Thanks for the reply. The only problem with this is, if I understand the Biblical reference properly, it is God who is punishing the people of Anathoth for rejecting the prophet Jeremiah. So why would a passage of condemnation be written on someone's masoleum? We of course assume that Max (James Woods) built the masoleum. Why would he choose that passage?
Taken out of the original context, the meaning becomes more tragic, a mere statement of fact. Somehow the ones with most life are snatched away, while we remaining ones are tired, weak and hardly appreciative of the life we have.
What do you suppose Leone wanted with this quotation?
In my hometown, three young men, 19, 19 and 20, were killed in a car accident. I knew two of them through their parents. When we buried them, and I saw the three caskets, I thought of this quote, and I thought of Noodles looking at the three corpses which he assumed belonged to his friends.
Thanks!
It may not be an exact quote, merely an attempt to sound like a quote. It has a Biblical flavor so I used an online concordance and got this:
Jeremiah 11:21-23 (New International Version)
New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society
21 "Therefore this is what the LORD says about the men of Anathoth who are seeking your life and saying, 'Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD or you will die by our hands'- 22 therefore this is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I will punish them. Their young men will die by the sword, their sons and daughters by famine.
