eden is one example, and another comes from the New Testament, in John 8.44: "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it."
Act 5, Scene 7 Macbeth: But get thee back; my soul is too much charged
With blood of thine already.(5.7.7-8) Commentary: An echo of Genesis 9.5,6: "And surely your blood of your lives will I require; at the hand of every beast will I require it, and at the hand of man; at the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man/Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed."
How to cite this article:
Mabillard, Amanda. Biblical Imagery in Macbeth. Shakespeare Online. 20 Nov. 2001. (date when you accessed the information) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/macbeth/bibimagery.html & gt;.
References Ackerman, Carl. The Bible in Shakespeare. Columbus: Lutheran Book Concern, 1950. Carter, Thomas. Shakespeare and Holy Scripture. New Haven: AMS Press, 1970. Milward, Peter, S. J. Biblical Influences on Shakespeare's Great Tragedies. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1968. Wordsworth, Charles. Shakespeare's Knowledge and Use of the Bible. London: Smith and Elder, 1864.
Amazing! Incredible! Unbelievable! William Shakespeare left his mark on the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible. At least that is the rumor going around. According to a host of Websites and books, William Shakespeare was called upon to add his artistic touch to the English translation of the Bible done at the behest of King James, which was finished in 1611. As proof for this idea, proponents point to Psalm 46, and allege that Shakespeare slipped his name into the text. Here is how the story goes. Since Shakespeare was born in the year 1564, then he would have been 46 years old during 1610 when the finishing touches were being put on the KJV. In the King James Version, if you count down 46 words from the top (not counting the title) you read the word “shake,” then, if you omit the word “selah” and count 46 words from the bottom you find the word “spear.” Voilà! Shakespeare must have tinkered with the text and subtly added his signature. How else could one account for all of these 46s to work out so well? To top it all off, William Shakespeare is an anagram of “Here was I, like a psalm.”
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