I Have a Dream: Martin Luther King Jr.’s Biblical Prophetic Speech

Several times a year, I listen to Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech,^[1] given on August 28, 1963, as the culmination of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Approximately 250,000 people heard it at the National Mall—the largest audience for a Washington rally up to that time. Others heard it, or parts of it, on the evening news. (You can listen to here, or read it here.)

In this speech, King speaks about how America has failed to live up to its promise of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all its citizens. In it, King lays out his dream of the future, when black people and white people will live together in brotherhood and people will “no longer be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

I teach this speech whenever I can; since moving to the South several years ago, I appreciate it even more. It is not only his deep, modulated baritone voice, delivering the speech so eloquently that moves me—it is his use of the Bible, recognized already from the time the speech was given,^[2] that inspires me.

It is well-known that King suffused this, and most of his other speeches, with earlier sources, including the Bible (both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament). What is less-appreciated is the extent to which this speech, characterized as “the rhetorical achievement of a lifetime,”^[3] is very biblical.^[4]

Biblical Quotation

This speech contains two long biblical quotations.^[5] As is typical for him, and much African American preaching, he does not introduce these verses by saying that they are from the Bible, nor does he specify which biblical book they come from; scholars of King call his non-attributed use of earlier sources, including the Bible, “voice merging.”^[6]

Early on in the speech, King declaims: “No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until ‘justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream,’” quoting Amos:

^{עמוס ה:כד} וְיִגַּל כַּמַּיִם מִשְׁפָּט וּצְדָקָה כְּנַחַל אֵיתָן.

^{Amos 5:24} But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.^[7]

Toward the end of the speech, in his final section of the “I have a dream that one day” litany, King says:

I have a dream that one day “every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.”^[8]

King is quoting Deutero-Isaiah, though imprecisely—he was quoting from memory, switching the order of clauses or word pairs—but otherwise, it is almost exactly as it reads in the King James Bible:

^{ישׁעיה מ:ד} כָּל גֶּיא יִנָּשֵׂא וְכָל הַר וְגִבְעָה יִשְׁפָּלוּ וְהָיָה הֶעָקֹב לְמִישׁוֹר וְהָרְכָסִים לְבִקְעָה. ^מ:ה וְנִגְלָה כְּבוֹד יְ־הוָה וְרָאוּ כָל בָּשָׂר יַחְדָּו כִּי פִּי יְ־הוָה דִּבֵּר.

^{Isa 40:4} Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: ^40:5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.”

Taken from the Deutero-Isaiah, the prophet of consolation, these verses aim to offer hope to those suffering the indignities of racism in the 1960s, just as they offered hope to the exiles in Babylon in the sixth century B.C.E.^[9]

Biblical Allusions

King also uses shorter biblical phrases throughout the speech. Early on, he speaks of the Emancipation Proclamation “as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity”—this too is based on the exilic and post-exilic prophesies now found at the end of Isaiah:

^{ישׁעיה נח:ח} אָז יִבָּקַע כַּשַּׁחַר אוֹרֶךָ וַאֲרֻכָתְךָ מְהֵרָה תִצְמָח וְהָלַךְ לְפָנֶיךָ צִדְקֶךָ כְּבוֹד יְ־הוָה יַאַסְפֶךָ.

^{Isa 58:8} Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy reward.^[10]

King later returns to this central image of this verse when he hopes for the emergence of “the bright day of justice.”

Twice King speaks of “valley” with a negative valence:

Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.

Let us not wallow in the valley of despair…

The use of valley as a negative trope likely reflects the well-known verse in one of the famous psalms:

^{תהלים כג:ד} גַּם כִּי אֵלֵךְ בְּגֵיא צַלְמָוֶת לֹא אִירָא רָע כִּי אַתָּה עִמָּדִי שִׁבְטְךָ וּמִשְׁעַנְתֶּךָ הֵמָּה יְנַחֲמֻנִי.

^{Ps 23:4} Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Although King does not refer to the entire verse, he surely alludes to its end as well: the idea that God will provide the ultimate comfort and salvation. King also mentions “drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred”—this too is an image from Deutero-Isaiah, from 51:17 and 22, which speak of the cup of God’s fury (כּוֹס הַתַּרְעֵלָה and כּוֹס חֲמָתוֹ) that informed Israel’s exile—an exile soon to be overturned.

