The Sun and the Moon Stand Still

Posted on February 5, 2011 by bibleartists

Joshua 10:12-14 tells us that when Joshua led the Israelits against the Amorites, he commanded the sun and the moon to stand still for about a full day so the Israelites had time to obtain total victory over their enemy. It is probably best, in this day of scientific inquiry, if one doesn’t think of the physical consequences of such an event. Probably the story wasn’t told for the purpose of recording Divine intervention into the laws of nature or to assert that it actually happened. Perhaps its point was that Israel was God’s chosen people. In verse 14 the writer tells us, “There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened to a human being. Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel!”

Joshuah Stops the Sun CHAGALL

See http://www.artrev.com/art/detailview.asp?pid=7888671428&aid=102&mid=112&original=No for a copy of the above photograph of the lithograph. Other painting on the subjects tend to be much more gruesome than this treatment of Chagall.

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Job

Posted on February 5, 2011 by bibleartists

The book of Job begins, “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.” Verse 6 sets the stage: “Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.” KJV God asks Satan if, during his travels about the earth, he has observed any as perfect, upright and God-fearing as Job. Satan answers that is because God has blessed Job and Job knows he needs to please God. Satan says that if Job were to lose all he had, he would curse God. God tells Satan Job is in his hands to “touch all he has,” but not Job, himself. Here is the story as told through artists’ eyes.

Satan Going Forth From the Presence of God BLAKE

See http://www.blakearchive.org/blake/images/but550.1.5.wc.300.jpg for the source of the photograph of the above watercolor painting. It would appear that Blake is showing that Satan has fallen from the presence of the “sons of God” who remain in the heavenly presence of their father, to descend to earth to touch Job with great misfortune to test Job. Two angels, distinguished from the “sons of God” by their wings, look on as witnesses.

Job 1:13-21 tells us that in rapid succession messengers come to Job to tell him his children have died and he has lost his wealth. When Job does not curse God, God sees Satan again and notes Job’s faithfulness. “Skin for skin!” Satan replies. “A man will give all he has for his own life. ⁵ But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.” God says, very well then, but spare his life. So Satan inflicts Job with painful boils over his body, which he scrapes. Job 2:9, 10 tells us, “His wife says to him, ‘Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!’ He replies, ‘You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?’ In all this, Job does not sin in what he said.” NIV

Job Ridiculed by his Wife DE LA TOUR (1593 – 1652)

See http://www.artbible.info/art/large/135.html for the source of the above photograph of the painting and a brief description.

The Trials of Job Leonaert BRAMER (1630’s)

See http://www.lib-art.com/artgallery/22633-the-trials-of-job-bramer-leonaert.html for the source of the photograph of the drawing. Bramer takes literally that Job is mourning on a dung heap.

Job’s Comforters BLAKE

See http://www.blakearchive.org/blake/images/but550.1.7.wc.300.jpg for the source of the above photograph of the watercolor painting.

Job’s Despair BLAKE

See http://www.blakearchive.org/blake/images/but550.1.8.wc.300.jpg for a source of the photograph of the above watercolor painting.

Job Rebuked by his Friends BLAKE

See http://www.artbible.info/art/large/636.html for the source of the above photograph of the etching.

Job Confessing His Presumptions to God Who Answers from the Whirlwind BLAKE

See http://www.backtoclassics.com/gallery/williamblake/jobconfessinghispresumptiontogodwhoanswersfromthewhirlwind/ for the source of the above photograph of the watercolor painting.

The Lord Answering Job out of the Whirlwind BLAKE

See http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Lord_Answering_Job_Out_of_the_Whirlwind_Butts_set.jpg for the source of the above photograph of the watercolor painting.

Scenes from the Life of Job UNKNOWN Flemish Painter (1480-90)

See http://www.lib-art.com/artgallery/17752-scenes-from-the-life-of-job-flemish-unknown-master.html for the source of the above photograph of the painting. I find the other-worldly, grotesque creatures and even the setting remarkably similar to that found in the slightly later paintings of Hieronymus Bosch from that region, the Netherlands.

