The Bible Said It First...100 Common Expressions That Lead You To The Bible
Whether one believes in it or not, the Bible is the most-read book in the world, and I cannot emphasise how much of an impact it has on society. With many of its phrases and idioms becoming part of our everyday speech, it's hard to ignore its truths. These expressions often convey complex ideas or emotions in a succinct and memorable way, and they continue to resonate with people of all backgrounds and beliefs, even though it is taken out of context.
The Bible is full of gems, but it's much more than that, here are just a few of them:
A bird that strays from its nest (Proverbs 27:8)
A person who strays from home is like a bird that strays from its nest.
A drop in the bucket (Isaiah 40:15)
No, for all the nations of the world are but a drop in the bucket. They are nothing more than dust on the scales. He picks up the whole earth as though it were a grain of sand.
A house divided, cannot stand (Mark 3:25)
And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.
A labour of love (Hebrews 6:10)
For God is not unjust. He will not forget how hard you have worked for him and how you have shown your love to him by caring for other believers, as you still do.
A law unto themselves (Romans 2:14)
For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves.
A leopard cannot change its spots (Jeremiah 13:23)
Can an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.
A little birdie told me (Ecclesiastes 10:20)
Never make light of the king, even in your thoughts. And don’t make fun of the powerful, even in your own bedroom. For a little bird might deliver your message and tell them what you said.
A man after my own heart (1 Samuel 13:14)
But now your kingdom must end, for the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart. The Lord has already appointed him to be the leader of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.
A multitude of sins (James 5:20)
...remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of their way will save them from death and cover over a multitude of sins.
A peace offering (Leviticus 19:5)
“When you sacrifice a peace offering to the Lord, offer it properly so you will be accepted by God.
A prophet is not without honour save in his own country (Matthew 13:57)
And they were deeply offended and refused to believe in him. Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honoured everywhere except in his own hometown and among his own family.”
Armageddon (Revelation 16:16)
And the demonic spirits gathered all the rulers and their armies to a place with the Hebrew name Armageddon.
A thorn in the flesh (2 Corinthians 12:7)
...even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.
A voice crying in the wilderness (Isaiah 40:3)
The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God.”
A wolf in sheep's clothing (Matthew 7:15)
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.
All things must pass (Matthew 24:6-8)
And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
Am I my brother's keeper? (Genesis 4:9)
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
An eye for an eye (Exodus 21:24)
...an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, a foot for a foot...
Another one bites the dust (Psalm 72:9)
May desert tribes bow down before him, and his enemies lick the dust!
Apple of my eye (Deuteronomy 32:10)
“He found him in a desert land and in the wasteland, a howling wilderness; He encircled him, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of His eye.
As clear as crystal / its crystal clear (Revelation 21:11)
It shone with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone—like jasper as clear as crystal.
At your wit's end (Psalm 107:27)
They reeled and staggered like drunkards and were at their wits’ end.
Be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28)
Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
Beautiful feet (Isaiah 52:7)
How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of the messenger who brings good news, the good news of peace and salvation, the news that the God of Israel reigns!
Beggar's banquet (Luke 14:13)
But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind...
Blind leading the blind (Matthew 15:14)
...so ignore them. They are blind guides leading the blind, and if one blind person guides another, they will both fall into a ditch.
Blood money (Matthew 27:6)
The leading priests picked up the coins. “It wouldn’t be right to put this money in the Temple treasury,” they said, “since it was payment for murder.”
By the sweat of your brow (Genesis 3:19)
By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return.”
Can a leopard change its spots? (Jeremiah 13:23)
Can an Ethiopian change his skin or a leopard its spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.
Chariots of fire (2 Kings 2:11)
As they were walking along and talking, suddenly a chariot of fire appeared, drawn by horses of fire. It drove between the two men, separating them, and Elijah was carried by a whirlwind into Heaven.
Cleanliness is next to godliness (1 Timothy 4:8)
“Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”
Coat of many colours (Genesis 37:3)
Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colours.
Cross to bear (Luke 14:27)
Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple.
Cup of iniquity (Jeremiah 51:7)
Babylon has been a gold cup in the Lord’s hands, a cup that made the whole earth drunk. The nations drank Babylon’s wine, and it drove them all mad.
Den of thieves (Matthew 21:13)
He said to them, “The Scriptures declare, ‘My Temple will be called a house of prayer,’ but you have turned it into a den of thieves!”
Do as I say, not as I do (Matthew 23:3)
So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.
Don’t gain the whole world and lose your soul (Mark 8:36)
And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?
Eat, drink, and be merry (Ecclesiastes 8:15)
So I commended enjoyment, because a man has nothing better under the sun than to eat, drink, and be merry; for this will remain with him in his labour all the days of his life which God gives him under the sun.
Everything is beautiful, in its time (Ecclesiastes 3:11)
He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.
Face the music (Psalm 50:21)
These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you.
Fall from grace (Galatians 5:4)
You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.
Fight the good fight (1 Timothy 6:12)
Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses.
Forbidden fruit (Genesis 2:17)
“...but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”
Fountain of life (Psalm 36:9)
For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.
