You’ll Find it in the Bible

by Carolyn Abell

Several years ago I wrote about how the Bible should be taught as literature. The beauty of the language and the liberal use of descriptive figures of speech make it an outstanding example of great writing.

Reading through the Bible again this year has caused me to reflect on how many common expressions that we use every day actually originated within its contents  – especially the King James version.

For example, Psalm 8:2 reads “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings has thou ordained strength…” The phrase “out of the mouths of babes” has become a common phrase to describe words of wisdom or wit from a small child. A recent example of this occurred when my four-year old granddaughter was sick with an upset stomach. My son, her father, made her some toast with nothing on it, hoping she could keep it down. When she started eating it, he mumbled an apology for giving her dry toast. She assured him, “It tastes good, Papa. “How can you say it tastes good, honey? It’s just dry toast,” he said. “But you made it with love,” Ophelia replied.

In 2 Samuel 15:6, the writer talks about David’s son Absolom and his attempt to gain the throne by winning the hearts of the people with his charming personality. The verse ends with the clause, “So Absolom stole the hearts of the men of Israel.” The phrase “to steal one’s heart” has been used over the years since then, to describe the charismatic personality of someone who exerts great influence over someone else, especially in the case of falling in love.

It’s been used repeatedly in song lyrics such as Rod Stewart’s recording of “Maggie May,” in which he wails it several times in lines like “You stole my heart and that’s what really hurt.”

In Exodus 4:15, we find the phrase, “put words in his mouth.” A variation of this shows up again in 2 Samuel 14:3, “So Joab put the words in her mouth.” We often use this today to describe the act of telling someone what to say in a given situation.

Numbers 33:5 is where God gave the Israelites the instructions for taking the Promised Land. He warned them about getting rid of the current sinful occupants: “But if ye will not drive out the inhabitants of the land from before you; then it shall come to pass, that those which ye let remain of them shall be pricks in your eyes, and thorns in your sides, and shall vex you in the land wherein ye dwell.” The phrase “thorn in the side” is repeated in Judges 2:3. Hundreds of years later, we still speak of a persistent problem, especially a person who irritates us, as “a thorn in the side.”

In Job 19:20, Job declares “I am escaped with the skin of my teeth.” This phrase is often used to describe a very narrow escape from a dangerous or undesirable situation.

Not only have we acquired these and other expressions from the King James Bible, but we sometimes use well-known Biblical characters as benchmarks for comparisons—both favorable and unfavorable.

We have all heard the expression, “the patience of Job.” Job’s model of trusting God for deliverance, even through his darkest periods of sickness and poverty, have led us to describe people who demonstrate extraordinary long-suffering as having the same patience.

“The wisdom of Solomon” alludes to the Biblical declaration that occurs in 1 Kings 4:30-31: “And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men.”

Another character with less favorable qualities was Jezebel. This queen, and wife of King Ahab, was a thoroughly evil person, known for painting her face in an effort to make herself irresistible to men she wished to manipulate. The term “Jezebel” is now used to describe a reprobate and immoral female, especially one who wears an excessive amount of make-up.

One of my father’s favorite descriptive terms for someone who drives fast was to say he “drives like Jehu.” Jehu was one of Israel’s kings, anointed by Elisha in the 9th chapter of 2 Kings. Evidently he was known for his fast driving. Verse 20 of that chapter describes a watchman telling his master, “The driving is like the driving of Jehu, the son of Nimshi; for he driveth furiously.”

You can probably think of other phrases, qualities, and concepts that are derived from the Bible. As President Theodore Roosevelt said, “A thorough understanding of the Bible is better than a college education.” The famed orator and statesman Daniel Webster put it even more succinctly: “Education is useless without the Bible.”
 
Copyright July 2011 by Carolyn Abell