THE MYTHOLOGICAL MANTLE OF SOLOMON FALLEN ON JESUS.
It is no part of my aim to prove miracles impossible, nor to consider
whether one or another alleged wonder might not be really within
the powers of an exceptional man. In the absence of any apostolic
allusion to any extraordinary incident in the life of Jesus, and his
own declaration (for the evangelists could not have invented a rebuke
to their own narratives) that miracles were the vain expectation of
a people in distress and degradation, such records have lost their
historic character. As Gibbon said in the last century, it requires
a miracle of grace to make a believer in miracles, and even among the
uncritical that miracle is not frequent. In the New Testament belief
in miracle has its natural corollary in a miraculous morality,--a
dissolution of earthly ties, a severance from worldly affairs, a
non-resistance and passiveness under wrongs, which are in perfect
accord with persons moving in an apocalyptic dream, but not with a
world awakened from that dream.
But at the root of the unnatural miracles is the natural miracle--the
heart of man. We are such stuff as dreams are made on, as the
miracle-working poet reminds us; our little life is surrounded with a
sleep, a realm of dreams,--visions that give poetic fulfilment to hopes
born of hard experience. No biblical miracle in its literal form is so
beautiful and impressive as the history of its origin and development
as traced by the student of mythology. The growth, for example, of
a simple proverb ascribed to Solomon "He that trusteth in his riches
shall fall, but the just shall flourish as a green leaf" into a hymn
(Ps. lii.); the association of this Psalm, by its Hebrew caption,
with hungry David eating the shewbread of the temple, and the king's
slaying the priests who permitted it; the use of this legend by Jesus
when his disciples were censured for plucking the corn on the Sabbath
(with perhaps some humorous picture of a great king in Heaven angry
because hungry men ate a few grains of corn, crumbs from his royal
table) pointed with advice that the censors should learn that God
desires charity and not sacrifice; the development of this into an
early Christian burden against the rich, which took the form of an
old Oriental fable, [43] to which a Jewish connotation was given by
giving the poor man in Paradise the name of Lazarus (i.e. Eleazar,
who risked his life to obtain water for famished David, a story that
may have been referred to by Jesus along with that of the shewbread);
the transformation of this parable into a quasi-historical narrative
representing the return of Lazarus from Abraham's bosom, his poverty
omitted; the European combination of the parable and the history
by creating a St. Lazarus ("one helped by God"), yet appointing him
the helper of beggars (lazzaroni): these items together represent a
continuity of the human spirit through thousands of years, surmounting
obstructive superstitions, holding still the guiding thread of humanity
through long labyrinths of legend.
To fix on any one stage in such an evolution, detach it, affirm it,
is to wrest a true scripture to its destruction. Few can really
be interested in Abimelech and the shewbread; no one now believes
that a rich man must go to hell because he is rich, nor a pauper to
Paradise because of his pauperism; and none can intelligently believe
the narrative of the resurrection of Lazarus without believing that
in Jesus miraculous power was associated with the unveracity and
vanity ascribed to him in that narrative. But take the legends all
together, and in them is visible the supersacred heart of humanity
steadily developing through manifold symbols and fables the religion
of human helpfulness and happiness. The study of mythology is the
study of nature.
The theory already stated (ante I), that illegitimacy or irregularity
of birth was a sign of authentication for "the God-anointed," finds
some corroboration in the claim of the Epistle to the Hebrews that
Jesus, like Melchizedek, was without father, mother, or genealogy. His
double nature is suggested: "Our Lord sprung out of Judah" (vii. 14),
yet (verse 16), as priest, he has arisen "not after the law of a
carnal commandment, but after the power of an indissoluble life." The
writer admits that what he writes about Melchizedek is "hard of
interpretation," and perhaps it so proved to the genealogist (Matt,
i.) who apparently was animated by a desire to make out a carnal-law
inheritance of the throne, yet not so legitimate as to exclude divine
interference at various stages. In the forty-two generations only
five mothers are named,--all associated either with sexual immorality
or some kind of irregularity in their matrimonial relations. Tamar,
through whose adultery with her father-in-law, Judah, his almost
extinct line was preserved, is already a holy woman in the book of
Ruth (iv. 12), and the association there of Ruth's name with this
particular one of the many female ancestors of her son, and her mention
in Matthew, look as if some editor of Ruth as well as the genealogist
desired to cast suspicion on her midnight visit to Boaz. "The Lord
gave Tamar conception, and she bore a son"--grandfather of David. It
is also doubtful whether Rahab, who comes next to Tamar in Matthew's
list, is called a harlot in the book of Joshua: Zuneh is said to mean
"hostess" or "tavern-keeper." But in the Epistle to the Hebrews and in
that of James she becomes a glorified harlot. The next female ancestor
of Jesus mentioned is "her of Uriah." The name of the woman is not
given,--the important fact being apparently that she was somebody's
wife. Our translators have supplied no fewer than five words to save
this text from signifying that Bathsheba was still Uriah's wife when
Solomon was born.
