Bob Dylan's "My Own Version of You" - an analysis- Part 3

In this article we continue our probe into this enigmatic masterpiece.

“I’m gonna make you play the piano like Leon Russell, like Liberace - like St. John the Apostle, play every number that I can play” are mysterious words and make our following analysis very speculative. When you consult the Wikipedia pages of Liberace (1919 -1987) and Leon Russell ( 1942 – 2016), it says of Liberace: "Liberace recreates—if that is the word—each composition in his own image. When it is too difficult, he simplifies it. When it is too simple, he complicates it." They referred to his as "sloppy technique" that included "slackness of rhythms, wrong tempos, distorted phrasing, an excess of prettification and sentimentality, a failure to stick to what the composer has written”. It looks as if with these words the poet makes a thought association between Liberace and the antagonist. Liberace makes “an own version” of the original musical material and the antagonist tries to do the same and creates his own version of man which turns out to be a caricature of how God intended man to be.

Wikipedia says of Leon Russel: “One of Russell's titles and signature nicknames is: Master of Space and Time”. Here the poet seems to make another thought association but now between Russel and St. John the Apostle. Of course, in case of St. John the Apostle the words “play the piano” should not be taken literally – there were no pianos at the time St. John the Apostle lived in the first century. St. John the Apostle playing the piano is some sort of a metaphor for the way in which the apostle composed the book “The Revelation to St. John”, also called “The Apocalypse” .St. John received these revelations from Jesus (Rev.1:1) and the Holy Spirit ordered John to write down these revelations in a book (Rev.1:10,11). St. John composed this book in such way that -just like for Leon Russel -one could say that in the composition of the Revelation St. John showed that he was a “Master of Space and Time”. The apocalyptic visions written down in Revelations do not show a linear chronological order but rather the apocalyptic visions written down are cyclical, skilfully growing in intensity and masterfully culminating in the presentation of the New Jerusalem, the City of Gold (Rev. 21,22) and at the same time restoring the tree of life from Gen. 3 :22 in its original position (Rev.22:2), going back and forth in time and space.

When it says “I’ll see you baby on Judgement Day, after midnight if you still want to meet” it looks as if all of a sudden the poet introduces Jesus speaking. On “Judgement Day” Jesus will come back on the clouds not only to “gather his jewels” (Dylan’s rewritten version of “Gonna change my way of thinking”) but also to judge the living and the dead (2 Tim. 4:1).

However, the setting of Judegement Day is that of the gospel of Matthew chapter 25. First,( Matt. 25:1-13) we have the parable of the Ten Virgins. The return of Jesus on “Judgement Day” is metaphorically represented there by a wedding party. However the bridegroom’s arrival was delayed (25:5) and the virgins fell asleep but then “at midnight” the bridegroom arrived. In my analysis of Dylan’s song “Soon after midnight”- elsewhere on this website we wrote: “The idea that Christ will return at midnight – as bridegroom to meet his bride, the church, - is wide-spread within the Christian tradition and is based on Matt. 25:6 where it says: ‘At midnight they were roused by the shout, 'Look, the bridegroom is coming! Come out and meet him!'(NLT).

Now when it says here “If you still want to meet” this seems in contradiction with the parable where the five foolish virgins demanded access to the wedding party saying: “Lord, Lord, open the door for us”( 25:11 NIV) but they were refused. So in the parable it looked as if they were anxious to meet the bridegroom (Jesus). However, “If you still want to meet” seems to suggest that the virgins are indeed willing “to meet” the bridegroom as long as it is fun, as long as it is a wedding party. Meeting him as Judge on “Judgement Day” is another matter and the words “If you still want to meet” suggest that the virgins are no longer so enthusiastic for such an encounter.

“I’ll be at the Black Horse Tavern on Armageddon Street” continues the idea that we are still on “Judgement Day” and although words like “Black Horse” and “Armageddon” are taken from the Revelations of St. John, we still are very much in the setting of Matthew 25. From Matt. 25:31 and onwards, on"Judgement Day", Jesus holds a court session during which he separates the gathered nations, “he will separate the people as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats” (Mat.25:32). The idea here of the poet might be that on “Judgement Day” the Judge Jesus holds session at the “Black Horse Tavern”. Now the name “Black Horse” refers to the third apocalyptical seal opened In Rev. 6:5 where it says: “When the Lamb (Jesus) broke the third seal, I heard the third living being say: “Come”, I looked up and saw a black horse and its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand”(NLT). This third seal is said to represent worldwide famine.

Now there are quite a lot of restaurants in the USA and elsewhere in the world named “The Blackhorse Tavern”. There is injustice and a kind of cynicism in this image when you consider the contrast between the extravagant menu cards of these Black Horse Taverns and famines which afflict millions of people on the earth in the end-times. This same contrast between extravagance on the one hand and famine on the other can be found in this third seal (Rev.6:5,6). This injustice is a case worthy of judging on “Judgement Day”.
This court session is “On Armageddon Street” and “Armageddon” is a reference to Rev. 16:16: “And they gathered them together to the place called in Hebrew Armageddon”(NKJV). Armageddon stands for the place where the final battle between the kings of the earth will take place on “that great day of God Almighty" (Rev. 16:14) which is the same day as “Judgement Day”.

“Two doors down not that far to walk” suggests that you can’t miss Jesus on Judgement Day, in fact not a soul will escape his attention, regardless “if you still want to meet” or not. Every knee shall bow (Phil 2:10). “I’ll hear your footsteps - you won’t have to knock” expresses that He knows exactly who you are. “He sees your deeds and knows your needs even before you ask” (Dylan’s ‘When He returns’- with reference to Mat. 6:8). As long as you are among the living you can “knock” on His door and Jesus will answer you (Luke 11:9) but on “Judgement Day” this will all be different. Then it is too late for redemption, knocking on His door will no longer help you: “you won’t have to knock”, you will be refused just like the five foolish virgins (Mat. 25:12,13).

The next refrain “I’ll bring someone to life” resumes the thread of the song. The antagonist says he wants to “balance the scales”. This may be an interesting thought association from the poet because in the previous verse, the rider on the “Black Horse” pictured in Revelation 6:5, has a “pair of scales” in his hand. Here the antagonist claims that by bringing someone to life he can be like God and on equal footing with God and therefore “balance the scales” with God.

Although Victor Frankenstein does not give a detailed description of how he created his monster and therefore quite rightly may say: “I’m not gonna get involved in any insignificant details” yet the words “I’m not gonna get involved in any insignificant details” can be read as the limit of human impudence and pride. In God’s creation there are no insignificant details. Take for e.g. the complexity of the creation of the human eye. Every detail has its function and if the smallest of details misses out, it cannot function properly.

The following words: “You can bring it to St. Peter - you can bring it to Jerome, you can move it on over - bring it all the way home, bring it to the corner where the children play, you can bring it to me on a silver tray” are at first glance mysterious and dark. This is because the “it” is not further identified. Obviously the apostle Peter is meant here, who was one of the most ardent disciples of Jesus Christ. The first thing that comes to your mind when we read “You can bring it to Jerome”, is a reference to song from Bo Diddley called “Bring It To Jerome”.

Most commentators feel that “you can bring it to me on a silver tray” is an allusion to the beheading of John the Baptist whose head was presented on a platter to the mother of Herodias.(Mark 6:25,28 Mat. 14:8,10). Although the Scriptures do not explicitly state that it was “a sliver tray” on which the head of John the Baptist was presented but just “a platter”, the allusion fits well. It is not difficult to make a thought association between this gruesome picture of John the Baptist’ head presented on a tray and the equally gruesome picture of the antagonist collecting “Limbs and livers and brains and hearts”. However, it still does not give us a definitive clue why “St. Peter” and “Jerome” and “the corner where the children play” are introduced here in the first place.

The answer might be in the conclusion that follows: “Do it with decency and common sense”. Remember that the antagonist for all intents and purposes wants to do things “for the benefit of all mankind”; he pretends to have high moral standards, no matter how repugnant his life making actions can and must be viewed upon. He claims to produce a very decent end product which is acceptable for all circles of life. It is acceptable not only for Saints like “St. Peter” and “St. Jerome” but the end product is so exquisite that you can even “move it on over - and bring it all the way home“ and present it to your young children, to “the corner where the children play”.

The claim from the antagonist “I’ll bring someone to life - spare no expense, do it with decency and common sense” is yet another false claim. The ability to “bring someone to life “ and in the process “spare no expense” and at the same time “do it with decency and common sense” are properties which can only be attributed to God. When He brought Adam to life He righteously concluded that “it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). To save mankind He spared no expense- not even his Son- and everything He does, He does in the right order and in the right time and therefore with “decency and common sense”, in the most emphatic way.

“To be or not to be” is a quote from Shakespeare (“Hamlet" Act 3, Scene 1).Within the song these words have a deeper- divine - layer. Therefore, when it says: “Can you tell me what it means to be or not to be”  make only sense if they come from the mouth of God.From the mouth of the antagonist these words make no sense. “To be or not to be” expresses the existential duality between God and His creation. It was the Hindu philosopher Shankara (788-822) who denied existential duality between God and (His) creation and called this “a-dvaita”.

However, the Bible makes it clear that there is such an existential duality. As far as this existential question is concerned, it looks as if the poet had the Biblical Book of Job in his mind where God rhetorically asks Job: “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand” (Job 38:4 NIV), see also Isaiah 40:12-31).Within this concept of thinking, God is the Only One who can truly say that He always “is”, the Only One who knows “what it means to be or not to be”; e.g. Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty” (KJV).

But unlike for God, the days of a creature like Job are numbered. Job challenged God by raising the “be or not to be” question but God replied: “Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?” (Job 38:2 KJV). He who has no knowledge is a fool (Proverbs 13:16). This is basically the same as if God had said to Job: “You won’t get away with fooling me”. Now God goes on to say to Job: “Now brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall inform me” (Job 38:3 BSB). It is as if God rebukingly says to Job: “Answer this question:, “you won’t get away with fooling me, can you tell me what it means to be or not to be?”. Job however, retraces his steps and repents (Job 42:3) and admits that he was indeed a fool (Job 42:3) by raising this question in the first place.

“Can you help me walk that moonlight mile” is an obvious reference to a 1971 song from the Rolling Stones called “Moonlight Mile”. It is true, Job may be able to walk that moonlight mile but that is not enough and when God asks him “Where does the light come from, and where does darkness go? Can you take each to its home? Do you know how to get there?”. (Job 38:19,20 NLT) Job fails to give the answer. When forced to, a man may walk a mile but to have the power to walk two miles in such a situation, is divine grace, just like Jesus says in Matthew 5:41 (ESV) : “And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles”.

“Can you give me the blessings of your smile” is a rhetorical question and may be read as a reproach to the antagonist. A blessing means God’s favour and protection. The blessing of God’s smile is a metaphor for His kind and undeserved benevolence which He bestows on people. The antagonist and no mortal human being for that matter, can bestow such a blessing upon others.

For the sixth time we hear the refrain “I want to bring someone to life” and this time the antagonist is determined to go the utmost and says “use all my powers” and he may think that when he does it secretly in “the dark and the wee small hours”- “wee” meaning “very early”- he may succeed. This contrasts with God, who does not do anything in the dark. His first act of creation was “Let there be light” (Gen. 1:3 NLT) and He does not live in the darkness but in a "flickering Light" ("Where Teardrops Fall"). God does all of His following creative actions in the Light but we have to bear in mind that at the same time this Light  in which God dwells, is unapprochable to man ((1Tim 6:16).

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Bob Dylan's "My Own Version of You" - an analysis- Part 2

In this second part of our analysis we continue  where we left off writing last time.
“I get blood from a cactus - make gunpowder from ice”. The reference “make gunpowder from ice” comes from “Gulliver’s travels” by Jonathan Swift. Again, there is a “Frankenstein” connection here. In chapter 2 we see Victor discovering the works of various alchemists and these alchemists trigger him to study science and alchemy. It cannot be denied that there is some sort of quasi reality in these words because “To get blood from a cactus” refers to carmine, a red dye made from insects that live on cacti and “gunpowder from ice” refers to ice packs which contain ammonium nitrate, a component that can be used to make gun powder.

In the novel Victor Frankenstein succeeds in bringing someone to life from dead body parts but that is only fiction. The reality is that no living creature is able to make real living blood out of existing dead material. Blood represents life in the Bible and a self-proclaimed creator cannot bring someone to life.

