Grind the faces of the poor into dust (Isaiah 3:14-15)

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The Bible has been the most influential text in all of Western culture. It's difficult to understand medieval or early modern or much of modern literature without knowing it...

Prof. Barbara Newman, Northwestern University
from 2006 Bible Literary project

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It's not that it's impossible to read some writers without a Biblical background, but that you would miss a whole dimension to their work.

Prof. Steven Goldsmith, University of California at Berkeley
from 2006 Bible Literary Project

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I can only say that if a student doesn't know any Bible literature, he or she will simply not understand whole elements of Shakespeare, Sidney, Spenser, Milton, Pope, Wordsworth

Prof. Robert Kiely, Harvard University
from 2006 Bible Literary Project

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...there is truth in the remark. "without Tyndale[Bible translator], no Shakespeare"...

Prof. David Daniell, University College London
from The Bible in English

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You can't really study Western literature intelligently or coherently without starting with the Bible.

Prof. Gerald L. Bruns, University of Notre Dame
from 2006 Bible Literary Project

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...a familiar understanding of Christian doctrine in historical perspective thus contributes to a fuller appreciation of Shakespeare's art, but Shakespeare's art

Prof. Roland M. Frye
from Shakespeare and the Christian Doctrine

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In English tradition and also for an American tradition begun by Puritan writers, a knowledge of the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament is even more crucial than classical references.

Prof. Ulrich Knoefplmacher, Princeton University
from 2006 Bible Literary Project

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There is no book more important for our culture than the Bible, and it is fundametal to the study of English literature and language.

Prof. David Jasper and Prof. Stephen Prickett
from the Bible and literature

Grind the faces of the poor into dust (Isaiah 3:14-15)

Picture description: Vision of Isaiah
Picture copyright: V. Gilbert and Arlisle F. Beers

bible verse

“The Lord enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people: “It is you who have ruined my vineyard; the plunder from the poor is in your houses. people and grinding the faces of the poor?” declares the Lord, the Lord Almighty.”

meaning

To grind the faces of the poor into dust is to ill treat the poor.

origin and application

In the time when Isaiah became a prophet in the Old Testament, the leaders were ill-treating the poor in Judah, South of Jerusalem. It is against this background that God cried out against the elders and leaders.

Keywords

ill-treat Isaiah poor

Related Information

NIV official site
Chinese Bible (???)

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Grind the faces of the poor into dust (Isaiah 3:14-15)

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