It’s Thanksgiving season in the United States and as our national holiday approaches, I’d like to tell you the story of the Pilgrims, & the Mayflower and Plymouth Rock. This story, at least these details, are known to most Americans. The Pilgrims who came from England and settled at Plymouth Massachusetts in 1620 are the American forefathers. Their story is our origin story – our genesis so to speak.

You might wonder – what this has to do with the Bible? There is compelling connection to the Bible which will be revealed as we go along.

Let’s start with the Pilgrim story. A few years ago as Thanksgiving approached, it occurred to me that I knew very little about the origin of the holiday and as I googled the broad strokes, I realized I knew even less about the actual Pilgrims, both their story and how we came to know about them. What were the sources that historians used to understand the events of that epic journey across the Atlantic?

I discovered that our primary source of information about the Pilgrims, their journey and their settlement is the chronicle – you could call it a diary of the 2nd Governor of Plymouth Plantation William Bradford. We have Gov. Bradford’s diary – the original manuscript. It is now housed at the State Library of Massachusetts in Boston. The manuscript was considered lost and the story of its discovery & return to New England is very interesting. I may share that story on a future podcast.

Gov. Bradford was among the 102 persons who sailed on the Mayflower in 1620. Though it is commonly assumed that the Mayflower landed at Plymouth rock, it actually landed at Cape Cod. They had intended to land at the mouth of the Hudson River as per an agreement they had with businessmen called the Merchant Adventurers. They were the venture capitalists of that time. But because of storms they were thrown off course and sailed into Cape Cod. That area was determined to be too small and unsuitable for farming, so a small expedition left the Mayflower to explore the wider area. They entered Plymouth Bay and it is that small expeditionary force which is presumed to have landed at Plymouth Rock on Dec 11, 1620.
It was there that the Pilgrims settled and so began the Plymouth Plantation.

The first governor of the plantation John Carver died a year after landing, as did many of the Mayflower passengers. In the first year, half of the company died of cold, hunger & illness. Leaving only about 50 persons. William Bradford, then 31 yo was chosen to replace Mr. Carver as Governor. He was to go on to serve as Governor for the better part of the next 30 years. He never returned to England and lived at Plymouth for the rest of his life. It is undisputed that Gov. Bradford proved to be “the” patriarch, the father of the Plantation. Under his leadership, the plantation survived through many difficulties and grew beyond the bounds of Plymouth.
By the 1640s, many had left Plymouth Plantation wanting to settle in other areas where the land was more plentiful & arable. So new towns began to form.

Bradford lamented this; not only because he regretted losing members of the original community but because this community was bound together by God’s teaching. This was their self-understanding. They were the church of God. Remember that the pilgrims were Puritans who had rejected the church of England and their practices and so separated themselves. The leaders of this new community, both Gov. Bradford and an elder among them William Brewster knew the Bible well and taught the community. The community’s devotion to the biblical text was total.

In 1644, as members of the Plymouth community began to leave to begin new settlements, Gov. Bradford wrote this about Plymouth plantation – the church – for which he had labored:

“And thus was this poor church left, like an ancient mother grown old and forsaken of her children, though not in their affections yet in regard of their bodily presence and personal helpfulness; her ancient members being most of them worn away by death, and these of later time being like children translated into other families, and she like a widow left only to trust in God. Thus, she that had made many rich became herself poor.”

This last sentence is a reference to Paul’s 2nd letter to the Corinthians chapter 6, verse 10.

This sentiment, Gov. Bradford’s lamentation, if you will, comes to us from his diary. I will be referring to his diary going forward mostly as “the manuscript”. It has been given the title “Of Plymouth Plantation,” though Bradford had not given it a specific title. You can find it at any local library. I recommend the edition of the text compiled by historian Samuel Eliot Morison. His introduction gives the reader some useful explanations about the text itself, the history of the time and the story of how the manuscript was recovered. He and his assistant took care to render the manuscript faithfully. It must have been a huge endeavor and it really is a master work. You can also find Of Plymouth Plantation as an ebook & audiobook on Amazon.

