Biblical Allusion in Bob Dylan's Lyrics Part I

Biblical Allusion in Bob Dylan's Lyrics--Part I

Let Me Die in My Footsteps

"There's been rumors of wars and wars that have been..."
Alludes to Matthew 24:6: "And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet."
Perhaps also to Ezekiel 7:26: "Mischief shall come upon mischief, and rumor shall be upon rumor; then shall they seek a vision of the prophet; but the law shall perish form the priest, and counsel from the ancients."

Long Ago, Far Away

"And to talk of peace and brotherhood,
Oh what might be the cost!
A man he did it long ago
And they hung him on a cross.
Long ago: far away;
Things like that don't happen
No more, nowadays, do they?"
An obvious reference to the crucifixion of Christ. Dylan seems to be denying the optimism of moral progressives, who believe that man has advanced morally with time. We may look back upon crucifixion, the Roman gladiators, and slavery and conclude that we have advanced morally because "Things like that don't happen / No more nowadays." But Dylan asks, with a tone of doubt, "do they?" For, although those exact things don't happen, we have our own brand of sin that may be very much "like" them. How different is lynching from slavery? Abortion from holocaust? (I certainly do not think Dylan had abortion on his mind when he wrote this song; I merely use it as an example of a lack of moral progression.)
"One man had much money,
One man had not enough to eat,
One man he lived just like a king,
The other man begged in the street."
This may just be a general reference to the rich and the poor, or it may be intended to allude to the story of the rich man and Lazarus the beggar in Luke 16. Again, humanity has not progressed since the rich man denied Lazarus the beggar a scrap of food, and even if that man were to come back from hell to tell us about the terrors there, we would not be changed.

Long Time Gone

"But I know I ain't no prophet
An' I ain't no prophet's son."
Alludes to Amos 7:14: "I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman...And the Lord took me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel." Simply by alluding to this verse, Dylan, in a sense, does claim to be a prophet at the very instant he denies it. For Amos, however much he might resist the call, was a prophet of God, and he did a prophet's work. Indeed, "prophetic" is perhaps the best word to describe the tone of much of Dylan's music; much of it is condemnatory of society and, especially after his 1979 conversion, of religious hypocrisy.
A website visitor, Dan, points out that Rev. Gary Davis' rendition of 'The Hesitation Blues' includes the line "I aint no....aint no .....'s son." Bob was well exposed to Gary's music at the time, and included four or five of Gary's songs in his repoitaire. Either way, the ultimate allusion is undoubtedly to this passage in the Bible.

I'd Hate To Be You on That Dreadful Day

This song is obviously about death and the judgement that follows it. Perhaps the only verses needing explication are:
"Well, the good wine's a-flowin'
For five cents a quart.
You're gonna look in your moneybags
And find you're one cent short."
This may allude to a description in Revelation 6:6: "And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine." According to the NIV Study Bible (Ed. Kenneth Barker), this describes inflationary circumstances resulting from famine; these prices are ten times higher than normal. However, God has restricted the black horse of Revelation (famine) from hurting the wine. Yet, even though wine will still be affordable in the end times, Dylan tells the unfortunate subject of this song that he or she will STILL be "one cent short."
Bill Parr notes an association between the lines "You're gonna have to walk naked, / Can't ride in no car." and Revelation 16:15: "Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame."

Blowin' in The Wind

"Yes n' how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?"
Since the dove is a common symbol of peace, the obvious meaning of this question is: "how long will men continue to war with one another?" But it may also allude to Genesis 8:8: "Also [Noah] sent forth a dove from him, to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground: But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot..." The dove can not rest--sleep--in the sand because the consequence of man's sin--the flood--is still upon the earth. Dylan's question, then, may be: "When will man cease to sin so that the consequences of his sin--in this case the brutality of war--will recede?"
"How many ears must one man have / before he can hear people cry?" It is said to those who reject Christ: "Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes: lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed" (Isaiah 6:9). Interestingly enough, Isaiah responds to this: "Lord, how long?" (Isaiah 6:10). It is basically the same question Dylan asks.
"How many years can a mountain exist
Before it is washed to the sea?"
This question may mean: "How long can man remain hard-hearted--like an unmovable mountain--before human suffering finally begins to wear down his cold resistance?" But I am reminded of a passage in Revelation 8:8, in which a fiery mountain is cast into the sea. The mountain is usually symbolic of the nation of Israel. Because they refused to see or hear, they are symbolically cast into the sea. The implication of Dylan's lines, then, may be: "How long will God tolerate man's intentional blindness before He destroys him?" This interpretation would fit well with the dove imagery (which calls up the flood sent to destroy man for refusing to repent). In the Old Testament, the mountain is also symbolic of Mt. Zion, God's holy dwelling place, which the Psalmist says He "will establish for ever" (Ps. 48:8). The songwriter's question, then, may be: "Will that mountain really last for ever? Will God wait for man to turn to Him again, or might He one day lose patience, exhausted by man's unremitting sins, like a mountain worn away by the constant waves of the sea? Will He preserve that place--that holy mountain--for man, or will he allow it to be destroyed, denied to man forever, because of his sins? " The Jews had once thought Jerusalem to be likewise indestructible because it was the sight of the Temple, God's dwelling place. But God makes it clear in the Bible that He will destroy even His own dwelling place for man's sins:

"Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, are these. For if ye thoroughly amend your ways and your doings . . . Then will I cause you to dwell in this place . . . Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely . . . And come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations? Is this house, which is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it, saith the Lord. But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel . . . Therefore will I do unto this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, and unto the place which I gave to you and your fathers, as I have done to Shiloh." (Jeremiah 7:4-14)

Here is an interesting note. Although I have attempted to provide a biblical framework for one interpretation of this song, in all likelihood, the allusions are to another ancient religious text, the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh. Thanks to website visitor Orville J Carter for pointing out this very similar passage from Tablet X:

"How many times must a home be restored or a contract revised and approved?
How many times must two brothers agree not to dispute what is theirs?
How many wars and how many floods must there be with plague and exile in their wake?
Shamash is the one who can say."

Whatcha Gonna Do?

"Tell me what you're gonna do
When the shadow comes under your door?"
This may simply refer to "the shadow of death" (Psalm 23:4), or it may refer to the shadow of Jesus as he stands at the door and knocks (Rev. 3:20).
The first interpretation would seem to fit best with the question in the second stanza of the song, "...what you're gonna do / When the devil calls your cards."
The second interpretation would fit better with the question presented in the third stanza: "Tell me what you're gonna do / When your water turns to wine." In both cases, the question would be: "How are you going to respond to Jesus?" How are you going to respond to his invitation (the shadow under the door as he knocks) and how are you going to respond to his miracles (turning the water to wine--John 2:9). Will you accept or reject Him?

The Times They Are A-Changin'

"And the first one now
Will later be last."
An obvious reference to Matthew 19:30: "But many that are first shall be last."

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