New Testament Phrases

Although most of his quotations are from the Hebrew Bible, King also uses phrases that are found in the New Testament (or in both parts of the Christian Bible). Three times in this speech he calls humanity “all of God’s children,” a phrase he uses in other speeches, echoing Hebrew Bible verses such as Deuteronomy 14:1, בָּנִים אַתֶּם לַי־הוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם, “You are children of the LORD your God,” but also several New Testament passages, most famously Galatians 3:26, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”

The final use of this phrase, almost at the very end, is immediately followed by: “black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics.” These pairs pick up on just two verses later in Paul’s letter:

^{Galatians 3:28} There is neither Jew nor Greek [other translations: Gentile], there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

King even uses three paired phrases, just like Paul!^[11]

Biblical Imagery

In addition to quotations, King also uses images that allude to biblical verses. Toward the beginning of the speech, he notes that “the Negro… finds himself in exile [my emphasis, MZB] in his own land.” Exile is a biblical trope, calling up images of Judeans being carried off to Babylon to live in a foreign land. King’s point is to note the sad irony that, in this case, black people are Americans, yet they are treated as other in their own country.

Toward the end of his speech, King’s image of “when all of God's children will be able to sing,” likely refers to Zechariah 8:5, where the prophet describes an ideal future where the squares of the city shall be crowded with joyous boys and girls:

^{זכריה ח:ה} וּרְחֹבוֹת הָעִיר יִמָּלְאוּ יְלָדִים וִילָדוֹת מְשַׂחֲקִים בִּרְחֹבֹתֶיהָ.

^{Zech 8:5} And the squares of the city shall be crowded with boys and girls playing in the squares.

He also alludes to Deutero-Isaiah’s Suffering Servant passage, which describes a person who suffers for the sins of his people, allowing for their future redemption:

^{ישעיה נג:ג} נִבְזֶה וַחֲדַל אִישִׁים אִישׁ מַכְאֹבוֹת וִידוּעַ חֹלִי וּכְמַסְתֵּר פָּנִים מִמֶּנּוּ נִבְזֶה וְלֹא חֲשַׁבְנֻהוּ... ^נג:ה וְהוּא מְחֹלָל מִפְּשָׁעֵנוּ מְדֻכָּא מֵעֲו‍ֹנֹתֵינוּ מוּסַר שְׁלוֹמֵנוּ עָלָיו וּבַחֲבֻרָתוֹ נִרְפָּא לָנוּ.

^{Isa 53:3} He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not… ^53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

Christian exegesis understands this prophecy as a reference to Jesus, and it figures prominently in the New Testament.^[12] King calls this figure to mind when he tells the audience:

You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.^[13]

King’s reference to “the table of brotherhood” alludes to the custom of the early Jesus group eating together, as reflected in the book of Acts:

^{Acts 2:42} They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.[14]

It is even possible that his reference to “this hallowed spot,” toward the beginning of the speech, is meant to remind listeners of the “hallowed” book, the Bible.

Although many whites heard this speech, or perhaps better, sermon,^[15] the majority of its audience was African American. This community would have known and appreciated these citations and allusions, and would have filled in much of their context, just like the average yeshiva student would recognize many verses from the Hebrew Bible along with their context.

The audience of the speech would have been especially prepared, or primed, to hear allusions after hearing the opening references to documents of American civil Bibles.^[16] These include the Gettysburg Address and the Emancipation Proclamation, and soon thereafter, mentions of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, and toward the end, “America” (“My country ’tis of thee...”) by Samuel Francis Smith. The very end of the speech, explicitly citing a well-known African American spiritual, also alerts readers to the allusions throughout.

