The Queen's English

[Gene C]

(12-01-2014 09:04 PM)STS Lincolnite Wrote:  The beginning (Four score and seven years ago...) is believed to have been heavily influenced by a passage from the bible - Psalm 90:10. In the King James version of the Bible (which would have been most familiar to Lincoln and his audience), it reads as follows: “The days of our years are threescore and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” That certainly would make sense as an influence based on Lincoln's knowledge of the bible. I'm sure the people of the time would have had a better everyday knowledge of the Bible than most people would have today. It would have sounded familiar to the crowd without being immediately recognizable (the passage I think is kind of an obscure one) and thereby immediately building a connection with the audience.

Thanks, I never made that connection.