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1Now the serpent was more subtle than any animal of the field which Yahweh God had made. He said to the woman, “Has God really said, ‘You shall not eat of any tree of the garden’?”

2The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees of the garden, 3but not the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden. God has said, ‘You shall not eat of it. You shall not touch it, lest you die.’”

4The serpent said to the woman, “You won’t really die, 5for God knows that in the day you eat it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took some of its fruit, and ate. Then she gave some to her husband with her, and he ate it, too. 7Their eyes were opened, and they both knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves together, and made coverings for themselves. 8They heard Yahweh God’s voice walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of Yahweh God among the trees of the garden.

9Yahweh God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”

10The man said, “I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; so I hid myself.”

11God said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”

12The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

13Yahweh God said to the woman, “What have you done?”

The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

14Yahweh God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,

you are cursed above all livestock,

and above every animal of the field.

You shall go on your belly

and you shall eat dust all the days of your life.

15I will put hostility between you and the woman,

and between your offspring and her offspring.

He will bruise your head,

and you will bruise his heel.”

16To the woman he said,

“I will greatly multiply your pain in childbirth.

You will bear children in pain.

Your desire will be for your husband,

and he will rule over you.”

17To Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to your wife’s voice,

and have eaten from the tree,

about which I commanded you, saying, ‘You shall not eat of it,’

the ground is cursed for your sake.

You will eat from it with much labor all the days of your life.

18It will yield thorns and thistles to you;

and you will eat the herb of the field.

19You will eat bread by the sweat of your face until you return to the ground,

for you were taken out of it.

For you are dust,

and you shall return to dust.”

20The man called his wife Eve because she would be the mother of all the living. 21Yahweh God made garments of animal skins for Adam and for his wife, and clothed them.

22Yahweh God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand, and also take of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever—” 23Therefore Yahweh God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. 24So he drove out the man; and he placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.

The Influence of the Bible on the English Language in Contemporary Expressions

The Influence of the Bible on the English Language in Contemporary Expressions

Note | 1 Thess 1:3 | David Crystal

Everyday expressions in English that are based on the King James Version of the Bible

ExpressionMeaningBiblical Text
"A labor of love" 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3
"A sign of the times" Matthew 16:3
"At the eleventh hour" Matthew 20:1-16
"At your wit's end" Psalms 107:23-27
"By the skin of your teeth"To barely succeedJob 19:20
"Bite the dust"For something to failPsalms 72:9
"Blind leading the blind"Unskilled persons are being led by equally unskilled persons.Matthew 15:14
"Broken heart"To have much sorrow.Psalms 34:18
"Can a leopard change his spots?"The inability of a person to change what they areJeremiah 13:23
"Cast the first stone"To criticize first, or be the first person to attack.John 8:7
"Cast your pearls before swine" Matthew 7:6
"Drop in a bucket"Insignificant impact or amountIsaiah 40:15
"Eat, drink, and be merry" Ecclesiastes 8:15; Luke 12:19; 1 Corinthians 15:32
"Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth"If something bad is done by a person, then the same thing should happen to them as a punishment.Matthew 5:38
"Fall from grace"This speaks of a person who has fallen from a position of respect or rank.Galatians 5:4
"Fall by the wayside" Luke 8:5
"Feet of clay" Daniel 2:31-45
"Fight the good fight"  1 Timothy 6:12; 2 Timothy 4:6
"Fly in the ointment"Something that ruins an effort.Ecclesiastes 10:1
"For every thing there is a season" Ecclesiastes 3
"Forbidden fruit" Genesis 3:3
"Go the extra mile"Go beyond what is expected of a person.Matthew 5:41
"Good Samaritan"This speaks of a person who helps another person in need without the intent of receiving something in return.Luke 10:30-37
"He that toucheth pitch" Ecclesiasticus 13:1 (Apocrypha)
"He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword" Matthew 26:52
"How the mighty have fallen" 2 Samuel 1:19
"Land of milk and honey" Exodus 3:1-22
"Land of Nod" Genesis 4:16
"Leopard cannot change its spots" Jeremiah 13:23
"Let there be light"Lighthearted comment when someone turns on a lightGenesis 1:3
"Like a lamb to the slaughter"To do an innocent act not knowing of the danger ahead.Isaiah 53:7
"Millstone around your neck" Luke 17:2
"Move mountains" 1 Corinthians 13:2
"Nothing but skin and bones"For a person to be very thin or emaciated.Job 19:19-20
"Nothing new under the sun" Ecclesiastes 1:9
"O ye of little faith" Matthew 8:26
"Pride comes before a fall"Usually, a caution that someone is too confident and will cause the person to fail.Proverbs 16:18
"The love of money is the root of all evil" 1 Timothy 6:10
"The powers that be" Romans 13:1
"The straight and narrow" Matthew 7:13-14
"Writing on the wall"Indicating that something bad is about to happen.Daniel 5:1-31

You may see several examples, given above, at Biblical idioms and sayings with origins explained.

David Crystal has discovered 257 examples of these idioms. You may read or listen to an interview with him at Talk of the Nation, December 22, 2010, and may want to order his book, Begat: The King James Bible and the English Language.