Today's Scripture Reading (February 12, 2023): Amos 4
"Let them eat cake."
The French phrase, more precisely translated as "Let them eat Brioche,"
an expensive pastry enriched with eggs and butter, has commonly been attributed
to Marie Antoinette, the wife of King Louis XVI. Marie Antoinette had become
increasingly unpopular in France because of the lavish lifestyle she demanded the
state provide for herself. While the people lived in poverty, the Queen was
catered to, having all of her wants to be fulfilled. But despite the people's
anger toward the Queen, it seems unlikely that she actually made the comment.
The people's dislike of Antoinette was likely the main reason the phrase has
been attributed to her, but it is not proof that she said it. The actual quote
was from Jean-Jacques Rousseau in his book "Confessions." In the
book, he tells a story about seeking bread to go with the wine he had stolen.
At the time, he felt that he was way overdressed to go into a common bakery.
And it was at that moment that he remembered a phrase he had heard was spoken
by an unnamed "great princess." Rousseau wrote, "At length I remembered the last resort of a great princess
who, when told that the peasants had no bread, replied: 'Then let them eat
brioches.'" Confessions was written in
1765, but it was not published until 1782. Marie Antoinette is thought to have
spoken the phrase in 1789 during one of the famines that occurred in France
during her husband's reign, seven years after Rousseau published his book.
Whether the phrase was spoken
by Marie Antoinette or some other "great princess" of France, the
phrase is used as evidence of an out-of-touch, privileged class. For Antoinette,
or whatever princess made the comment, the substitute of bread for brioche seemed
logical. The fact that if the peasants couldn't afford bread, there was
absolutely no way they could afford the more expensive brioche escaped them. The
economic situation the peasants suffered through seemed beyond the
comprehension of at least some of the privileged class.
Amos addresses a similar
privileged class in Israel. He calls these privileged women of Israel "cows
of Bashan." These women have no craving outside of their desire to have
their wants served. While the poor struggled with the basic needs of life, all
these princesses wanted was for their husbands to bring them more drinks (Amos
4:1). Amos wanted to speak directly to these "cows of Samaria." He says
that the Sovereign Lord has sworn by his holiness. There is no more solemn a
vow that God could take than to swear by his holiness, which is at the core of
his being. Amos indicates that this means that the events he is speaking of
will happen; there can be no doubt. These exotically dressed women would be
taken away with hooks, and Amos wants them to know this will happen.
A little more than four
decades after Amos had written these words, the words that God had sworn by his
holiness became a reality for the "Cows of Bashan." It must have been
a shock to these privileged women to have the Assyrians take them captive. They
would have been stripped of their expensive clothes and then had hooks inserted
into their lips so that they could be connected to each other and led naked
into their new lives in Assyria. Once, they had been envied for all they had,
but now they had less than the poorest of the people they had previously
ignored.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading:
Amos 5
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