29
votes
What translation/version of the Bible would Chaucer have read?
Chaucer (almost certainly) used the Vulgate, the 4th-century Latin translation by Jerome, the text that was the usual scripture of the Catholic Church in the medieval period.
I added the caveat “...
9
votes
Accepted
"That Christ deny’d divorce to his own", what does Milton mean here in this phrase from "The Doctrine & Discipline of Divorce"?
By his own, Milton means the apostles. The context of both Matthew and Mark makes this clear. The Pharisees ask Jesus about divorce. Jesus replies that given what Moses said, divorce cannot be ...
9
votes
Of what veil does Thoreau speak and what does he mean by being missing in this passage from "A Plea for Captain John Brown"?
User @MattThrower is correct regarding the "tearing of the veil"--a Biblical allusion indicating a significant death. This answer elaborates a bit more on the context and why Thoreau is ...
7
votes
Of what veil does Thoreau speak and what does he mean by being missing in this passage from "A Plea for Captain John Brown"?
The reference to the temple veil is an allusion to the Biblical story that the veil in the temple in Jerusalem which separated the two holiest rooms in the temple was torn at the moment of Christ's ...
2
votes
What translation/version of the Bible would Chaucer have read?
Gareth Rees's answer has given a very nice, detailed summary of analysis by Landrum (1924) and also mentions Skeat, who was earlier. I just want to point out in this answer that there may be another ...
1
vote
Biblical reference in Francis Bacon's essay: Background and significance
In this passage Bacon plays on various senses of the words “light” and “breath” to create a series of parallels between parts of the story of creation in Genesis chapters 1–2. I’ll gloss the whole ...
1
vote
What translation/version of the Bible would Chaucer have read?
Chaucer was an educated man who would certainly have read the Bible in Latin. Interestingly, the date of Wycliffe's translation into English of parts of the New Testament more or less coincides with ...
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