The next ancestress named after the mother of Solomon is the mother of
Jesus, Mary, in whom Bathsheba finds transfiguration. The exaltation
of the adulterous mother of Solomon has already been referred to
(ante II.), and the traditional ascription to her of the authorship
of the last chapter of Proverbs. She was also supposed to be the
original or model of "the Virtuous Woman" therein portrayed! Now,
in that same chapter she is pronounced "blessed," and excelling all
the daughters who have done virtuously (Cf. Luke i. 28, 42). In the
"Wisdom of Solomon" (ix. 5) a phrase is used by Solomon which is also
used by his mother (Bathsheba) when she conjured from David the decree
for his succession,--"thine handmaiden" (1 Kings i.). Solomon says,
"For I, thy servant, and son of thy handmaiden," etc. This was written
in a popular work about the time of the birth of Jesus. We find the
"blessed" of Proverbs xxxi. 28, and the "handmaiden" of the "Wisdom
of Solomon" both in Mary's magnificat: "For he hath regarded the low
estate of his handmaiden; for behold, from henceforth all generations
shall call me blessed."
In Ecclesiasticus (xv. 2) we find the enigmatic clause concerning
Solomonic "Sophia," personified Wisdom: kai hypantêsetai autô hôs
mêtêr, kai hôs gynê parthenias prosdexetai auoton.
The Vulgate translates: "Et obviabit illi quasi mater honorificata,
et quasi mulier a virginitate suscipiet illum."
Wycliffe translates the Vulgate: "And it as a modir onourid schal
meete hym, and as a womman fro virgynyte schal take him."
The Authorised Version has: "And as a mother shall she meet him,
and receive him as a wife married of a virgin."
In the Variorum Teacher's Bible the reading "maiden wife" is suggested,
and reference is made to Leviticus xxi. 13, "And he shall take a wife
in her virginity." But the Septuagint, which Jesus Ben Sira would
follow were he quoting, uses simple words there: hautos gynaika
parthenon [ek tou genous autou] lêpsetai.
(The words in crochets are added by the LXX.)
The clause in Ecclus. xv. 2, taken with the chapter it continues,
conveys to me an impression of rhapsodical paradox, as when Dante
apostrophises Mary: "O Virgin Mother, daughter of thy son!" The Semitic
goddess is born, Wisdom, sister of virginal Athena of the Parthenon,
yet fulfilling the Solomonic exaltation of the Virtuous Woman, who
is also a wife. She is therefore the Virgin Bride.
But whether this interpretation is correct or not, it cannot be
doubted that this strange phrase in a household book might easily
convey that impression, and that to believers in the resurrection
of Jesus the feeling that he must also have entered the world in a
supernatural way might naturally have associated Miriam his mother
with the virgin bride, Wisdom.
The evolution of Wisdom into the Holy Spirit has been traced (ante
XII.), and it is sufficient to mention here that in the "Gospel
according to the Hebrews," Jesus uses the phrase "My mother the
Holy Spirit."
In the "Wisdom of Solomon" the resurrected Solomon says, "I was
nursed in swaddling clothes, and that with cares" (vii. 4, cf. Luke
ii. 7). This might be said of every babe, but the King, having begun by
saying "I myself also am a mortal man," mentions the swaddling clothes
as a sign of lowliness; and the impression made by this item in the
Birth-legend of Jesus is shown by a passage in the Arabic Gospel of
the Infancy. It is said that when the Wise Men came, in obedience to
a prophecy of Zoroaster, Mary rewarded their gifts with one of the
child's "Swaddling bands," which on their return to their own land
withstood the power of fire, in which it was tested.
The infant Jesus receives gifts of the Wise Men, traceable to the gold,
silver, and spices brought by the Queen of Sheba (afterwards "Sophia")
to Solomon. (Cf. also Psalm lxxii. 8-11.) As Solomon to the Queen,
so Jesus gives proofs of astounding wisdom to the woman of Samaria.
