GraceCom presents a series of excerpts from Brush Up Your Bible!
by Michael Macrone, Associate Site Producer and the author of nine
books on language, literature, and ideas. This book is a guide to the
most quoted words and phrases from English translations of Scripture.
Famous lines are place in their original context, along with historical
background and introductions to the Bible's most important figures
and stories.
92. Jonah and the Whale
There are several surprises to the story of Jonah. First, not a single English proverb or catchphrase derives from it. Second, despite its fame it is only four short chapters (forty-eight verses) long. Third, the text never (in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, or English) refers to a "whale."
[08/01/2006]
91. To Reap the Whirlwind
It's been over 640 pages in the standard King James Version since God laid down his commandment against "graven images," and 628 since the incident of the original golden calf; yet here we are again, with Israel setting up a golden calf in Samaria. God pledges to smash the calf into pieces and cause Israel to be swallowed up by its enemies. The Israelites' actions call forth an opposite and much greater reaction: they have, in Hosea's memorable phrase, "sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind."
[07/18/2006]
90. The Writing on the Wall & Weighed in the Balance
When you "see the writing on the wall," you have no doubt that you're doomed: the message has become crystal clear. Such is not the case with the original writing (or "handwriting") on the wall, which is found in the book of Daniel though the actual phrase is not.
[07/04/2006]
89. Feet of Clay
Reminiscent at turns of the dream-interpreting Joseph and of the visionary prophet Ezekiel, Daniel is a learned Jewish exile at the court of the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. As we join the story, Nebuchadnezzar has been having strange and troubling dreams, and Daniel resolves to crack their riddle.
[06/20/2006]
88. Wheels within Wheels
We now use "wheels within wheels" to mean "devices within devices," or "multilayered plots" with intricate, hidden motions. But what the prophet Ezekiel sees in his strange "visions of God" is something more mysterious.
[06/06/2006]
87. Set Your Teeth on Edge
Though Jeremiah's bitter prophecy has come true and Judah has fallen to Nebuchadnezzar, here he preaches a message of hope. When the kingdom of Judah returns from exile to its liberated land, the people shall no longer say "the fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge."
[05/23/2006]
86. A Leopard Can't Change Its Spots & Jeremiad
Once again, the Lord is fuming over the sins of Judah and Jerusalem, and once again he has chosen a prophet (Jeremiah) to predict vengeance -- which will arrive when Babylon conquers the kingdom and sacks the Jerusalem temple. Jeremiah adds in his own complaints against his society, which are so bitter and proved
so unpopular that we've coined the word "jeremiad" -- meaning "lamentation" or "tirade" -- in his honor.
[05/09/2006]
85. Holier than Thou
"Holier than thou": sanctimonious, arrogant, superior, smug -- for once, we use a biblical phrase that accurately reflects the Bible's attitude. What angers God is the hypocrisy of claiming to be holy while abusing holy rites.
[04/25/2006]
84. A Lamb to the Slaughter
The book of Isaiah sometimes has been called "the Gospel in the Old Testament" because of chapters like this (53), which greatly influenced the depiction of Jesus in the New Testament -- for example, as one who is mute and uncomplaining when led like a "lamb to the slaughter."
[04/11/2006]
83. To See Eye to Eye
We don't really mean "see eye to eye," and neither did the author of Isaiah. The Hebrew "eye to eye" actually means "right before the eye" and doesn't necessarily involve a second party, despite the way we use it today. And it has nothing to do with equality of views.
[03/28/2006]
82. A Drop in the Bucket
The author of Second Isaiah reminds the exiled Jews of the mysterious wisdom and awesome power of the Lord. Hostile nations are to him "as a drop of a bucket," a mere trifle.
[03/14/2006]
81. A Voice Crying in the Wilderness
Today we use "a voice crying in the wilderness" to mean "a warning voice no one heeds." But in the Hebrew text of Isaiah, the voice doesn't cry in the wilderness at all; rather, it instructs some unnamed prophet to prepare a "highway" through the wilderness.
[02/28/2006]
80. To Beat Swords into Plowshares
What's a "plowshare," and how can you beat a sword into one? A plowshare, also known as a "share," is simply the sharp blade of a plow, which you might indeed fashion by beating an old straight sword into a new curved shape.
[02/14/2006]
79. White as Snow
The phrase "white as snow" appears several times in the Bible, but Isaiah's line is the most famous, and furthermore he is the first to actually say "white as snow" in Hebrew.
