"Jonah in the ship of Tarshish..."See in text(Chapter I - Start In Life)
This is a biblical allusion to Jonah 1:1-3. In the story of Jonah and the whale, God tells Jonah to go to the city of Nineveh to preach against the wickedness there. However, Jonah runs away from these commands and instead travels to Tarshish. There, he sets sail in a boat which will later be swallowed by a great whale. The captain suggests that like Jonah Crusoe will continue to be punished for denying God’s will.
" had even killed the fatted calf for me..."See in text(Chapter I - Start In Life)
This is another allusion to the biblical story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:23. In it, the prodigal son’s father states “Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate” upon his son’s return. Crusoe imagines that he would be welcomed in the same way back into his father’s house in Hull.
"prodigal..."See in text(Chapter I - Start In Life)
This is a biblical allusion to Luke 15:11. In the story, a father has two sons. The youngest son asks for his inheritance before his father’s death and then wastes the money and becomes destitute. He travels home to beg his father’s forgiveness and ask for work in the house to make his living. While the elder son tells his father to reject the prodigal son, the father delivers the message of the story: they must celebrate his return and accept the younger son because he was lost but he found the righteous path once again.
"when he prayed to have neither poverty nor riches...."See in text(Chapter I - Start In Life)
This is a biblical allusion to Proverbs 30:7-8. In this proverb, King Solomon prays that God will keep him from lies, poverty, and riches, but allow him his “daily bread.” The proverb suggests that the king wants only what he needs to survive, nothing more, nothing less.
"he prayed to have neither poverty nor riches..."See in text(Chapter I - Start In Life)
The reference is to the biblical King Solomon in the book of Proverbs 30:7-8: "Two things I ask of you, Lord; do not refuse me before I die: Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread."
"and to give daily thanks for that daily bread, which nothing but a crowd of wonders could have brought..."See in text(Chapter IX - A Boat)
This passage alludes to a line from the Gospel of Matthew: “Give us this day our daily bread.” The line is drawn from a verse often referred to as the “Lord’s Prayer” and is recited in many church services. Crusoe’s reverence and gratitude are so great that he is subtly reciting biblical scripture.
"feeding Elijah by ravens..."See in text(Chapter IX - A Boat)
From the Bible, 1 Kings 7:4-6: "You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there. So he did what the Lord had told him. He went to the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan, and stayed there. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and bread and meat in the evening, and he drank from the brook."
"like Saul..."See in text(Chapter XI - Finds Print Of Man's Foot On The Sand)
Saul is a biblical figure who was the first king of Israel. After several military victories, Saul was warned by a prophet that he was not following God’s will and that God would not look after him. Saul continues war against the Philistines, a neighboring civilization, but was overcome in battle. He commits suicide, believing that God has rejected him and allowed him and his kingdom to be attacked. Crusoe likewise worries that God has left him behind, but is too distraught to pray or find solace in his religion.
""Wait on the Lord, and be of good cheer, and He shall strengthen thy heart; wait, I say, on the Lord."..."See in text(Chapter XI - Finds Print Of Man's Foot On The Sand)
This is a quote from Psalms 27:14. It tells Crusoe not to worry about his fate, as God will take care of him, now and in the future, as long as he is patient. With this message, Crusoe is comforted. He is able to trust, again, in divine plans.
""Call upon Me in the day of trouble, and I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me."..."See in text(Chapter XI - Finds Print Of Man's Foot On The Sand)
This is a quote from the biblical book of Psalms 50:15. Crusoe uses the message of this quote—that God will always take care of his faithful followers, even in difficult times—to comfort himself and reaffirm his religious devotion.
"my fear banished all my religious hope..."See in text(Chapter XI - Finds Print Of Man's Foot On The Sand)
Crusoe’s spiritual devotion is tested, and he is filled with doubt in God’s ability to keep him alive on the island. He has always trusted in God to take care of him, but the possibility of others arriving causes him to resolve to be more self-reliant. Notice also that Crusoe seems to be making an allusion to the biblical Garden of Eden, where food was plentiful; Adam and Eve were banished from the garden, which God had created for them out of “goodness.”
"I thought, like Saul, who complained not only that the Philistines were upon him, but that God had forsaken him..."See in text(Chapter XI - Finds Print Of Man's Foot On The Sand)
From the Bible, 1 Samuel 28:15: "Samuel said to Saul, 'Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?' 'I am in great distress,' Saul said. 'The Philistines are fighting against me, and God has departed from me. He no longer answers me, either by prophets or by dreams. So I have called on you to tell me what to do.'"
""You know," says he, "the children of Israel, though they rejoiced at first for their being delivered out of Egypt, yet rebelled even against God Himself, that delivered them, when they came to want bread in the wilderness."..."See in text(Chapter XVII - Visit Of Mutineers)
This is a biblical allusion to Exodus 16:1. The book of Exodus details Moses’s journey out of Egypt with the Israelites. This passage refers to the people of Israel leaving the “wilderness of Sin” after they depart from the land of Egypt.
"being delivered out of Egypt..."See in text(Chapter XVII - Visit Of Mutineers)
From the Bible, Exodus 16:1: "They set out from Elim, and all the congregation of the people of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt."
"end of Job..."See in text(Chapter XIX - Return To England)
From the Bible, Job 42:12: "And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys."
