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“Jonah and the Whale” by Lastman – and what became a “negative and trite association?”

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Sunday, January 25, 2015 – The Old Testament Bible-reading for today was Jonah 3:1-5,10. (To see all the readings, check Third Sunday after Epiphany.) Here’s the full reading:

The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time, saying, “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.”  So Jonah set out [and] began to go into the city, going a day’s walk.  And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”  And the people of Nineveh believed…   When God saw … how they turned from their evil ways, [He] changed his mind about the calamity that He had said he would bring upon them; and He did not do it.

Note the emphasized, “second time.” That’s what makes Jonah like the Bra-burners.

“Bra-burners” became a generic name for “Women’s Lib” and feminists alike in 1968. It began when a reporter tweaked a story on a protest at the Miss America pageant on September 7:

The feminist protest … included tossing a collection of symbolic feminine products [and] other items into a trash can on the Atlantic City boardwalk.  They did not burn bras [but drew]  worldwide media attention and national attention to the Women’s Liberation Movement.  A reporter covering the protest drew an analogy between the feminist protesters and Vietnam War protesters who burned their draft cards, and the bra-burning trope was erroneously and permanently attached to the event and became a catch-phrase…

See Miss America protest – Wikipedia, emphasis added.  One organizer thought beforehand that the protest “might be a good way to launch the movement into the public consciousness.”  That effort did succeed, but the success turned out both a blessing and a curse. See Deuteronomy 11:26, and also Feminism Has a Bra-Burning Myth Problem | TIME:

The way we remember the Miss America Pageant protest in 1968 in Atlantic City, New Jersey is a good example.*  There is no statue on the Atlantic City Boardwalk to commemorate an important protest about standards of beauty for women and a contest tied into capitalism, war, and race.  Instead, our cultural touchstone from that day is the negative and trite association of feminists as “bra-burners.”

See also Pageant Protest Sparked Bra-Burning Myth : NPR.  That article said organizers intended to burn some items:  Bras, girdles, cookware and Playboy magazines.  But since the protest happened on the famed Boardwalk, police officials refused consent to burn.  So they threw the offending items into a big garbage can instead.  Then a New York Post report “included a reference to bra burning as a way to link the movement to war protesters burning draft cards.”  As one organizer later noted, “The media picked up on the bra part.”

Which brings up the question: “What the heck does this have to do with Jonah?” Just this: To this day Sunday School students and Bible readers in general have “picked up on the whale part.” In doing so they ignore the real message. The real message behind the Book of Jonah is that God’s love is universal. In Jonah’s case, that love of God extended even to the people of Nineveh. 

At the time, Nineveh was capital of the Neo-Assyria, an empire both Israel’s arch-enemy and noted for being ruthless and cruel. See Assyria — Ancient History Encyclopedia:

[T]he Assyrians and their famous rulers, with terrifying names like Shalmaneser, Tiglath-Pileser, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal, rate in the popular imagination just below Adolf Hitler and Genghis Khan for cruelty, violence, and sheer murderous savagery… [I]t is tempting to see the Assyrian Empire … as a historical forebear of Nazi Germany:  an aggressive, murderously vindictive regime supported by a magnificent and successful war machine…  (E.A.)

See also Nineveh – Wikipedia. In a college football “trope” – God telling Jonah to go to Nineveh would be like telling an FSU fan to go to Gainesville and proclaim salvation for Gator fans too. The same could be said of God ordering an Alabama fan to go to Auburn with that message, or a Michigan fan to go to Columbus, home of Ohio State University, but we digress...

The point is this: The whale in the Book of Jonah became a catch-phrase.  The whale got the story into public consciousness, but that attention-getter has been both a blessing and curse.  The average reader “picks up on the whale part.” (You might even say there’s a “negative and trite association” between Jonah and the whale.) Or as Isaac Asimov noted:

Clearly, the Book of Jonah … is the product of that school of Jewish thought which was universalist and which opposed the nationalist view…  It is the universality of God and the attribute of divine mercy that are the lessons of Jonah.  Those who think of the book as nothing more than the story of a man and a whale miss the whole point.