Parallelism: A Biblical Rhetorical Device

This speech, like most of his other speeches and sermons, is also suffused with rhetorical devices^[17] that are found in the Bible. Underappreciated is his extensive use of parallelism^[18]—which typifies the Hebrew Bible and ancient Near Eastern poetry^[19]—that helps give the entire speech, preached in a type of elevated prose that approaches poetry,^[20] a biblical ring. Especially as a result of parallelism, “King sounded like the Bible.”^[21]

In parallelism, verses are divided into two parts, where the latter part seconds the first in a variety of ways.^[22] Some examples of parallelism in the speech are (for a full list, see addendum):

• [they] have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny,
  and they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom
• a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote
  and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote
• battered by the storms of persecution
  and staggered by the winds of police brutality

Related to parallelism are word-pairs, two words either nearly identical or opposite in meaning, which are used in close proximity to each other, often separated by “and.” Here are some examples of word-pairs in the speech (for a full list, see addendum):

• the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination
• sweltering summer … invigorating autumn
• freedom and equality
• neither rest nor tranquility
• dignity and discipline

Other Poetic Devices

King was extremely well-versed in English poetry, and in his speeches he cited many English poems,^[23] and made use of poetic devices from these works as well. While such poetic devices do not specifically recall the Bible, when combined with the biblical quotations, allusions and parallelism, they add great power to the speech, and make it sound even more biblical.

Repetition

Many forms of poetry repeat words or phrases for rhetorical effect.^[24] Some examples in “I Have a Dream” are:

• No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied.
• Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

This latter quote reflects the strongest type of parallelism, exact repetition, though it is not precisely biblical in style.^[25]

Alliteration

Another common feature in poetry is alliteration, the repetition of the same or similar consonants in close proximity. King makes extensive use of this device in the speech.^[26] Some examples are (for a fuller list, see addendum):

• sweltering summer
• marvelous new militancy
• trials and tribulations
• curvaceous slopes of California
• molehill of Mississippi

The Hebrew Bible is full of alliteration.^[27] A parade example of this is פַּחַד וָפַחַת וָפָח, pachad vafachat vapach, found in both Isaiah 24:17 and Jeremiah 48:43. King did not learn of alliteration through reading the Bible in Hebrew, though he likely knew what the Bible sounded like in the original from his studies at Crozer Theological Seminary with James B. Pritchard, the editor of the famous ANET (Ancient Near Eastern Texts Relating to the Old Testament).^[28]

Anaphora

Anaphora, a term borrowed from the Greek ἀναφορά, refers to a word or expression used at the beginning of several successive phrases; King very often uses this device, found in some biblical texts,^[29] but also typical of African American preaching:

“One hundred years later”

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro …. One hundred years later, the Negro …. One hundred years later, the Negro …

“We refuse to believe”

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.

“We can never be satisfied”

We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies…. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility …. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped …. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi …. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until …

“Go back”

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities

“I have a dream”

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up … I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia… I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi…. I have a dream that my four little children …. I have a dream today! I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama… I have a dream today! I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted…

“Let freedom ring”

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California…. Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.^[30]

Epistrophe

Epistrophe, from Greek ἐπιστροφή, is the opposite of anaphora—it refers to a word or expression repeated at the end of successive phrases. It is found here in the speech:

“Together”

With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together…

In general, King uses epistrophe much less than anaphora.^[31]

Metaphorical Language

Figuration, especially metaphors,^[32] typify both general and biblical poetry; they are also central to African American preaching.^[33] God is a shepherd is the basic metaphor of Psalm 23, Ezekiel 34, and other Hebrew Bible texts; the beginning of the book of Lamentations has as its central metaphor of Jerusalem as a widow. Poetic metaphors can be extensive, spread throughout a poem, as in the biblical examples just noted, or can be very localized. King’s speech uses metaphors of both types.

The first part of the speech is a jeremiad, a type of speech based on Jeremiah’s frequent expressions of indignation and calls for change. A common form of African American preaching,^[34] the beginning of the speech employs the metaphor: “America’s promise of equality to the African-American community is a bounced check.”^[35] King develops this in detail:

In a sense we've come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights"^[36] of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds."

He continues the metaphor in the following paragraph:

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

This powerful metaphor, taken from the sphere of economics during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, is easy to identify with, and expresses the grave injustice of the American treatment of the African American community.

In addition, the speech is full of shorter metaphorical expressions,^[37] such as (see fuller list in addendum):

• the flames of withering injustice
• lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity
• the tranquilizing drug of gradualism
• quicksands of racial injustice
• whirlwinds of revolt
• the mountain of despair
• a stone of hope
• a beautiful symphony of brotherhood

In several cases, these metaphors are combined with alliteration or parallelism, adding to their effectiveness.

