How The Pilgrim's Progress drew on Micah
A documented line of influence: John Bunyan demonstrably engaged Micah’s work. The commentary below is Gröblé’s, verbatim from each work’s page.
The source
Micah
Micah · c. 735 BCE
BibleThe influenced
The Pilgrim's Progress
John Bunyan · 1678
EnlightenmentRelevance
3/10
On The Pilgrim's Progress’s page
- The verse Christian wields against Apollyon — "when I fall I shall arise" — comes straight out of Micah 7:8, one of the marginal references Bunyan printed in 1678
- Micah's vision of sinners trembling and hiding stands behind Bunyan's Day-of-Judgment imagery; the prophet supplied the language of dread and the promise of rising again
On Micah’s page
- Bunyan reached for Micah at his most desperate moments — Christian throws Micah 7:8, "when I fall I shall arise," straight into Apollyon's face mid-combat
- Micah 7's trembling, hiding sinners surface again at Bunyan's Last Judgment, marked in the 1678 margins as a scriptural anchor for the terror of that scene