In the "Wisdom of Solomon" the returned king proceeds: "I was a witty
child, and had a good spirit. Yea rather, being good, I came into a
body undefiled" (viii. 19, 20). In Luke it is said, "And the child
grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom." "And Jesus
increased in wisdom and stature."
The word "undefiled" was a special title of Wisdom. In the "Wisdom of
Solomon" (vii.) the King, having described his birth, "like to all,"
and his "swaddling clothes," follows this immediately by saying,
"I prayed, and understanding was given me; I called, and the spirit
of Wisdom came to me." This is the new and the spiritual birth. Among
the titles ascribed in the same chapter to Wisdom is "Undefiled," this
being emphasized three verses lower by the declaration that being a
pure emanation from God "no defiled thing can fall into her." These
ideas, so far as Solomon is concerned, are referable to his prayer
for wisdom (1 Kings iii. 9) and to Jahveh's adoption of him (Psalm
ii. 7). "Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee."
These ideas all reappear at the baptism of Jesus, as related in the
"Gospel according to Hebrews":
"Behold the mother of the Lord and his brethren said to him,
'John the Baptist baptizeth for remission of sins: let us go and
be baptized by him.' But he said to them, 'Wherein have I sinned
that I should go and be baptized by him? except perchance this very
thing that I have said is ignorance.' And when the people had been
baptized Jesus also came and was baptized by John. And as he went
up the heavens were opened, and he saw the Holy Spirit in shape
of a Dove descending and entering him. And a voice out of heaven,
saying, 'Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased';
and again, 'I have this day begotten thee.'" (Cf. Jahveh's promise
concerning Solomon, 1 Chron. xvii. 13, "I will be his father and
he shall be my son.")
It is important to recall that this all occurred before baptism. The
suggestion that he should be baptized for remission of sins, is met by
Jesus as a challenge of his sinlessness. It is submitted to the test,
and before he enters the water the "Undefiled" (the dove) enters
him, and the deity announces him as then and there begotten. When
"straightway a great light shone around the place"--ultimately the Star
of Bethlehem. John the Baptist is here the shepherd: seeing the light,
he asks, "Who art thou, Lord?" The heavenly voice replies, "This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Then John fell down before
him and said, "I pray thee, Lord, baptize thou me." But he prevented
him, saying, "Let be; for thus it is becoming that all things should
be fulfilled." Then follows the baptism, and the account continues:
"And it came to pass, when the Lord had come up from the water,
the entire fountain of the Holy Spirit descended and rested upon
him and said to him, 'My Son, in all the prophets did I await thee,
that thou mightest come and I might rest in thee; for thou art
my rest; thou art my first-born Son that reignest forever.'" [44]
The phrase "entire fountain of the Holy Spirit" is Parsî. Anâhita
is the Holy Spirit; her influence is always described as a fountain
descending on the saints or heroes to whom she gives strength. It
will be remembered that in this Gospel the Holy Spirit is also
feminine. The use of the words "fountain" and "rest in thee" are
interesting in connection with the account of John the Baptizer
and Jesus in the fourth gospel, which differs so widely from the
Synoptical narratives. It is in John (iii.) left doubtful whether
Jesus accepted any baptismal rite at all. John was baptizing at
a large pool called Ænon-by-Saleim,--probably allegorical, meaning
"Fountain of Repose." Jesus and his friends came there and plunged in
(ebaptixonto), but they seem to have been a distinct party from
that of John.
After the supposed resurrection of Jesus everything he did, even
taking a bath, became mystical. Jerome says that in his time there
was a place called Salumias, and he maintained that it was there that
Melchizedek refreshed Abraham. There are various readings of this
Saleim in the New Testament, all, no doubt, variants of Solomon,
all meaning "rest"; and the fourth Gospel supplies in 'Ainôn engys
Salêm' the basis of the legend in the Aramaic Gospel of the "rest"
which the Holy Spirit found in her son, on whom her "entire fountain"
was poured. And with this legend may also be read the words of "Wisdom
of Solomon," vii. 27, 28: "She (Wisdom) maketh all things new; and in
all ages entering into holy souls she maketh them friends of God and
prophets. For God loveth none but him that dwelleth with Wisdom." The
representation in this Aramaic Gospel of the Holy Spirit as "entering
into" Jesus is especially interesting in connection with the use of
the same phrase in "Wisdom of Solomon,"--into whose heart Wisdom was
put by God (1 Kings x. 24).
