The U.S. spelling is "sepulcher", but I grew up with the King James Bible, and prefer the way it's done in the mother tongue.
Sepulchre is prounounced [sep-pulk-er]. That's a short "e" in sep, with the accent on the first syllable.
A sepulchre is defined as any chamber used as a grave.
The term "Whited Sepulchre" comes from one of Jesus' better rants, found in The Gospel of Matthew 23:27.....as I explained in my first post on this site:
If you didn't have the social, cultural, and career advantages of growing up Southern Baptist, you might not catch the "Whited Sepulchre" reference....It's from a story told about Jesus, when he compared his accusers to "Whited Sepulchres" or Freshly Painted Tombs.It's bascially a reference to anything that seems ok on the outside, but is full of death and rottenness and corruption on the inside. Like the current Farm Bill, The Clintons, U.S. Trade Policy, me, Subsidies, The City of Arlington's Eminent Domain Abuse for Jerry Jones' Benefit, blah blah blah blah....
These tombs were beautiful on the outside, and full of rotteness and corruption on the inside. After accidentally touching a Sepulchre, or tomb, any devout believer who subscribed to the complete rigamarole of the clean/unclean belief system had to go through a long and tiresome cleansing process.
This purification and cleansing process could kill several weekends.Therefore, tombs were routinely painted Day-Glo white so anyone who happened to be going through the graveyard at night could avoid accidental contamination in the dark.This left weekends free for avoiding pork, studying the Torah, and throwing rocks at adulterous women until they bled to death.
If I routinely post updates on this site, I suspect I'll focus on various Whited Sepulchres that make me nuts.
Lots of things make me nuts. I make me nuts.
So does the government. Religious nut cases. Drive-through windows. Department of Transportation requirements. And perhaps I'll include some other musings on travels, extended family, and whether or not it's sane to own four weiner dogs.
Very interesting. Thanks for the information.
ReplyDeleteThanks.
ReplyDeleteBut do you have any idea why all of a sudden, 50 or 60 people are wondering how to pronounce "Sepulchre"?
Maybe it's because the 'new' 50 or 60 people that have switched from being Republicans to Democrats are needing to know the secret to cleansing their souls?
ReplyDeleteI don't know, but I bet that has something to do with it...
Maybe because of the fiction book, Sepulchre, by Kate Mosse, published in paperback in 2008 is one of the top best sellers in the uk at the mo!
ReplyDeleteI needed to know for I'm studying Poe, and reading Annabel Lee. In this poem, you'll find that Poe, speaks of a sepulchre down by the sea. ;)
ReplyDeletelol
ReplyDeleteExcellent read, thanks! Everyone looking for the pronunciation should definately post here.
I was searching because I found it a perfect title for my brother in law. He tends to try and look good on the outside but is evil and wicked within. I didn't want to be a fool and pronounce his new moniker wrong.
THANK YOU!
I am guilty of reading the book penned by Kate Moss and this is what brought me here. However, I have to say, I was sorry there weren't more posts her as I found this to be an interesting read as well. :).
ReplyDelete~~Sarah
I am teaching Latin and needed to check how you pronounce the English cognate of sepulchrum!
ReplyDeleteI'm memorizing The Sleeper by Poe and didn't want to sound like an idiot when I said it :) so thanks
ReplyDeleteThe Churches are full of these
ReplyDeletewhited Sepulchre every Sunday
and Wednesday at Prayer meetings.