1. See Luke 15:8-9.

2. ‘Aunt Koos’ could refer to Jacoba Wilhelmina van der Burg. Regarding Van Gogh’s reading-desk in England, cf. letter 102, n. 57.

3. Before leaving for England, Van Gogh boarded with the Roos family in The Hague; see letter 1.

4. ‘On the way’ means ‘on my way to becoming a clergyman’.

5. Rhy. ps. 42:7.

6. Prov. 16:3.

7. Rhy. ps. 51:5.

8. Cf. rhy. ps. 37:2.

9. Van Gogh was planning to live in Amsterdam with his Uncle Jan, who lived at Grote Kattenburgerstraat 3 on the Marinewerf (naval dockyard) on the island of Kattenburg, not far from the centre.

10. An expression based on Luke 9:62. As also emerges from the family correspondence, Van Gogh’s employer did not want to let him go until he had found a replacement (FR b2520).

11. This most likely refers to the print Humility, which was published in Thomas a Kempis, L’Imitation de Jésus-Christ. With reflections by F. de Lammennais at the end of every chapter. Inscribed below it, in addition to ‘Rosenthal pinxit’ and ‘Girardet & Pelé sc.’, is ‘Furne, Pagnerre, Perrotin, Éditeurs’. See 12th edition. Paris 1844, between pp. 148-149. Ill. 1802 . Vincent had received the print from Theo, to whom he had recommended the book in November 1876 (see letter 197). The engraving is part of a series, the others being by Auguste Blanchard (père), Johannes de Mare and Tony Goutière. The painting was most probably made by Constantin David Rosenthal.

12. Matt. 11:29-30.

13. Mark 8:34; cf. also Matt. 16:24.

14. ‘The kingdom of heaven’ is alluded to many times in the Gospel according to Matthew.

15. Mark 12:25.

16. For Ruipérez, see letter 40, n. 16.

17. Cf. hymn 73:10, ‘Dus past de waakzaamheid den Christen, En daaglijks ernstig onderzoek’ (Thus watchfulness becomes the Christian, And serious probing every day).

18. 2 Tim. 3:15.

19. This perhaps refers to the clerk Christiaan van de(n) Broek, who lived at Groenmarkt A 209 and is recorded in the 1873 Adresboek. The civil registration records of the municipality of Dordrecht for the years 1860-1890 contain no Ten Broek.

20. See letter 111 concerning Görlitz’s application for this position.

21. Gen. 28:10-22.

22. Used in the Bible as a name for the godless and for the evil threatening humankind; cf. such passages as Ps. 91:3 and rhy. ps. 124:4.

23. Hippolyte Adolphe Taine was probably mentioned by Theo in his letter of 21 April. From letter 133 of 30 October 1877, it emerges that Vincent had read Taine’s Histoire de la littérature anglaise. He could have inferred that Taine had visited the countries mentioned from the list of Taine’s other publications appearing in the front of Histoire de la littérature anglaise of 1874, a list which includes Voyage aux Pyrénées, Notes sur l’Angleterre, Notes sur Paris and Voyage en Italie. It is not known which of these works Van Gogh read, but he certainly knew Voyage aux Pyrénées. See Pabst 1988, p. 27.

24. E.J.T. Thoré (writing under the pseudonym W. Bürger), Musées de la Hollande, i. Amsterdam et La Haye; Vincent had sent part 2 to Theo (cf. letter 111).

25. Cf. Mark 4:14.

26. An allusion to the parable of the sower in the four Gospels, including Matt. 13:3-8. See for ‘sufficient ... thereof’: Matt. 6:34.

27. Gen. 3:18.

28. See letter 79, n. 5.

29. Regarding this walk, see letter 103.