The 12th Day of Christmas in Churches of Shakespeare's Time (Series, Part 12)

ON THE 12TH DAY OF CHRISTMAS IN CHURCHES OF SHAKESPEARE’S TIME, JANUARY 5, here are the scriptures congregations would have heard:

In Psalm 5, David again assumes that God is vengeful and will come to his aid [1].

In Romans 4 we hear of works vs. faith, and again, of circumcision of the heart, a topic repeated in church every day since the Feast of the Circumcision [2]. (How does a character in a play outwardly manifest inner change?)

Genesis 7 and 8 continue the Noah tale, referenced in at least two Shakespeare plays [3].
In Gen 7, the flood comes, 40 days and nights of rain.
In Gen 8, rains stop, floods subside; all on the ark are saved.

From December 30 (Paul’s shipwreck, with echoes of Pericles) [4], to January 4-5, we get perils on water, a theme in many Shakespeare plays in which the sea features prominently [5].

Shakespeare had many sources for his plays, but the scriptures stories read in church that involved water –
Noah,
Moses parting the Red Sea,
Jonah,
Jesus walking on water,
Paul’s shipwreck –
all of these were required reading (or listening) for Shakespeare and others in England, required by law to attend church – and this certainly influenced his writing.

After Noah’s flood and 40 days of rain (Gen 7), Matthew 4 gives us Jesus fasting for 40 days in the desert, tempted by the devil. Forty days of hard rain, or hard temptation.

Rain and storms are a theme in King Lear, in which the king goes mad and shouts into the storm.

In Love's Labour's Lost, King Ferdinand and friends can’t last for 40 days with their “fast” vow to give up the company of women.

There are many forms of temptation: pleasure, beauty, love [6], power [7], revenge [8].
Some may lead to love; others, to kill, to make war, to eternal damnation. These themes are in many Shakespeare plays, and the scripture readings heard in church played a key role in shaping his understanding of the tales and motifs he drew upon.

[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] But sometimes might one change oneself - circumcision of the heart, again in a later reading today from Romans 4 - instead of expecting God’s to avenge?)

[2] Circumcision is an explicit or implied theme in at least two Shakespeare plays as mentioned in part 8, but circumcision of the heart a more difficult theme to identify, as Shakespeare knew.
See previous post, Part 8 in this series:
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-8th-day-of-christmas-in.html

[3] Noah, continued from yesterday’s readings:
Noah is mentioned in Comedy of Errors 3.2 by Dromio of Syracuse, and
in Twelfth Night 3.2 by Sir Toby Belch.
See previous post,
https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-11th-day-of-christmas-in-churches.html

[4] See previous post, Part 6 in this series:  https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2024/12/sixth-day-of-christmas-pauls-shipwreck.html

[5] Shakespeare plays in which the sea or sea voyages feature prominently (not an exhaustive list):
The Merchant of Venice;
The Tempest;
King John;
Hamlet;
Othello;
Antony and Cleopatra;
Pericles;
The Winter’s Tale;
Twelfth Night….

[6] Temptations of pleasure, beauty, love (not an exhaustive list):
Romeo and Juliet;
Love’s Labors’ Lost;
The Taming of the Shrew;
Antony and Cleopatra;
Much Ado About Nothing;
Merry Wives of Windsor;
As You Like It;
Two Gentlemen of Verona;
The Tempest;
Twelfth Night….

[7] Temptations of power (not an exhaustive list):
the history plays (all);
Hamlet;
Macbeth;
King Lear;
Julius Caesar;
The Tempest….

[8] Temptations of revenge (not an exhaustive list):
Much Ado About Nothing;
Hamlet;
Othello;
King Lear;
A Winter’s Tale;
The Tempest;
Twelfth Night….


IMAGES:
Left: The Tempest, film poster
Dir. Julie Taymor
Helen Mirren, Felicity Jones, Djimon Hounsou, Ben Whishaw
Miramax, 2010.
Fair use, image via IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1274300/?ref_=tt_mv_close

Center: Love's Labour's Lost, film poster
Dir. Kenneth Branagh
Miramax Films (2000)
Fair use via Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love%27s_Labour%27s_Lost_%28film%29#/media/File:Loveslabourslostpost.jpg

Right: Frank Langella in King Lear
Dir. Angus Jackson
At Brooklyn Arts Acadamy
Richard Termine/BAM/AP Photo
Fair use via NYPost: https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2014/01/kinglear01.jpg?quality=75&strip=all



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
YOU CAN SUPPORT ME on a one-time "tip" basis on Ko-Fi:
https://ko-fi.com/pauladrianfried

IF YOU WOULD PREFER to support me on a REGULAR basis,
you may do so on Ko-Fi, or here on Patreon:
https://patreon.com/PaulAdrianFried
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for reading!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My current project is a book tentatively titled Hamlet’s Bible, about biblical allusions and plot echoes in Hamlet.

Below is a link to a list of some of my top posts (“greatest hits”), including a description of my book project (last item on the list):

https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/2019/12/top-20-hamlet-bible-posts.html

I post every week, so please visit as often as you like and consider FOLLOWING.
To find the FOLLOW button, go to the home page: https://pauladrianfried.blogspot.com/
see the = drop-down menu with three lines in the upper left.
From there you can click FOLLOW and see options.