No one sees the biblical references to King Solomon

Rating: 10/10 (16 May 2008)

No one understands this movie. This movie adapts two very well written books of the Holy Bible by King Solomon, namely Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, to a very well written book by Cormac McCarthy. The movie is cryptic but not to the "wise."
King Solomon rebuilt the Temple in Jerusalem. What city was the gas station proprietor from? What town name was on the back of Llewelyn's jacket that he bought from the teenager at the border? At what motel did Moss stay in Del Rio?
The dreams are discernible.
"Who is like the wise one? And who is there knowing the interpretation of a thing?" - Ec. 8:1
THE FIRST DREAM: Bell says that he met his father in town somewhere. He said that his dad was going to give him some money. Bell says he thinks he lost it. INTERPRETATION: Ecclesiastes 7:12 "For wisdom is for protection the same as money is for protection." Ed Tom Bell's father gave him wisdom but Ed Tom lost it. Remember the opening monologue about the old timers?
THE SECOND DREAM: Bell says that the second dream was that of his dad and himself on horseback going through a dark, cold, snowy mountain pass. Bell says his father, carrying a horn with fire in it, went ahead of him into the darkness. He says his dad was going to make a fire somewhere in that dark and in that cold. Bell says whenever he got there his dad would be there. INTERPRETATION: Ecclesiastes 2:14 "As regards anyone wise, his eyes are in his head; but the stupid one is walking in sheer darkness. And I have come to know, I too, that there is one eventuality that eventuates them all." (see also Ec. 6:9) His dad, despite being wise("sees" by the light), goes "ahead"(dies). Ed Tom is left "walking in the darkness" - he becomes unwise as the first dream tells. Ed Tom does not understand the world anymore. He will eventually meet up with his wise father. They have the same eventuality - death. But not yet for Ed Tom who awakes from his sleep.
Ecclesiastes 5:13 is the premise for a character like Chigurh: "There exists a grave calamity that I have seen under the sun: riches being kept for their grand owner to his calamity." Chigurh provides the "grave calamity."
The film follows these two quotes from King Solomon: 1) TIME AND Unforeseen CIRCUMSTANCE BEFALL THEM ALL (Ec. 9:11) 2) FOR EVERYTHING THERE IS AN APPPOINTED TIME:...A TIME TO DIE...A TIME TO KILL AND A TIME TO HEAL(Ec 3:1-8)
Ed Tom Bell doesn't carry a gun, just like the wise ol'timers: "Wisdom is better than implements for fighting." Ec 9:18
Ecclesiastes 9:11 "...the swift do not have the race, nor the mighty ones the battle, nor do the wise also have the food, nor do the understanding ones have the riches, nor do even those having knowledge have the favor; because time and unforeseen occurrence befall them all."(See also Ec. 8:7,8)
Solomon wrote: "'...Everything is vanity!...there is nothing new under the sun...time and unforeseen occurrence befall them all.'" - Ec 1:2,9;9:11. Likewise Ellis says to Bell: "Whatcha got ain't nothing new. This country is hard on people, you can't stop what's coming, it ain't all waiting on you. That's vanity." (Those lines by Ellis are what tipped me off to the Biblical themes)
Ecclesiastes 3:19 states: "For there is an eventuality as respects the sons of mankind and an eventuality as respects the beast, and they have but one eventuality. As the one dies, so the other dies; and they all have but one spirit, so that there is no superiority of the man over the beast." Chigurh ambivalently kills some of his human victims with a pneumatic device used to slaughter livestock. Ed Tom Bell alludes to that scripture in a story about a fictitious rancher named Charly Walser.
This is the basis for the woman offering Llewelyn beer by the pool. Proverbs 7:10-13,18-23 reads "And look! there was a woman to meet him, with the garment of a prostitute and cunning of heart. She is boisterous and stubborn. In her house her feet do not keep residing. Now she is outdoors, now she in the public squares, and near every corner she lies in wait. And she has grabbed hold of him and given him a kiss. She has put on a bold face, and she begins to say to him: '...Do come, let us drink our fill of love until the morning; do let us enjoy each other with love expressions. For the husband is not in his house; he has gone traveling on a way of some distance. A bag of money he has taken in his hand...' She has misled him by the abundance of her persuasiveness. By the smoothness of her lips she seduces him. All of a sudden he is going after her, like a bull that comes even to the slaughter, and just as if unfettered for the discipline of a foolish man, until an arrow cleaves upon his liver, just as a bird hastens into the trap, and he has not known that it involves his very soul."
The El Paso Sheriff and Ed Tom discuss the degradation of society, showing their foolishness. Ecclesiastes 7:10 - "Do not say: 'Why has it happened that the former days proved to be better than these?' for it is not due to wisdom that you have said this."
By the end of the movie, Ed Tom Bell isn't sure about the world he lives in. The character begins as a confident old crusty cowboy, but in the end he can't make heads or tails.