Common Idioms that Originate from the Bible
Common Idioms that Originate from the Bible
Idioms are expressions or phrases that have become part of the English language and are used to convey a particular meaning. Many idioms have their origins in the Bible, which has had a profound impact on English literature and language. Here are some common idioms that have their roots in the Bible:
"The writing is on the wall": "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin" from Daniel 5:25-28.
"The salt of the earth": "Ye are the salt of the earth" from Matthew 5:13.
"A drop in the bucket": "Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket" from Isaiah 40:15.
"A house divided against itself cannot stand": "If a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand" from Mark 3:25.
"A labour of love": "Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love" from Thessalonians 1:3.
"A leopard can't change its spots": "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" from Jeremiah 13:23.
"A man after my own heart": "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart" from Acts 13:22.
"A wolf in sheep's clothing": "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves" from Matthew 7:15.
"An eye for an eye": "But if there be any further harm, then thou shalt give life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth" from Exodus 21:23-24.
"Apple of my eye": "He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye" from Zechariah 2:8.
"As old as Methuselah": "And all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred sixty and nine years" from Genesis 5:27.
"Eat, drink and be merry": "Then I commended mirth, because a man hath no better thing under the sun, than to eat, and to drink, and to be merry" from Ecclesiastes 8:15.
"By the skin of one's teeth": "My bone cleaveth to my skin and to my flesh, and I am escaped with the skin of my teeth" from Job 19:20.
"Fall from grace": "Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace" from Galatians 5:4.
"Fight the good fight": "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called" from Timothy 6:12.
"For everything, there is a season": "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven" from Ecclesiastes 3:1.
"Out of the mouths of babes": "Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength" from Psalms 8:2.
"The blind leading the blind": "Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch" from Matthew 15:14.
"The powers that be": "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God" from Romans 13:1.
"To cast the first stone": "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her" from John 8:7.
"To rise from the dead": "He is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all live unto him" from Luke 20:38.
"The straight and narrow": "Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it" from Matthew 7:14.
"Turn the other cheek": "But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also" from Matthew 5:39.
"Woe is me": "For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters. For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came" from Job 3:24-26.
"Scapegoat": "And Aaron shall lay both his hands upon the head of the live goat, and confess over him all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions in all their sins, putting them upon the head of the goat, and shall send him away by the hand of a fit man into the wilderness" from Leviticus 16:21-22.
"The root of all evil": "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows" from Timothy 6:10.
"A thorn in the flesh": "And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure" from Corinthians 12:7.
"Turned the tables": "And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables" from John 2:15.
"The blind leading the blind": "Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch" from Matthew 15:14.
"A voice crying in the wilderness": "The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God" from Isaiah 40:3.
"The powers that be": "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God" from Romans 13:1.
"Turn the other cheek": "But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also" from Matthew 5:39.
"A wolf in sheep's clothing": "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves" from Matthew 7:15.
"Bite the dust": "And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord" from Job 1:12.
"A drop in the ocean": "Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing" from Isaiah 40:15.
"The apple of one's eye": "He that toucheth you toucheth the apple of his eye" from Zechariah 2:8.
"The handwriting on the wall": "Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin" from Daniel 5:25-28.
"A leopard cannot change its spots": "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" from Jeremiah 13:23.
"A labour of love": "Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love" from Thessalonians 1:3.
"A house divided against itself cannot stand": "If a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand" from Mark 3:25.
"Go the extra mile": "And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain" from Matthew 5:41.
"Love thy neighbour as thyself": "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" from Leviticus 19:18.
"No rest for the wicked": "But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked" from Isaiah 57:20-21.
"Sow the seeds of": "And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow" from Matthew 13:3.
"You reap what you sow": "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap" from Galatians 6:7.
"The love of money is the root of all evil": "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows" from Timothy 6:10.
"To give up the ghost": "And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said, Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said thus, he gave up the ghost" from Luke 23:46.
"The blind leading the blind": "Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch" from Matthew 15:14.
"To put words in someone's mouth": "Now therefore go, and I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say" from Exodus 4:12.
"To cast pearls before swine": "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you" from Matthew 7:6.