Biblical Allusion in Dylan's Lyrics Quiz

Answer: False

Dylan alluded frequently to both the Old and New Testaments long before his 1978 conversion to Christianity, as you will see from the questions in this quiz.

Answer: Jesus Christ

Reasons for this interpretation include:

(1) The Joker is speaking to a thief, and Christ was crucified with two thieves

(2) The Joker speaks of businessmen drinking his wine and plowmen digging his earth, which accords with the Biblical picture of Christ as a husbandman of the Vineyard

(3) The thief says to the joker, "There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke. / But you and I we've been through that, and this is not our fate. /So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late.'" One of the two thieves crucified with Christ mocked him (treating life as a joke), but the other thief refused to talk falsely, recognizing that the end was at hand, and he asked Christ to remember him in His kingdom.

Answer: All of these

Interesting arguments have been made for all three positions. The Biblical allusions are jumbled enough that it is possible to pull off BOTH a Christ and anti-Christ interpretation. The song obviously alludes to modern-day Israel in many places as well, but whether Jokerman represents Israel, or is simply existing in or around Israel, is another question. Still others consider the Jokerman to be Bob Dylan himself.

Answer: Matthew

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."

Answer: Amos

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."

Answer: Matthew

Matthew 19:30: "But many that are first shall be last."

Answer: The manner of Christ's betrayal

The full quote is: "In many a dark hour /
I've been thinking' about this /
That Jesus Christ /
Was betrayed by a kiss /
But I can't think for you /
You'll have to decide /
Whether Judas Iscariot /
Had God on his side."

Answer: When the Ship Comes In

He also alludes to another Biblical event in the same song: the defeat of Goliath by David.

Answer: Both of these

"Well John the Baptist after torturing a thief

Looks up at his hero the Commander-in-Chief

Saying, 'Tell me great hero, but please make it brief

Is there a hole for me to get sick in?'"



and: "The geometry of innocence, flesh on the bone

Causes Gallileo's math book to get thrown

At Delilah who sits worthlessly alone

But the tears on her cheeks are from laughter"

Answer: Jesus Christ

1) "All except for Cain and Abel . . . "

2) "And the Good Samaritan, he's dressing /
He's getting ready for the show"

3) "And though her eyes are fixed upon
Noah's great rainbow..."

Answer: Isaiah

So heavy are the allusions, that one critic actually described the album as "the Book of Isaiah set to music."

Answer: Leviticus

"Well, the Book of Leviticus and Deuteronomy, / The law of the jungle and the sea are your only teachers"

Answer: Moses

Moses brought forth water from the rock on two occasions, but in one instance, he did it in a manner glorifying himself rather than God, for which he was punished (Numbers 20:10). It is the latter, self-serving image Dylan is conjuring up here.

Answer: Abraham

"Now God said to Abraham give me a son. /
Abe said, 'Man you must be putting me on.'"

Answer: All Along the Watchtower

We see the "couple of horsemen" here in Dylan's song:



"Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl / Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl."

Answer: I Pity the Poor Immigrant

He alludes to them in the following lines of the song:

(1) "Who eats but is not satisfied"

(2) "Who hears but does not see"

(3) "Who fills his mouth with laughing"

(4) "Who builds his town with blood."

Answer: In the Garden

"In the Garden" is about the betrayal of Jesus Christ, and appears on Dylan's album "Saved."

Answer: God

Dylan sings of the sweetheart, "They say in your father's house, there's many mansions." This is how Christ refers to God, His Father, saying, "In my father's house are many mansions." Dylan adds the very clever--and very Dylanesque, "Each one of them got a fireproof floor," which conjures up a brilliant image of a home safe from the fires of hell below.

Answer: Jesus Christ

Jesus is frequently spoken of as the Groom, and his Bride is the Church. The fact that the groom is still waiting at the altar indicates that the final reconciliation has not yet taken place, that peace has not been achieved on earth, and that the world is threfore still in turmoil: "Cities on fire, phones our of order / They're killing nuns and soldiers, there's fighting on the border."

Answer: Cain

"Like Cain, I now behold this chain of events that I must break."