An additional problem for a self-proclaimed creator is, that he cannot make real blood or real gunpowder ”out of nothing. “Creatio ex nihilo” is a bridge too far for any creature and this capability is only reserved for God, no matter how much a man may brag and say: “I don’t gamble with cards and I don’t shoot no dice”. Quite a number of scientific discoveries are invented accidentally, by chance, like e.g. Alexander Fleming who discovered penicillin in 1928.

However, this antagonist uses these words to express his commitment to his goal. He does not take any chances and does not accept anything less than perfection. But here it is not hard to detect that behind his determination there is bragging hiding, because the only one who can say: “I don’t gamble with cards and I don’t shoot no dice” is God because He does not need to take chances. He is the only one who can truly say of Himself: “For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast”(Psalm 33:9 NKJV).

“Can you look in my face with your sightless eye” is a rhetorical question and reminds us of the sightless eye of the Buddha image. Eyes are considered as the windows upon the soul, and in chapter 5 Victor Frankenstein describes the monster's eyes as "watery eyes, that seemed almost the same colour as the dun-white sockets in which they were set” Apart from this these words may express divine mockery for such a sightless and lifeless idol. Sightless eyes point to introspection and the inability to look someone in the eye. By definition idols are dead and cannot truly communicate.

The words “Can you cross your heart and hope to die”, is a standard expression of which the Free Dictionary says that it is an “attest to the truth of something” and “it is generally accompanied by hand gestures such as crossing one's hands over one's breast and then pointing the right hand skyward (a variant is cross my heart and point to God). Today most often uttered by children, it was first recorded in 1908”. The expression may be used here, to emphasize that there is sincerity in the attempt to “create an own version”(of God), no matter how gruesome the outcome is.

”I’ll bring someone to life - someone for real, someone who feels the way that I feel” shows the deeply rooted human longing for alliance and solidarity with all those who share the same worldview, who feel the way that you feel. The reverse side of this medal is the equally deeply rooted human inclination to reject and detest all those who are different and do not have the same feeling you have. Xenophobia has its roots in these feelings. This phenomenon appears in chapter 5 of “Frankenstein”. The monster created by Victor Frankenstein is "Formed into a hideous and gigantic creature". The result of this is that the monster is confronted by rejection and fear both from his creator and society. The idea that a creature would be able “to bring someone to life, someone for real” is in fact a false idea, and that this idea is false is proven by the result of this action. The only intended and acceptable result of such an action always is the production of: “someone who feels the way that I feel”. Man’s quest to surpass his creator: ”I’ll bring someone to life - someone for real, someone who feels the way that I feel” continues but without any tangible result. Obviously, looking into the mirror and facing the reality of man, is the hardest thing to do.

“I study Sanskrit and Arabic to improve my mind” again “Frankenstein”- chapter 6- where it says: "Resolved to pursue no inglorious career, he turned his eyes toward the East, as affording scope for his spirit of enterprise. The Persian, Arabic, and Sanskrit languages engaged his attention, and I was easily induced to enter on the same studies”. Now Sanskrit is an ancient Indian language and Arabic is spoken in North Africa and the Middle East. “Good intentions can be evil” Dylan wrote earlier and that is exactly the case here. Now it has always been kind of a mystery why people- like Victor Frankenstein- can produce such noble work- like e.g. studying science and languages like Sanskrit and Arabic- and do things “for the benefit of mankind” and at the same time do evil things and produce a hideous monster like Victor Frankenstein did. It proves that there is divine restraint in evil and that invariably a person is not for one hundred percent evil but and that good characteristics coexist with evil characteristics. However, If these evil characteristics are not tackled, these evil characteristics become dominant and lead to ultimate disaster. We see this dualism in Victor Frankenstein and also in the human existence.

Others on the internet have pointed out that “I want to do things for the benefit of mankind” may at the same time be a humorous reference to Dylan’s having won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2016. Alfred Nobel stated in his will that the remainder of his estate should be used to bestow "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind”.

“I say to the willow tree - don’t weep for me” reminds us of Desdemona’s lamenting ‘Willow Song’ in Shakespeare’s “Othello” (Act IV, scene 3). A reference to a Weeping Willow can be found in the song ‘Big River’, written by Johnny Cash in 1958, and performed by Dylan in 1969. In the song, the singer teaches the Weeping Willow how to cry.

It is clear from “Frankenstein” that Mary Shelly believes in the healing power of Nature. In chapter 9 she describes Nature as having winds that "whispered in soothing accents," just like a loving and caring mother who tells Victor to "weep no more”. Overwhelmed by all that he has been through, Victor throws himself to the ground and weeps bitterly. “I say to the willow tree - don’t weep for me”, makes it clear that the antagonist rejects and despises all sympathy which may be seen as a sign of weakness. However, it is divine wisdom when a man is able to distract knowledge from tradition and history and from “all things that used to be”. But this self-proclaimed creator defies and damns such knowledge and wisdom, proclaiming that he can do much better than his Creator and says: “the hell with all things that used to be”.

Although you may ignore all ethical warning signs never to act like God, nevertheless all human efforts to “bring someone to life” are confronted with limitations, Sooner or later you reach a point where you cannot proceed and your efforts stall and you have to admit that you “get into trouble”, and that you reach a point with “ no place to turn, no place at all”. When you “get into trouble” you can do two things, you either surrender to your Creator and give up, or you stubbornly continue and “hit the wall”. The wall was hit in a song called “Ninety miles an hour down a dead end street” which Dylan covered on his album “Down in the Groove”: “Warning signs are flashing everywhere, but we pay no heed, instead of slowing down the pace, we keep picking up speed, disasters getting closer every time we meet, going ninety miles an hour down a dead end street”.
Though “stopped dead in his tracks” – as Dylan wrote in “Long and Wasted Years” -and faced with the reality of having “no place to turn, no place at all” , yet man does not give up and desperately tries to find a way out of trouble.

Having nothing to go by the antagonist tries to find some sort of anchorage by saying “I pick a number between one and two”. Whereas earlier in the song -when it came down to exact science - the antagonist was not willing to take chances and said: “I don’t gamble with cards and I don’t shoot no dice” but here there is an inconsistency and he seems to do the opposite and “picks” a number between one and two. Mathematicians say that mathematically there is an infinite number of numbers between one and two. There is some sort of a parody of God in these words. Fallen man relies on chance and wishes to believe e.g. that the universe came into existence by mere chance, rather than accepting that there is a (divine) cause, whereas scientifically- when you consider the fine-tuning of the universe- it is virtually impossible that the universe came into existence without any cause and by mere chance.

When it says that narrator “picks” a number at random this contrasts with God, who does not “pick” a number but determines a number. There is numeric symmetry in all of his works. This does not mean that there is not a divine number “between one and two” which God has determined to be His special symmetrical number. There is. That divine symmetrical number happens to be a number between one and two. That divine number “between one and two”” is Φ = 1.618(phi).
The Renaissance Artists called this number 1.618 “The Divine Proportion” or “The Golden Ratio”. The Golden Ratio (phi = φ) is often called: “The Most Beautiful Number In The Universe”.
The reason why this number φ =1.618 is so extraordinary is because it can be found almost everywhere. It can e.g. be found in the dimensions of the human body, in geometry, in plants, in the DNA of organisms, in the solar system, in art and architecture etc.. "The Divine Proportion”1.618 can be found in a lot of places in the Bible as well. There is e.g. this “Divine Proportion” in the Bible in the name of God, the so-called Tetragrammaton JHWH, but also in the divine instructions for the dimensions to be applied in the construction of the Ark of Noah in Genesis 6:15 and the Ark of the Covenant in Exodus 25:10.

There is a connection between “I pick a number between one and two” and “I ask myself what would Julius Caesar do” because it was Julius Caesar, who prior to crossing the Rubicon in 49 BC,said these famous words “alea iacta est”(“the die is cast”). Both the antagonist and Julius Caesar rely on chance to reach their point of no return.

There is another intended association from the poet here. Julius Caesar and Jesus Christ have the same initials J.C. There are those “WWJD” bracelets and bumper stickers that stand for “what would Jesus do”. No doubt, asking the question “what would Julius Caesar do” is a satanic parody of “what would Jesus do”. The question here is: which side are you on? Do you rely on Jesus Christ who – in contrast with the antagonist here - succeeded in “bringing someone to life” or do you -like the antagonist here- rely on the methods of Julius Caesar, who used brutal earthly power to bring his own imperial empire to life? Do you rely on J.C. ,the Son of God, or on the pseudo god J.C. Julius Caesar who claimed that he directly descended from the gods of Rome, from Aenas and Venus?

“I’ll bring someone to life - in more ways than one” shows the determination of the antagonist to compete with God and even to do better than God. God made Adam in His Own Image, and in His Own Likeness (Gen.1:26). However, God made Eve by taking a rib from Adam and made that into a woman(Gen.2:22). So one could say that God brought “somebody to life in more ways than one” .

Apart from that, he resurrected Jesus from the dead. The antagonist claims he can do the same. Although this is true, it is not the crux of the matter here. The crux of the matter is: “God SAID”. All of God's creative works in Genesis 1 are introduced by “And God said”. It is the power of God’s voice, his Word, that brings everything, including man, to life. All through the song the antagonist has to rely on “doing” things to bring someone to life but never was he able – and he never will be for that matter- to command someone to life, simply by the command of his voice. Only God can say of Himself: “For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast”(Psalm 33:9 NKJV).

When it says: “Don’t matter how long it takes - it’ll be done when it’s done” these words show the determination of the narrator against all odds and he asks to bear with him even when it would take billions of years to reach his goal. Fallen man is inclined to believe that life will emerge if only there is time enough. He is ready to believe that there is this one chance in many trillions of years that life will emerge “out of nothing”, in spite of the fact that there is no logic reason behind such a thought. “It’ll be done when it’s done” looks like an open door. At the same time these words show the false premise of the antagonist. As we already outlined, “doing things” will bring him nowhere because he lacks the vocal power -the spoken command-which is essential to bring things to life.

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Bob Dylan's "My Own Version of You" - an analysis- Part 1

Bob Dylan’s “My Own Version of You” an analysis by Kees de Graaf-
1. Introduction.
There cannot be any doubt that we deal with yet another Dylan classic here. As time passes by and we draw nearer to the end of his impressive career as a poet, musician, songwriter and painter, his work seems to become more and more intricated.
A key point is that the “You” and the “My” in “My Own Version of You” are not identified. Objectively seen, the “You” may be virtually anybody or anything. This gives rise to a lot&

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Johannes Spronk en Handelingen 15.

Johannes Spronk en Handelingen 15.

Introductie
De grote vraag in Handelingen 15 – en ook in de Galatenbrief – is of alleen de genade van Jezus voldoende om gered te worden of de genade van Jezus en nog iets. Die vraag werd ineens weer actueel toen ik deze zomer door het Schothorster park fietste en ik bij een rustplaats een evangelist tegen kwam, die zich voorstelde als Johannes Spronk. U ziet hem hiernaast afgebeeld met zijn nieuwe banner.

Johannes maakt op zaterdag morgen vanaf die plek mensen bekend met het evangelie. Hij spreekt voorbijgangers aan en probeert tot een gesprek te komen. Laat ik beginnen mijn waardering en bewondering daarvoor uit te spreken. Johannes steekt hier veel energie en tijd in en hij doet dat met een gedrevenheid die haast paulinisch te noemen is.

Johannes had op een whiteboard de Tien Geboden uitgeschreven en we raakten daardoor meteen in een pittig debat over de betekenis van de wet en- met name het vierde gebod- ook voor vandaag. Later hebben we het gesprek uitgebreid via Whatsapp voortgezet. Dat is gemakkelijk want dan kunnen we alles nog eens rustig teruglezen en overdenken. In het vervolg zal ik daaruit citeren. Ik hoop daarmee recht te doen aan het standpunt van Johannes.
Al snel bleek tijdens ons debat dat Johannes de “feesten van JeHoVa”
-zoals hij ze noemt- uit het O.T nog steeds onderhoudt. Daar hoort o.a. ook de Sabbat, op zaterdag, bij (Lev.23:3).
Om misverstanden te voorkomen, zeg ik er maar meteen bij dat ik er vast van overtuigd ben dat het N.T. ons leert dat als Joden zich tot Christus bekeren, zij gewoon de wet van Mozes kunnen blijven onderhouden, mits ze uiteraard voor hun redding steunen op de genade van Jezus en niet op het onderhouden van de wet van Mozes. Dat was toen zo, en dat is nog zo.

