Wow. I knew there were Biblical connotations to Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song.” Lately they’ve been playing Johnny Cash’s version on the radio. I ran across this page which seems to desect it lyric by lyric. Some highlights:
Old pirates yes they rob I
Sold I to the merchant ships
Minutes after they took I
From the bottom-less pit
So it came to pass, when Joseph had come to his brothers, that they stripped Joseph of his tunic, the tunic of many colors that was on him. Then they took him and cast him into a pit. And the pit was empty; there was no water in it.
Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.
So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
Genesis 37:23-24, 26-28
But my hand was made strong
By the hand of the Almighty
Genesis 49:24 – But his bow abode in strength, and the arms of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God of Jacob; (from thence is the shepherd, the stone of Israel:)
There’s more to it than that. Read the page and find out. Whew! What a great song.