It is only after Wisdom has entered into Jesus that the voice is
heard, "This is my beloved Son, in thee I am well pleased." This
accords with Solomon's words, "God loveth none but him that dwelleth
with Wisdom." The angelic song at the birth (Luke ii. 14) preserves
the heavenly voice at the baptism concerning "peace." The "peace"
is Solomon's own name, associated with the "rest" given to his reign
in order that he might build the temple (1 Kings v. 4, Ecclesiasticus
xlvii. 13). "My Son," says the spirit from within Jesus, "Thou art
my rest."
It is remarkable that the title preëminently belonging to Solomon,
"Prince of Peace," and unknown to the Gospels as a title of Jesus,
should be traditionally given to one said to have declared that
he had come on earth to bring not peace but a sword, and bids his
disciples arm themselves. No doubt the religious instinct tells true
in this; it is tolerably plain that the warlike words were ascribed
to Jesus not because he said them, but to adapt him to the "Word"
as described in the "Wisdom of Solomon": "While all things were in
quiet silence ... thine Almighty Word leaped down from heaven out
of thy royal throne as a fierce man of war ... and brought thine
unfeigned commandment as a sharp sword," etc. The fierce metaphor
was, as we have seen, caught up and spiritualized in the Epistle to
the Hebrews, and passed on to be literalized for the risen Christ,
so that the consecration of the sword by the Prince of Peace is writ
large in the Christian wars of many centuries.
To the tests and proofs of Solomon's wisdom recorded in 1 Kings
iii. and x. many additions were made by rabbinical tradition, mostly
derived from Parsî scriptures. The famous Ring of Solomon is the symbol
of sovereignty over the part of the earth owned by God given by him to
the first man King Yima--"Then I, Ahura Mazda, brought two implements
unto him, a golden ring and a poniard inlaid with gold. Behold,
here Yima bears the royal sway!" (Vendîdâd, Farg. ii. 5). When Yima
pressed the earth with this ring, the genius of the Earth, Aramaîti,
responded to his wish and order. The ring represented Yima's "glory"
(in Avestan phrase), his divine potency, lost when he yielded to a
temptation of the devil, and Solomon also lost his ring with which,
as we have seen (ante IV.) his "glory" and royal sway passed to the
(Persian) devil Asmodeus. This occurred in a trial of wits, Asmodeus
propounding hard questions, which Solomon was able to answer until,
proudly thinking he could answer by his unaided intellect, he laid
aside his ring, at the challenge of Asmodeus. These hard questions
are found in an ancient legend of a similar contest between the devil
and Zoroaster, and are alluded to as "malignant riddles." Zoroaster
met the devil "unshaken by the hardness of his malignant riddles,"
and swinging "stones as big as a house," which he had obtained from
the Maker,--tables of the divine law, and possibly origin of the
stones which the devil challenged Jesus to turn into bread.
There are Avestan elements in the legend of the temptation of Jesus
that do not appear in the legends of Solomon. In Parsî belief the land
of demons on earth is Mâzana. From that region they issue to inflict
diseases, especially blindness and deafness. In that region is an
"exceeding high mountain," Damâvand, to which the great demon Azi
Dahâka was bound by Feridun who overcame him. This demon was called
"the murderer,"--the epithet mysteriously applied by Jesus to the
devil (John viii. 44). After tempting and supplanting King Yima he
ruled over the world for a millennium in great splendour, and the
chief of devils tempts Zoroaster with that glory.
"Renounce the good law of the worshippers of Mazda, and thou shalt
gain such a boon as the Murderer gained, the ruler of nations." Thus
in answer to him said Zoroaster, "No, never will I renounce the good
law of the worshippers of Mazda, though my body, my life, my soul,
should burst." Again said the guileful one, the Maker of the evil
world, "By whose word wilt thou strike, by whose word wilt thou
repel, by whose weapon will the good creatures (strike and repel)
my creation?" Thus, in answer, said Zoroaster, "The sacred mortar,
the sacred cup, the Haoma [the sacramental juice] the Words taught
by Mazda, these are my weapons." [45]
After this, Zoroaster "on the mountain" conversed with Ahura Mazda,
and invoked the beneficent beings who preside over the seven Karshvares
of the earth. We thus have here the mountain, the stones, the Word
from the mouth of God, the offer of the kingdoms of the world, and
the ministering angels, which reappear in the temptation of Jesus.