Governor Bradford wrote this chronicle, again now entitled "Of Plymouth Plantation," and his entries are dated from 1620 to 1647. His account is a chronological telling, year-by-year, of what occurred at the Plantation. It consists of accounts, stories and many letters of correspondence. The original manuscript is a vellum bound book. Velllum is an animal skin typically calfskin, like leather, that is specially prepared for bookbinding. It can also be crafted to be used as paper and was used this way in ancient times. But in this case,it is the cover that is made of vellum. It looks like leather. The manuscript is in the form of a book with pages bound and enclosed in a cover front and back. It is about the size of a piece of copy paper ; the kind we commonly use today in copy machines and printers. It has 270 leaves or pages . It was of course handwritten in ink by Bradford.

It’s a treasured relic of American History. It’s a delight to look through the original manuscript which has been digitized and is available online. You can find it on the Massachusetts state website. What a gift it is, that digital technology has made it possible that we can all have an intimate look at the original manuscript. You can scroll through it page by page.

I made a number of curious and wonderful discoveries in looking through the manuscript and then made even more curious and wonderful discoveries in reading the content of the manuscript.

I was delighted to discover that the manuscript does not begin with the story of the Plantation. The first few pages are Gov. Bradford’s biblical Hebrew homework. It seems that at the end of his life in 1650, Gov. Bradford desired to learn Biblical Hebrew. On the pages, you can see he has written out select words, phrases & sentences in Hebrew from Old Testament texts with the English translations beneath them. On one of those pages, Bradford wrote a short paragraph; a kind of personal confession. This confession reads as follows:

"Though I am grown aged, yet I have had a longing desire to see with
my own eyes something of that most ancient language and holy
tongue in which the Law and Oracles of God were writ, and
in which God and Angels spake to the holy patriarchs of
old time; and what names were given to things from
the Creation. And though I cannot attain to much
herein, yet I am refreshed to have seen some glimpse hereof, as Moses saw the land of Ca-
naan afar off. My aim and desire is to see how the words and phrases lie in the
holy text, and to discern some-
what of the same, for my own content."

I was deeply moved by this heartfelt expression of love for the biblical text. So precious did he consider the Bible that he writes that he wanted to know the language of the Law and to “see how the words and phrases lie in the holy text.”

Amazing. After a lifetime of struggle to give birth to this new colony, in the weariness of old age, did he retire to a rocking chair on his porch to look upon his life’s work and meditate on his achievements? We might say, he had earned the right to do that. But no. he wanted to know the language of the Law - "...to see how the words and phrases lie in the holy text..." He did not consider his many labors an excuse or a reason not to continue giving effort to worthy things.

What about the rest of the text of the manuscript?

It was a fascinating and at times, tiresome, read. Very appropriate since one could say the same of the Bible. It was fascinating to read about the many struggles that Gov. Bradford and his community faced in those formative years. From page to page, it speaks about the complexities of establishing a community in a new land. Of course, I expected to read about practical difficulties such as lack of food and shelter, and the many challenges of the unknown – which place to best land, plant and build & once decided, the hard work involved in settling & building and then facing external threats from animals, the weather and potentially from the Indian tribes who resided in that area. And there were such troubles.

What surprised me was the number of pages committed to the complexities of the business aspect of the Plantation. The Pilgrims were funded by businessmen under agreement that the plantation would pay off this debt over time with what the Plantation would produce, not only crops but animal skins and furs among other commodities to be sent back to England and sold & eventually traded with neighboring colonies. This fledgling community was taken advantage of by a number of shady characters; unscrupulous adventurers who abused their charity. Debt was a persistent problem that plagued the plantation. This issue runs through the entire manuscript. Suffice it to say – Governor Bradford and his community endured a great deal of hardship.

As I read through his manuscript, I was struck by the number of times Bradford makes reference to the Biblical text. He compares their sufferings with the trials of Jacob & Job. He uses biblical imagery to describe people & situations with whom he dealt in the work of the Plantation. The manuscript is suffused with the biblical text; a near constant reference. Of course for the Pilgrims ,who were Puritans, the Bible was their foundational text.