Maar Johannes en ik, wij zijn geen Joden maar wij behoren tot de heiden christenen. Zijn wij ook verplicht om de wet na te leven, inclusief de viering van de O.T feesten waaronder bijv. sabbat op zaterdag? Mijn stelling is dat we daartoe niet verplicht zijn. Ik zal proberen dat vanuit het Handelingen 15 aan te tonen.

De verschillende betekenissen van het woord "wet".
Maar als het over “de wet” gaat moet her eerst duidelijk zijn wat we precies bedoelen met dat Griekse woord “ ho nomos” “de wet”. Dat woord heeft een aantal verschillende betekenissen en dat kan voor veel misverstand zorgen, zoals ook in mijn gesprek met Johannes gebleken is. Want waar heb je het over als je zegt “de wet”? We noemen een aantal betekenissen van “de wet”:

a. Het lerend onderwijs van God in het algemeen (de Thora).
b. De Mozaïsche wetgeving, ook wel “Mozes” genoemd of het “Sinai tisch Verbond”, in de dogmatiek aangeduid als de “ceremoniële wet”.
c. Het geheel van geschriften dat christenen het “Oude Testament” noemen en dat joden “Wet en Profeten” of “Wet en Profeten en Geschriften noemen (de Tenach).
d. De Tien Geboden.

In mijn weblog artikel met als titel :"Zijn de Tien Geboden nog steeds geldig?" heb ik geprobeerd uit te leggen dat De Tien Geboden, als samenvatting van de morele wil van God, altijd geldig blijven, voor zowel Joden als heidenen. Sterker nog: de geldigheid en betekenis van de Tien Woorden wordt door Jezus in de Bergrede niet alleen gehandhaafd maar zelfs geïntensiveerd en zo naar zijn diepere betekenis gebracht. Maar in dat artikel hebben we ook gesteld dat de Mozaïsche wetgeving, de “ceremoniële wet” voor heiden christenen is afgeschaft. De argumentatie daarvoor ga ik nu niet herhalen.
M.i. gaat het in Handelingen 15 dan ook over de vraag of die Mozaïsche wetgeving, die “ceremoniële” wetgeving voor heiden- christenen nageleefd moet worden of niet.
Laten we vervolgens eens nader gaan kijken waar het in Handelingen 15 o.i. over gaat. Vervolgens zal ik het standpunt weergeven van Johannes Spronk en daar kritische notities bij plaatsen.

De probleemstelling:
Vers 1: “Er kwamen enkele leerlingen uit Judea, die betoogden dat de broeders zich moesten laten besnijden, overeenkomstig het door Mozes overgeleverde gebruik, omdat ze anders niet konden worden gered”.
In vers 5 wordt dit nader gespecificeerd:
“Enkele gelovigen die tot de partij van de farizeeën behoorden, gaven echter te verstaan dat ook de niet-Joodse gelovigen dienden te worden besneden en opdracht moesten krijgen zich aan de wet van Mozes te houden”.
De gemeente in Antiochië bestond uit heiden christenen. De gelovige farizeeën in Jeruzalem vonden het voor de redding van deze heiden christenen noodzakelijk dat ze niet alleen besneden moesten worden maar dat ze ook de wet van Mozes moesten onderhouden. Onder de wet van Mozes hebben we m.i. hier de “ceremoniële” wet te verstaan. Denk daarbij aan de reinigings en spijs wetten, de offers, de feestkalender enz.… dus deze heiden christenen moesten de hele joodse levenswijze overnemen en als jood gaan leven.

Het antwoord van de apostelen komt hier op neer: Neen, de heiden christenen zijn niet verplicht de wet van Mozes te onderhouden. Dit wordt als volgt gemotiveerd:
a. De reiniging vindt innerlijk plaats zowel bij joodse als bij heiden christenen. Vers 9 zegt: “Hij heeft geen enkel onderscheid gemaakt tussen ons en hen, want Hij heeft hun hart door het geloof gereinigd”. Door die innerlijke reiniging zijn de uiterlijke reinigingsvoorschriften volgens de wet van Mozes komen te vervallen voor deze heiden christenen.
b. Vers 10: “Waarom wilt u God dan trotseren door op de schouders van deze leerlingen een juk te leggen dat onze voorouders noch wijzelf konden dragen?”. Van Bruggen: “De vroomheid van het volk Israël is door de eeuwen heen zo teleurstellend geweest dat er geen reden is om het juk van de wet op te leggen aan de nieuwe medegelovigen. Israëls God gaf de wet en geeft nu de Messias. Zijn naam blijft beslissend. Het volk Israël heeft echter bewezen dat het de wet niet kan dragen en volbrengen. Wie de Messias van God aanvaardt, hoeft daarom geen jood (meer) te worden”.
c. Vers 11: “Nee, we geloven dat we door de genade van de Heer Jezus gered worden, op dezelfde wijze als zij”. Alleen de genade is bepalend voor de redding voor zowel Joden als heidenen. Het onderhouden van de wet van Mozes voegt daar niets aan toe.

N.a.v. het bovenstaande komen de apostelen tot de volgende overwegingen:
Vers 19: “dat we de mensen uit de heidense volken die zich tot God bekeren geen al te zware lasten moeten opleggen”. In de besluittekst van vers 28 wordt dit verwoord als: “In overeenstemming met de heilige Geest hebben wij namelijk besloten u geen andere verplichtingen op te leggen dan wat strikt noodzakelijk is”.

De besluiten van de apostelen in Handelingen 15.
Dit “strikt noodzakelijke” leidt dan tot de volgende besluiten waarin de heiden christenen in de gemeente van Antiochië schriftelijk wordt opgedragen zich te onthouden van: “vlees dat bij de afgodendienst is gebruikt, van bloed, van vlees waar nog bloed in zit, en van ontucht” (Vers 29, zie ook vers 20).

Gaat het om een compromis of om principiële afwijzing van het heidendom?   
Nu komen deze bepalingen – hoewel anders geformuleerd- ook voor in de wet van Mozes.“Ontucht”, hoererij, zou dan verwijzen naar Leviticus 18 waar seksueel contact (huwelijk) tussen personen van een bepaalde graad van verwantschap verboden wordt; “wat verstikt is bloed bevat” naar Leviticus 17, waar het nuttigen van bloed en vlees met bloed verboden wordt.Gaat het in deze bepalingen nu om een soort van minimum aan joodse wetsbetrachting uit de Thora om samenleven tussen joden christenen en heiden christenen in de gemeente van Antiochië mogelijk te maken? Dan zou er sprake zijn van een soort van compromis.
Of gaat het hier om een principiële afwijzing van het heidendom? In dat laatste geval is er geen sprake van een compromis en ook niet van een minimum van joodse wetsbetrachting waaraan heiden christenen zich zouden moeten houden. Bij oppervlakkige lezing lijkt de compromis gedachte zich op te dringen. Men verwijst daarbij ook naar vers 21 die de voorstanders van de compromis gedachte als volgt uitleggen: er zijn overal joden met wie men moet kunnen samenleven. Maar toch zijn er zwaarwegende bezwaren tegen deze compromis exegese in te brengen.

Bezwaren tegen de compromis gedachte.
Ten eerste dienen we ons te realiseren dat de bezwaren niet uit de gemeente van Antiochië zelf komen. De bezwaren komen vanuit “enkele leerlingen uit Judea” (vers 1) en van “Enkele gelovigen die tot de partij van de farizeeën (uit Jeruzalem) behoorden” (vers 5). In Antiochië zelf speelde kennelijk dit conflict niet en waarom zou er dan ter wille van de lieve vrede een soort van compromis moeten worden gesloten?
Ten tweede doet de compromis gedachte geen recht aan de Griekse tekst van vers 20. Er staat letterlijk: “de bezoedelingen” van de afgoden". Een dergelijk meervoud geeft in het Grieks de verschillende zaken aan waardoor men zich met afgoden bezoedelt. Het lidwoord “de” geeft aan dat er nu een opsomming volgt. Dus het onderwerp is “de bezoedelingen van de afgoden” en die bezoedelingen bestaan uit:
1. "De hoererij", namelijk die met de dienst aan de afgoden verbonden is.
2. “Het verstikte”, vlees waar nog bloed in zit.
3. “Het bloed”, een omschrijving van bloednuttiging bij diezelfde afgoden dienst.

Het gaat hier m.i. om de afwijzing van de afgodische eredienst in zijn geheel. In de heiden wereld van die tijd werd de sacrale tempel prostitutie gecombineerd met het nuttigen van bloed, gedronken of in het vlees. Zo hoorde bijv. het eten van rauw vlees in die tijd bij de extatische verering van Dionysus, de god van de ongebonden natuurkracht. Zo probeerde men zich, door het drinken van bloed, op magische wijze de levenskrachten rechtstreeks eigen te maken. Paulus blijft in zijn brieven zinspelen op de besluiten die in Handelingen 15 worden genomen. Hij blijft waarschuwen tegen “de hoererij” (1Thes.4:2,3) en tegen deelname aan de heidense offer rituelen waarbij gewijd vlees aan de demonen werd geofferd. (1Kor 10:18-22, zie ook 1 Kor 8:1-11). Concluderend kunnen we stellen dat de opdracht om je te onthouden van de afgodendienst blijvend is en daarom vandaag nog steeds actueel is. Denk bijv. aan de afgod de Mammom.

Hoe legt Johannes Spronk Handelingen 15 uit?
Johannes schrijft: “Handelingen 15 kan niet gebruikt worden om te zeggen dat de wet niet meer van toepassing is voor gelovigen uit de heidenen, want de centrale vraag vindt je in vers 1. Daar moet je in context bij blijven. We hebben nu dus te maken met geredde mensen buiten de wet van Mozes om. Maar ze krijgen een opdracht mee van geboden uit de Wet als eerste prioriteit. Ik zeg eerste prioriteit omdat vervolgens de sjabbat genoemd wordt om Mozes te horen”.

Er zit een tegenstrijdigheid in de benadering van Johannes. Enerzijds geeft hij toe dat we hier te maken hebben met “geredde mensen buiten de Wet van Mozes om” en dat klopt ook, maar anderzijds krijgen ze- hoewel ze dus al "gered" zijn, opdracht (sommige) geboden uit de wet van Mozes toch te onderhouden maar dan als “Als eerste prioriteit”. De vraag -waarop ik van Johannes geen antwoord heb gekregen- is: waar lees ik van die “eerste prioriteit” in Handelingen 15? Er staats niet over een eerste prioriteit in de brief die heiden gelovigen in Antiochië krijgen. Als dat waar was dan had het besluit (van vers 20 en 28,29) ongeveer zo kunnen luiden: “wij hebben besloten dat u zich als eerste prioriteit dient te onthouden van offervlees dat dat bij de afgodendienst is gebruikt, van bloed, van vlees waar nog bloed in zit, en van ontucht. De rest van de geboden heeft geen prioriteit en volgt later. Op de sabbat (vers 21) wordt u immers in de synagoge verder onderwezen in de wet van Mozes”. Maar dat staat er niet. Het gaat niet “om een eerste prioriteit” maar om “geen andere verplichtingen dan wat strikt noodzakelijk is” (vers 28). Geen andere verplichtingen betekent dat behalve deze verplichtingen, de wet van Mozes buiten werking wordt gesteld voor de heiden christenen.

Wat betekent vers 21?
Als Johannes de “sjabbat” noemt dan betrekt hij vers 21 erbij als argument voor zijn stelling. Laten we daarom eerst wat nader naar vers 21 kijken. Dit vers luidt:
“In elke stad wordt de wet van Mozes immers al sinds mensenheugenis verkondigd en op iedere sabbat in de synagogen voorgelezen”. De vraag is of dit vers bedoeld is voor de heiden christenen in Antiochië om hen alsnog op te dragen zich aan de wet van Mozes te houden of is dit vers bedoeld voor de bezwaarde Judeeërs en farizeeën van vers 1 en 5?. Als het vers voor de heiden christenen in Antiochië bedoeld zou zijn dan is de vraag waarom dit niet vermeld wordt in de brief die deze christenen ontvangen? Deze heiden christenen in Antiochië komen n.l. helemaal niet in de synagoge en horen de wet van Mozes dus nooit. Waarom zouden ze dan op de wet van Mozes die in de synagoge op sabbat gelezen wordt, gewezen moeten worden?