[01/31/2006]
78. The Song of Songs
Though its first verse proclaims that it's Solomon's work, the Song of Songs appears rather to be an anthology of popular Hebrew love lyrics, sung and then written down over a period of centuries.
[01/17/2006]
77. To Cast Bread upon the Waters
Although Ecclesiastes' phrase is now commonly used as a call for charity, his eye was actually trained on personal profit.
[01/03/2006]
76. A Fly in the Ointment
Ecclesiastes' metaphor of a fly in the ointment signifies how catastrophically, and how quickly, a relatively minor flaw may ruin the best of things (in this case, one's reputation).
[12/20/2005]
75. Two Are Better than One
What Ecclesiastes meant when he coined this phrase is "two bodies are better than one" -- the better to plow fields, recover from accidents, fend off enemies, and keep warm at night. He was talking about physical challenges, not opinions
[12/06/2005]
74. A Season for Everything
Ecclesiastes is the source for peacenik Pete Seeger's song "Turn Turn Turn," which actually manages to capture the central sentiments of this important book.
[11/22/2005]
73. There Is Nothing New under the Sun and Eat, Drink, and Be Merry
Ecclesiastes never foresaw the hydrogen bomb, tabloid journalism, or the Lambada when he opined that "there is no new thing under the sun." On the other hand, he would probably have called such inventions "novelties," not "new," because, according to his grand view of things, they wouldn't change anything important.
[11/08/2005]
72. Vanity of Vanities
Right at the beginning of his book, Ecclesiastes -- called "the Preacher" here but whose name really means "assembler" -- sets forth his theme: "vanity of vanities: all is vanity." In other words, "human endeavor is vain and empty."
[10/25/2005]
71. Pride Goes before a Fall
Though one of the creakiest pieces of ancient wisdom, the idea that "pride goes before a fall" (an abridgment of Proverbs 16: 18) often bears repeating.
[10/11/2005]
70. To Spare the Rod
Most biblical proverbs go something like this: "A faithful witness will not lie: but a false witness will utter lies" (14: 5). In other words, they're hard to argue with. But this one is different, especially in this age of competing child-rearing philosophies.
[09/27/2005]
69. A Two-Edged Sword
The "two-edged (or double-edged) sword" of Proverbs has very little to do with today's metaphor. A father is advising his son to resist the temptations of a loose woman, whose enticing words may sound sweet, but who will taste bitter in the end, truly "sharp as a two-edged sword" -- that is, really, really sharp.
[09/13/2005]
68. Tender Mercies and Loving-Kindness
Though their emphases differ, Psalms 17 and 25 share a common theme: the Lord is loving and merciful to those who trust and obey him.
[08/30/2005]
67. Out of the Mouths of Babes
"Out of the mouths of babes," we now say (slightly misquoting), come the darndest things. The translators of Psalms can't agree on whether the babes spout fighting words or waft hosannas -- but either way it's a miracle.
[08/16/2005]
66. Behemoth and Leviathan
In the course of chastising Job, God makes the point that mankind tends to take a grandiose view of its importance. In nature are creatures who fear no man, and forces only God can control. Among these are the fearsome "behemoth" (Job 40: 15) and "leviathan" (41: 1).
[08/02/2005]
65. Eyes to the Blind
Anything would look good compared to Job's present misery, but he does go overboard in praising his past, claiming, among many other things, that he was "eyes to the blind," "feet to the lame," "father to the poor," and so on and so forth.
[07/19/2005]
64. The Root of the Matter
For sixteen chapters, Job has had to endure the accusations and mockery of his so-called "friends," whose theme is that, since God is just, Job must have done something to deserve his affliction. Job warns his accusers to look to themselves and to fear the "punishments of the sword."
[07/05/2005]
63. The Skin of Your Teeth
Job complains to three "friends" -- a pitiless bunch -- about his recent troubles, which have reduced him to skin and bones, and bad skin at that. He has only "escaped with the skin of his teeth" -- that is, his gums are about the only flesh he has left.
[06/21/2005]
62. The Lord Gave, and the Lord Hath Taken Away
You will not find the phrase, "The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away" in the King James Bible -- nice try with the Renaissance conjugations, but still a misquotation.
[06/07/2005]
61. Satan
The Satan of the Hebrew Bible -- who appears briefly in Job, Zechariah, and Chronicles -- is not the "fallen angel" or "prince of Hell" we find in Christian tradition. Rather, he is in literal Hebrew an "adversary" in the Lord's service whose job is to provoke proud mortals to overplay their hands.