Then there’s the question whether you have to believe the whale-part of the story is literally true, in order to “get into heaven,” but that’s a subject for a future blog-post…

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“At the ‘Freedom Trashcan” – 1968…

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The upper image is courtesy of Pieter Lastman – Wikipedia. 

Re: Bible reading for Sunday January 25, 2015. That was according to the Revised Common Lectionary.

Re: “tweaked.”  See Tweak – Definition and More … Merriam-Webster:  To “change (something) slightly in order to improve it : to make small adjustments to.”  No doubt the reporter in question thought the tweak made a much better story.

 Re: Boardwalk. Wikipedia noted, “One of the earliest such boardwalks was designed in New Jersey and opened June 26, 1870, in Atlantic City.”

Re:  “The way we remember … a good example.*”  I.e., an example of “our conflicted feelings about women as major players in American history,” as a reason for “our failure to honor the movement.”

Re: New York Post report. Wikipedia said a story by “Lindsy Van Gelder in the New York Post carried a headline ‘Bra Burners and Miss America.’   It drew an analogy between the feminist protest and Vietnam War protesters who burned their draft cards.”

Re: Assyrian brutality. Assyria — Ancient History included a counter-point to the accusation of some that this particular empire was excessively cruel:  “While the reputation for decisive, ruthless, military tactics is understandable, the comparison with the Nazi regime is less so.” The quote in the main text was attributed to historians Paul Kriwaczek, “Simon Anglim and others.”

Re: Jonah’s “real message.” See also Grace In The Book Of Jonah – Sermon Central: “the story of Jonah is so well known that we can sometimes skip over it and ignore what the true message of the book of Jonah is.”  See also Jonah Summary – Bible Hub:  “The purpose of this book is to show that God is a merciful and gracious God.  Although the wicked city of Nineveh deserved to be crushed immediately, God was patient towards them.  A reluctant prophet, Jonah originally ran from God before delivering a message of repentance to the nation of Nineveh.”

The lower image is courtesy of Recalling the 1960s ‘bra-burning days of women’s lib’ | Media Myth Alert. Also on this subject see Bra Burning Feminists of the Sixties – NOT.

Also Re: Isaac Asimov. The quote on the Book of Jonah is from Asimov’s Guide to the Bible (Two Volumes in One),  Avenel Books (1981), at pages 648-49.  Asimov (1920-1992) was “an American author and professor of biochemistry at Boston University, best known for his works of science fiction and for his popular science books. Asimov was one of the most prolific writers of all time, having written or edited more than 500 books and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards.”  His list of books included those on “astronomy, mathematics, the Bible, William Shakespeare’s writing, and chemistry.”  He was a long-time member of Mensa, “albeit reluctantly;  he described some members of that organization as ‘brain-proud and aggressive about their IQs.'”  See Isaac Asimov – Wikipedia.

“Eli and Samuel,” from this week’s Old Testament lesson…

January 14, 2015 – As noted in 12 Days of Christmas, the full season of Christmastide ended on January 6.  January 6 also begins the Epiphany season, a.k.a. Epiphany-tide.

Epiphany runs from January 6 until Ash Wednesday.  This year Ash Wednesday falls on February 18, and begins the season of Lent.  The day before Lent begins is called Shrove Tuesday, better known as Mardi Gras, or in England “Fat Tuesday.”  I.e., church seasons alternate times of penance and celebration, but we’re getting ahead of ourselves…

The Epiphany – this year, January 6 – “is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ.”  More to the point, in the Western Church the feast “commemorates principally (but not solely) the visit of the Magi to the Christ child, and thus Jesus’ physical manifestation to the Gentiles.” See Epiphany (holiday) – Wikipedia.

