Bible links for "The World's Wife"

This is a very useful website for quickly accessing relevant parts of the Bible to remind yourself of the contextual information for this group of poems:

http://www.biblegateway.com/

Use the Quicksearch from the main page, making sure "New International Version" is selected from the other side. (This is the most straightforward version to access)

Type in the following references to find the relevant characters:

Delilah - Judges 16: 4-20 (OLD TESTAMENT)
Salome - Mark 6: 17-8 OR Matthew 14:1-12 (NEW TESTAMENT)
Queen Herod - Matthew 2
Pilate's wife - Matthew 27: 19
Mrs Lazarus - John 11

(Don't forget, the names refer to a book of the bible. The first number is the chapter, the second number is the verse)

Some of these figures appear in history or are significant in art. It is worth having a quick browse online or in an encyclopaedia to find out more about them.

Queen Herod weblinks

BBC website about the real King Herod (comparing him to the character he is given in the Bible)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/history/herod.shtml


This page discusses the Massacre of the Innocents, the event for which Herod is notorious. Notice what he did to his own sons and wife:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massacre_of_the_Innocents


More detail about the real Herod:
http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/H/history/e-h/herod.html

Please add your own as a comment if you find anything useful.