Vers 21 spreekt heiden christenen aan en niet joden christenen,
Er is dus alle reden om aan te nemen dat vers 21 een groep aanspreekt die wel in de synagoge komt en daar al sinds mensenheugenis de wet van Mozes hoort voorlezen. En die groep, dat zijn de bezwaarde Judeeërs en farizeeërs van vers 1 en5, gelovige joden dus. Zij kwamen en komen nog steeds in de synagoge en dat blijft zo. Vers 21 dient dan ook ter geruststelling van deze groep. Zij meenden voor de wet van Mozes te moeten opkomen en ze krijgen hier te horen dat het gezag van Mozes op geen enkele wijze wordt geschaad door het genomen besluit. Het wordt gehandhaafd in de synagoge en waar Israel samenkomt. Dat gebeurt “sinds oude tijden" en in “elke stad”. Dat zal niet veranderen door dit besluit.

De besluiten van Handelingen 15 worden in Handelingen 21 bevestigd.
Dat dit niet zal veranderen blijkt ook verderop in Handelingen 21:21-26. In 21:21 wordt Paulus ervan beschuldigd dat hij “ontrouw” zou zijn aan Mozes en zou beweren dat joodse kinderen niet meer besneden hoeven te worden en dat men de wet, de voorschriften, van Mozes niet meer hoeft te houden. Paulus toont vervolgens aan dat hij als joodse christen nog steeds doet wat de wet (van Mozes) hem voorschrijft (21:24). Tegelijkertijd zien we daar dat de heiden christenen hiervan uitgezonderd worden. Want dan volgt 21:25 “Doch van de heidenen, die geloven, hebben wij geschreven en goed gevonden, dat zij niets dergelijks zouden onderhouden, dan dat zij zich wachten van hetgeen den afgoden geofferd is, en van bloed, en van het verstikte, en van hoererij”(SV).
Het apostelen besluit van Hoofdstuk 15 wordt hier in Handelingen 21 herhaald en bekrachtigd! Ook hier is de conclusie duidelijk: de heiden christenen zijn niet verplicht om de (ceremoniële) wet van Mozes te onderhouden die Paulus als joodse gelovige wel onderhoudt.

Mag je wel spreken van de"ceremoniele wet" in Handelingen 15?
Johannes heeft moeite met dat woordje “ceremoniële” dat ik gebruik. Hij schrijft: “Er wordt (in Handelingen 15) met geen woord gerept over ceremoniële wet. Dat legt jij in!”. Op zich heeft Johannes gelijk. De woorden “ceremoniële wet” komen niet voor in Handelingen 15. Maar ook al komen die woorden “ceremoniële wet” niet voor in Handelingen 15, inhoudelijk gaat het daar wel over de “ceremoniële wet”. Het gaat daar over de vraag of heiden christenen als Joden moeten gaan leven. Die woorden “ceremoniële wet” moeten we hier wel gebruiken om deze te onderscheiden van die andere wet. Die andere wet dat zijn de Tien Geboden.

De Tien geboden staan in Handelingen 15 niet ter discussie en gelden en overal en altijd!
Die Tien Geboden, als samenvatting van God morele wil, door Gods vinger gegrift in stenen platen, blijven als Zijn grondwet eeuwig van kracht voor alle mensen, voor zowel Joden als heidenen. De Tien Geboden zijn en blijven universeel van kracht. In het standpunt van Johannes doet zich een hardnekkig misverstand voor. Op de vraag welke plek de wet heeft voor zowel Jood als Griek antwoord Johannes: “Dat is een en hetzelfde. Hij Jezus heeft de wet niet afgeschaft en dat zal ook niet gebeuren zolang hemel en aarde er zijn. De feesten van JHVH zijn profetisch en hebben vervullingen gezien en zullen vervullingen zien” Johannes maakt dus geen onderscheid tussen de “ceremoniële” wet van Mozes die is als onderdeel van het oude Verbond afgeschaft (zie Hebreeën 8:8-13) en de wet vervat in de Tien Geboden, die universeel van kracht blijft, ook voor heiden christenen. Als Jezus het in Matt. 5:18 er over heeft dat elke jota en tittel van de Wet van kracht blijft, dan heeft Hij het over de Tien Geboden die Hij in het vervolg van de Bergrede nader intensiveert en inhoudelijk verdiept en niet over de ceremoniële wet, de Joodse leefwijze.

Wet is wet bij Johannes Spronk.
Wet is voor Johannes wet en beide “soorten” wet blijven voor hem geldig, ook voor heiden christenen. Dat lijkt logisch en consistent. Hoewel... logisch en consistent? Als je de wet handhaaft, moet je dan ook de sancties die bij die wet horen niet handhaven? Numeri 15:35 bepaalt dat een op sabbat hout sprokkelende man gedood moet worden. Geldt deze sanctie vandaag nog? Toen ik Johannes daarop wees, stemde hij daar eerst in toe maar later krabbelde hij toch wat terug. Je zou dan vandaag niet ver meer verwijderd zijn van een soort van christelijke Sjaria.
Dus wanneer ik stel dat heiden christenen in Antiochië de wet niet meer hoeven te onderhouden, dan schijnt Johannes daarmee te suggereren dat ik daarmee de Tien Geboden ook over boord kieper en verwijt hij mij ongehoorzaamheid. En terecht als dat ook zo is. Dan schrijft hij zoiets als: "Als jij denkt dat iedere dag sjabbat is, ben je praktisch iedere dag ongehoorzaam aan het gebod van JeHoVaH”. Gooi ik daarmee de Tien Geboden over boord, of passen we daarmee de Tien Geboden op analoge wijze toe, net zoals Jezus de Tien Geboden intensiveerde in de Bergrede?

Gaat het in Handelingen 15 niet om "eigen geboden van de farizeeën"?  
Nog een laatste argument van Johannes. Hij schrijft: “Als je meeneemt dat de farizeeën eigen geboden als last oplegden (zie weer Handelingen 15 en brief aan de Galaten) dan ga je begrijpen dat wanneer het over de wet gaat in het nieuwe testament je steeds moet afvragen hebben we het hier over Mozes of hebben we het over geboden van mensen”. Johannes schijnt hier een punt te hebben, want Jezus zegt in Marcus 7: 8: “De geboden van God geeft u op, maar aan tradities van mensen houdt u vast”. Nergens blijkt uit Handelingen 15 dat het daar om “eigen geboden” van de Farizeeën zou gaan. Integendeel, het gaat de  gaat de Farizeeën hier om de besnijdenis en het onderhouden van de wet van Mozes. Als het om eigen geboden van de Farizeeën  zou gaan dan zou dit ongetwijfeld verwoord zijn in het apostelen besluit en zou de blijvende geldigheid van de wet van Mozes bevestigd worden. Maar dat gebeurt juist niet.

Is er nu een probleem?
Hebben we nu een probleem wanneer heiden christenen als Johannes Spronk de O.T. feesten zoals de Sjabbat, het Wekenfeest, het Loofhuttenfeest etc. vandaag nog steeds vieren? Veel symboliek
in die feesten wijst naar Christus en is door Hem vervuld. Van de overdenking daarvan kunnen we veel leren (zie Art. 25 NGB). Dus in die zin kan het vieren van deze feesten ons dichter bij Christus brengen en ons geloofsleven verrijken. Toch voelen we aarzeling. Het voelt alsof we dan de heilsklok terug draaien. Je keert daarmee in zekere zin achter de vervulling van die feesten in Christus terug.

Handelingen 15 en 21 leert ons duidelijk dat de ceremoniële wet, inclusief deze feesten, niet langer een onderdeel is van de apostolische prediking aan de heidenen. Dus is de onderhouding ervan voor heiden christenen als wij niet noodzakelijk is en al zeker mogen we deze feesten niet aan anderen opleggen. Dat laatste doet Johannes wel als hij mij ronduit ongehoorzaam noemt aan Gods geboden wanneer ik bijv.de Sabbat niet op dezelfde wijze vier zoals hij dat doet. Het gevaar is levensgroot dat er zo een nieuw juk aan anderen wordt opgelegd dat de vrije genade van Jezus zo maar in de weg kan gaan zitten.

Levert het blijven onderhouden van de “ceremoniële” wet van Mozes gevaren op?
Dat gevaar lijkt ons niet ondenkbaar wanneer Johannes schrijft: “Vergeet niet dat ik eigenlijk mijn hele leven de zondag onderhield en ook sprak van joodse feesten. Het is voor mij een weg van bekering geweest met pijn, spot en verlies. Maar Hij is het waard. Hij gaf alles voor mij. En vervolging is wat ons beloofd wordt als we Hem volgen. Ik had ook voor het comfort kunnen kiezen en in het kerkelijk systeem met menselijke geboden kunnen blijven. Maar wie houd je dan voor de gek?. Wie geef ik dan een klap in het gezicht?”.
Het is natuurlijk verschrikkelijk dat Johannes dit overkomen is. Echter, wanneer je deze persoonlijke noot op je laat inwerken dan krijg je de indruk dat de pijn, de spot en het verlies die Johannes te verduren krijgt voor het onderhouden van de “ceremoniële” wet op hetzelfde niveau staat als de vervolging, smaad en hoon die Christenen te wachten staat als ze Jezus volgen. En welk gevaar dreigt er dan? Dit gevaar: dat jouw persoonlijke opvattingen de maatstaf worden waarmee je anderen beoordeelt en je dat verkondigt als “noodzakelijk” voor het volgen van Jezus. Misschien zonder dat je het in de gaten hebt, verdringen jouw persoonlijke opvattingen dan zo maar het “door genade alleen” van Handelingen 15:11. Door mensen bedachte gedragcodes hebben altijd de neiging in zich de kern van het evangelie te verdringen. Dat gevaar zag Paulus in Handelingen 15. Dat gevaar zag Paulus ook in de gemeente van de Galaten. En hij verzette er zich fel tegen in de brief die hij aan de Galaten schreef want hij besefte heel goed dat als hij daar aan zou toegeven, dit op termijn het einde van de kerk zou betekenen.

Hoe belangrijk is de kerkgeschiedenis?
Johannes heeft aangegeven alleen bekend te zijn met de belijdenis van Nicea en dat hij de overige klassieke belijdenisgeschriften inhoudelijk niet kent. M.i.wreekt zich dat. Als je de geschiedenis niet kent en geen kennis neemt van wat de heiligen uit de kerk van alle eeuwen en tijden geleerd hebben uit de schriften, dan heb je de neiging om het wiel opnieuw te moeten gaan uitvinden. Aan dat gevaar is Johannes Spronk m.i. niet ontkomen. Als je, zoals Johannes doet, geen onderscheid maakt tussen de Tien Geboden en de ceremoniële wet, dan loop je vast.
Johannes verwijt mij Marcus 7: 8: “De geboden van God geeft u op, maar aan tradities van mensen houdt u vast”. Helaas moet ik deze bal terug kaatsen. De geboden van God, de Tien geboden, geven we niet op. Integendeel, de Tien geboden zijn door de radicale verdieping en toepassing van Jezus actueler dan ooit. Maar de ceremoniële wet geven we wel op. Vanaf Handelingen 15 behoort de verplichting om de ceremoniële wet van Mozes na te leven voor heiden christenen tot de tradities van mensen. En dan moet ik eerlijk stellen: Als Johannes mij wil verplichten de ceremoniële wet te onderhouden, dan houdt hij vast aan menselijke tradities. Dan doet hij juist wat hij wil vermijden.
Op 20 Oktober 2022 zullen we Handelingen 15 verder bespreken in onze Bijbelstudie club. Bij deze nodigen wij Johannes van harte uit om met ons hierover verder van gedachten te wisselen. Hartelijk welkom op 20 Oktober om 10 uur in de Lichtkring!.

Bob Dylan's "False Prophet" - an analysis by Kees de Graaf - Part 4.