After his baptism, Jesus repudiates his human parentage ("who is my
mother?" etc.), and was led up by his new mother--the Spirit--into
the wilderness to be tested by the devil. To this no doubt relate
the words of Jesus preserved by Origen from the "Gospel according
to the Hebrews": "Just now my mother the Holy Spirit took me by one
of my hairs and bore me up on the great mountain Tabor." [46] Here
the Solomonic kingdom and glory were offered by the devil if Jesus
would worship him. According to Luke iv. he was tempted forty days
(the number of the years of Solomon's reign). The first incident
thereafter was his announcement that the Spirit of the Lord was
upon him, and the second was an exhibition of his Solomonic power
over devils. This, in Luke, is his first miracle. His first titular
recognition was this surrender of the devil, who cried, "I know thee
who them art, the Holy One of Israel!"
In Matthew also the devils first give him the divine title "Son of God"
(vii. 29). In the next chapter he gives his twelve disciples authority
over demons. That this was well understood by the people is shown
in Matthew xii. 23, where, on seeing demons mastered, they cry,
"Is this the Son of David?" that is, is this Solomon, the famous
enslaver of demons?
It may be noted in passing that in the three miracles in Matthew of
exorcising a blinding demon the title "Son of David" is used. Alford
speaks of this as remarkable; but vision is the especial promise of
Wisdom, therefore of Solomon, son of David.
It may be remembered in this connection that in "Wisdom"
(Ecclus. iv.) the trial by Wisdom is set forth:
"Whoso giveth ear unto her shall judge the nations. * * *
If a man commit himself unto her, he shall inherit her. * * *
At the first she will walk with him by crooked ways and bring
fear and dread upon him, and torment him with her discipline,
until she may trust his soul, and try him by her laws. Then
she will return the straight way unto him, and comfort him, and
shew him her secrets. But if he go wrong she will forsake him,
and give him over to his own ruin."
This, which reappears in the parable of the broad and the narrow ways,
seems to have determined the part which the Holy Spirit performs in
the temptation of Jesus. According to Matthew he was by the Spirit
carried involuntarily, "driven," says Mark, the Hebrew Gospel says,
"borne by the hair" into the wilderness: as Jahveh "raised a Satan
unto Solomon," and left Job to Satan, the Holy Spirit carries Jesus to
Satan, the same Evil One; and after his triumph the promise in "Wisdom"
(she will "comfort him") is fulfilled: "Angels came and ministered unto
him." Luke says he "returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee;
and a fame went out concerning him through all the region round about:
he taught in their synagogues and was glorified of all."
Nevertheless it may be remarked that the peculiar language in Luke
(iv. 1) "led in the spirit" suggests that the whole story is a late
literalization of some vision, partly based on v. 7 of the Epistle
to the Hebrews, but originally on Solomon's dream (1 Kings iii.),
in which Jahveh offers him any gift, and he asks only for Wisdom. Or,
as he (Solomon) says in "Wisdom of Solomon," "I preferred her before
sceptres and thrones" (vii. 8). But all of these were remotely
influenced by the trial of Zoroaster, and the attempts of the devil
to terrify Zoroaster before tempting him may be hinted in Mark i. 13,
"He was with the wild beasts." These, however, are more prominent in
the temptation of Buddha.
Paul appears to have considered it an important apostolic credential
to have had to contend with a Satan (2 Cor. xii. 7-10), and Peter
was honoured by a special request made by Satan, and conceded, that
he should be for a time under his diabolical control. (Luke xxii. 31.)
As in the case of Solomon, the tests and trials of the superhuman
wisdom and power of Jesus are found chiefly in tradition and
folklore. The apocryphal gospels contain many, and some are
preserved by Persian and Arabian poets. In the New Testament a few
examples appear in which his utterances are given a quasi-judicial
tone. There are several points of resemblance between the famous
judgment of Solomon on the two harlots contending for the child, and
the sentence of Jesus in favour of "sinful Mary," sister of Martha,
accused by Simon the Pharisee. In both cases the decision was made
at a feast, and in favour of the one who "loved much." It is not,
however, the incident in itself that is now referred to, but only
the formality ascribed to it in the narrative. And this adheres to
the entire story. The anointing of Jesus may have occurred, but the
scenic touches recall lines in the Solomonic "Song of Songs":
"While the King sat at his table,
My spikenard sent forth its fragrance."