[05/24/2005]
60. Put Your House in Order
The prophet Isaiah often packs lots of quintessentially biblical phrasing into one verse. In II Kings 20: 1, the Judean ruler Hezekiah is "sick unto death," so Isaiah advises him to "Set thine house in order."
[05/10/2005]
59. To Take Root
The basic message of this quotation is that while Assyria has subjected most of the Kingdom of Judah, a remnant of Jews shall "take root" again in the soil of Jerusalem and grow into a resistance force against the infidels.
[04/26/2005]
58. A Still Small Voice
This striking phrase for God's manifestation to the prophet Elijah is Renaissance English for "a soft, whispering murmur" -- that is, a breeze.
[04/12/2005]
57. To Gird Your Loins
Although "to gird your loins" sounds racy to the modern reader, all the prophet Elijah is doing is tucking in his robe.
[03/29/2005]
56. A Jezebel
Jezebel -- whose name means "Where's the prince?" in Hebrew -- has gone down in history as the most wicked woman in the entire Bible. In this installment, we find out why.
[03/15/2005]
55. A Jeroboam
If you run into a jeroboam at a New Year's Eve party, it won't be an Israelite king but rather a wine bottle (used mostly for champagne) holding three liters, roughly four-fifths of a gallon. These jeroboams bring much joy, unlike their namesake, who "made Israel to sin" (I Kings 14: 16).
[03/04/2005]
54. To Put Words in One's Mouth
Wyclif coined this figure for manipulation in his 1382 translation of II Samuel, in which David's nephew Joab plots to reconcile the king with his alienated son Absalom.
[02/18/2005]
53. How the Mighty Are Fallen!
After Israel's king (Saul) is slain, his enemy and the future king (David) utters this line a bit opportunistically, but that hasn't stopped anybody from solemnly quoting it when allegedly great leaders bite the dust.
[02/04/2005]
52. One of These Days
The King James Version of the Bible has contributed so many words and phrases to English that it can be forgiven for occasionally trying to subtract one -- as when it reduced Miles Coverdale's "one of these days" to the more concise but less catchy "one day."
[01/20/2005]
51. David and Goliath
This is a tale very dear to the hearts of modern Israelis, who often compare their state to a tiny David set against the hostile Goliath of its Arab neighbors. Their hero, the shepherd David, is the archetypal underdog, cunning and brave but far outmatched in physical stature by his Philistine opponent, whom the King James Version describes as "six cubits and a span" (9 feet, 9 inches) in height.
[01/06/2005]
50. A Man after His Own Heart
When Israel's first king, Saul, turns out to be a commandment-breaker, God seeks out a more obedient ruler -- a man more after His own heart.
[12/23/2004]
49. God Save the King
Originally governed by judges, the Israelites eventually realize that they need a true king, the first being Saul. When he is chosen, the people shout "God save the King," which is the King James Bible's translation of what in Hebrew is closer to "long live the King."
[12/09/2004]
48. Philistine
The application of "philistine" to someone ignorant or unsophisticated traces to a late-17th-century German sermon on a passage from Judges 16 concerning the residents of Palestine -- whose name derives from the same Hebrew term.
[11/25/2004]
47. A Shibboleth
This entry explains how the English term for "catch-phrase" or "word peculiar to a subculture" derives from the Hebrew for "flooding stream."
[11/11/2004]
46. The Way of All Flesh
This phrase, which originates in Joshua's swan song, is his way of saying "I'm going to die"; but over the years it has come to mean something else altogether.
[10/27/2004]
45. To Heap Mischief
This phrase is first found in the "Song of Moses" (Deuteronomy), in which Moses reveals God's plans for a "perverse and crooked generation" of Israelites.
[10/13/2004]
44. Man Does Not Live by Bread Alone
The phrase "Man doth not live by bread only" (Deuteronomy 8: 3) is one of many from the Torah that Jesus quotes in the New Testament, though he changes "does" to "shall" and "only" to "alone" (Matthew 4: 4 and Luke 4: 4). Thus the familiar "man does not live by bread alone" is a hybrid of two versions.
[09/29/2004]
43. A Thorn in Your Side
God advises Moses on how to behave as he leads the Israelites into Canann, the Promised Land: drive out the Canaanites, or they will become "thorns in your sides."
