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Fools, Feast of Quick reference
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (3 ed.)
..., Feast of . A mock religious festival widely celebrated in the Middle Ages on or about 1 Jan., especially in...
Feast of Fools Reference library
The Oxford Companion to English Literature (7 ed.)
... of Fools A medieval festival originally of the sub‐deacons of the cathedral, held about the time of the Feast of the Circumcision (1 January), in which the humbler cathedral officials burlesqued the sacred ceremonies. A lord of the feast was elected, styled bishop, cardinal, abbot, etc., according to the locality. ( See also fool .) The Feast of Fools had its chief vogue in the French cathedrals, but there are a few English records of it, notably in Lincoln Cathedral and Beverley Minster. See E. K. Chambers , The Mediaeval Stage (1903)....
Fools, Feast of Reference library
The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages
..., Feast of *Festival associated with the Feast of the Circumcision (1 January). Enduring from the 11th century on despite ecclesiastical condemnation, it was characterized by *carnivalesque sacrilege and the election of a subdeacon as Fool Bishop. See also asses, feast of ; boy bishop . Robert S. Sturges E. K. Chambers , The Mediaeval Stage , 2 vols (1903). J. Heers , Fêtes des fous et carnavals ...
Fools, Feast of Reference library
The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (4 ed.)
..., Feast of A mock religious festival widely celebrated in the Middle Ages on or about 1 Jan., esp. in France. It may have grown out of a ‘festival of the subdeacons ’, sometimes kept on 1 Jan. Excesses committed on this occasion prompted several ecclesiastical reformers (e.g. Grosseteste , bp of Lincoln) to make attempts to suppress it. In 1435 very severe penalties were imposed by the Council of Basel for its observance, and it seems to have finally disappeared in the middle of the 16th cent. See also Asses, Feast of ; boy bishop ; Misrule, lord of...
Feast of Fools Reference library
The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre (2 ed.)
... of Fools , generic name for the New Year revels in European cathedrals and collegiate churches, when the minor clergy usurped the functions of their superiors and burlesqued the services of the Church. The practice may have arisen spontaneously, as an outlet for high spirits, or may be an echo of the Roman Saturnalia. It appears to have originated in France in about the 12th century, and from the beginning evidently included some form of crude drama. The proceedings opened with a procession headed by an elected ‘king’—in schools a boy bishop —riding on a...
Feast of Fools
Antiquarianism (Popular) Reference library
An Oxford Companion to the Romantic Age
... ( 1732–1802 ). But the most developed and scholarly of the pieces in Archaeologia is ‘Some Remarks on the ancient Ceremony of the Feast of Fools’, read on 10 May 1804 . Douce acknowledges that the ‘Ceremony’ in question has recently been described by Joseph *Strutt , in his Glig-Gamena Angel-Deod, Sports and Pastimes of the People of England ( 1801 ), but he suggests that Strutt was not aware of its ‘precise significance’ as a symptom of a degenerate religion rather than ‘part of the general mass of ancient mummeries’. After medievalism, Douce's second...
Proverbs Reference library
K. T. Aitken and K. T Aitken
The Oxford Bible Commentary
...a series of sayings on the ‘fool’. vv. 1, 8 , probably have in view the promotion of the fool to a position of public responsibility in the community. This is a gross distortion of what is right and proper ( v. 1 ) and utterly absurd ( v. 8 ), for fools are neither worthy of such honour nor capable of discharging their duties responsibly. vv. 4–5 point to the dilemma of how best to respond to a fool. To speak up runs the risk of descending to his level ( v. 4 ), while to keep silent means their conceit will go unchecked ( v. 5 ). It is a test of wisdom to...
Psalms Reference library
C. S. Rodd and C. S. Rodd
The Oxford Bible Commentary
...have been a hymn of praise sung at the Feast of Booths (Tabernacles), but the emphasis upon the rains (though a feature of the Autumn Festival) may indicate that it belonged earlier in the agricultural year, perhaps at the beginning of the barley harvest (at the Feast of Unleavened Bread), or simply looking forward to the promise of a future plenty now that the rains have come. Others have suggested that it was intended as thanksgiving after a time of drought when the crops had begun to grow again ( cf. 1 Kings 8:35–6 ; the linking of lack of rain and sin may...
1 & 2 Samuel Reference library
Gwilym H. Jones, Gwilym H. Jones, and Gwilym H. Jones
The Oxford Bible Commentary
...this David returned to ‘the wilderness of Maon’ (following the LXX, in preference to ‘Paran’ in the MT), and a man and wife from Maon now take centre stage. Nabal's refusal of David's request for provision occupies the first part of the narrative ( vv. 2–12 ). Nabal (‘fool’) is described as ‘surly and mean’, but his wife Abigail as ‘clever and beautiful’; such descriptions do not necessarily suggest that he was a surrogate Saul and she a surrogate David (as in Edelman 1991 ), or that they are personifications of the fool and the virtuous wife in wisdom...