An epiphany is “an experience of sudden and striking realization:”

Generally the term is used to describe [a] scientific breakthrough, religious or philosophical discoveries, but it can apply in any situation in which an enlightening realization allows a problem or situation to be understood from a new and deeper perspective…   Epiphanies are relatively rare occurrences [often]  triggered by a new and key piece of information, but importantly, a depth of prior knowledge is required to allow the leap of understanding.

See Epiphany (feeling) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  Simply put, the Epiphany on January 6 is a celebration of the point when humankind as a whole came to realize that they – we – have a Savior who loved us so much that He came to live among us and “show us the way…“

That means the Bible readings for Sundays from now until February 15 will be those readings “after the Epiphany.”  For example, see Second Sunday after the Epiphany, where you can see the full readings for next Sunday, January 18.  Here are some highlights.

The Old Testament reading is 1st Samuel 3:1-10(11-20).  It’s about the prophet Samuel, and about Eli, a “High Priest of Shiloh.”  (See Samuel, and also Eli (biblical figure) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.)  Here Samuel is a young “novice” mentored by Eli.  This night Samuel heard God calling him – literally – but thought it was Eli, sleeping in the next room.

Then Eli perceived that the LORD was calling the boy.  Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down; and if he calls you, you shall say, `Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

Samuel did what he was told, then heard God say that he was going to punish Eli for the sins of his sons.  (The two sons were “Levitical” priests at the church at Shiloh, but among other things “they were having sexual relations with the sanctuary’s serving women…  Eli is aware of their behavior but he rebukes them too lightly and is unable to stop them.”)

Samuel tells this to Eli, who responds,  “It is the LORD; let him do what seems good to him.”  The reading ends:  “As Samuel grew up, the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground.  And all Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba knew that Samuel was a trustworthy prophet…”

Psalm 139:1-5, 12-17, is part of a hymn “known for its affirmation of God’s omnipresence.”  See for example Psalm 139 – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Some scholars have interpreted this psalm to be a response to an accusation of idolatrous sun worship, something forbidden in the Jewish faith, but incredibly common in rival religions of the time. (See Ancient Egyptian religion…)  Through this psalm, the psalmist insists on God being the only true god and challenges anyone to question his faith.

The International Bible Commentary (IBC) uses the sub-title “Honest to God,” and said the setting is best viewed as a religious court.  The writer is “protesting his innocence before almighty God who knows him through and through, is never absent from his side and has superintended his life from its beginning.”  It begins, “LORD, you have searched me out and known me; you know my sitting down and my rising up; you discern my thoughts from afar.”  It ends:

How deep I find your thoughts, O God!  How great is the sum of them!   If I were to count them, they would be more in number than the sand; to count them all, my life span would need to be like yours.

Which serves as a reminder that we can never learn all there is to know about God.  See also On reading the Bible, which cited Isaiah 55:8-9: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.”  (Some folks seem to re-make God in their image, rather than the other way around.  See Genesis 1:27, on the possibility of living on “in the spirit.”)

Turning to the New Testament reading, 1st Corinthians 6:12-20, the IBC that said it’s all about fornication and purity.  “Fornication, condoned by the average Greek and Roman alike … became a snare to test the moral discipline of the local church.”  Paul concluded:

Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit … and that you are not your own?  For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.

The Gospel reading, John 1:43-51, tells of Jesus meeting Philip and Nathanael, and about the “fig tree.”  See Philip, Nathanael, and the Fig Tree | Sacred Story.  After Jesus recruited Philip as a disciple, he went and talked to Nathanael, who apparently was a bit of a “wiseacre:”

Nathanael listened, and made a wise-crack –  “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”  [He] was always making sarcastic remarks [but] Philip didn’t give up on him…    Nathanael dragged his feet.  He kicked rocks…  But he came…    Jesus wasn’t surprised [and even] greeted him with a sarcastic joke.  “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!”  …Nathanael looked up and blurted out, “When did you get to know me?”   When Jesus answered that he saw him under the fig tree before Philip called him, Nathanael let go of all his sarcasm and hostile defenses, and believed that what Philip said was true.

