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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

Isaac

Picture description: Godfrey Kneller’s 1689 portrait of Isaac Newton
Picture copyright: http://www.newton.cam.ac.uk/art/portrait.html

Bible Verse

Genesis 17:19

Meaning

The name was derived from the Hebrew name יִצְחָק (Yitzchaq), meaning “he will laugh”. In the Old Testament, Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah when they were aged a hundred and ninety respectively. Isaac was given the name because Sarah had laughed at the messengers of God when they told her she would bear a child regardless of her old age. In the Book of Genesis, God tested Abraham’s faith by commanding him to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham obeyed but God’s angel prevented him from killing Isaac at the last moment. When Isaac was forty, he married Rebecca, and twenty years later his twin sons Esau and Jacob were born. Isaac Newton, an English physicist, was a famous bearer of the name. He viewed the existence of God undeniable before the grandeur of all creation.

Gender

Male

Example

Keywords

Abraham    Esau    faith    Isaac    Jacob    Rebecca    sacrifice    Sarah   

Related Information

NIV official site
Chinese Bible (???)

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A lot of phrases, such as "two-edged sword" and " an eye for an eye", are taken from the English Bible. Learning the stories behind these idioms is fun, and can help boost your vocabulary. Click here to find out now!

What's in a name?

Common names such as Joseph and Rachel have their origins in the Bible. Want to know their stories before picking the right name for yourself? Click here to find out.