In this final episode we deal with the verses 7,8,9 and 10.
Verse 7.
You don’t know me darlin’ - you never would guess
I’m nothing like my ghostly appearance would suggest
I ain’t no false prophet - I just said what I said
I’m here to bring vengeance on somebody’s head.
The False Prophet seems to be aware of the fact that his “ghostly appearance” scares off people and might give them that creepy haunted feeling that something is wrong. Terrified they were, the disciples of Jesus when they were in a boat on the sea of Galilea and Jesus passed by walking on the water and they thought he was a ghost (Marc 6:50). Intuitively the False Prophet feels that his ghostly appearance may impede his victim’s surrender to him and therefore he attempts to reassure his victims by pretending that he has no evil intentions and that they have nothing to fear. He tries to reassure his victim by addressing her as “darling” and it is as if you hear the echo of Dylan’s “Man of Peace” where Dylan says of Satan: “He’ll puts both his arms around you, you can feel the tender touch of the beast”. “What are you looking at - there’s nothing to see” of verse 5 sounded like a reproach but here the False Prophet intends to take away any suspicion in a gentle way.
We already dealt with the possible meaning of “I ain’t no false prophet - I just said what I said” in the introductory remarks made in Part 1 of the analysis of this song.
“Vengeance” means a punishment inflicted in retaliation for an injury or offence. Both the False Prophet and God use the word “vengeance” However, when the False Prophet uses the word “vengeance” in “I’m here to bring ‘vengeance’ on somebody’s head” his intentions are quite different from God’s intentions when God uses the word “vengeance”. When God says “Mine is the vengeance” (Romans 12:19 quoting Deut. 32:35) God’s intention is to do justice to those who have been wronged. From God’s side “vengeance” is an act of love and justice, to set things right. From the side of the False Prophet “vengeance” is an act of just pure evil. The False Prophet is out to bring vengeance “on somebody’s head”; for the False Prophet it is quite indifferent who the person targeted is, it might be anybody; he couldn’t care less as long as he can ruin and inflict damage on a person. We find a classic example of this “vengeance” in 2 Chron. 18:18-22. A spirit – a daemon- stepped forward in the heavenly council and said that he was ready to bring vengeance on King Ahab’s head saying “I will entice him”. He indeed succeeded in enticing Ahab to wage war against Ramoth-Gilead and we see that - because of this vengeance- Ahab was killed in the following battle against Ramoth-Gilead (2 Chron. 18:34).
Verse 8.
Put out your hand - there’s nothin’ to hold
Open your mouth - I’ll stuff it with gold
Oh you poor Devil - look up if you will
The City of God is there on the hill
The primordial sin of man in the Garden of Eden was that man wanted to be like God and be independent from God. “Putting out one’s hand” is just the opposite and a token of dependence from and surrender to God and that is a humble attitude which the False Prophet very much loathes. The False Prophet knows that anyone who puts out his or her hand to God in prayer for heavenly aid, will be heard. But such prayers are sometimes not answered immediately and the full realization of God’s promises lies in the future. This requires patience and perseverance in faith from the side of the believer. The False Prophet targets his fiery darts on the weak spot of the believers and that is their patience and perseverance. Therefore, he constantly puts their patience and perseverance to the test by trying to make them believe that “there is nothing to hold” as if he says to them: “you may put out your hand to God and trust him, but his promises are empty and vain and he leaves you empty handed, but I can give you everything you want right now”. These are the scoffers who say “there is nothing to hold”. These are the same scoffers, who, inspired by the False Prophet, will come and say: “Where is the promise of his coming?”(2 Pet. 3:4 RSV).
When the False Prophet goes on to say: “Open your mouth - I’ll stuff it with gold” the False Prophet claims that he – unlike God -can give you instant inner peace and wealth. It is the sort of “instant inner peace” Dylan denounces in his song “When you gonna wake up”: ”Spiritual advisors and gurus to guide you every move, instant inner piece and every step you take has got to be approved”.
When it says: “Open your mouth - I’ll stuff it with gold” this reminds us of Crassus, the wealthy Roman, who had his mouth stuffed with molten gold by the Parthians, after losing a battle in 53BC.
It also reminds us of a quote from the British Labour Minister of Health Aneurin Bevan, who shortly after the Second World War, said: “I stuffed their mouths with gold” after allowing British doctors to continue seeing private patients- and allowing these doctors to make a lot of extra money out of it – on top of the money they made on accepting NHS patients.
Something comparable happened in the 1990s when U.S. hospitals, began buying primary care physicians and their practices by “stuffing their mouths with gold.” To incite doctors to become their employees hospitals initially paid them exorbitant salaries—essentially bribes.
When it says “Open your mouth - I’ll stuff it with gold” the poet may allude to the so-called prosperity gospel which is widespread especially in the USA. The adage of the prosperity gospel is the religious belief that “financial blessing and physical wealth well-being are always the will of God for them, and that faith, positive speech, and donations to religious causes will increase one material wealth”(Wikipedia). It is as if the False Prophet says: “Don’t put out your hand to God, because if you do so, there is nothing to hold, only vague future promises, there is nothing tangible to hold which you can enjoy right now. But if you follow me and “open your mouth, I’ll stuff it with gold”. Gold teeth is usually a sign of extravagant luxury and that is what this prosperity preacher, this False Prophet, promises to give instantly to all those who follow his instructions.
When it says “Oh you poor Devil - look up if you will, the City of God is there on the hill”, the False prophet speaks condescendingly to the believers as if they are to be pitied: “Oh you poor Devil”. It is as if the False Prophet says: “It is true, God promises you a City of Gold (Rev.21:8) but you have to look up for it, you do not have it right now, it is there on the hill and beyond reach and who says that you will ever reach this City,”. ”On the hill” may also allude to the hill of Calvary. The City of God is the New Jerusalem which will come down from heaven (Rev. 21:2) but it is on Mount Sion where also the hill of Calvary is. Calvary – the hill where Jesus was crucified - also smacks of suffering and it is as if the False Prophet wants to make it clear that if you follow God you will suffer and if you follow the False Prophet, you will get rich instantly.
Verse 9.
Hello stranger - Hello and goodbye
You rule the land but so do I
You lusty old mule - you got a poisoned brain
I’m gonna marry you to a ball and chain
Although it may make the analysis of this song a little less coherent, yet we feel that there is reason enough to believe that -only in this verse- there is a change of perspective. A change of perspective, because it seems that here the False Prophet is not the speaker – as in the previous verses and the following verse - but the addressee. It is God - or more precisely Jesus- who now addresses the False Prophet.
Before we go deeper into this, we should note that the words “Hello stranger” echo a song from the Stanley Brothers called “How Far To Little Rock” where it says: “Hello, stranger, (Why, hello there, stranger), Ah, could you tell me how far it is to Little Rock?(Well no sir I couldn't, buddy, but they's a devil of a big'n down here in Pap's old field”. The words “Hello stranger” also echo a song from The Carter Family called “Hello Stranger”. The song has the line “I’m prison bound, I’m longing to be free”, a line which happens to breathe the same atmosphere of imprisonment, the same sphere of imprisonment as the “ball and chain” in “I’m gonna marry you to a ball and chain”.
There seems to be a certain symmetry in two song titles. In verse two we had the song “Hello Mary Lou” and here in verse nine we have the song “Hello stranger”. The “goodbye” here echoes the “goodbye” from “Hello, Mary Lou, Goodbye, heart”.
Above we said that there may be a change of perspective in this verse and now the False Prophet is the addressee and is addressed by Jesus as “Stranger”. In John 10 Jesus tells us that He is the good shepherd, the sheep recognize His voice and follow Him. But his opponent who cares nothing for the sheep is addressed as a “Stranger”. John 10:5 says: “And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers “ (KJV).
In Mat. 7:15 Jesus says: “Beware of the false prophets”. Mat. 7:22,23 Jesus says of these false prophets: “On that day many will say to me, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and cast out demons in your name, and do mighty works in your name?’ and then I will declare to them, ‘I NEVER KNEW YOU; depart from me, you evildoers’ (RSV). Jesus does not know these false prophets, they are strangers to Him. “Depart from me” may mean as much as “goodbye”.
When God – or Jesus- says to the False Prophet: “You rule the land but so do I” this does not mean that God and the False Prophet are equals and that they equally share their power to rule the land. Since the victory of Jesus on the cross the devil is defeated and therefore Jesus says in John 12: 31: “Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out”(NKJV). It is true, some power – and that may be nasty- is left to the False Prophet – alias the devil-. His rule consists of prowling around like a roaring lion, seeking some one to devour (1 Peter 5:8) but his power is limited and can only go as far as God allows him to go. Jesus is in command, therefore, “But so do I” means that in reality all power and authority in heaven and on earth is given to Jesus (Mat. 28:1). In his famous 2004 CBS interview Dylan alludes to this this by cryptically referring to Jesus as “the Commander in Chief in this world and in a world we can’t see”.
The words “You lusty old mule” may be almost literally quoted from Homer’s “Iliads”. A translation of this poem can be found in The English Works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, Volume 10-11: “The Iliads and Odysses of Homer”, where in LIB. XXIII “The funeral games for Patroclu”s, on Page 281 -line 655-670- it says:
“A prize for him that won at fist and ball, a mule of six years old, and hard to rule.As for the vanquished, be assigned to him a lesser prize, which was a silver cup, that crooked and wryed was about the brim. Achilles then amongst the Greeks stood up. Atrides, and you Argives all, said he, let two men fight for these at fist and ball; the lusty mule shall for the victor be, the cup for him that in the night shall fall. This said, Epeius, a huge man stood up, and that had at this kind of fight great skill, and seized the mule, and said, as for the cup, let any one against me rise that will ,the mule is mine; at this game I am best”.
The first thing that strikes us is, that there is an exquisite word pun here. The Iliads speaks of a “ball” in “a prize for him that won at fist and ball”. In the next line “I’m gonna marry you to a ball and chain” another sort of “ball” is introduced. Not a “ball”used in a game, but another sort of heavy metal “ball”, a ball used in combination with a chain to restrain and detain a prisoner.
