Sunday 22 December 2019

Scripture Embedded In The Text; A Shakespearean Comment

The Day Of Their Return.

"Jaan wrestled; but the mind which shared his brain was too powerful, too plausible. It is right that one man die for the people." (15, p. 186)

You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish." (Jn. 11:50)

The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose.
-copied from here.

Jaan is "...a young man...in an immaculate white robe..." (p. 187)

And you are lucky to get that much from me at this time!

11 comments:

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

You still give us much to think about! E.g, here we see Anderson embedding the High Priest's words about one man dying so the people will survive in Jaan's struggle with the false Caruith personality branded onto his brain.

And of course everyone should remember where that bit about the Devil quoting Scripture came from: the tempting of Christ.

And Christ's robe turned blinding white at the transfiguration.

Ad astra and Merry Christmas! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,
The actual quote about the Devil citing scripture is from THE MERCHANT OF VENICE.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

And I admit to not being sure I ever read that play. I was thinking of the incident reported in the Gospel.

There will be a hiatus of at least a week of me commenting here. I'm going to visit my older brother tomorrow and will be gone for seven days.

Ad astra and Merry Christmas! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,
At the Temptations, the Devil does indeed cite scripture to his purpose.
Paul.

S.M. Stirling said...

Sean: enjoy your tiime with your brother!

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Mr. Stirling!

Many thanks! And I wish the same for you and your family and friends.

Ad astra and Merry Christmas! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Sean,
Bon Voyage.
Paul.

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Paul!

Many thanks! And the same good wishes to you, your family, and friends!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Sean

S.M. Stirling said...

Incidentally, the King James Bible is magnificent literature, but lousy scholarship.

Eg., there's the classic "Thou Shalt Not Kill" when the Hebrew words actually mean "Thou Shalt Not Do Murder" -- Hebrew makes exactly the same distinction there that English does, and the word used in the Decalogue is never used for killing-in-general, killing in battle, etc. It means specifically "types of killing forbidden by law".

Likewise, probably to suit one of King James' fixations, it conflates a half-dozen separate terms -- "sorceror", :"poisoner", "medium", "spirit diviner", etc. -- into "witch".

Sean M. Brooks said...

Kaor, Mr. Stirling!

And I wish modern translations of the Scriptures would shake off the lingering influence of the AV to translate the "killing" Commandment and the one about witches ACCURATELY.

In fairness to King James, I have read that while he believed in the reality of witchcraft, he was reluctant to approve the death sentences of alleged witches. But I'm writing from memory of what I read in Charles Williams book WITCHCRAFT.

Ad astra! Sean

paulshackley2017@gmail.com said...

Also, the Divine name should be used instead of being replaced with "Lord."