[09/15/2004]
42. What Hath God Wrought!
This immortal exclamation of an Eastern wizard (or professional curser) named Balaam became Samuel Morse's first telegraph message after the daughter of a U.S. patent official suggested it.
[09/01/2004]
41. Aaron's Rod
In this entry we explore the story behind the common English plant name, which traces back to God's selection of Aaron's tribe -- the Levites -- to be the leading clan and ultimate authority among the Israelites as they approach the Promised Land.
[08/18/2004]
40. Jubilee
For the Israelites, good things came in sevens, so all the better in seven times seven. They celebrated the original "Jubilee" on the sabbath of sabbaths, every seven times seventh year.
[08/04/2004]
39. Love Thy Neighbor
You may think that Jesus invented the phrase "Love thy neighbor as thyself" (Matthew 5: 43, etc.), but like the rest of us he actually quotes the Hebrew Bible (Leviticus 19).
[07/21/2004]
38. A Scapegoat
The word "scapegoat" is a piece of patchwork by William Tyndale, from his 1530 translation of Leviticus 16. A Hebrew word he thought meant "escaped goat" is actually the name of an evil demon or "angry god," which is more or less what the word literally meant.
[07/07/2004]
37. Long-Suffering
"Long-suffering" did not originally imply meek or all-forgiving, as it tends to do today. In biblical use, it implies a breaking point: one may suffer long, but not forever, and the longer the suffering, the more violent the backlash.
[06/23/2004]
36. A Stiff-Necked People
The phrase "stiffnecked people" (sans hyphen) first appears in chapter 32 of Exodus, but it will be applied again and again to the obstreperous Israelites.
[06/09/2004]
35. The Golden Calf
Various major pagan gods were represented as virile calves, which is why Moses -- and God -- are so angry when Aaron melts down some gold earrings to fashion the image of a calf.
[05/26/2004]
34. Eye for Eye, Tooth for Tooth
The Israeli penal code was certainly no day at the beach -- this phrase was meant to be taken literally. But it was actually much less harsh than others prevailing at the time.
[05/12/2004]
33. A Graven Image
The Israelites were perhaps the least visual people in the ancient world, as they showed little interest in painting, decoration, or representations of any sort. Above all, they shunned depicting their God Yahweh in drawings or statues -- "graven images."
[04/28/2004]
32. The Ten Commandments
Jews, Catholics, Protestants, and Eastern Orthodox Christians all call the most important table of God's laws the "Ten Commandments" or "The Decalogue"; but they disagree on how to number them.
[04/14/2004]
31. Manna from Heaven
The manna that God rained down on His people in the wilderness wasn't really bread, but a delicious, sugary derivative of the tamarisk bush.
[03/31/2004]
30. Fleshpot
When you imagine a "fleshpot," you're probably not thinking of a large metal caldron used to boil meat.
[03/17/2004]
29. The Parting of the Waters
If "parting of the waters" calls to mind Moses waving his rod and dividing a vast sea into two huge walls of water, forget it. What is called the "Red Sea" in Exodus is almost certainly not what we call the Red Sea today, but rather a much humbler body of water.
[03/03/2004]
28. Jehovah (I Am that I Am)
You may wonder, as you read along in the Hebrew Bible, why God has so many names. This entry explores that question.
[02/18/2004]
27. Let My People Go
You may think that the oft-quoted phrase, "Let my people go," is Moses' one classic line in the Bible. But not only is this demand borrowed from Yahweh (the "my" of "my people"), it's delivered to Pharaoh by Moses' elder brother, Aaron.
[02/04/2004]
26. To Harden Your Heart
On the one hand, God promises to smite the Egyptians and deliver Israel from slavery; on the other hand, he's going to make the going difficult by "hardening the heart" of the Pharaoh.
[01/21/2004]
25. A Land of Milk and Honey
When God promises to deliver Israel to a "land flowing with milk and honey," he doesn't mean that these liquids will wash over the land, but rather that his people can look forward to a booming economy.
[01/07/2004]
24. The Burning Bush
In this excerpt, Moses meets his destiny, in the form of a "burning bush," which, however, while aflame, doesn't really "burn," because it isn't consumed.
[12/17/2003]
23. A Stranger in a Strange Land
In this excerpt, we learn of Moses's early life, and of how he became a "stranger" (sojourner) in a "strange land" (Midian, whither he fled from Egypt).
