“The Love of God”
In 1050 A.D., on the shores of the Mediterranean or possibly the Gulf of Eilat (I sat on the shores of this Gulf in 1985, got caught up in the mood & muse and penned a poem too...), a Jewish poet’s heart was moved to pen the words that filled him.
At the turn of the 20th century, after WW1, there was great persecution of the Jews in Russia and Germany; many were killed, imprisoned, and placed in insane asylums. One such man found himself condemned, and in this hell his head was reminded of this prayer, his spirit was inspired, and he wrote his testimony on the walls that tried to keep & break him. After his execution these words were discovered written on a wall of his cell in that German insane asylum.
In 1917 this story, these words inspired another to compose a song around these lyrics.
By Frederick M. Lehman, 1917
v. 3 by Meir Ben Isaac Nehorai, 1050
v. 3 tr. by Anonymous/Unknown
“Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made,
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.”
Have a listen:
The Love of God
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