A Drop in the Bucket

I was recently talking to someone about the many sayings we use or hear in the English language that have their origen in the King James Bible. This discussion took place after my friend used the phrase "a drop in the bucket". I had been reading Isaiah chapter 40 that morning and I came across that very phrase. That prompted me to see how many other sayings trace their beginnings from the Bible. I did a google search and came up with an interesting web site called "The Phrase Finders". I decided to cut and paste a page of the site into this post. I will also post the link to this web site at the end of my post.

The King James Version of the Bible has been enormously influential in the development of the English language. It ranks with the complete works of Shakespeare and the Oxford English Dictionary as one of the cornerstones of the recorded language. After Shakespeare, the King James, or Authorized, Version of the Bible is the most common source of phrases in English. The King James in question was James I of England and James VI of Scotland. He didn't write the text of course, he merely authorized it, hence the name that the book is best known in the UK (King James Version , or KJV, being more commonly used in the USA).

The King James Version was translated by 47 biblical scholars, working in six committees. It was first printed in 1611 and was by no means the earliest English translation of the Bible. It was pre-dated by several other partial or complete translations, notably John Wyclif's translation in 1382 and William Tyndale's in 1528 - the latter forming the basis of a large proportion of the KJV.

What raises that version above other versions of the Bible in terms of its linguistic impact is the fact that the language used has persisted into the present-day. Many of the phrases used are still commonplace. Here are some of the many phrases that originated in the Bible (most, but not all from the King James Version):

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
A drop in the bucket
A man after his own heart
A multitude of sins
A thorn in the flesh
All things must pass
All things to all men
Am I my brother's keeper?
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
As old as Methuselah
As old as the hills
As you sow so shall you reap
Ashes to ashes dust to dust
At his wits end
Beat swords into ploughshares
Bite the dust
Blessed are the peacemakers
Born again
By the skin of your teeth
Can a leopard change its spots?
Coat of many colours
Eat drink and be merry
Faith will move mountains
Fall from grace
Fight the good fight
Flesh and blood
For everything there is a season
Forbidden fruit
Forgive them for they know not what they do
From strength to strength
Get thee behind me Satan
Give up the ghost
Good Samaritan
How are the mighty fallen
In the beginning was the word
It's better to give than to receive
Lamb to the slaughter
Let not the sun go down on your wrath
Let there be light
Living off the fat of the land
Love of money is the root of all evil -The
Love thy neighbour as thyself
Man does not live by bread alone
Many are called but few are chosen
My cup runneth over
No rest for the wicked
O ye, of little faith
Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings
Physician heal thyself
Sour grapes
Spare the rod and spoil the child
The apple of his eye
The blind leading the blind
The bread of life
The fly in the ointment
The fruits of your loins
The powers that be
The root of the matter
The salt of the earth
The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak
The wages of sin is death
The writing is on the wall
Thou shalt not kill
Three score and ten
To cast the first stone
What God has joined together let no man put asunder
Woe is me

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/bible-phrases-sayings.html