In my most recent journey through the Bible, I’ve made a list of phrases that in the past have been used as colloquialisms in American culture. Because of the general biblical illiteracy in 21st century America, I thought it would be a good idea to identify some of these common phrases as having origin in the Bible, since most people would probably not recognize their origin or its basic meaning. Here are the ones I’ve come up with:

• Genesis 3:19 “for dust you are and to dust you will return”
• Exodus 3:8 “a land flowing with milk and honey”
• Exodus 21:24 “eye for eye, tooth for tooth”
• Deuteronomy 32:10 “the apple of his eye”
• Job 19:20 “I have escaped by the skin of my teeth”
• Proverbs 13:20 “He who walks with the wise grows wiser, but a companion of fools suffers harm”
• Proverbs 16:18 “Pride goes before destruction”
• Proverbs 17:22 “A cheerful heart is good medicine”
  • Although not a direct quote, we see the source for the colloquialism “Laughter is the best medicine” as coming from Solomon’s wisdom
• Proverbs 17:28 “Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips he is deemed intelligent”
  • Abraham Lincoln is believed to have said “It is better to be silent and be thought dumb, than to speak and remove all doubt.” Whether he said it or not, the quote clearly has its origin in the Proverbs
  • Proverbs 27:17 “As iron sharpens iron”
• Proverbs :29:24 “The partner of a thief hates his own life”
  • You can see the colloquialism: “there’s no honor among thieves” as having its genesis in Proverbs 29
• Isaiah 22:13 “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die”
• Isaiah 40:31 “They will mount up with wings as eagles”
• Ecclesiastes 1:9 “there is nothing new under the sun”
• Ecclesiastes 1:17 “chasing after the wind”
• Ecclesiastes 3:1 “For everything there is a season”
• Ecclesiastes 3:2 “A time to be born and a time to die”
• Ecclesiastes 3:20 “All are from dust and to dust all return”
  • Similar to the Genesis 3 phrase, Americans, who have watched movies that have funerals or have attended a funeral will be familiar with the phrase the God created Adam from dust, and while our souls are immortal, our bodies return to the dust in death
• Ecclesiastes 4:12 “a cord of 3 strands is not quickly broken”
• Ecclesiastes 5:15 “naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return”
• Jeremiah 13:23 “Can a leopard change his spots?”
• Daniel 3:27 “Not a single hair on your head is harmed”
• Daniel 5 “The writing is on the wall”
  • This exact phrase does not appear in Daniel, but the promise of impending doom is clearly communicated from God’s hand to Belshazzar for his rebellion and wickedness. The colloquialism is clearly understood to be an inevitable calamity
• Hosea 8:7 “reap the whirlwind”
• Matthew 3:12 “separate wheat from chaff”
• Matthew 5:39 “turn the other cheek”
• Matthew 5:43 ” Love your neighbor”
• Matthew 5:44 “Love your enemies”
• Matthew 6:24 “You cannot serve 2 masters”
• Matthew 7:3-5 “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
• Matthew 7:10 “Do to others as you’d have them do to you”
• Matthew 15:14 “blind leading the blind”
• Matthew 25:32 “separate sheep from the goats”
• Matthew 27:24 “he took water and washed his hands before the crowd saying ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood'”
• • Again we don’t see the exact phrase, but we hear people say “I wash my hands of this” as if to declare themselves innocent/unaffiliated of/with a failing or guilty entity
• Mark 8:36 “What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul”
• Mark 12:17 “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s”
• Luke 14:27 “anyone who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy to be my disciple.” The colloquialism is usually phrased “It’s my cross to bear” or something similar
• Luke 16:10 “Whoever can be trusted with very little can be trusted with much. Whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much”
• Acts 20:35 “More blessed to give than to receive”
• 1 Corinthians 15:32 “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die”
• 1 Corinthians 15:33 “Bad company ruins good morals”

I’m sure there are many that I missed. Feel free to add them in the comments. The idea behind this post is the importance of an understanding of the Bible. At one time, the American populace had a much greater knowledge of God’s eternal word. So colloquialisms that appeared in the lexicon were well understood because of how familiar Americans were with the scripture.

Fathers, read the Bible. Fathers, read the Bible with your family. Make sure that your family has a deep and abiding knowledge of the Bible