BOB DYLAN: JOKERMAN Jokerman Biblical Commentary Distant ships sail into the mist You were born with a snake in both of your fists While a hurricane was blowin' Freedom Just around the corner from you But with truth so far off What good will it do The story of Jacob is alluded to very strongly in this stanza. Jacob wrestled with the angel; he is called "Ash tam" -- a simple man, a fool. Both of their futures, Jacob and twin Esau. The layer of goat skin Jacob wrapped on his arm to fool his father as he cheats his brother out of the blessing. Running in flight, watching the angels rise as the sun sets. A story from the age of Abraham. Cast into the fiery furnace as a boy. A man of the mountains (Heroin is the hill country). Defender of Sodom and Gomorrah -- home to his nephew, Lot. He did marry his sister (by some Rabbinic accounts) or at least passed his wife off as a sibling. Friend to God -- Heroin means friend, in Arabic it is known as AOL Hall, the friend (of God). King...