The Sander
Author: Luiken, Jan, 1649-1712
Image Title: The Sander
Scripture Reference:
- Job 5 (further images / scripture text)
Description: Just as a woman diligently sands and scrubs objects to clean them, so the human soul is purified by suffering and the discipline of God (Job 5:17-18). The Dutch artist and poet Jan Luiken (1649–1712), whose initials are at the lower right, was responsible for drawing and etching this emblem and wrote the accompanying poem.
Motto: Through oppression, desired.
Poem:
Without sharp and hard rubbing,
Objects would remain dirty:
Without adversity,
Sadness, oppression, the cross and distress,
Which everyone nevertheless fears and tries to avoid,
The filthy Soul would remain unprepared.
But the Almighty, through mercy,
To purify us from evil,
Oppresses and rubs us with his hand,
So that we, found pleasing and soft,
Do not become wholly filthy in sins,
Like Objects which scrutiny banishes,
To finally be entirely thrown away,
And forgotten in God’s eyes.
(Translation by Josephine V. Brown, with editorial assistance from William G. Stryker)
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