Apart from this pun, one may wonder why the False Prophet is addressed here as “You lusty old mule”?. Now the dictionary describes a mule as “the offspring of a donkey and a horse (strictly, a male donkey and a female horse), typically sterile and used as a beast of burden”. It is true, mules are less stubborn and more intelligent than donkeys, yet they still can be very stubborn. This can also be said of the False Prophet -alias Satan of old-. They say that “Pride goes before a fall” and it was this stubborn “mulish” pride that led to the downfall of Satan. Now the False Prophet is characterized here as a “lusty” old mule. Where true love is lacking, only carnal “lust” remains. The False Prophet entices you to believe that sex outside a love relationship may be called love, but the truth is that such a love is only lust. Apart from “lusty” the False Prophet is also characterized as an “old” lusty mule, not strange when you consider that Rev. 20:2 calls the serpent, the devil, an “ancient” or old serpent. An additional reason why we feel that the False Prophet is the object in this verse and not the subject is the line “you got a poisoned brain”. “Poison” reminds us of a serpent; the old serpent of Rev. 12:9 who is Satan- alias the False Prophet. The False Prophet is said to have a “poisoned brain”. This means that his mind is fully occupied by poisonous and evil schemes, he is the embodiment of all evil. John 8: 44 calls him the murderer from the beginning. “You got a poisoned brain” also reminds us of the garden of Eden when the devil disguised as a serpent, injected Eve and Adam from his own poisoned brain with his poison and he did so by questioning the integrity of God in a very deceptive way. (Gen.3:1).
There is irony in the words “I’m gonna marry you to a ball and chain”. Literally and figuratively. To understand this we must first realize that there has been a continuous quest in Dylan’s oeuvre to get free from earthly lust and to achieve the perfect and pure love of matrimony. On the Latter Day – when the final whistle (or trumpet) is blown- “lust” will be finally defeated and a pure and perfect matrimony will be consummated . Then it will be just like he said in his song “Duquesne Whistle”: “Listen to that Duquesne whistle blowing, blowing like my woman’s on board”. An earthly matrimony is a foreshadowing of the eternal matrimony between Christ as the bridegroom and the church as the bride (cf. Eph.5:31-33). On the Latter Day and lasting into all eternity, there will be a marriage between Christ and all of his followers, just like it says in Rev. 19:7 “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready.”(NKJV). The “Lamb” in this verse stands for Christ and “his wife” stands for the church.
Now in “I’m gonna marry you to a ball and chain” there is also a marriage, but it is a marriage “to a ball and chain” and that is the irony, or to be more specific the “iron-y”. The False Prophet will be married to irons into all eternity, or to put it in Dylan’s own words, the False Prophet is “Cold irons bound”. In the final verse we hear the False Prophet boast: ”I’m nobody’s bride”. That is how the False Prophet will end up. In the third verse we heard the False Prophet say: “I go where only the lonely can go“ but he will not only go there but he will also stay there. A marriage “to a ball and chain” is not a marriage to look forward to. Christ’s marriage to the church and the False Prophet’s marriage to “a ball and chain” cannot be more contrasted!.
The “chain” echoes Revelation 20:1,2: “Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. He seized the dragon—that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan—and bound him in chains for a thousand years” (NLT).
Verse 10.
You know darlin’ the kind of life that I live
When your smile meets my smile - something’s got to give
I ain’t no false prophet - I’m nobody’s bride
Can’t remember when I was born and I forgot when I died.
The quasi familiar words from the False Prophet “You know darlin’ the kind of life that I live” are meant to inspire confidence. These words seem to echo the doctrines of another False Prophet – in this case a self-proclaimed false Prophetess called Jezebel- referred to in Rev. 2:19-29. This False Prophetess is said to know the ‘depths of Satan’. To fully know and understand “The kind of live that I live” may be the same as to know the ‘depths of Satan’, just like Jezebel once knew the depths of Satan. Jesus condemns and exposes this False Prophetess Jezebel and admonishes the church of Thyatira not to follow Jezebel into the depths of Satan; not to follow her into the life she lives: “Now to you I say, and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the depths of Satan, as they say, I will put on you no other burden”( Rev. 2:24 NKJV).
The words “when your smile meets my smile” suggest that an evil pact with the devil is fabricated. “When your smile meets my smile” may be seen as some sort of a token of a tacit agreement. Magical power is given to such an agreement, because when this happens, when these two smiles meet, the inevitable result is that “something’s got to give”. “Something’s got to give” means that that tension is building up and that whatever is supporting everything is going to break under the pressure. “Something’s got to give” also means that ‘the current situation cannot remain unchanged for much any longer; one side or the other has got to yield’. (Farlex Dictionary of Idioms). This is exactly what happened in the Garden of Eden when man yielded to the devil and fell into sin (Genesis 3).
The “something” in “Something’s got to give” was that Adam and Eve gave up their innocence, it was the day “when innocence died” (Dylan’s Ring them Bells). Losing their innocence meant that, when they opened up their eyes, they knew that they were naked (Gen 3:7). “Something’s got to give” also implies that something else broke down there in the Garden of Eden. This turned out to be a turning point in the history of mankind, because when the LORD God concluded: “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil” (Gen.3:22),this meant that man not only lost his innocence, but now also knew of good and evil, and from then on has been able to experience what “the kind of life” the False Prophet lives involves, albeit with devastating result. ”The kind of life” turned out to be an evil life, but man cannot unring the bell and undo what has been done.
For the third and last time the False Prophet says: “I ain’t no false prophet” but this time it may be different. This time, on the album version – but not in the official lyrics on Bob Dylan’s website for that matter- the words “ I ain’t no false prophet” are followed by an emphatic “No”. A third negation makes a statement affirmative again and therefore from here on, it looks as if the False Prophet speaks the truth. There is truth in the proud statement from the False Prophet when he says: “I’m nobody’s bride”. This is not because the False Prophet loves the truth, on the contrary, he is a liar from the very beginning. To be somebody’s bride means that there must also be a groom. It means that there is matrimony. The metaphor used in the Bible is that of a matrimony between the groom Christ and his bride the church (Eph.5:25-27). It is a matrimony which will be extended into all eternity. The metaphor of a happy matrimony is used to symbolise the eternal love and protection from the groom (Christ, the Lamb) for his bride and the eternal devotion to the groom from the side of the bride (the church). Revelation 19:7-9 also uses this metaphor and says: “Let us be glad and rejoice ,and let us give honour to him. For the time has come for the wedding feast of the Lamb, and his bride has prepared herself. She has been given the finest of pure white linen to wear”(NLT). The False Prophet cannot and does not want to be part of this eternal wedding feast. It would be the last thing he would ever wish. To him this wedding party it is an abomination. In fact, it is the reason why he says: “I’m nobody’s bride”. The False Prophet – alias Satan- represents the fallen Babylon which is condemned in Rev. 18:23: “The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The happy voices of brides and grooms will never be heard in you again. For your merchants were the greatest in the world, and you deceived the nations with your sorceries” (NLT). For so long in history, the False Prophet had been the head of business men who drank his wine and of ploughmen who dug his earth, but this will all come to a halt when suddenly, at the Latter Day, the eternal wedding between the groom and the bride starts. At that Day the False Prophet will be left empty handed in an existence where the happy voice of a bride and a groom will never be heard again and in which the words “I’m nobody’s bride” will be fulfilled.
“Can’t remember when I was born and I forgot when I died” wraps it all up. Again the book “Awakening Osiris” – A New Translation of the Egyptian Book of the Dead- written by Normandi Ellis (Phanes Press)- is almost literally quoted. In chapter 8 called “Triumph over Darkness" 2nd paragraph we find:
"the ways of making indeed are wondrous, the child born of its mother, the sun rolling into sky, the song rising from the lips, the world springing from the word of god. The essence of life is brilliant, dazzling. I cannot explain such miracles, yet I embody them daily. Though I cannot remember my birth and shall forget my death, I live in the midst of wonder."
To make sense of “Can’t remember when I was born and I forgot when I died” we must plunge into Greek Mythology. In Greek Mythology the LETHE was the underworld river of oblivion and its goddess. The river LETHE flowed around the cave of Hypnos and through the underworld (the Hades). All those who drank from it experienced complete forgetfulness. LETHE was the name of the Greek god of forgetfulness and oblivion and the personification thereof. The shades of the dead drank from its waters to completely forget all about their mortal earthly troubles and woes.
This symbol can also be found in the last section of Plato’s Republic, where souls are required to drink from the River of Forgetfulness before they are able to return to their earthly life. Others connected this idea to the doctrine of reincarnation where one continuously reappears in a new format of life with a clean slate. In Virgil’s Aeneid we find that drinking these waters is said to “quench man’s troubles [with] the deep draught of oblivion”.
First we should examine the meaning in Classical Greek of the word “lethe”.We find that “lethe” literally means "oblivion", "forgetfulness", or "concealment". It is related to the Greek word for "truth", which is “alētheia” which through the privative prefix “a” ( alpha) literally means "un-forgetfulness" or "un-concealment". This is not without importance. Jesus calls Himself the “alētheia”, the “ἀλήθεια” – the truth – in John 14:6.
Now Jesus Christ is the antitype of the False Prophet- alias Satan. He does quite the opposite of what the False Prophet does. In our imagination we see the False Prophet plunging himself into the waters of the LETHE and drinking from its waters, and then claiming that he has reached a status in which he can say: “Can’t remember when I was born and I forgot when I died”. The False Prophet pretends to be able to reach a status of permanent oblivion, a status where the memory of his wickedness is erased and where he cannot be held accountable for his evil deeds, a status in which his conscience has been seared up and a status in which justice will never be done. But he is wrong. Now Jesus follows a quite opposite route. In a certain way, He remembers every little detail of what we have done, of the kind of live we have lived. He does not erase the film of our lives. He puts our life – and our sins – under a magnifying glass and confronts us with the memory of our sins. However, He does so not to condemn us but to reconcile us. His soteriological working order is that of confrontation followed by justification and reconciliation. A reconciliation, so that the prayer of the thief on the cross: “Jesus remember me, when you come into your kingdom” (Luke 23:42 RSV) was well grounded and therefore answered by Jesus.
However, in another sort of way, there is also a divine non remembrance. Once our sins are reconciled, the memory of sins are gone. In Micah 7: 19 it says: “You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!” and Hebrews 8:12 “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” (NLT).
It is true, as long as we are in our mortal existence, it is sometimes better to have a forgetful heart, just like Dylan wrote in his song “Forgetful Heart”: “Forgetful heart, lost your power of recall, every little detail, you don't remember at all”. A forgetful heart is necessary to soften the pain we suffer under the sun: “Without you it's so hard to live, can't take much more”.
The False Prophet says: “Can’t remember when I was born and I forgot when I died” but God already knew us and remembered us, even before we were born, like it says in Psalm 139:16: “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be”(BSB).