It is not impossible, by the way, that it was from chaste Shulamith
of the Song ascribed to Solomon that a bad reputation was fixed on
Mary Magdalene, against whose virginal purity no word is said in the
Bible, the chapter heading to Luke vii. alone identifying her, in
contradiction to John xi. 2, as the woman who anointed Jesus. This
libel seems to come from a far antiquity,--as far probably as
the Talmudic "Miriam Magdala" (i. e., Braided-hair Mary); and
this epithet might have been derived from Shulamith's "ringlets"
which were "tied up in folds," and whose spikenard sent forth its
odours while Solomon was at the table. The later Jahvism must have
considered such attention by ladies to their hair as an evidence of
wickedness. Paul, while recognizing that long hair is a woman's "glory"
(1 Cor. xi.) dangerously fascinating even to the angels, testifies
against "braided hair" (1 Tim. ii.), an instruction repeated in 1
Peter iii. Whether this lady of means who helped to support Jesus was
from Magdala or not, it is nearly certain that her legend was derived
from another sense of "Magdalene," and it is not improbable that the
friendship of Jesus for her was in keeping with his Solomonic defiance
of the Pharisaic.
The Eastern tales of monarchs in disguise, derived from a legend
of Solomon, may have prepared the popular mind for the double rôle
performed by Jesus in the Gospels, for the earlier writers do not
suggest any lowliness in his position beyond the humiliation of taking
on human flesh and dying. In the Gospels we find him now an hungered,
now dining with the Pharisee and anointed with precious ointment,
again multiplying food; an humble-son of man who has not where to lay
his head, a son of God with legions of angels at his command; purifying
the temple with violence, and predicting its destruction; a peacemaker
bringing a sword; telling his disciples to resist not evil, and arming
them; enjoining secrecy about his miracles, presently parading them;
prostrate with anguish in a garden, presently shining with unmasked
splendour. Solomon never arrayed himself in any such brilliant
raiment as that of the transfiguration, nor was his environment finer
than the scenes imaged in some of these parables,--the prodigal's
ring and robe, the king going to war and sending his ambassadors,
the masters of fields and vineyards, the momentous wedding dress,
the importance of rank and precedence at a feast. In miracles, too,
we have the grand wedding at Cana, and the homage of the centurion
deferentially rewarded. [47]
In the Hebrew Gospel Jesus says, "I will that ye be twelve apostles
for a testimony to Israel"; with which we may compare the "twelve
officers over all Israel" appointed by Solomon (1 Kings iv. 7). In
Mark the first bestowal on Jesus of his Solomonic title "Son of
David" (x.) is immediately followed by his Solomonic entry into
Jerusalem. In Matthew the blind man's tribute is followed by the cry
of multitudes, "Hosanna to the Son of David"; and the whole scene
is obviously from the narrative in 1 Kings i. of the procession of
Solomon, seated on David's mule, on the occasion of the anointing
which made him the model Messiah, in virtue of which he was King
and Priest in combination. Solomon dedicated the temple himself, as
High Priest, and to him, as King-Priest, the privilege of sanctuary
was subordinate. Wherefore he had an offender executed while holding
the horns of the altar. The titular Son of David, on the morrow of
his triumphal entry, assumes authority in the temple, and scourges
out of it the sellers of things used in the sacrifices,--especially
Doves. These his human mother had sacrificed after his birth for
purification, but by this time they symbolized his divine mother,
the Holy Spirit, and were not to be sold.
Who can suppose that this violence, which were as if one assaulted
those who sell holy candles and pictures in a church vestibule,
really occurred? At Oberammergau the whole tragedy of the Passion
Play hinges on the resentment of these merchants, who appeal to the
Sanhedrim for protection from the violence of one man armed with a
whip! The story (John ii.) is an epitaph of the primitive Christ,
the value of whose blood was its proof that his victory over the
Adversary was that of a Man, unaided by a divine, unblemished by a
carnal, weapon: triumph by either would have been defeat.
The bread and wine offered to Abraham by the mythical king-priest
of Salem (Solomon disguised as Melchizedek) may have been suggested
by the bread and wine offered by Wisdom to her guests, in Proverbs
ix. However this may be, there is clearly discoverable at the Last
Supper of Jesus the Satan that Jahveh raised up against Solomon in
the presence of mythical Judas ("Satan entered into him," says John),
and in the whole scene the table of Wisdom. "She hath mingled her wine,
she hath furnished her table," and cries--
"Come, eat ye of my bread,
And drink of the wine which I have mingled."
That Jesus supped with his disciples, at the Passover time, is very
probable, but that the bread and wine alone should have been selected
for symbolical usage (a point unknown to the fourth gospel) conforms
too closely with the Solomonic prologue to be a mere coincidence. The
words "Take, eat," "Drink ye all of it," recall also the Song of
Songs--
Eat, O friends!
Drink, yea abundantly, O beloved!