Links to my site:

Introduction https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/introduction/

Graphic Arts https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/i-graphic-arts/

Architecture https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/2013/07/14/ii-church-architecture-and-its-incorporation-of-art/

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Home Page https://bibleartists.wordpress.com/

Samson

Posted on February 2, 2011 by bibleartists

Judges 13:1-16:30 tells the story of Samson. The Israelites do “evil in the sight of the Lord,” so they are punished by forty years’ rule by the Philistines. The angel of the Lord appears to Manoah’s wife, who is baren and tells her she will have a child and they are never to cut his hair as a sign of their dedication of him to the Lord – known as a Nazirite.

Samson is a headstrong, rebelious youth, allthough they did not know that his actions fit God’s purposes. He is enamored with the enemy’s women and often visits them. On one occasion, as he is walking to visit his girlfriend, a Philistine; and he comes across a lion, which he tears apart with his hands. Judges 14:5.

Samson and the Lion NICHOLAS OF VERDUN (1181)

See http://www.lib-art.com/artgallery/34856-samson-and-the-lion-nicolas-of-verdun.html for the above photograph of piece of guilt copper with enamel.

You may recall that when Samson marries the woman, he finds honey in the carcass of the lion that he slew. At the wedding feast he proposes a riddle:

“Out of the eater, something to eat;
Out of the strong, something sweet.”

If the grooms’ thirty Philistine friends can solve it, Samson will give them each linen garments and a set of clothes; if they cannot, they will give him thirty of the same. His bride wears him down with her constant nagging and whining; and Samuel (this is a weakness that he never gets over) finally relents to tell her the answer to the riddle. She tells the Philistine friends and they win the wager. Samson is furious and kills thirty Philistines and strips them of their linen garments to pay his wager. When he goes to claim his bride, her father confronts him, telling Samson that (presumably because Samson got distracted from his wedding by his desire for revenge), he gave her in marriage to Samson’s companion. Judges 14:8-15:6.

Samson Accusing His Father-in-Law REMBRANDT (1635)

See http://www.lib-art.com/artgallery/36887-samson-accusing-his-father-in-law-rembrandt-harmenszoon-van-rijn.html for the source of the above photograph of the painting.

Apparently, Samson has a weakness for feisty Philistinian women. Samson falls for another, Delilah. The Philistines press her to discover from Samson the source of his incredible strength. She also wears him down with her constant nagging and whining; and so, again, he relents and tells her. She tells her compatriot Philistines: cut his hair and he will lose his extraordinary strength. Judges 16.

Samson and Delilah HONTHORST (1615)

See http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/h/honthors/1/01samson.html for the source of the above photograph of the painting and a description.

Smitten by love, passion, or both, Samson falls asleep on Delilah’s lap. She signals the Philistines. Theys rush in, cut Samson’s hair, he loses his extraordinary powers, they put out his eyes and imprison him.

Samson and Delilah REMBRANDT (c. 1629/30)

See http://www.abcgallery.com/R/rembrandt/rembrandt100.html for the source of the above photograph of the painting.

Samson and Delilah BOLDRINI (1540’s)

See http://www.arthermitage.org/Nicolo-Boldrini/Samson-and-Delilah.html for the source of the above photograph of the woodcut.

The Blinding of Samson REMBRANDT

See http://www.wga.hu/frames-e.html?/html/r/rembran/painting/biblic1/samson.html for the source of the above photograph of the painting and a description.

After some time, locked up in prison and forgotten, Samson’s hair grows back. Upon an occasion calling for celebration, the Philistines remember Samson and they bring him to the celebration to torment him as they feast and celebrate. Samson asks one tending him to place his hands on the pillars of the hall so that he can rest upon them. He has regained his strength, he pushes the columns, and they collapse, bringing the roof down upon himself and the finest Philistine’s men. My mother would again conclude from this story that God uses ordinary people, like ourselves, “to His purposes,” despite our weaknesses, indeed, in spite of ourselves.

Samson Overturns the Columns CHAGALL (1958)

See http://www.georgetownframeshoppe.com/img/chagbib59.jpg for the source of the above photograph of the etching.