The Mafia and the Old Testament

Italian detectives have asked the Vatican to help them decipher a cryptic biblical message published by the new Mafia Godfather. The secret message, written in Latin, uses a very famous passage from the book of Ecclesiastes as the basis for the coded message.

The message is taken from Ecclesiastes 3:1-2. In Latin, the message reads:

“Spatium est ad nascendum et spatium est ad morendum

. . . sed solum volat qui voluit et perpetuo sublimes tuus volatus fuit”

The words after “sed” (but), are not found in the Hebrew text of Ecclesiastes and many people consider the words to be a secret message.

In English, the message reads:

“To every thing there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven, a time to be born and a time to die

. . . but only he who wants to will fly, and your flight has forever been sublime”

If you can decipher the secret message, please, call the Italian police.

Read the article in its entirety by clicking here.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: Mafia, Ecclesiastes