The Facts on File Dictionary of Allusions - Green Valley High School

Whore of Babylon
504
third parties not to separate a married couple. <strong>The</strong>
phrase is a quotation from Matthew 19:6 and Mark
10:9, appearing as Christ’s response to questions
put to him about divorce. It is sometimes quoted
(often facetiously) in other contexts when separation
threatens two people or things that should not
be parted. “ ‘<strong>The</strong> Church don’t recognize divorce in
her dogma, strictly speaking,’ he says: ‘and bear in
mind the words of the ser vice in your goings out
and your comings in: What God hath joined
together let no man put asunder’ ” (Thomas Hardy,
Jude the Obscure, 1895).
Whore of Babylon (babilon) A personifi cation
of corruption and sexual depravity. <strong>The</strong> allusion is
to Revelation 17:1–7, which describes a whore
mounted upon a scarlet beast with seven heads
and 10 horns and with the words “Mystery, Babylon
the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations
of the Earth” written on her forehead: “<strong>The</strong>
woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour,
and decked with gold and precious stones and
pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of
abominations and fi lthiness of her fornication.” In
its biblical context the Whore of Babylon was a
meta phor for Rome, pictured as the embodiment
of corrupt earthly power. <strong>The</strong> Puritans later
adopted the name as an insulting epithet for the
Roman Catholic Church, and eventually it came to
be used more generally. It also appears as the Scarlet
Whore of Babylon. “I’d marry the W—of
Babylon rather than do anything dishonourable!”
(Thomas Hardy, Jude the Obscure, 1895).
whoring after other gods Abandoning one’s previous
loyalties in favor of a new master. <strong>The</strong>
expression comes from Judges 2:17, which refers
to the lapse of the Israelites when they abandon
God to worship pagan Canaanite gods (whose
worship includes ritual prostitution). For some years
the senator’s loyalty had been suspect, but this was the
fi rst time he had been openly accused of whoring after
other gods.
whosoever hath, to him shall be given Those who
already have something are sometimes rewarded
with more before those who have nothing. This
saying of Christ is recorded in Matthew 13:11–12
when explaining why he used parables: “Because it
is given unto you to know the mysteries of the
kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he
shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath
not, from him shall be taken away even that he
hath” (Matthew 13:11–12). (See also Matthew
25:29, Mark 4:25, and Luke 8:18 and 19:26.) <strong>The</strong>
tax cuts for the wealthy is a straightforward case of
“whosoever hath, to him shall be given.”
whosoever will save his life shall lose it Those
who are preoccupied only with their own interests
will in the long run be disappointed. <strong>The</strong> expression
appears in Matthew 16:24–25, as well as in
Mark 8:35 and Luke 9:24 and 17:33, where Christ
tells his disciples: “If any man will come after me,
let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow
me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose
it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake
shall fi nd it.” <strong>The</strong>ir action could be judged foolhardy in
the extreme, but then again, whosoever will save his life
shall lose it.
Wicked Witch of the West A woman who is
deemed to behave in a wicked manner. <strong>The</strong>
Wicked Witch of the West is the evil witch who
seeks to rob Dorothy of her precious ruby slippers
in L. Frank Baum’s book <strong>The</strong> Wizard of Oz
(1900), fi lmed in 1939. She dissolves, however,