James Reference library
Rainer Riesner and Rainer Riesner
The Oxford Bible Commentary
...interpretation of Abraham's example apparently not known to him. For a direct connection one has to assume that the rather intelligent author of James did misrepresent the teaching of Paul. Paul argues against justification by ‘works of the law’ ( erga nomou , Gal 2:16; 3:2, 10; Rom 3:20, 28 ; cf. 4QMMT col. 27; 4QFlor 1:6–7 ), that is acceptance of circumcision, purity, feasts, and other ritual regulations as a condition of salvation. James has nothing to say about the ritual law but writes about elementary moral obligations ( erga ). Of course, James...
The Four Gospels in Synopsis Reference library
Henry Wansbrough
The Oxford Bible Commentary
...of Judaism comes to expression in the way Jesus in his own person, one after another, supersedes the institutions of Judaism. Already at Cana Jesus provides the wine of the marriage-feast to replace the water of the law. Immediately afterwards his own body is seen to replace the temple ( 2:21 ). In 5:1–18 he takes possession of the sabbath, claiming that as God has the right to work on the sabbath, so has he. At the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus claims to provide the living water which was such an important feature of the feast, symbolizing the blessings of...
Extra-canonical early Christian literature Reference library
J. K. Elliott and J. K. Elliott
The Oxford Bible Commentary
...form in the Infancy Gospel of Thomas —a second-century composition, which, together with the Protevangelium of James , seems to have had an enormous influence on Christian tradition thanks partly to their having been re-edited in other, later books such as the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew . 2. In Infancy Thomas the story of Jesus at the age of 12 is as follows: And when he was twelve years old his parents went according to the custom to Jerusalem to the feast of the passover with their companions and after the feast of the passover they returned to their...
Job Reference library
James L. Crenshaw and James L. Crenshaw
The Oxford Bible Commentary
...gives way to direct address of God for the first time since ch. 16 . He imagines that God ignores his cries for help and tosses him about on the wind ( vv. 20–3 ). Job concludes this section with observations about his psychic distress. Together, chs. 29 and 30 effectively describe Job at the pinnacle of success and the nadir of his isolation from society. At one time the aged and nobles stood in awe of him; now children of a no-name mock him ( cf. 30:8 , ‘senseless’, lit. children of a fool, ‘disreputable’, lit. children of a no-name). In previous days he...
English, Scottish, and Anglo-Irish Family Names Reference library
Peter McClure and Patrick Hanks
Dictionary of American Family Names (2 ed.)
...a garland, commonly worn at celebrations, feast days, and holidays. A set of aliases, however, proved that it was an elliptical form of Madythecroune ‘mad in the head’. This lack of clarity is especially common in the numerous nicknames that derive from nouns for products, such as food, clothing, tools, and containers. It is commonly assumed that all such names were occupational names, not nicknames, in other words that they were metonyms for (and were therefore synonymous with) the usual nouns for a maker or seller of such goods. cheese would be thus be...
Judges Reference library
Susan Niditch and Susan Niditch
The Oxford Bible Commentary
...war succeeds only with divine sanction. v. 12 , an etiology for the name of a location in Judah, ‘The Camp of Dan’. ( 18:14–26 ) This passage contributes to the aura of banditry that permeates not only the stories of the judges but also the tales of David's early career. Like David in his encounters with the priest at Nob ( 1 Sam 21:1–9 ) and with the household of Nabal ( 1 Sam 25:2–38 ), the Danites propose to help themselves to what they need or desire, and only a brazen fool would attempt to deny them their requests. Armed and dangerous, the Danites, like...
Essay with Commentary on Post-Biblical Jewish Literature Reference library
Philip S. Alexander
The Oxford Bible Commentary
...(17) from God on account of his idols and the stumbling-block of his sin, his lot shall be cast among those accursed for ever. (18) And all those entering the covenant shall answer and say after them, ‘Amen, Amen!’ (19) Thus shall they do, year by year, for as long as the dominion of Belial endures. Comment: The festival of the renewal of the Covenant probably took place at Qumran on Shabu῾ot (Pentecost), appropriately, since Shabu῾ot was the feast of the giving of the Torah at Sinai. (Shabu῾ot falls in the third month of the year and, according to the...
Matthew Reference library
Dale C. Allison, Jr. and Dale C. Allison, Jr.
The Oxford Bible Commentary
...of the king: no one else says anything. Everything revolves around his words. vv. 1–10 are an allegory much influenced by 21:33–41 . The king stands for God; his son represents Jesus ( cf. 21:37–8 ); the royal wedding feast symbolizes the eschatological banquet. The dual sending of the servants is, as in the preceding parable, the sending of God's messengers; the murder of the servants represents the murder of the prophets and Jesus ( cf. 21:35–9 ). v. 7 alludes to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 ce . The third sending of servants is the mission of...
Feast of Asses