My takeaway that I want to share with you is this: that Gov Bradford’s story – the text that he wrote – reflects a mental imprinting. The biblical story was imprinted on Gov. Bradford’s mind Another way to express it is that: his mind was formatted by the biblical text. Remember back in the days of floppy discs – when you bought a new one, before you could use it, you had to format it. This was a process of preparing the disc to store files. It created a foundation on which files would be built so to speak. It set the stage for other content. Similarly, my contention is that this is how the bible is intended to function – it formats the mind with its story; with its teaching.

I spoke about this in my episode on how to read the Bible. In Governor Bradford’s case, it had become a part of him; the lens through which he saw his experience at Plymouth.

Let’s hear some selections from his text. I have chosen 6 which best demonstrate the way he uses the Biblical text to tell his story. Where appropriate, I also include some explanation of the Biblical texts to which he refers, both to help you better understand Bradford’s text and because we are here on this this program to hear the Biblical story and understand what it is trying to teach us. I will preface each selection with a brief summary to help you understand what he has written. For modern readers, his writing takes some effort to understand. It is not the way we speak today.

Selection #1

Bradford recounts those final days in Leiden, the Netherlands, as he and the pilgrims prepared for the journey at sea. He writes about the loved ones whom the pilgrims were leaving behind; those who would not be joining them on the journey. He writes:

“But though they loved their persons, approved their cause and honoured their sufferings, yet they left them as it were weeping, as Orpah did her mother-in-law Naomi.”

This is a reference to characters in the book of Ruth. Recall the story. Naomi, her husband & sons leave the land of Judah to flee famine and go to live in Moab, a place foreign to them and to live among the Moabites, as outsiders. Her sons marry Moabite women: Orpha and Ruth. Naomi’s husband and sons die. Having no one to care for her & learning that the famine has passed, Naomi decides to return to Judah. She bids her daugthers in law to stay in Moab, with their people. Her daughter-in-law Orpha weeps; kisses her mother in law and does not go w her. Her daughter-in-law, Ruth, however, refuses to leave her and goes with her to Judah; far from her own people. She then becomes an outsider in a foreign land. The name Orpha is from the Hebrew root which means “to the back of the neck”, figuratively meaning “stubborn.” The name Ruth is from the Hebrew for “friend or friendship”. So hearing the story in the original language, we have that the stubborn Orpha stays in Moab, while Ruth, proves to be a true friend to her mother-in-law. There are many such plays and juxtapositions of characters in the Bible. Remember that names in the Bible have meanings which help tell the story.

Selection #2

In this next selection, we are again at the place in the manuscript in which Bradford recounts those final days in Leiden as they prepared for their departure. Referring to their small group of voyagers, he writes:

“So they left that godly and pleasant city which had been their resting place near twelve years; but they knew they were pilgrims and looked not much on those things, but lift (ed) up their eyes to the heavens, their dearest country, and quieted their spirits.”

Bradford’s biblical source here is the book of Hebrews chapter 11, verse 13, where the author writes about the patriarchs we hear about in the book of Genesis. We hear about Abraham, Sarah, Isaac and Jacob, who put their trust in God and begin a journey into the unknown. Hebrews chapter 11, verse 13 reads:

“These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.“

Bradford likens his community to the patriarchs – both pilgrims armed only with trust in God, venturing into the unknown.

Selection # 3

Here, Bradford recounts the trials at sea and the fact that they were few in number, left to face the many challenges ahead. He compares his small, weak company to Gideon’s army in the book of Judges, chapter 7, verses 4-8. Bradford writes:

“But others, in regard of their own weakness and charge of many young children were thought least useful and most unfit to bear the brunt of this hard adventure; unto which work of God, and judgment of their brethren, they were contented to submit. And thus, like Gideon’s army, this small number was divided, as if the Lord by this work of His providence thought these few too many for the great work He had to do.”