As such Nathanael may be patron saint of all such “wiseacres” among us, to this very day!

The upper image is courtesy of Eli (biblical figure) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The caption:  “Depiction of Eli and Samuel by John Singleton Copley, 1780.”

The full “holiday” references include Epiphany (holiday) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, and Epiphany (feeling) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The latter noted that the term epiphany “originally referred to insight through the divine.”

Re: Genesis 1:27.  See So God created mankind in his own image, which noted in the commentaries:   “It is the soul of man that especially bears God’s image.”  See also What does it mean that humanity is made in the image of God?  That site said this:

Having the “image” or “likeness” of God means, in the simplest terms, that we were made to resemble God.  Adam did not resemble God in the sense of God’s having flesh and blood. Scripture says that “God is spirit” (John 4:24) and therefore exists without a body.

The lower image is courtesy of Philip, Nathanael, and the Fig Tree | Sacred Story.  The full reading ends with Jesus saying to Nathanael, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree?  You will see greater things than these…   I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”

Note too that I changed the wording of the “Sacred Story” emphasized quote, in part using “guile” instead of “deceit.”  Sacred Story said of Jesus’ sarcastic joke to Nathanael, “The Israel Jesus referred to was the new name of Jacob, who was well-known as a deceitful trickster who fooled both his father and brother.”  Other commentaries have a different – and apparently more “politically correct” – take.  See for example John 1:47 When Jesus saw Nathanael (“Biblehub”), which said Jesus was referring to “one who fulfils the true idea of Israel, a prince with God, a conqueror of God by prayer, and conqueror of man by submission, penitence, and restitution.”  See also On arguing with God.

Re: Philip.  See Philip the Apostle – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

A “wiseacre” is variously defined as:  1) a person who possesses or affects to possess great wisdom;  2) a wise guy;  3) “Old person speak for smartass;” and/or a term “essentially synonymous with the terms jerk and jackass…”  See Urban Dictionary: wiseacre, and also Define Wiseacre at Dictionary.com.  The latter adds the term comes from the Middle Dutch wijsseggher [or] soothsayer; related to Old High German wīssaga [and/or the] German Weissager,” and that by popular etymology it is “equivalent to wīs wise + sago sayer, from earlier wīzzago wise person.”  Finally, Dictionary.com said the term is “often used facetiously or contemptuously.”

And finally, “even to this day” is a phrase used repeatedly throughout the Bible.  (Or “words to that effect.”)  See for example Matthew 28:15.  In the Expanded Bible the verse reads, “So the soldiers kept the money and did as they were ·told [instructed].  And that story is still spread among the ·people [^LJews] even ·today [to this day].”  The Good News Translation and Living Bible read “to this very day.”  For more examples type the term into Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages.

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December 19, 2014 – The readings for Sunday December 21 – the Fourth Sunday of Advent – are 2d Samuel 7:1-11;16, followed by what would normally be the psalm-reading; in this case either Canticle 15 (the Magnificat) or Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26.

For more on those psalm-choices, see On the psalms up to December 21.  The New Testament reading is Romans 16:25-27, followed by the Gospel, Luke 1:26-38.  The full readings are at Fourth Sunday of Advent.    Here are some highlights.

As to the First and Second Books of Samuel, the International Bible Commentary (IBC) noted they covered the same time period as First and Second Kings, but with different emphases.  Second Samuel follows the death of King Saul and the rise of David as King of Israel.

Today’s reading is about “the latest” in a long line of covenants or contracts between God and His Chosen People.  The contracts began with Noah, then on to Abraham, then came up to the Contract with Moses.  This latest contract was between God and David (and his line, on to Jesus).

