1The Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing him, asked him to show them a sign from heaven. 2But he answered them, “When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3In the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but you can’t discern the signs of the times! 4An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and there will be no sign given to it, except the sign of the prophet Jonah.”
He left them and departed. 5The disciples came to the other side and had forgotten to take bread. 6Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
7They reasoned among themselves, saying, “We brought no bread.”
8Jesus, perceiving it, said, “Why do you reason among yourselves, you of little faith, because you have brought no bread? 9Don’t you yet perceive or remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many baskets you took up, 10or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many baskets you took up? 11How is it that you don’t perceive that I didn’t speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
12Then they understood that he didn’t tell them to beware of the yeast of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
13Now when Jesus came into the parts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?”
14They said, “Some say John the Baptizer, some, Elijah, and others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
15He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
16Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
17Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18I also tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my assembly, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it. 19I will give to you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven; and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.” 20Then he commanded the disciples that they should tell no one that he was Jesus the Christ.
21From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.
22Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This will never be done to you.”
23But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.”
24Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. 25For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever will lose his life for my sake will find it. 26For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his life? Or what will a man give in exchange for his life? 27For the Son of Man will come in the glory of his Father with his angels, and then he will render to everyone according to his deeds. 28Most certainly I tell you, there are some standing here who will in no way taste of death until they see the Son of Man coming in his Kingdom.”
Expression | Meaning | Biblical 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" | Psalm 107:23-27 | |
"By the skin of your teeth" | To barely succeed | Job 19:20 |
"Bite the dust" | For something to fail | Psalm 72:9 |
"Blind leading the blind" | Unskilled persons are being led by equally unskilled persons. | Matthew 15:14 |
"Broken heart" | To have much sorrow. | Psalm 34:18 |
"Can a leopard change his spots?" | The inability of a person to change what they are | Jeremiah 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 amount | Isaiah 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 light | Genesis 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 emasculated. | 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.