Biblical verses sung by Shylock and Jessica in Nunn's Merchant.

An excellent wife who can find?
She is far more precious than jewels.
The heart of her husband trusts in her
And he will not lack his gain:
She does him good and not harm
All the days of her life.

Proverbs 31:10-12
Proverbs 31 is "a hymn to the 'excellent wife' (Esches Khayil), sung in its entirety in many Jewish homes every Friday night to the wife, or 'mistress of the house'."

    -- Ruth HaCohen, "Between Noise and Harmony: The Oratorical Moment in the Musical Entanglements of Jews and Christians" (Critical Inquiry 32 (Winter 2006), 254, 256.


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