that victory comes not through armor, or even through chance as Macbeth believes, but through
humble devotion to the divine will. We see the theme, for example, marked in the note (a)
adjoining I Samuel 14.1, which contrasts the saving grace of God to the power of armor (figure
twenty-nine). The moral throws an ironic light on the confrontation between Mowbray and
Bolingbroke in the first act of Richard II, in which Warwick appeals to the "grace of God" while
Bolingbroke enters the lists "in armour":
Warwick. …..
And by the grace of God and this mine arm,
To prove him, in defending of myself
A traitor to my God, my king and me:
And as I truly fight, defend me heaven!
[The trumpets sound. Enter Henry Bolingbroke,
appellant, in armour, with a herald.]
(1.3.22-27)
Also marked in the de Vere Bible is the note (f) attached to II
Samuel 16.10 in which Zerviah curses David (figure thirty). The
underlined phrase "humbleth himself to his rod" is reflected in two
passages in Shakespeare¹:
And presently all humbled kiss the rod
(Two Gentlemen 1.2.59)
Wilt thou….
Take correction mildly, kiss the rod,
And fawn on rage with base humility.
(Richard II 5.1.31-33)
1
The marked note is far closer to these Shakespearean passages than the alternatives proposed by Shaheen (1989 117) of Proverbs
22.15 and 23.131.
Figure Thirty: II Samuel
16.10 note (f).
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