Monday, August 30, 2010

Do you quote the Bible without knowing it?

When I first read the complete Bible as an adult, it was as a non-believer. I had become aware of the tremendous literary legacy we owe to the Bible, and was a bit embarrassed to realize I had never read it fully. Considering myself relatively "well read" in many of the classics, I was a bit embarrassed to admit that I had never read the complete Bible. I thus read it initially as literature, though I must confess it did not take long for it to become more to me. I began at Matthew and read the complete New Testament first, and then began at Genesis and read the entire Old Testament. It took me about nine months, a few minutes at a time each morning at breakfast.

How many of these allusions to the Bible do you use without knowing their source?

“Apple of my eye” – Deuteronomy 32:10

“At wits’ end” – Psalm 107:27

“Blind leading the blind” – Matthew 15:14

“Can a leopard change its spots?” – Jeremiah 13:23

“Drop in a bucket” – Isaiah 40:15

“Eat and drink for tomorrow we die” – Isaiah 22:12-13

“Fat of the land” – Genesis 45:18

“Fight the good fight” – 1 Timothy 6:12

“Fly in the ointment” – Ecclesiastes 10:1

“Give up the ghost” – Acts 12:23

“How the mighty have fallen” – 2 Samuel 1:19

“Many are called but few are chosen” – Matthew 22:13-14

“No rest for the wicked” – Isaiah 57:20

“Physician, heal thyself” – Luke 4:23

“Rise and shine” – Isaiah 60:1

“Skin of my teeth” – Job 19:20

“Sour grapes” – Ezekiel 18:2

“Woe is me” – Job 10:15

“Writing on the wall” – Daniel 5:4-6

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