The sheep once spared · José Saramago · Elias Thorn
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The sheep once spared · José Saramago

Brief quotation · the desert scene · 2017 edition, p. 262

 Sacrifice, then, or there will be no covenant […]

Portuguese original · brief quotation

Sacrifica então, ou não haverá aliança […]

Reading notes

Jesus earlier spared a lamb. In the desert, God demands the grown sheep as a sacrifice, and Jesus obeys. Saramago confirms this sequence in his 1991 interview. This is a modern novel, not an episode from the canonical Gospels.

The condition of the covenant puts care to the test: can Jesus keep protecting a life when commanded to do the opposite? This reading concerns God as a character in this novel; it does not describe every religious understanding of God.

Comparison with Genesis 22 reveals a difference: Isaac’s sacrifice is stopped there; the sheep dies here. A shared concern with obedience does not make the endings equivalent.

José Saramago, O evangelho segundo Jesus Cristo, 2nd ed., 5th printing, São Paulo: Companhia das Letras, 2017, p. 262. The brief Portuguese quotation was checked against its reproduction in Jefferson de Morais Lima’s 2024 article; the complete copy of this edition was not examined. The Russian and English translations of the quotation are from Portuguese. The ellipsis marks the continuing dialogue. The complete scene is not reproduced; the text following the quotation is context and interpretation.

Open source ↗ (https://www.scielo.br/j/rblc/a/D6HtK7Wc4CZGpSZrfSY5kjm/?lang=pt)

Complete book · official Porto Editora ebook, paid access (https://www.portoeditora.pt/produtos/ficha/o-evangelho-segundo-jesus-cristo/18524349)

Free publisher sample · opening of the novel, without the sheep scene (https://biblioteca.portoeditora.pt/sample?bookGuid=15825485-10-BS)

The novel · Companhia das Letras edition (https://www.companhiadasletras.com.br/9788535930337-o-evangelho-segundo-jesus-cristo--nova-edicao--4043/p)

José Saramago · Público interview, 2 November 1991 (https://static.publico.pt/docs/cmf/autores/joseSaramago/entrevistaEvangelho.htm)

Related traces

The Stayed Hand · Abraham and Isaac (https://elias-thorn.com/en/rooms/records/garden-abraham-stopped-hand/)What Shall I Bring? · Micah and Hosea (https://elias-thorn.com/en/rooms/records/garden-mercy-and-offering/)