Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Answers to Vanity Plates for Bible Characters

1. D9GGUS3X - Denying Jesus 3 times, which would is Simon Peter, naturally.

2. LEVIR8 - Levirate. A gamble to be sure. Since not everyone is a Hebrew Bible geek like me. Levirate marriage is where a man marries the widow of his deceased brother in order to father a son in the name of the deceased, and by producing an heir, preserve the property rights for the deceased’s family. Still unclear? Wikipedia it, okay? I was thinking of Onan here (Genesis 38, and on the simultaneous lists of “things I sometimes wish weren’t in the Bible” and “Bible stories your kids won’t hear in Sunday School”) but I suppose Judah might also apply. No offense meant to North Dakota, btw.

3. Y ME - is, naturally, “Why Me?” and I was thinking of Job, putting it on a “Misery” license plate, but I suppose any number of folks could fit here. Elijah, David, Jonah, Elizabeth (upon encountering pregnant Mary), Mary... take your pick.

4. LONR DNKY - Loner Donkey. Jesus borrowed the young donkey he rode into Jerusalem. It’s a New York plate, because, while Jerusalem was the Jewish capitol in Jesus’ day, it seems like it’s New York City these days.

5. S2 4 TR8 - I meant “Stew for Trade.” Jacob, or maybe Esau. Nevada, home of gambling capitals, Las Vegas and Reno.

6. RGNLSIN - Original Sin, Adam. I’m not a Calvinist, but Adam does commit the first recorded (“original”) sin, if you don’t count the snake. Also, I couldn’t fit another R at the end to make it “sinner.” New Jersey, the Garden State–as close as I could think of to Eden.

7. DAD2MNE - Dad to many, by which I meant Abraham. Florida, ‘cause Abe was past retirement age. Ya’ gotta see Veggie Tales’ “Abe & the Promise,” which depicts Ur as a gated retirement village. Pretty stinkin’ funny!

8. 1K WIMN - 1,000 Women. My choice of Utah was a bad joke. Thanks for catching it, SharkBait. King Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. Yeesh!

And the prize goes to SharkBait, for getting the whole batch--and even seeing my evil sense of humor in some of the state picks!

And now one I should have included: Balaam’s license plate.


I used this site to make the plates.

2 comments:

PaperSmyth said...

"LEVIR8"
Onan?

And I was thinking about the "who's wife is she" question in the new testament... Luke 20:33. Is that not also a reference to a Levirate marriage? I don't know...

I do think these are funny.

Allen's Brain said...

Yes! Quite right! Forgot about that one briefly, but it's almost certainly a case (pressed to the point of absurdity, to be sure) of Levirate marriage.
Thanks for mentioning it.