2 Samuel 7:1-11;16 begins with David saying to the prophet Nathan that he will “build a house for God.”  (Up to then God had been “staying in a tent” since the days of Moses, metaphorically anyway.)   But that’s followed by God appearing to David (via Nathan) and saying – basically – “You think you’re going to build a house for me?  I’ll build a house for you!”

I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went…  Moreover the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house.  Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.

This was a matter of considerable importance.  It’s why Matthew and Luke included genealogies to show Jesus was David’s direct descendant.  “Both aim to establish a direct descent of Jesus from David, and thus [His] legal inheritance of the throne of Israel.”  (Genealogy of Jesus – Wikipedia, which added that the two genealogies appear markedly different.)

Since the reading from Romans 16:25-27 is so short, it can be included in its entirety:

Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith – to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever!  Amen.

For a further explanation of this concluding section of the Epistle see Romans 16 Commentary, which “waxed poetic” on Paul’s unique ability to maintain the difficult balance between being wise as a serpent yet harmless as a dove.  (Referring to Matthew 10:16.)  Note also that except for the “Amen” at the end, that was all one sentence.  (Paul was basically a lawyer – a “rabbinic” lawyer anyway – and certainly wrote like one.  See 2 Peter 3:16.)

Turning to the Gospel reading, Luke 1:26-38 tells of the Annunciation, of the angel Gabriel to Mary, that she would bear Jesus.  That is, the Annunciation is “the Christian celebration of the announcement by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary that she would conceive and become the mother of Jesus, the Son of God, marking his Incarnation.”  See Annunciation – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  Today’s Gospel begins, “In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David.  The virgin’s name was Mary….”

Which is of course “the reason for the season!”

The upper image is courtesy of Annunciation – Wikipedia, noted above, which added that the painter El Greco, (born Doménikos Theotokópoulos; 1541-1614) “was a painter, sculptor and architect of the Spanish Renaissance.”  He lived and worked in Spain from 1577 until his death, and his nickname (“The Greek”) was ostensibly a reference to his birth-place, but he was actually “born in Crete, which was at that time part of the Republic of Venice.)

As to the “RCL,” see Revised Common Lectionary, and also Revised Common Lectionary – Wikipedia. 

*  On the subject of meditating on the Bible, see for example Psalm 1:2, “Their delight is in the law of the Lord, and they meditate on His law day and night;”  Psalm 77:12, “I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds;”  Psalm 119:15, “I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways;”  Psalm 119:23, “The evil have been sitting and plotting against me, but I have been meditating upon your commandments;”  and Psalm 119:48, “I will lift up my hands toward your commandments, which I love, and I will meditate on your statutes.”

Incidentally, Psalm 119 – where three of the five quotes above came from – “is the longest psalm as well as the longest chapter in the Bible…    It is the prayer of one who delights in and lives by the Torah, the sacred law.  With its 176 verses, Psalm 119 has more verses than 14 Old Testament Books and 17 New Testament Books.”  See Psalm 119 – Wikipedia.

As to both Samuel and Kings, both “sets of two books” were originally one book – actually one “scroll” – and both scrolls were so long that they had to be cut in two, for ease of handling and reading, eventually in the local synagogue.  See for example Books of Kings – Wikipedia. 

As to Romans 16 Commentary – Commentary Critical and Explanatory, vis-a-vis the New Testament reading for today, the author noted in pertinent part:

In every age … there have been real Christians whose excessive study of the serpent’s wisdom has … at times [excited] the distressing apprehension that they were no better than wolves in sheep’s clothing.  Nor is it to be denied, on the other hand, that, either from inaptitude or indisposition … many eminently simple, spiritual, devoted Christians, have throughout life exercised little or no influence on any section of society around them.  (E.A.)