From strength to strength (Psalm 84:7)
They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion.
Fruit of your labour (Psalm 128:2)
You shall eat the fruit of the labour of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.
Get your house in order (2 Kings 20:1)
In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”
God forbid (Romans 6:15)
What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.
God’s gift to the earth (John 3:16)
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
God knows (2 Corinthians 12:2-3)
I was caught up to the third heaven fourteen years ago. Whether I was in my body or out of my body, I don’t know—only God knows. Yes, only God knows whether I was in my body or outside my body. But I do know...
Go the extra mile (Matthew 5:41)
If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles.
Goodness and mercy (Psalm 23:6)
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Handwriting on the wall (Daniel 5:5)
Suddenly, they saw the fingers of a human hand writing on the plaster wall of the king’s palace, near the lampstand. The king himself saw the hand as it wrote...
Hard-hearted (Exodus 7:3)
But I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and though I multiply my signs and wonders in the land of Egypt,...
He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword (Matthew 26:52)
“Put away your sword,” Jesus told him. “Those who use the sword will die by the sword.
Hold your peace (Exodus 14:14)
“The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.”
Holier than thou (Isaiah 65:5)
Yet they say to each other, ‘Don’t come too close or you will defile me!
I am holier than you!’ These people are a stench in my nostrils, an acrid smell that never goes away.
How the mighty have fallen (2 Samuel 1:19)
“Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen!”
Humble beginnings (Job 8:7)
Though your beginning was small, yet your latter end would increase abundantly.
If someone told you to jump off a cliff, would you? (Luke 4:9-12)
And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here...”
In God, we trust (Psalm 7:1)
O Lord my God, in You I put my trust; save me from all those who persecute me; and deliver me...
In the twinkling of an eye (1 Corinthians 15:52)
...in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.
Iron sharpens iron (Proverbs 27:17)
As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.
It is better to give than to receive (Acts 20:35)
And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
I wash my hands of the matter (Matthew 27:24)
Pilate saw that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that a riot was developing. So he sent for a bowl of water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this man’s blood. The responsibility is yours!”
Jealousy is as cruel as the grave (Song of Solomon 8:6)
Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is as strong as death, jealousy as cruel as the grave; its flames are flames of fire, a most vehement flame.
Let there be light (Genesis 1:3)
Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light.
Let your light shine (Matthew 5:16)
In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven.
Like mother, like daughter (Ezekiel 16:44)
“Behold, everyone who uses proverbs will use this proverb about you: ‘Like mother, like daughter.’
Lip service (Matthew 15:8)
‘These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
Milk and honey (Exodus 3:8)
So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey—the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
Mind your own business (1 Thessalonians 4:11)
...and to make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you...
No man can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24)
“No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
No rest for the wicked (Isaiah 57:21)
There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.”
Nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9)
What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun.
Old wives’ tale (1 Timothy 4:7)
Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly.
On the straight and narrow (Matthew 7:13-14)
“Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.
Our words have power (Proverbs 18:21)
Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.
Pride comes before a fall (Proverbs 16:18)
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Rise and shine (Isaiah 60:1)
Arise, shine; for your light has come! and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you.
Safe and sound (Luke 15:27)
And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’
Saved the best for last (John 2:10)
“Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.”
Stumbling block (Leviticus 19:14)
You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the Lord.
The golden rule (Matthew 7:12)
“Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
The love of money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10)
For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
The lion’s den (Daniel 6:7; 24)
We are all in agreement—we administrators, officials, high officers, advisers, and governors—that the king should make a law that will be strictly enforced. Give orders that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions... Then the king gave orders to arrest the men who had maliciously accused Daniel. He had them thrown into the lions’ den, along with their wives and children. The lions leaped on them and tore them apart before they even hit the floor of the den.
The truth will set you free (John 8:32)
“...and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
The salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13)
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet.
There’s a time and place / there’s a season for everything (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)
To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven...
To lose heart (2 Samuel 4:1)
When Saul’s son heard that Abner had died in Hebron, he lost heart, and all Israel was troubled.
Turn the other cheek (Matthew 5:39)
But I say, do not resist an evil person! If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also.
Turn the world upside down (Acts 17:6)
And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also...”
Used as a scapegoat (Leviticus 16:21)
And Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel, and all their transgressions, all their sins. And he shall put them on the head of the goat and send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a man who is in readiness.
Vanity of vanities (Ecclesiastes 1:2)
Vanity of vanities, says the Preacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity.
We brought nothing into the world, and we carry nothing out (1 Timothy 6:7)
...for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.
Whatever a man thinks, he becomes (Proverbs 23:7)
For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
Woe is me (Isaiah 6:5)
And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”
You raise me up (Psalm 41:10)
But may you have mercy on me, Lord; raise me up, that I may repay them.
You reap what you sow (Galatians 6:8)
Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.
You snake (Matthew 23:33)
“You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?
How relevant do we find the Bible? What makes the Bible the standard, and if it is the standard, do we live by it? That's a question to reflect on.
Which one of these everyday phrases from the Bible surprises you the most? Share in the comments! And if you found this post to be thought-provoking, like, share and subscribe.