Bob Dylan's "False Prophet" - an analysis by Kees de Graaf - Part 4

Bob Dylan's "False Prophet" - an analysis by Kees de Graaf - Part 3.

In this episode we deal with the verses 4, 5 and 6.
Verse 4.
I’m first among equals - second to none
I’m last of the best - you can bury the rest
Bury ‘em naked with their silver and gold
Put ‘em six feet under and then pray for their souls
Thanks to the Rev. Walter Lee who brought to my attention that the AABB rhyme scheme that is so neatly followed throughout the song is broken in this verse. Dylan could have easily written, “I’m the first among equals, I’m the last of the best, second to none, you can bury the rest” but he doesn’t and there must be some reason for this broken rhyme scheme. Now to address this query we first should note that “first among equals” is a translation of the Latin phrase “Primus inter pares “derived from Ancient Greek. It is typically used as an honorary title for someone who is formally equal to other members of their group but is accorded unofficial respect, traditionally owing to their seniority in office. In Mat. 12:24 Satan (Beelzebub) is called the “prince of daemons”. In a way, one could say that Satan is the” first among his equals”, among his equals, the daemons. No doubt Jesus can be called “first among equals”. Why? Because He practiced this principle in dealing with the 12 disciples and this is confirmed by Romans 8:29 where He is called the “first born among many brothers and sisters” Hebrews 2:12 says “So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters”(NLT). Jesus, the Son of God, who is called the “first” in everything (Colossians 1:18) is not ashamed to be called “first among equals”, among his earthly brothers and sisters. But now there is a huge difference between the False Prophet – alias Satan -proclaiming that he is the “first among equals” and of Jesus proclaiming the same thing. When Jesus is qualified as “the first among equals”, this may be called an honorary title and a reward which He received because of his unprecedented self-sacrifice for His brothers and sisters. Satan is called the ape of God. When Satan is qualified as the “first among equals” this is a fake statement, full of guile, and this pretended condescension is therefore immediately followed by a bragging statement that he is “second to none”. Satan, Lucifer claims to be second to none when in Isaiah 14: 13 he says : “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God”. In a way, what the right hand of the False Prophet advances by modestly stating that he is the ” first among his equals”, is drawn back by his left hand when he braggingly claims that he is “second to none”. This is the only reason I can think of why the AABB rhyme scheme is broken in this verse. “Rough and Rowdy Ways” is thematically an interwoven album and some lines of thought in one song- though in a different context - are reappear in other songs on the album. “Second to none” reappears in the last stanza of “Murder Most Foul” where it says: “Was a hard act to follow, second to none, they killed him on the altar of the rising sun”. The “Altar of the Rising Sun” is located in Beijing' s diplomatic quarter and once used to sacrifice to the God of the Sun. Anyway, this is a territory the False Prophet is all too familiar with because Ezekiel 8:16 condemns worshipping the God of the Sun: “And he brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and, behold, at the door of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about five and twenty men, with their backs toward the temple of the LORD, and their faces toward the east; and they worshipped the sun toward the east” (KJV).
The False Prophet goes on to say that he is “the last of the best”. In Islam Muhammad is generally regarded as the last and the best of the prophets sent by God. Whereas the words “first among equals” in the mouth of Jesus is the result of self-sacrifice , surrender, humility and companionship, the same words in the mouth of the False Prophet work itself out not only in a bragging: “I am the last of the the best” but also subsequently in a cursing and humiliating exposure both of his opponents: “You can bury the rest, bury ‘em naked with their silver and gold put ‘em six feet under and then pray for their souls”. Somehow these words still seem steeped in the Ancient Egyptian cultural burial practices we above dealt with. The exodes of the Hebrews comes to mind, when they escaped from their grave of Egyptian slavery and bereft the Egyptians of their jewellery, their silver and gold. (Ex.3:22 and 12:36) The Egyptians would have rather buried the Hebrews with their silver and gold in the Red Sea, than letting them go and set them free. ”You can bury the rest” in the mouth of the False Prophet may mean as much as ‘forget about the rest, I am the only one in the universe who is of any importance’. “Bury them naked” is an expression of utmost exposure to defilement and humiliation, in the same way as Two Timing Slim’s corpse was dragged through the mud (In Dylan’s “Soon After Midnight”). According to Wikipedia the expression “put them six feet under” is a reference to the plague:” The origins of “six feet under” come from a 1665 outbreak of the plague in England. As the disease swept the country, the mayor of London literally laid down the law about how to deal with the bodies to avoid further infections. The law eventually fell out of favour both in England and its colonies”. “Pray for their souls” alludes to a Roman-Catholic practice to pray for salvation of the souls of the deceased who dwell in Purgatory.
Here it is as if the False Prophet has us return to the liminal sphere of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, to Osiris, Lord of the liminal world. Again it is as if we witness the voyage of some dead pharaoh to the liminal world. The Egyptian book of the Dead: “This white boat of spirit ferries the body through dark water, carries the heart of gold through the red core of earth. Great is the god in his boat”. Prayers are sent out for the return of the soul to the earth: “therefore with regularity, the spirit returns to its source to bask in the wonders of god, to draw strength from the fire, then go into the world to rage against the serpent of darkness”.
The Book of Revelation (Chapter 17) reveals that the False Prophet, alias the Beast-, turns himself against his own loyal companions, the harlot and all of her followers. The harlot in Revelation represents Babylon, the mother of all harlots and abominations on earth (Rev. 17:5). The avenge of the Beast is bitter: “And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. (Rev. 17:12 KJV). It is as if the False Prophet first says to the harlot and all of her followers: “Open your mouth - I’ll stuff it with gold”. And the False Prophet did stuff the mouth of the harlot and her companions – the Great Babylon - with gold when you consider all the riches, the silver and gold he gave them (Rev. 18:12). But subsequently when the False Prophet has stuffed their mouth with gold , just like the Beast, he starts to loath his own children and dismisses them snarling: “bury ‘em naked with their silver and gold put ‘em six feet under” followed by a cynical “ and then pray for their souls” suggesting that prayer will do them no good.
Verse 5.
What are you looking at - there’s nothing to see
Just a cool breeze encircling me
Let’s walk in the garden - so far and so wide
We can sit in the shade by the fountain side.
By nature invisible daemons are invisible, so that is why it says “there’s nothing to see” but they also hate to be closely examined and exposed. When Jesus exposes them and pulls them out of their comfort zone, they shrink back. Therefore, “What are you looking’ at - there’s nothing to see” also sounds like a reproach. “Just for a second there I thought I something move” (Dylan’s “Things have changed”)could easily have been followed by “What are you looking’ at - there’s nothing to see”. As said Satan is the ape of God. He likes to pass himself off as God or as an angel of light. Here the False Prophet takes the words of God in his mouth because “Just a cool breeze encircling me” and also “Let’s walk in the garden - so far and so wide” can primarily be said of God as He walked through the garden of Eden communicating with Adam and Eve: “Then the man and his wife heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the breeze of the day, and they hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden” (Gen. 3:8 BSB cf. 1 Kings 19:12).The Biblical expression “to walk in” usually refers to one’s lifestyle, one’s moral conduct. It may either be a lifestyle full of faith and devotion to God, just like Enoch in Gen. 5:24: “Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away” or it may be a lifestyle full of sin(c.f. Eph. 2:2). So when the False Prophet invites you saying “Let’s walk in the garden - so far and so wide” this may in itself be a neutral statement and may simply be an invitation for confidential communication as you walk along in the garden.
However, when these words are followed by “We can sit in the shade by the fountain side” this takes it a step further. Because, when you “sit” down with somebody you come under his or her spell. When you take a walk with the False Prophet there is always the possibility to escape from his influence, but once you sit down with him, there is no turning back. The images that are used here are Biblical. In the dry land of Israel with its hot and dry climate, you are always in need of shade against the burning sun and in need of fresh living water from a fountain. In the Bible a well, a spring, a fountain of water is a metaphor for the abundant everlasting life God gives to his people like it says in John 4:14 “but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life” and in Rev. 21:6 “And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely” (KJV). However, when you decide to succumb to the temptation of the False Prophet to “sit in the shade by the fountain side” he can do with you as he pleases and in the end, when it is too late, you will find out that these fountains, “These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever" ( 2 Peter 2:17 KJV).
Verse 6.
I’ve searched the world over for the Holy Grail
I sing songs of love - I sing songs of betrayal
Don’t care what I drink - don’t care what I eat
I climbed a mountain of swords on my bare feet
In this verse the False Prophet is involved in a number of activities and in doing so sets an example to his followers to do the same, with the only one purpose to draw a red herring across the track of his followers and to keep all those who are not “busy being born, busy being dying”.
According to Wikipedia, the Holy Grail is a treasure that serves as an important motif in Arthurian literature. There are multiple interpretations of what this Holy Grail stands for, from Jesus’s vessel from the Last Supper, to all sorts of objects related to the crucifixion of Jesus. There are many conspiracy theories circling around about the Holy Grail and there are many myths and legends dealing with the Holy Grail, too many to list here. Take e.g. Dan Brown’s 2003 bestseller “The Da Vinci Code”.
Thanks to Walter Lee who pointed out to me that this whole verse may be about Lancelot and his quest for the holy grail. He is the French singer who entices the love of Guinevere. He betrays Arthur as he comes in, and in his effort to rescue Guinevere, he removes the armour on his feet and hands to cross the Bridge of Swords an gets across, cut up and wounded in his effort.
And as far as the holy grail is concerned, there is of course also the Indiana Jones connection to this verse. Indiana Jones is also referred to in the opening track of this album “I contain multitudes’ where it says “I’m just like Anne Frank, like Indiana Jones, and them British bad boys the Rolling Stones”. First there was this movie "Raiders of the Lost Ark”- of which most of the action took place in Egypt- and where Indiana Jones finally finds the lost Ark of the Covenant after digging the Well of Souls. This movie was later followed by the movie “The Last Crusade”, which may be regarded as a sort of remake of the ”Raiders of the Lost Ark”, except for the fact that it is now the Holy Grail and not the lost Ark of the Covenant, which is searched for.
The point the poet may intend to make here is that false prophecy, personified by the False Prophet, has searched the world over to find the Holy Grail and by doing so encourages people to do the same and keep on searching for this Holy Grail, regardless of what it may mean. The Holy Grail is a labyrinth in which people easily get lost. And that is exactly what the False Prophet is intending. The opposite is also true. “Seek and you will find” (Matt. 7:8) Jesus promises but, when you truly do that, such a search may be qualified by the false prophecy as “looking for nothing” like in Dylan’s song “Marching to the City” where it says: “Well I’m sitting in church in an old wooden chair, I knew nobody would look for me there, sorrow and pity rule the earth and the skies, looking for nothing in anyone’s eyes”.
Any attempt to find God is “looking for nothing” in the eyes of the false prophecy. The purpose of the False Prophet is to distract the attention of people away from God and encourage people to lose themselves in trivialities like finding the Holy Grail. This is exactly corresponds to the warning Paul gives to Timothy in 1 Timothy 1:4 : “not to occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies which promote speculations rather than the divine training, that is in faith”.
“I sing songs of love - I sing songs of betrayal” shows the two seemingly opposite faces of the False Prophet under which he operates. “I sing songs of love” pictures the deceptive face of the False Prophet. According to Dylan’s song “Man of Peace” the devil - alias the False Prophet- “Knows every song of love that ever has been sung” but underneath there is this vicious counterpart of these so-called “love” songs and these are the songs of betrayal. Betrayal is core business for the False Prophet, culminating in Judas’s betrayal of Jesus. This betrayal reminds us of Dylan’s song “With God on our side” (for a detailed analysis of this song, please go to my Bob Dylan song analysis page elsewhere on this website) Dylan says there: “Through many dark hour, I’ve been thinking about this, that Jesus Christ was betrayed by a kiss. But I can’t think for you, you’ll have to decide, whether Judas Iscariot had God on his side” . Here, love – expressed by a kiss- and betrayal are seemingly intertwined. False prophecy always tries to legitimize itself by appealing to the word of God and proclaiming that it has God on its side. Judas is the personification of such a False Prophet and if he would say “I sing songs of love - I sing songs of betrayal” and if by saying so he would fulfil the Scriptures (e.g.. Acts 1:16), such a confession would nevertheless not take away his responsibility for this evil act. Whereas Moses sings a true song of love and redemption (Ex.14) together with the Lamb (Rev. 15:3-5), expressing a righteousness which constitutes pure love, the great imitator of God sings his songs of “love” and betrayal.
When the poet goes on to say “Don’t care what I drink - don’t care what I eat” followed by “I climbed a mountain of swords on my bare feet” these two lines seem contrasting. “Don’t care what I drink - don’t care what I eat” shows the utmost moral indifference and disrespect for the body, whereas “I climbed a mountain of swords on my bare feet” at the same time shows a meticulously executed flagellation of the body to achieve a desired mental state. Yet these two seemingly contrasting attitudes fit the False Prophet’s message well.
It is true, “Don’t care what I drink - don’t care what I eat” may be an allusion to Jesus when Jesus declared all food kosher (Mark 7:19, e.g. also Acts 10:15) but when the False Prophet takes these words into his mouth, his intentions are quite different and the casual indifference from the False Prophet seems to encourage unbridled consumerism as a means to divert attention from deeper spiritual thoughts. The False Prophet could not care less that this unbridled consumerism “Don’t care what I drink - don’t care what I eat”, leads to huge medical problems like obesities from which millions of people around the world – and especially in the USA - suffer. It suits the agenda of the False Prophet well that in rapid speed we consume our planet’s resources at the expense of the many very poor. What ‘Don’t care what I drink - don’t care what I eat’ may result in, is nowadays deeply felt all over the world in the Covid-19 pandemic that is raging over our planet. They say that the Covid-19 virus originates from bats which are traded in Chinese food markets. Deep down inside, ‘Don’t care what I drink - don’t care what I eat’ represents the False Prophet’s false claim that the earth and all of its resources belong to him whereas in reality it belongs to the LORD. (Psalm 24:1.) “Eat whatever is sold in the market without raising any questions on the ground of conscience” (1 Cor.10:25) is quite the opposite of and has nothing to do with the casual ‘Don’t care what I drink - don’t care what I eat’ . “Eat whatever is sold in the market without raising any questions on the ground of conscience” is deeply rooted in a free conscience and a free conscience always entails a responsible use of all resources based on the fact that “the earth is he Lords’ and everything in it “(1 Cor. 10:26).
“I climbed a mountain of swords on my bare feet” is a reference to a Zen Buddhistic training method:“ From here on, emptiness is no longer a realization. Instead it becomes a tool that you will use for the reminder of your training. After you answer the Mu koan, you will begin to work through any number of other koans. Zen calls this climbing the mountain of swords that is riddled with the skulls of the fallen. Each koan forces you to confront some aspect of yourself – some fear, attachment, belief that is keeping you from true enlightenment”. These words go back to Wumen Huikai a Chinese Chán (in Japanese: Zen) master during China‘s Song period. In the 48-koan collection called “The Gateless Barrier” it says: “You must carry the iron with no hole. No trivial matter, this curse passes to descendants. If you want to support the gate and sustain the house, You must climb a mountain of swords with bare feet”. “Mountain of swords" is a Chinese idiom for some sort of ordeal. They say that “ 上刀山，下火海“means “dare to climb a mountain of swords or plunge into a sea of flames”. 刀山(Mountain of Swords)is said to be an old Buddhist ritual, one of the cruellest sort of self-torture from the underworld.
When the False Prophet says: “I climbed a mountain of swords on my bare feet”, this Buddhist self-imposed torture shows a harsh treatment of the body which Colossians 2:23 strongly denounces: “Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence” (NIV).
As far as the body is concerned, there seems to be a sharp contrast between the casual indulgence and contempt for the body shown in “Don’t care what I drink - don’t care what I eat” on the one hand, while on the other hand, there is the utmost attention for, and deployment of, the body as a way to achieve enlightenment in “I climbed a mountain of swords on my bare feet”. Yet these seemingly contrasting two notions are two sides of the same medal and both are part of the False Prophet’s armoury. The equivalent to “Don’t care what I drink - don’t care what I eat” is the fatalistic “Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die” (1 Cor. 15:32). The equivalent to “I climbed a mountain of swords on my bare feet” is the“ false humility” and the “harsh treatment of the body” of Col.2:23. Whereas Jesus‘ deep physical and emotional suffering portrayed by Dylan in “Make You feel my Love”: ‘I’d go hungry”(Matthew 4:2),and ”I’d go black and blue, I’d go crawling down the avenue (of Gethsemane Matt. 26:39), Oh there’s nothing that I wouldn’t do to make you feel my love’ shows Jesus’ profound love and determination to save others, the False Prophet’s “I climbed a mountain of swords on my bare feet” is only egoistic self-exhortation.

