Ivanhoe

CHAPTER XXXVIII

1 (p. 383) epigraph: The lines, slightly altered, are from Shakespeare’s Richard II (act 4, scene 1).

2 (p. 388) “even as the signet of the mighty Solomon was said to command the evil genii: The Koran records that God gave Solomon power over the genii. It is only tradition, however, possibly derived from its mention in The Arabian Nights, which locates the power in his signet ring.

3 (p. 389) Benoni: The name, which means ”son of my sorrow” in Hebrew, was given by the dying Rachel to her son in the Bible, Genesis 35:18. Jacob would rename him Benjamin, and the boy became his ill-fated favorite.

4 (p. 389) gourd of Jonah: Isaac is referring not to a cup, but rather to the fruit tree God provided for Jonah, which became infested with worms overnight and died. See the Bible, Jonah 4:7.

5 (p. 390) Boabdil the Saracen: This is a glaring anachronism. Boabdil was the last Moorish king of Grenada (1482-1492), under whose reign Jews enjoyed equal rights and freedoms with other citizens. When a Christian army reconquered Spain in 1492, the Jews were expelled and sought sanctuary in the Islamic east and the Ottoman Empire.