The Wheelbarrow: Support Does Help
Author: Luiken, Jan, 1649-1712
Image Title: The Wheelbarrow: Support Does Help
Scripture Reference:
- Hebrews 13 (further images / scripture text)
Description: A man uses a wheelbarrow to transport an enormous load that he would not be able to carry. Behind him two men comment on this scene. A city scene is in the background. The Dutch artist and poet Jan Luiken (1649-1712), whose initials are at the lower right, was responsible for drawing and etching this emblem, as well as for the poem that accompanies it (below). The attendant Scripture text is Hebrews 13:6.
Motto:
Seek Help, with Courage,
So it will go well.
Poem:
If the Merchant’s bundle is too heavy,
He nevertheless doesn’t let it lie there,
It is not stone, but good merchandise,
And therefore means a lot.
What then? What is being done then?
He takes a wheelbarrow for his aid,
So that Man and Wheel go together,
And so help each other carry.
What is the matter then with everyone,
That he lets the bundle of the pious life,
Lie like a heavy stone,
And seems to care little about it?
If he took the barrow of patience,
And let the heavy thing lean on that,
So that the work would be performed,
It would support his shoulders;
Until that truest load,
On which depends the most
Was brought to the right place,
And the true wages were received.
O Man! who art so sensible,
And manages to submit thyself to everything,
Save thyself, for eternal Salvation,
Or all thy Labor will crumble.
(Translation by Josephine V. Brown, with editorial assistance from William G. Stryker)
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