The 11TH DAY OF CHRISTMAS in Churches of Shakespeare's Time - Series, Part 11

On the 11TH DAY OF CHRISTMAS IN SHAKESPEARE’S TIME, JANUARY 4, church congregations would have heard the following scriptures, part of the religious-literary fabric from which Shakespeare borrowed:

Psalm 4 involves David’s prayer when he was persecuted by King Saul. David must be clever to avoid being killed by Saul, as Hamlet must be clever to avoid being killed by Caudius.

Genesis 5 tells of Lamech, descendant of Seth and Methuselah, not to be confused with Lamech descendant of Cain, mentioned on the 3rd, “Lameth” being an anagram of “Hamlet” [1].

Matthew 3 speaks of John the Baptist (mentioned on Christmas Day, "First Day of Christmas," and on the last two Sundays of Advent), and of his baptizing of Jesus in the Jordan, an echo of Moses leading the Israelites out of Pharaoh’s Egypt. John the Baptist, as previously mentioned [2], is alluded to in Hamlet and his player queen, “Baptista” (3.2.263).

Romans 3 speaks again of circumcision, as did the Feast of the Circumcision of Jesus on January 1, and of justification by faith, not the law, a popular Protestant topic of Shakespeare’s time. As mentioned previously [3], circumcision is mentioned by Othello, and implied in The Merchant of Venice in the person of Shylock the Jew, and in the Prince of Morocco, a Muslim.

Genesis 6 tells of Noah and preparations for the flood. In Shakespeare’s plays, Noah is mentioned in Comedy of Errors 3.2 by Dromio of Syracuse, and in Twelfth Night 3.2 by Sir Toby Belch.

For Twelfth Night, this is especially appropriate:
- In the Noah tale, God asks Noah to place his family and a male and a female of each of the animals on the ark, saving a remnant of creation;
in Twelfth Night, a female (Viola, disguised as the eunuch Cesario) and a male (her twin sibling, Sebastian) are shipwreck survivors, saved from the sea.

- In the Noah tale, after the flood, the animals and humans can repopulate the earth;
in Twelfth Night, in the end, Viola marries Duke Orsino, and Sebastian marries Olivia.

[To be cont.]

INDEX for posts in this series on the TWELVE DAYS of CHRISTMAS in Shakespeare’s time (and possible influences on the plays):
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/12/twelve-days-of-christmas-in-churches-of.html

NOTES: All references to Shakespeare plays are to the Folger Shakespeare Library online versions: https://shakespeare.folger.edu

[1] See previous post, Part 10 in this series: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2025/01/10th-day-of-christmas-in-churches-of.html

[2] See previous post, Part 1 in this series:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/12/first-day-of-christmas-in-english.html

[3] See previous post, Part 8 in this series:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-8th-day-of-christmas-in.html


IMAGES:
Left: Edward Hicks (1780–1849),
Noah's Ark (1846)
Philadelphia Museum of Art,
Public domain via https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/Noahs_Ark.jpg

Right: Imogen Stubbs as Viola/Cesario
in the Trevor Nunn directed film, Twelfth Night, 1996.
Fair use, via https://www.maramarietta.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/twelfth-night-1.jpg



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Disclaimer: If and when I quote or paraphrase bible passages or mention religion in many of my blog posts, I do not intend to promote any religion over another, nor am I attempting to promote religious belief in general; only to explore how the Bible and religion influenced Shakespeare, his plays, and his age.
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