Isaiah, chapter 22, verse 22, goes like this (KJV):

And the key of the house of David will I lay upon his shoulder; so he shall open, and none shall shut; and he shall shut, and none shall open.

In the book of Revelation, chapter 3, verses 7 and 8, John echoes the above (or “rips it off,” if you prefer):

And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth; I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.

And Bob Dylan offers an echo of both of these passages in his song What Can I Do For You?

Pulled me out of bondage and You made me renewed inside,
Filled up a hunger that had always been denied,
Opened up a door no man can shut and You opened it up so wide

This linkage is one of those listed by Michael Gilmour in his 2004 book “Tangled Up In The Bible: Bob Dylan & Scripture.”

Click here to go to YouTube and hear Dylan performing this song live in Mannheim, Germany in 1981.

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On the subject of holy scripture, by the way, Fr. Richard Neuhaus has a post in On the Square regarding the New American Bible translation which is mandated for use in U.S. Catholic churches. His post is by turns funny, instructive and tragic, and also contains links to similar things he’s written in the past on the subject (thus far of no avail).

The problem keeps coming back, not least in pastoral counseling. Take the woman who had had it with her husband’s lying to her. I mentioned to her Our Lord’s admonition to forgive “seventy times seven” (Matt. 18:22). That’s the way it reads in every widely used English translation, including the Douay-Rheims, an earlier English translation used by Catholics. Jesus obviously intended hyperbole, indicating that forgiveness is open-ended. Keep on forgiving as you are forgiven by God, for God’s forgiving is beyond measure or counting.

But this woman had been reading her NAB, according to which Jesus said we should forgive not “seventy times seven,” but “seventy times.” She had been keeping count, and her husband was well over his quota.

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Also by the way, I’m indebted to a reader who some time ago referred me to online Bible study lessons from the late Larry Wright, a Phoenix area Bible teacher and Christian pastor. The lessons are each about 40 minutes, and there are many of them (e.g. eleven for Ecclesiastes; fifty-eight for Matthew). I’ve still only listened to a smattering of them myself. I can’t say if Wright’s style would be to everyone’s taste, but if it is to your taste it’s a wonderful resource, with the files downloadable in mp3 form. And it comes at a bargain price: free. The lessons are located at this link.

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