090

Br. 1990: 090 | CL: 82a-1
From: Vincent van Gogh
To: Theo van Gogh
Date: Isleworth, between about Saturday, 2 and Friday, 8 September 1876
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1. Cf., among other things, Ps. 104:29, Isa. 64:7 and rhy. ps. 44:13.
2. Cf. 1 Sam. 7:12.
3. Rhy. ps. 42:7.
4. 2 Cor. 7:10.
5. Mark 14:36; Rom. 8:15 and Gal. 4:6.
6. Regarding Provily’s school, see letter 76, n. 4.
7. Cf. Gal. 4:6.
8. Cf. Gen. 47:9.
9. 2 Cor. 6:10.
10. Jas. 5:16.
11. John 17:15. Mrs van Gogh said this prayer when Vincent left the parental home; see letter 98, ll. 98-100.
12. Possibly an allusion to Ps. 51:11 (in KJ Ps. 51:9).
13. Ps. 103:12.
14. Isa. 1:18.
15. Cf. Luke 14:26.
16. The song ‘Zucht naar heiliging’ (A longing for sanctification) is to be found in César Malan, De harpe Sions. Een honderdtal liederen voor piano of orgel, voor den huisselijken kring. Freely adapted by J.J.L. ten Kate. Utrecht 1868, no. 19 (unpaginated). Quoted again in an enclosure. See RM9.
17. An allusion to George Eliot’s Felix Holt: ‘But I’m proof against that word failure. I’ve seen behind it.’ See Eliot 1980, p. 364.
18. 2 Cor. 5:14.
19. 2 Cor. 7:10.
20. Biblical; see, for example, Deut. 24:1.
21. Hab. 1:13.
22. John 6:63 and 2 Cor. 3:6.
23. Cf. Eph. 2:10.
24. 2 Cor. 6:10.
25. 2 Cor. 6:9.
26. Cf. Gal. 5:22, Eph. 4:2 and Col. 3:12.
27. 1 John 4:18.
28. Hymn 160:5-6. Cf. Pabst 1988, p. 62.
29. Hymn 21:1.
30. Hymn 180:5.
31. Rhy. ps. 42:7.
32. 1 Pet. 4:8.
33. Rhy. ps. 133:3.
34. Cf. 1 Thess. 3:12.
35. Job 20:10.
36. Biblical; see, for instance, Deut. 24:1.
37. Jas. 5:8.
38. Gal. 4:6.
39. 1 John 4:8.
40. John 17:3.
41. 1 John 4:18.
42. John 14:2.
43. John 16:32.
44. Cf. Ps. 118:8.
45. 2 Sam. 24:14 and 1 Chron. 21:13.
46. Hymn 120:1.
47. Jas. 5:8.
48. Acts 2:46.
49. Luke 23:46. In l. 176 Van Gogh wrote ‘mijn hart’ (my heart) instead of ‘mijnen geest’ (my spirit).
50. Ps. 37:5.
51. 1 Cor. 13 treats the perfection of love.
52. Cf. 1 Tim. 4:4.
53. Ps. 41:3. Van Gogh’s choice of words, which does not correspond to the Statenvertaling, suggests that he translated into Dutch the version in the King James Bible: ‘Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness’.
54. Cf. Isa. 66:13.
55. Cf. Phil. 4:13.
56. Prov. 18:24.
57. Matt. 6:33.
58. 1 John 2:17. In l. 203 Van Gogh wrote ‘heerlijkheid’ (glory) instead of ‘begeerlijkheid’ (lust).
59. Taken from the song ‘Joy in Sorrow’, based on John 16:20 in Ira D. Sankey, Sacred songs & solos, numerous editions of which appeared in the 1870s. See Sacred songs & solos, with standard hymns combined. London n.d. [1892], song no. 36. A Dutch translation was published in Opwekkingszangen. Liederen van Ira D. Sankey. Nagezongen door C.S. Adama van Scheltema. Amsterdam n.d. [1875], song no. 37.
60. Cf. Eccl. 7:3 (in KJ ‘laughter’ instead of ‘joy’).
61. Cf. Eccl. 7:2.
62. Eccl. 7:3.
63. Cf. Eccl. 7:4, ‘But the heart of fools is in the house of mirth’; and Prov. 14:13, ‘Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness’.
64. Biblical; cf. Luke 23:49.
65. Biblical; see, for example, Ps. 18:3 (in KJ Ps. 18:2).
66. Cf. hymn 27:6.
67. Van Gogh underlined the verse numbers 53 55 58 63 twice, and number 61 three times.
68. Ps. 121:5.
69. Ps. 68:21 (in KJ Ps. 68:20).
70. Cf. John 6:40, 47 and 54; and John 10:28.
71. Biblical.
72. Cf. the Dutch saying, ‘Doe wel en zie niet om’ (Do well and don’t look back), meaning that one who acts virtuously may have a clear conscience; cf. Luke 9:62.
73. Isa. 40:29.
74. The origin of this quotation has not been traced.
75. On another loose page containing an undated fragment of a letter, Vincent advised Theo to go to The Lord’s Supper; see letter 105.
76. Matt. 9:12, Mark 2:17 and Luke 5:31.
77. Vincent had previously asked Theo to send an excerpt from Michelet’s L’amour in letter 89.
78. Rhy. ps. 42:1. Cf. Pabst 1988, p. 62.
79. Ps. 42:6, rhy. ps. 42:3 and rhy. ps. 42:7. Cf. Pabst 1988, p. 62.
80. Hymn 120. Cf. Pabst 1988, p. 62.
81. Hymn 180:5. Cf. Pabst 1988, p. 62.
82. An allusion to the saying ‘Ik worstel en kom boven’ (I wrestle and emerge victorious), the Latin version of which (‘Luctor et emergo’) is part of the coat of arms of the province of Zeeland.
83. Caroline van Stockum-Haanebeek.
84. The ‘Carte de visite’ of Ary Scheffer, L’enfant prodigue (The return of the prodigal son), 1857 (London, The Wallace Collection); it measures 6.5 x 10.5 cm (Bordeaux, Musée Goupil). Ill. 1779 [1779]. Cf. also letter 98.
[1779]