1. ‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.’ An old Mosaic law (Exodus 21:23 and Leviticus 24:20), not to justify revenge, but as a guide for judges in those days, to make the punishment fit the crime.
2. Jesus reversed the above phrase to curb our natural reaction for retaliation when He said in Matthew 5:38-41 ‘If someone strikes you on the right cheek, offer also your left cheek to him.’ and also
3. ‘If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him a second mile’
4. ‘A man after my own heart’, when you refer to someone who thinks and acts like you. (1 Samuel 13:14)
5: When you have had a very narrow escape from some disaster you may tell someone ‘I escaped by the skin of my teeth’ as Job complained to God about his dire straits in Job 19:20.
6. ‘How are the mighty fallen?’ we may ask when someone loses power, wealth, position, or even if Tiger Woods loses his position as World No 1 golfer to Vijay Singh. This was King David's lament when Saul and Jonathan fell in battle against the Philistines. (2 Samuel 1:19,25).
7. ‘Spare the rod and spoil the child’ we say, referring to the lack of loving correction of a child which has resulted in him/her turning out to be undisciplined, wilful,, with no understanding of right and wrong. From the Book of Proverbs 13:24, written by King Solomon.
8. Frequently we hear someone (usually an overworked housewife) say ‘There's no peace for the wicked’, referring to endless tasks, one problem after another etc, but in Isaiah 48:22 the Lord was implying that if you want true peace seek God first; then he 'will give you his peace’.
9. ‘Can a leopard change his spots’? we ask disparagingly about someone's inability to change for the better, his behaviour, character, habits etc. (Jeremiah 13:23).
10. 'Casting pearls before swine’. Wasting something valuable on the valueless. (Matthew 7:6)
11. ‘Judge not that you may not be judged’, said Jesus when teaching about criticising others. (Matthew 7:1). We should examine our own motives and conduct instead of judging others. The traits that bother us in others are often the habits we dislike in ourselves.
12. ‘Physician heal thyself’, we might say to someone trying to teach, say, sobriety or cleanliness when he himself is a drunk or soiled (Luke 4:23).
13. ‘Money is the root of all evil’ said St. Paul in 1 Timothy 6:10. This has become such a hackneyed phrase in the last century, and who has not heard the song, in the late 40s or 50s, of the same name, but which has the cynical addition ‘Gimme some more, gimme some more, gimme some more...’. Rich people, craving greater riches in an endless cycle ending in ruin, destruction, marital problems, robbery, murder, ... To master greed we must get rid of the root i.e. get rid of the desire for riches.
14. ‘Hoping against hope.’ i.e. against almost hopeless possibility. Another everyday expression first used by St. Paul in his first letter to Timothy, Ch 4, Verse 8, regarding Abraham never doubting that God would fulfil His promise to make him the father of many nations, despite his and his wife Sarah's advanced age.
15. ‘Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings..:’ Originally from Psalm 8:1 and Matthew 21:16, it referred to children's ability to trust and praise God without our adult doubts/reservations. However, we usually employ this phrase when a surprising, perceptive, disconcertingly wise remark is made by a child.
16. In the Old Testament Book of Proverbs 16:18, ’Pride goes before disaster and a haughty spirit before a fall’. We have abbreviated this to ‘Pride goes before a fall.’ Proud people seldom realize that pride is their problem so they do not anticipate stumbling blocks and are easily tripped up.
17. When we tell someone to ‘practise what you preach’ we are telling them to live and act in a way they believe in or recommend to others. (Romans 2:21,22)
18. The original words of St Paul in Romans 2:14, referred to Gentiles who did not know the law yet followed their own conscience i.e. the law written in their hearts. We however, usually say, disparagingly, that ‘He is a law unto himself’, meaning he makes his own rules to suit himself or he does just what he likes, regardless of anyone else.
19. In Matthew 15:14 and Luke 6:39, Jesus said that if a blind man leads another blind man both could fall into a pit; meaning that we risk spiritual blindness if we listen to someone who does not have good spiritual insight. In our abbreviated form of ‘the blind leading the blind’ we usually imply that someone who knows, little or nothing about something is trying to teach someone else about it.
20. ‘A prophet is without honour in his own country’, said Jesus in Matthew 13:57 and Luke 4:24. Using this we mean that someone may be recognised as a great doctor, teacher, artist etc but not by his own family or intimate friends, because the relationship is too close so don't be surprised If your own Christian life and faith are not easily understood or accepted by those who know you well.
David de Souza