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 ...