Which may be another way of saying:  “If it was easy, anybody could do it!!“

The lower image is courtesy of a “fellow blog” at afterthealtarcall.com/2012/12/05/seven-scriptures-to-remind-us-that-Jesus-is-the-Real-Reason-for-the-Season.  The blogger (Ms. Holmes) has a bachelor’s degree in magazine journalism from the University of Georgia, “has lived in the metro Atlanta area since she was six years old and considers Atlanta her home.”  Her home page lists professional experience “writing and working for an assortment of newspapers, magazines, websites and other publications,” as well as a commitment to her church, having served as “Sunday School teacher, Vacation Bible School and play director in addition to serving on numerous committees.”

Mary’s Magnificat

“(Le magnificat)”

“James Tissot – Brooklyn Museum”

In this regular feature I focus on the psalm-reading for the upcoming Sunday, and try to post that meditation-on-a-psalm by the Wednesday leading up to that upcoming Sunday.  I also meditate on and highlight the psalms in the Daily Office Readings (DORs) for the week leading up to that Wednesday posting.   (Confused about “DORs?”  See What’s a DOR?)

That means this week the highlighted DOR psalms will be chosen from the The Lectionary – Satucket readings from Wednesday December 10 through Tuesday December 16.  (And at this point there may be some readers asking, “What, the psalms again?  Why pay so much attention to the Psalms?”  For the simple answer to this question, see On the psalms.)

The Lectionary has two choices for Sunday December 21, either Canticle 15 (the Song of Mary also known as The Magnificat) or Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26, discussed further below.  The DOR psalms are from the readings for Wednesday December 10 up to Tuesday December 16.

Here are some highlights from those past-week Daily Office readings.

From Thursday December 11, Psalm 37:14 and 17:  “The Lord laughs at the wicked, because He sees that their day will come,” and “The little that the righteous has is better than great riches of the wicked.”  On the note of God having a sense of humor (He “laughs at the wicked”), see On the readings for Pentecost (6/8/14), citing Psalm 104:27: “There move the ships, and there is that Leviathan, which [God] made for the sport of it.”

From Friday December 12, Psalm 31:5:  “Into your hands I commend my spirit, for you have redeemed me, O Lord, O God of truth.”  Jesus quoted that verse on the cross, at Luke 23:46:  “Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’   When he had said this, he breathed his last.”  (See also Acts 7:59.)

The readings for Sunday December 14, included Psalm 63, known to some as “Patton’s psalm,” a psalm at once both “humble and defiant.”  See On Patton, Sunday School teacher.  They also included Psalm 98:1, “Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things.”  On that note see On the DORs for July 20, which asked the musical question:

How can we do greater works than Jesus if we interpret the Bible in a cramped, narrow, strict and/or limiting manner?   For that matter, why does the Bible so often tell us to “sing to the Lord a new song?”   (For example, Isaiah 42:10 and Psalms 96:1, 98:1, and 144:9.)

Or use the Search-box above right and just type in “sing Lord new song.”

And finally, the DORs for Monday December 15 included Psalm 41:1: “Happy are they who consider the poor and needy!  The Lord will deliver them in time of trouble.”  Note also the GOD’S WORD® Translation, which reads, “Blessed is the one who has concern for helpless people.  The LORD will rescue him in times of trouble.”

Either way, that sentiment is particularly appropriate at this time of year.

As to the psalms for December 21, the first Lectionary choice is Canticle 15, also known as the Song of Mary or the Magnificat, which begins, “My soul doth magnify the Lord…” 

As noted in Magnificat – Wikipedia, the text of the canticle is from the Luke 1:46-55, “where it is spoken by the Virgin Mary upon the occasion of her Visitation to her cousin Elizabeth.”  When Mary greeted Elizabeth – “pregnant with the future John the Baptist” – the child (John) moved within Elizabeth’s womb, and when “Elizabeth praises Mary for her faith, Mary sings what is now known as the Magnificat in response:”

Mary’s Magnificat, celebrated only in Luke’s Gospel, [is] distilled from a collection of early Jewish-Christian canticles [and] patterned on the “hymns of praise” in Israel’s Psalter…   Mary symbolizes both ancient Israel and the Lucan faith-community as the author/singer of the Magnificat…  The canticle echoes several Old Testament biblical passages [including] the Song of Hannah, from the Books of Samuel (1Samuel 2:1-10).  Scriptural echoes from the Torah, the Prophets and the Writings complement the main allusions to Hannah’s “magnificat of rejoicing” in l Samuel 2:1-10.

