Literary notes about Testament (AI summary)
The term “testament” has been used in literature with remarkable versatility, appearing both in its strict biblical sense and as a metaphor for a final declaration or lasting legacy. Authors throughout history invoke the Old and New Testaments to refer directly to canonical religious texts, as seen in passages that discuss their theological or moral import ([1], [2], [3]). Meanwhile, “testament” is also employed figuratively to denote a body of work or a conclusive statement of one’s beliefs, such as Rilke’s “testament on Life and Art” ([4]) or the literal last wills found in narratives ([5], [6], [7]). Other texts integrate the term into broader cultural or historical discourses, linking scriptural authority with everyday life and even scholarly debates ([8], [9], [10]). In each usage, whether it is anchoring a discussion in biblical tradition or serving as a metaphor for personal and intellectual legacies, “testament” operates as a multifaceted concept that enriches the narrative with layers of meaning.
- “Ah,” said Adam, “I like to read about Moses best, in th' Old Testament.
— from Adam Bede by George Eliot - They are accused of immoral practices, and the New Testament is called a sinful book.
— from Secret societies and subversive movements by Nesta Helen Webster - Adonai (ad′o-nī), a name bestowed upon God in the Old Testament.
— from The New Gresham Encyclopedia. A to Amide by Various - Thus Rilke's monograph on Auguste Rodin will remain the poet's testament on Life and Art.
— from Poems by Rainer Maria Rilke - See and do that; and take out the topmost paper—Last Will and Testament—big printed.
— from Middlemarch by George Eliot - Recommending my said husband to her care, whom I make the sole executrix of this my last will and testament, hereby revoking all others.
— from History of Woman Suffrage, Volume I - "But before I go I want to make my last will and testament—I want to leave you the Brys.
— from The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton - He then made the façade of mosaic in S. Paolo without Rome, and many stories of the Old Testament for the central nave.
— from Lives of the Most Eminent Painters Sculptors and Architects, Vol. 01 (of 10) by Giorgio Vasari - The New Testament inaugurates a new and reform system of religion in each case.
— from The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors; Or, Christianity Before Christ by Kersey Graves - For the Greek Testament we had "Dawson," a vocabulary couched in the Latin tongue, notwithstanding the author's name.
— from Toronto of Old by Henry Scadding
