The Most Well-Known Phrases from the Bible (light-hearted as well as serious)

TheSacredPage.com ^ | Monday, June 28, 2010 | Michael Barber

[Salvation]

Monday, June 28, 2010

The Most Well-Known Phrases from the Bible

Marcel over at the Catholic blog Aggie Catholics has put together a list of some of the most well-known phrases from the Bible. This is a great list. I suspect that some people aren't even aware that these well-known words come from the Bible.

Here are some of my favorites, but do go and read Marcel's whole list:

• 42 - "Can a leopard change his spots?" - Jeremiah 13:23
• 41 - "A man after my own heart" - Samuel 13:14 / Acts 13:22
• 38 - "The powers that be" - Romans 13: 1-2
• 37 - "Drop in the bucket" - Isaiah 40:15
• 32 - "Labor of love" - 1 Thessalonians 1:3
• 25 - "No rest for the wicked" or "No rest for the weary" - Isaiah 57:21
• 23 - "Apple of my eye" - Deuteronomy 2:10 / Zechariah 2:8
• 21 - "All things must pass" or "This too shall pass" - Matthew 24:6-8
• 16 - "Ashes to ashes" - Genesis 3:19
• 14 - "A fly in the ointment" - Ecclesiastes 10:1
• 12 - "Signs of the times" - Matthew 16:3
• 11 - "It is better to give than to receive" - Acts 20:35
• 7 - "How the mighty have fallen" - 2 Samuel 1:19
• 6 - "Bite the dust" - Psalms 72: 9
• 5 - "Sour grapes" - Ezekiel 18:2
• 4 - "The writing on the wall" - Daniel 5:5
• 3 - "At my wit's end" - Psalm 107:27
• 1 - "By the skin of our teeth" - Job 19:20

Posted by Michael Barber at 9:32 PM

[Salvation]

works for me. And you guys just did that. Good for you!

[Salvation]

I am aware of that. When they opened the new library at Mount Angel here in Oregon, our family took a tour. They showed us some ancient Bibles and said they were valued above $4000.

[firebrand]

There’s a controversy over whether he was Catholic or Protestant. For another thread at another time perhaps. : )

[MarkBsnr]

Flat doesn't necessarily mean square. People had been seeing eclipses for centuries, yet still believed that the earth was flat.

This is fantastic new learning. Next, you will tell me that a government is really in thrall to its people and that they cannot spend more than they can steal tax from the people.

We have some flat-earth Democrats hereabouts that make Robert Byrd seem both young and reasonable...

[Salvation]

I think perhaps there was a thread about it. I have always wondered. I know most people think of the Bard as a Protestant, but all his plays have a lesson to be learned.

[Salvation]

Several threads about Shakespeare being a Catholic and a cute quiz (Shakespeare or Proverbs?) on FR

[Salvation]

From: Amos 5:14

---

[14] Seek good, and not evil,
that you may live;

[Melian]

I like Moses’ final words to the Chosen People in Deut.30: 19:

“I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life — if you and your offspring would live.”

[circlecity]

"Shall I pause to let you consider the ramifications of your statement here? Let me enumerate the main points: who translated? how accurate were the Greek manuscripts that the translators actually used, and how accurate is the 1611 KJV (are you sure that the original KJV was Authorized? and who was it Authorized by?)."

1. William Tyndale translated;

2.The Greek manuscripts of Erasmus were the most reliable available at the time. They were based on the Byzantine texts althgough he even translated the Vulagate to Greek to fill in some blank spots in his Greek sources. This source, as updated, is generally referred to as the "Received" or "Majority" text.

3. The 1611 KJV was authorized by King James, thus the name. I don't believe it is as accurate as translations baed on the Alexandrian Greek texts, generally referred to as the "Critical" text. I prefer NA27 or UBS4 when studying the original critial Greek texts.

[DocRock]

One of the commonly misquoted verses is "Those that live by the sword shall die by the sword". See my tagline I have used for years for the correct wording. As a strange coincidence, yesterday a client of mine showed me a very old hand written sermon dated Sept. 10, 1777 by a preacher at the Battle of Brandywine (sp?) with the exact title "Those that take the sword shall perish by the sword". I scanned some sections and photographed the entire four pages and look forward to researching it today.

[Sherman Logan]

You do know the history of chaining (ok locking up) the Bible in church came from the era when books were more precious than gold for the thousands of hours it took for one to transcribe it, only to risk loss by someone looking for something that would burn easily for their cooking fire?

Or, more likely, something to steal and sell.

Even medieval peasants were presumably smart enough to know books were worth a lot of money.

[Sherman Logan]

One of the commonly misquoted verses is "Those that live by the sword shall die by the sword". See my tagline I have used for years for the correct wording.

That's not the correct wording, it is one of many translations into English of the correct wording, which is in ancient koine Greek.

For some of the many other translations.

http://bible.cc/matthew/26-52.htm

I know of no translation that says "live by the sword."

[Mad Dawg]

One of the best pieces of musical satire in the history of the world!

[DocRock]

What is the correct wording?

[Kid Shelleen]

Fun thread !!

"Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained in a righteous life"

" A fool does not care whether he understands a thing or not; all he wants to do is to show how clever he is"

[Sherman Logan]

Westcott and Hort:

τότε λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ Ἰησοῦς· ἀπόστρεψον τὴν μάχαιραν σου εἰς τὸν τόπον αὐτῆς· πάντες γὰρ οἱ λαβόντες μάχαιραν ἐν μαχαίρῃ ἀπολοῦνται.

I don't speak Greek, so you'll have to take the word of W and H.

I also have no idea how well this will come across on FR.

[DocRock]

No need to post Greek, just post in English what the verse should say. Thanks.

[Chi-townChief]

And the other from Hamlet: “Hoisted by his own petar(d)”

[Sherman Logan]

That was kind of my point. Any translation is by definition the translator’s interpretation of the original. It cannot be accurate in the same way the original is.

[MarkBsnr]

Shall I pause to let you consider the ramifications of your statement here? Let me enumerate the main points: who translated? how accurate were the Greek manuscripts that the translators actually used, and how accurate is the 1611 KJV (are you sure that the original KJV was Authorized? and who was it Authorized by?)."

1. William Tyndale translated;

Exactly. He learned Greek at Cambridge University and translated the entire Bible (as the story goes) by himself. He got a whole lot of things really wrong.

2.The Greek manuscripts of Erasmus were the most reliable available at the time. They were based on the Byzantine texts althgough he even translated the Vulagate to Greek to fill in some blank spots in his Greek sources. This source, as updated, is generally referred to as the "Received" or "Majority" text.

You think that the most accurate source of the time included retrotranslating Latin back to Greek?

3. The 1611 KJV was authorized by King James, thus the name. I don't believe it is as accurate as translations baed on the Alexandrian Greek texts, generally referred to as the "Critical" text. I prefer NA27 or UBS4 when studying the original critial Greek texts.

There was never an official Authorized version by King James - he just commissioned, bought and paid for it. There was never an Authorization from the King, Parliament or any Church body. Unfortunately, we do not have even the original Greek texts. I don't believe (from memory) that we have anything substantial from before 200 AD.