The alternate choice is Psalm 89:1-4, 19-26, which begins in a similar vein:   “Your love, O LORD, for ever will I sing; from age to age my mouth will proclaim your faithfulness.”

Psalms 89 – Matthew Henry Commentary summarized Psalm 89 like this:

Many psalms that begin with complaint and prayer end with joy and praise, but this [psalm] begins with joy and praise and ends with sad complaints and petitions…   It is uncertain when it was penned; only, in general, that it was at a time when the house of David was woefully eclipsed; some think it was at the time of the captivity of Babylon, when king Zedekiah was insulted over, and abused, by Nebuchadnezzar…  (E.A.)

And the International Bible Commentary (IBC) said this psalm illustrates faith’s perplexity:  “Nowhere is the paradox of faith and sight, divine promise and human experience, more pronounced.”  Further on the IBC said the psalm as a whole alternated the “glorious revelation” of God with the “ugly reality” of everyday life.

But the verses in today’s psalm focus on the positive.  Verses 3-4 read:  “I have made a covenant with my chosen one; I have sworn an oath to David my servant:  ‘I will establish your line for ever, and preserve your throne for all generations.'”  And verses 25-26 close on a positive note for the line of King David (seen below):  “I shall make his dominion extend from the Great Sea to the River.  He will say to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.'”

The upper image is courtesy of Magnificat – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 

Re: “Happy are they who consider the poor and needy!”  See also Deuteronomy 15:10,  Ruth 2:19,  Psalm 82:3,  Psalm 82:4,  Proverbs 14:21,  Proverbs 29:7, and  Daniel 4:27.

Re: canticle.   A”hymn, psalm or other song of praise taken from biblical texts other than the Psalms,” derived from the “Latin canticulum, a diminutive of canticum, ‘song.'”  See Canticle – Wikipedia.

The lower image was prompted by the web article King David misunderstood says Yale scholar, with the rest of the headline reading:  “Politician, psalmist, adulterer and more.”  The Old Testament scholar in question is Doctor Joel Baden, whose work – including his The Historical David: The Real Life of an Invented Hero – “ruined King David” according to some Yale divinity students. 

Baden said as a result of his research he “found someone more animated than the glorified felt-board action hero many have come to know.”  He added that even though David was an authentically-important historical figure who literally changed the course of history, that glorification came at a price:  We’ve since lost sight of David as a real-life “living breathing human being” with all our inherent faults and flaws.  Baden went on to say of his methods:

The starting point is the biblical text itself.  I try to understand not only what the biblical authors were saying, but why they were saying it.  That is to say, what was their purpose in writing these stories the way that they did?   I take very seriously what they actually wrote: what they included (and didn’t include)…   The second important step is to view David not as a character in the Bible, but as a living, breathing man in the early first millennium BCE…  The portrayal of David I put forward in the book is thus a combination of these two approaches:  a close reading of the biblical text filled out with the background of the ancient world as we now understand it.   It is an attempt to find the real David moving beneath the veneer of the Bible’s own interpretation of his life. (E.A.)

Which is pretty much what I’m trying to do in and with this blog, under the theory that the Bible was not written by super-heroes who aren’t remotely like us, but rather that it was written by people just like us –  “with all our inherent faults and flaws” – but we digress…    

I.e., the lower image itself is courtesy of File: Gerard van Honthorst – King David Playing the Harp.  The artist (1590-1656) was a “Dutch Golden Age painter” who early in life visited Rome, where he found success “painting in a style influenced by Caravaggio.  Following his return to the Netherlands he became a leading portrait painter.”  See Gerard van Honthorst – Wikipedia.