This text goes on to quote Judges chapter 7, verse 4:

“And the Lord said unto Gideon, the people are yet too many; bring them down to the water…and it shall be that of whom I say unto thee, this shall go with thee, the same shall go with thee…”

In this story from the book of Judges, God forces Gideon to make his army smaller so that they, Gideon and his people, would not credit themselves with the victory over the Midianites but that they would know that it was God and his power alone who gave them victory.

Selection #4

In this amusing anecdote, Bradford tells of the arrival of a visitor to the Plantation; a man who they hoped might serve the community as a pastor – the Reverend John Lyford, who turned out to be a scoundrel. Here, Bradford compares this man’s manner and behavior to the wicked who prey upon the poor, described in Psalms 10, verse 10. He then likens him to the character Ishmael who in the book of Jeremiah chapter 41, slays Gedalyah & then lures others into a trap in order to slay them. About the Reverend John Lyford, Bradford writes:

“When this man first came ashore, he saluted them with that reverence and humility as is seldom to be seen, and indeed made them ashamed, he so bowed and cringed unto them, and would have kissed their hands if they would have suffered him; yea he wept and shed many tears, blessing God that had brought him to see their faces, and admiring the things they had done in their wants, etc., as if he had been made all of love and the humblest person in the world. And all the while (if we may judge by his after carriages) he was but like him mentioned in Psalm 10,10, “that croucheth and boweth, that heaps of poor may fall by his might.” Or like to that dissembling Ishmaell, who, when he had slain Gedelia, went out weeping and met them that were coming to offer incense in the house of the Lord saying, “Come to Gedelia” when he meant to slay them.”*

*A note of explanation about this text. The term Bradford used, “that dissembling Ishmaell.” What does dissemble mean? It means to conceal one’s true motives.

Selection #5

In June 1638, an earthquake shook Plymouth Plantation. Bradford uses the words of Haggai in chapter 2, verse 6 & 7and Daniel chapter 4, verse 35 to express his impression of what he calls “a great and fearful earthquake.” He writes:

“…It came with a rumbling noise or low murmur, like unto remote thunder. …as the noise approached nearer, the earth began to shake and came at length with that violence as caused platters, dishes and suchlike things as stood upon shelves, to clatter and fall down. Yea, persons were afraid of the houses themselves. It so fell out that at the same time diverse of the chief of this town were met together at one house, conferring with some of their friends that were upon their removal from the place, as if the Lord would hereby show the signs of His displeasure, in their shaking apieces and removals one from another…and the earth shook with that violence as they could not stand without catching hold of the posts and pales that stood next to them...”

He end this account, quoting the books of Haggai and Daniel (Haggai 2, verse 6 & Daniel 4 verse 35). “So powerful is the mighty hand of the Lord, as to make both the earth and sea to shake, and the mountains to tremble before Him, when He pleases. And who can stay His hand?

Selection #6

My last selection from Bradford’s manuscript is a poem that he wrote in his later years. He wrote:

“From my years young in days of youth,
God did make known to me his truth,
And call’d me from my native place
For to enjoy the means of grace.
In wilderness he did me guide,
And in strange lands for me provide.
In fears and wants, through weal and woe,
A Pilgrim passed I to and fro.”

These verses express so well how Bradford saw his journey through the lens of the biblical story. In these words, we hear that he understood the prophetic teaching – that we are sheep in God’s flock in the wilderness and he is the shepherd. In the wilderness, a place of nothingness, where nothing can grow or be built, life is made possible only by the voice of the shepherd who gathers and leads them. The sheep need only follow his voice; his command so that they might live.
I’d like to leave you with some final words that Bradford wrote. He concludes his account of the year 1630 with these last remarks. They read as a kind of Psalm.

“Thus out of small beginnings greater things have been produced by His hand that made all things of nothing, and gives being to all things that are; and, as one small candle may light a thousand, so the light here kindled hath shone unto many, yea in some sort to our whole nation; let the glorious name of Jehovah have all the praise.”

I hope you’ve enjoyed hearing about "Of Plymouth Plantation" and its roots in the Bible as much as I enjoyed discovering them.

Until next time, this is Vexed.