The Bishop
© The Trustees of the British Museum
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The accompanying text for this letter goes: »Das spricht der herr der gott Israel
zu den hirten die weyden myn volck.
Ir handt zerstrewtt myn schar.«.
This is Jeremiah 23,2, which goes like this with Luther:
»Darum spricht der HERR, der Gott Israels, von den Hirten, die mein Volk weiden:
Ihr habt meine Herde zerstreut [...]«.
In English:
»Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people;
Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them:
behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD«.
Oddly enough this Bible verse says almost the opposite of
the one that was selected for the bishop in the great dance of death.
That verse would instead indicate that the "flock" is scattered the moment
Death takes away "the shepherd".
Various artists
Organôn (1536)
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Dances of death
Alphabet
Holbein
H