Effective Rhetoric

English uses the word “rhetoric” in two opposite ways: Claiming that something is just rhetoric, or that a point is rhetorical, is often meant pejoratively, while its other use highlights it as an effective method of communication. In drawing attention to the rhetoric, especially the biblical rhetoric of the speech, I mean to praise it, using the latter, positive, understanding found in the book Proverbs, which often highlights the efficacy of well-wrought speech (see e.g. 25:11–12):

‏^{משׁלי כה:יא} תַּפּוּחֵי זָהָב בְּמַשְׂכִּיּוֹת כָּסֶף דָּבָר דָּבֻר עַל אָפְנָיו. ^כה:יב נֶזֶם זָהָב וַחֲלִי כָתֶם מוֹכִיחַ חָכָם עַל אֹזֶן שֹׁמָעַת.

^{Prov 25:11} Like golden apples in silver showpieces Is a phrase well turned. ^25:12 Like a ring of gold, a golden ornament, Is a wise man’s reproof in a receptive ear.

Like King, ancient Egyptian wisdom literature, which influenced the Bible, also appreciated that effective words are stronger than the sword.^[38]

The message of this speech—the demand for full equality for all Americans—is as crucial now as it was over fifty years ago. King conveyed this point with great power, using the Bible in a wide variety of ways. These uses gave greater gravitas to the speech, and made it prophetic—King saw himself as standing in line with Amos and Isaiah, whom he quotes. These biblical references resonated deeply with his original audience, and continue to resonate deeply with those of us familiar with biblical texts and their rhetorical tropes.

A Biblical Prophetic Message in Our Age

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. viewed himself, and was viewed by others, as a biblical prophet.^[39] This is most obvious in his April 3, 1968, “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, preached the day before he was assassinated, when he eerily compared himself to Moses, who would not live to enter the promised land.^[40] But we see it already here, in the “I Have a Dream” speech, where he spoke in a prophetic voice as the leader of the African American community, hoping to usher them into the new promised land, namely, an America that would treat them equitably.

King’s dream has yet to be realized, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a reminder that we must recommit to this dream by listening to this speech with better understanding, moving us to action, as we each do our best to actualize the prophetic dreams he quoted and paraphrased so effectively.^[41]

Addendum: Fuller Lists

Parallelism/Word Pairs

• joyous daybreak … long night of their captivity
• the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination
• lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity
• the riches of freedom and the security of justice
• the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice
• the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood
• sweltering summer … invigorating autumn
• freedom and equality
• neither rest nor tranquility
• dignity and discipline
• have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny, and they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom
• in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities
• stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity
• a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote
• battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality
• sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression
• freedom and justice
• interposition and nullification
• This is our hope, and this is the faith
• every village and every hamlet
• every state and every city

Alliteration

• symbolic shadow we stand today, signed
• come to our nation’s capital to cash a check
• Life, Liberty
• sweltering summer
• dignity and discipline
• marvelous new militancy
• trials and tribulations
• today and tomorrow
• dream deeply … dream
• state sweltering
• color of their skin but by the content of their character
• mighty mountains
• curvaceous slopes of California
• molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside
• Jews and Gentiles

Anaphora

“One hundred years later”

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro …. One hundred years later, the Negro …. One hundred years later, the Negro …

“We refuse to believe”

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.

“We must”

…we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. ... We must forever conduct our struggle …. We must not allow our creative protest …. Again and again, we must rise…

“We walk”

We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.

“We can never be satisfied”

We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies…. We cannot be satisfied as long as the negro's basic mobility …. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped …. We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi …. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until …

“Some of you”

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. And some of you have come from areas where your quest ….

“Go back”

Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities

“I have a dream”

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up … I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia… I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi…. I have a dream that my four little children …. I have a dream today! I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama… I have a dream today! I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted…

“With this faith”

With this faith, we will be able to hew out …. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords …. With this faith….

“This will be the day”

And this will be the day -- this will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:

“Let freedom ring”

And so let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California…. Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia. Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee. Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

“Free at last”

Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

Metaphors

• the flames of withering injustice
• long night of their captivity
• manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination
• lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity
• the tranquilizing drug of gradualism
• dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice
• quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood
• whirlwinds of revolt
• the storms of persecution and … the winds of police brutality
• the valley of despair
• the mountain of despair
• a stone of hope
• a beautiful symphony of brotherhood
• Let freedom ring