THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW

Biblical Allusions

Anything Good

After Ichabod Crane disappears, Hans Van Ripper burns Ichabod’s “magic books and poetic scrawl” and is determined “to send his children no more to school; observing, that he never knew any good come of this same reading and writing.” Irving’s diction closely parallels Nathanael’s response to Philip’s claim to have found the Messiah named Jesus […]

Sparing the Rod

Ichabod Crane is described as always having “in mind the golden maxim, ‘Spare the rod and spoil the child,’” which is a popularization of PROVERBS 13 : 24 which actually reads, “He who spares his rod hates his son, / But he who loves him disciplines him promptly.”

Ichabod

1 SAMUEL 4 : 19-22 reports that “…Phinehas’ wife, was with child, due to be delivered…when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured, and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she…gave birth…she named the child Ichabod, saying the ‘The glory has departed from Israel!’”

Dreams

In ACTS 2 : 17, the Apostle Peter quotes the Old Testament prophet Joel (JOEL 2 : 28) saying, “And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, / that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; / Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, / Your young men shall see visions, / Your old men shall dream dreams.”