Bob Dylan's "False Prophet" - an analysis by Kees de Graaf - Part 2.

 
In this part we take a detailed look at the verses 2 and 3 of this song.
Verse 2.
Hello Mary Lou - Hello Miss Pearl
My fleet footed guides from the underworld
No stars in the sky shine brighter than you
You girls mean business and I do too
In the first verse we have seen that the deceptive influence of the False Prophet crept into the body and soul of the ancient Egyptian culture, but the story does not end there. The False Prophet is a trickster of all times and ages who is also active in our modern times, and even more so because he knows that soon his active days on earth days will come to an end. Therefore, when the False Prophet goes on to say: “Hello Mary Lou - Hello Miss Pearl” the camara is focussed on our modern times. When “My fleet footed guides from the underworld” is added, it seems that a sardonic and sinister game is played with these two ladies. “Fleet footed” means nimble and fast on one’s feet , something one might expect from juveniles like Miss Mary Lou and Miss Pearl. “The underworld” represents this luminal world, the abode of the dead and imagined as being under the earth. “The underworld” is also the place, the pit, where the fallen angels are kept until judgement day (2 Peter 2:4). The underworld is the Sheol of Ezekiel 32:17-32, where Egypt and her allies, slain by the sword, lay.
The False Prophet is a trickster by profession and a master of distortion and has the habit of twisting and turning things round. Therefore, the sardonic irony in the words “My fleet footed guides from the underworld” show that the False Prophet knows that he is not guided by Miss Mary Lou and Miss Pearl but it is the other way round, Miss Mary Lou and Miss Pearl are guided by him.
Now “Hello Mary Lou - Hello Miss Pearl” seems an obvious reference to “Hello Mary Lou”, a love song from Ricky Nelson, and to “Miss Pearl” a song by Jimmy Wages. However, to call these two ladies “My fleet footed guides from the underworld” and to describe the intention of these two ladies as “You girls mean business and I do too” seems problematic and in the case of Mary Lou -when you examine the innocent lyrics of the song “Hello Mary Lou” - even farfetched. It requires no stretch of imagination to picture where the words “You girls mean business” refer to. “Business” in this context brings to mind the world of prostitution, red-light districts or some escort service. Now when you examine the lyrics of “Miss Pearl” an allusion to wantonness, if not prostitution, seems by no means farfetched. Some of the lyrics point in this direction: ”Miss Pearl, Miss Pearl, daylight recalls you, hang your head, go home, the way you look right now ,I know you never, I know you never more gonna roam” and “The signs on you show, you've been out so late”.
As far as Mary Lou is concerned, it is not for the first time that the poet seems to put Mary Lou in the realm of the luminal world, the kingdom of darkness. In Dylan’s song “Dignity” the part Mary Lou plays seems spooky: “I went to the wedding of Mary Lou. She said, “I don’t want nobody see me talking’ to you”, said she could get killed if she told me what she knew about dignity”.
However, for the connection to Mary Lou, we feel we’d better not focus our attention on Ricky Nelson’s song “Hello Mary Lou”, This song may merely function as some sort of a red herring to lead us to another song from Ricky Nelson: “Garden Party”. For Dylan it is not so difficult to identify himself with “Garden Party” because Dylan himself is referred to in the lyrics of the song: “And over in the corner, much to my surprise, Mr. Hughes hid in Dylan's shoes wearing his disguise”.
As far as the Mary Lou connection is concerned, there are a number of reasons why we should pay attention to Ricky Nelson’s song “Garden Party” rather than to his song : “Hello Mary Lou”. First of all, Mary Lou is mentioned in “Garden Party”: “I said hello to "Mary Lou", she belongs to me”. Secondly, when you closely examine the lyrics of “Garden Party”, it appears that in this garden party, people are dressed up, people are trying to hide their true identity: “When I got to the garden party, they all knew my name, no one recognized me, I didn't look the same” and “No one heard the music, we didn't look the same”. Thirdly, Nelson’s song “Garden Party” breathes the atmosphere of disguise, deception and trickery, a world with which the False Prophet- alias Satan- is all too familiar with. In some sort of a way Dylan’s “Man of Peace” also very much breathes the same deceptive atmosphere as “False Prophet” , albeit seen from a different perspective. In “Man of Peace” there is also a garden party going on: “I can smell something cooking, I can tell there’s going to be a feast, you know that sometimes Satan comes as a Man of Peace”. Now it seems as if the poet identifies the protagonist in Nelson’s “Garden Party” with the ways of the False Prophet. It is as if we hear the False Prophet, through the voice of the protagonist, speak: “I said hello to "Mary Lou", she belongs to me”. By stating that Mary Lou belongs to him, the False Prophet pulls Mary Lou into his own sphere, the underworld.
The use of the word “garden”, here and later on in the song, when it says: “Let’s walk in the garden - so far and so wide” may be an allusion to the Garden of Eden, the place where Man was deceived by the serpent (Gen. 3).
When the False Prophet says of Miss Mary Lou and Miss Pearl that “No stars in the sky shine brighter than you” this can be interpreted as a defiance of Jesus who is called the shining morning star in Rev.22:16. As we have seen, one of the attributes of the False Prophet, alias the devil, is that he encourages people to worship and idolize the creature – in this case Mary Lou and Miss Pearl – rather than the Creator (Rom. 1:25). Apart from this, in Isaiah 14: 12-14 (NKJV)the False Prophet awards the title of morning star to himself: ”I will exalt my throne above the stars of God”. The False Prophet laughs in his sleeve when divine stardom is bestowed upon his mortal epigons, like Miss Mary Lou and Miss Pearl. “No stars in the sky shine brighter than you” fits Rick Nelson and Janis Joplin well, because both died young, when – according to human standards- their stars where shining brightly.
Verse 3.
I’m the enemy of treason - the enemy of strife
I’m the enemy of the unlived meaningless life
I ain’t no false prophet - I just know what I know
I go where only the lonely can go
On the face of it, the words “I’m the enemy of treason - the enemy of strife, I’m the enemy of the unlived meaningless life” do not fit in with the negative image of a False Prophet. But things are not what they seem. The False Prophet -alias the devil - has two faces and pursues alternately two seemingly opposite tactics. The one tactics is a violent one of persecution and brutal oppression resulting in imprisonment, torture and killing of his victims. The other tactics is peaceful deception. When he pursues this latter tactics, the False Prophet proclaims to be a peacemaker who pretends to hate treason and strife. The Prophet Jeremiah debunks this sort of false prophecy: “from prophet to priest, everyone deals falsely, they have healed the wound of my people lightly saying “peace, peace” when there is no peace” (Jer.6:13,14). Dylan’s song “Man of peace” resonates here: He – Satan, the False Prophet – “is a great humanitarian, he’s a great philanthropist”. Now the refrain of “Man of Peace”: “You know sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace” is a parody on 2 Cor. 11:14 where it says: “And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light”. And it is this tactics of disguise which the False Prophet deploys in this stanza, the False Prophet pretends to be an angel of light who of course is very reasonable being and full of the best intentions.
Now “Treason” is usually regarded as an act of criminal disloyalty against a state, the nation and its sovereign. "Peace for our time" were the words the False prophet seems to have laid in the mouth of the UK Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain in his 30 September 1938 speech with regards to the Munich Agreement he made with Hitler; an agreement which soon turned out to be an act of high treason towards the Czechoslovakian people, selling them to Hitler.
“I’m the enemy of the unlived meaningless life” faintly resonates Socrates who is said to have said: “The unexamined life is not worth living". According to Wikipedia: “The unexamined life is not worth living" (Ancient Greek: ὁ ἀνεξέταστος βίος οὐ βιωτὸς ἀνθρώπῳ) is a famous dictum apparently uttered by Socrates at his trial for impiety and corrupting youth, for which he was subsequently sentenced to death, as described in Plato's Apology”.
Bob Jope may be right in his weblog article ‘False Prophet: ‘Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?” when he observes that “Blake considers Energy to be opposed to Reason, the force which, he believes, restrains desire. He exalts the life of the passions over that of Reason and the true poet/seer/prophet should exalt passionate life and deny imprisoning restraint, the ‘mind-forg’d manacles’ (in ‘London’) that chain us down. Comparably, Dylan’s prophet declares: “I’m the enemy of the unlived meaningless life”. Intriguingly, too, where Blake is the enemy of reason (mocked punningly as a god, Urizen) Dylan’s prophet – or seer – declares himself ‘the enemy of treason’.
In the eyes of the False Prophet, however, “an unlived meaningless life” is a life is not worth living when it does not pursue the slogan ‘Carpe Diem’. ‘Carpe Diem’ means “seize the day”, a phrase used by the Roman poet Horace to express the idea that one should enjoy life while one can. But the False Prophet encourages people to pursue ‘Carpe Diem’ in a hedonistic way, so that pleasure and satisfaction of desires is the highest good and proper aim of meaningful human life. But the downside of this so-called meaningful life is, that an unpleasant feeling creeps into your mind, a feeling as if you are on the Titanic, heading for disaster, like it says in in 1 Cor. 15:32: “Let us eat and drink for tomorrow we die”.
For the first time we now here the refrain of the song: “I ain’t no false prophet”. In our introductory remarks above, we already outlined that there might be an autobiographical undercurrent in this statement. We concluded that the more fervently the False Prophet denies being a False Prophet, the clearer it becomes that indeed he is a False Prophet. Here the False Prophet states two reasons why he pretends not to be a False Prophet: 1. “I just know what I know” and 2. “I go where only the lonely can go”.
1. “I just know what I know” may be valid claim and a claim which is false. A valid claim can be proven and a false one not. When Jesus, the Prophet of all Prophets, makes the claim “I just know what I know”, this claim is valid. When the False Prophet makes this claim, this claim is false. We read of Jesus’ claim that he knows what he knows in John 8: “Jesus told them, “These claims are valid even though I make them about myself. For I know where I came from and where I am going, but you don’t know this about me. You judge me by human standards, but I do not judge anyone. And if I did, my judgment would be correct in every respect because I am not alone. The Father who sent me is with me. Our own law says that if two people agree about something, their witness is accepted as fact. I am one witness, and my Father who sent me is the other.”(John 8:14-18 NLT). In the eyes of the Pharisees the claim of Jesus that he knows what he knows is not valid because in their eyes – and according to their human standards- this claim cannot be proven. But Jesus has an important and decisive second witness: God, the Father. God the Father testifies about Jesus in the Old Testament and validifies Jesus ‘claim.
But there is another factor which validates the claim “I know what I know” and that is Deut. 18,21,22. Deut. 18:21,22 says that the words of a true prophet come true and the words of a false prophet do not come to pass or come true. “I know what I know “and “I just said what I said” is not decisive but whether or not the contents of these words come true. E.g. Jesus, during his stay on earth, prophesied the fall and destruction of the city of Jerusalem (Matt. 24) . This prophecy came true and Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70AD.
The False Prophet, on the other hand, “climbs into the frame and shouts God’s name, but you’re never sure what it is”” (Dylan’s “Political world”).The only thing he can go by on is 2:“I go where only the lonely can go”. The loneliest place you can ever imagine is the so-called “depths of Satan” and the False Prophet has access to this place, in fact it is his natural habitat. A false prophetess named Jezebel also had access to these depths of Satan (Rev.2:20-24). In this lonely place “the emptiness is endless, cold as the clay” as Dylan assesses in his song “Mississippi”. This “depth” of Satan stands diametrically against the depth of God.
Only the Holy Spirit is capable to search the depth of God (1 Cor 2:10). In this depth of God there is not only an immeasurable and inexhaustive amount of riches, wisdom and knowledge (Romans 11:33) but also communion, a harmonious place bristling with love communion within the Trinity. Quite the opposite of the lonely place where “only the lonely can go”.To end up in a place“ where only the lone can go” is bad but the final conclusion which the False Prophet draws in this the song, the conclusion that he is “ nobody’s bride” is much worse.
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