[12/03/2003]
22. The Fat of the Land
Diet-conscious modern readers may have some trouble with the concept of the "fat of the land," which in the Bible means "the earth's choicest produce." But in those leaner times, fat was harder to come by than it is in the modern West.
[11/19/2003]
21. Onanism
The term "onanism" is named for the biblical figure Onan, but was Onan's sin really onanism?
[11/05/2003]
20. Jacob's Ladder
You may know the flower Jacob's Ladder, with its long, delicate pistil and bluish petals. But did you know that the original Jacob's ladder, which reached to heaven, wasn't a ladder at all?
[10/22/2003]
19. Fire and Brimstone & A Pillar of Salt
In part 2 of our examination of the tale of Sodom and Gomorrah, we answer the questions "What is brimstone?" and "Why a pillar of salt?"
[10/08/2003]
18. Sodom and Gomorrah
Though condemned equally in the Bible, Sodom and Gomorrah have left very different imprints on the English language -- the former city has spawned numerous common terms of opprobrium, while the latter has escaped all but direct biblical allusion.
[09/24/2003]
17. The Tower of Babel
Interesting parallels and amateur wordplay aside, the word "babble" does not derive from the Tower of Babel, a biblical emblem for the folly of human ambition.
[09/10/2003]
16. Forty Days and Forty Nights
Though we never learn its precise significance, "forty days and forty nights" is a common duration for great transitions in the Bible: not only is it the duration of the great flood, but also of Moses's meeting with God on Sinai, and Jesus's sojourn in the wilderness.
[08/27/2003]
15. Noah's Ark
In this excerpt we learn about the two famous Arks of Scripture, and about the length of that famous cubit.
[08/13/2003]
14. There Were Giants in the Earth in Those Days
Modern quotations of the biblical expression, "There were giants in the earth in those days" -- now meaning roughly, "They don't make men like that anymore" -- don't begin to capture the strangeness of the original.
[07/30/2003]
13. Methuselah
Although only Methuselah is renowned in phrase and fable for his incredible longevity, he wasn't the only biblical figure to live into a tenth century.
[07/16/2003]
12. The Land of Nod, East of Eden, and The Mark of Cain
The Land of Nod isn't sleepy-time, but the bleak domain (east of Eden) to which God sends Cain after marking him -- not to identify his crime, but to shield him.
[07/02/2003]
11. Am I My Brother's Keeper?
This famous statement by Cain in Genesis 4 marks the birth of hatred among men (not to mention sibling rivalry), and it results in another new invention: murder.
[06/18/2003]
10. A Flaming Sword and The Cherubim
Two intriguing and powerful images introduced in Genesis 3, the flaming sword and the Cherubim, are God's guards at the gates of Eden -- which means that a cherub must originally have been a somewhat more fearsome being than we imagine today.
[06/04/2003]
9. Dust to Dust
Adam and Eve knew they were doomed to die if they ever ate of the tree of knowledge, but nobody ever explained to them what "dying" would mean.
[05/21/2003]
8. Flesh of My Flesh
When Adam calls the newly created Eve "bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh," he gets the story half right -- but he wouldn't know better, as he was unconscious at the time.
[05/07/2003]
7. Helpmate and Adam's Rib
In this excerpt, we cover one version of Eve's creation and investigate the curious, confused origins of the term "helpmate."
[04/23/2003]
6. The Tree of Knowledge
If you thought the Biblical "forbidden fruit" was an apple, you'll be surprised to learn that the Bible never says so (if anything, it was more likely an apricot, fig, or pomegranate). And the phrase "forbidden fruit" doesn't appear in the Bible, either.
[04/09/2003]
5. The Breath of Life
Creation is a tale told twice in Genesis, and here is the second recounting of man's crafting -- as dust infused with the "breath of life" -- by the intriguing author known as "J."
[03/26/2003]
4. Let Us Make Man in Our Image
As His sixth day of work begins, God announces the plan for His ultimate creation, mankind. But what does "image" mean, and why does God say "our"?
[03/12/2003]
3. Be Fruitful and Multiply
As if His creatures needed reminding, God issues this command no fewer than six times in Genesis alone; this week, we consider the results.
[02/26/2003]
2. Lesser Light
The familiar put-down "lesser light" originates in the King James translation of Genesis, where it refers not to a smaller talent, but to the moon.
[02/12/2003]
1. In the Beginning
In this first excerpt from Brush Up Your Bible!, we begin at the beginning -- with the first four verses of Genesis.
[01/29/2003]
