Australian General Semantics Society

 

AGS Monthly Seminar

 

“GS in The Bible”

 

 

4. Part of our modern life: The Bible Quiz!

 

 

 It is fascinating how many expressions that are in use today come from the

 Bible or at least were used in Biblical times. 

 

Find the missing word ...

 

1.         When you work hard for something, you have earned it

            "by the sweat of your .... "

 

Gen 3:17, 19 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and

ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of

it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you

will eat of it all the days of your life. ...

By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you

return to the ground, since from it you were taken;

for dust you are and to dust you will return."

 

2.    "Am I my brother's ...... ?"

 

       Gen 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?"

 

3.    "I'm not really to blame - The system just had to find somebody to be a ........t"

 

       Lev 16:9-10 Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the LORD

       and sacrifice it for a sin offering. But the goat chosen by lot as

       the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to be used

       for making atonement by sending it into the desert as a scapegoat.

 

4.         A string figure made by children is called "J....'s Ladder"

            Also a high-tension electric arc that rises between two wires close at the top and getting wider apart.

 

       Gen 28:10-12 - "and Jacob ... dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on

       the earth" (King James Version)

 

5.    "Pride goeth before a ...."

 

       Prov 16:18 Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a

       fall.

 

6.    "Spare the ..., spoil the child"

 

       Prov 13:24 He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him

       is careful to discipline him.

 

7.    A skinny person is said to be "nothing but skin and ....s"

 

       Job 19:19-20 All my intimate friends detest me; those I love have

       turned against me. I am nothing but skin and bones

 

8.    "I escaped by the skin of my ....."

 

       Job 19:19-20 All my intimate friends detest me; those I love have

       turned against me. I am nothing but skin and bones; I have escaped

       with only the skin of my teeth.

 

9.    She is the "apple of my ..."

 

       Psa 17:8 Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of

       your wings

 

10.   "Like mother, like ........"

 

       Eze 16:44 "'Everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb

       about you: "Like mother, like daughter."

 

11.   When people try to cover up their actions they are "............" their deeds

 

       Eze 22:28 Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false

       visions and lying divinations. They say, 'This is what the Sovereign

       LORD says'--when the LORD has not spoken.

 

12.   "There's a time and a place for everything"

 

       Eccl 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every

       activity under heaven

 

13.   "The probable outcome was becoming obvious - They saw the writing on the "

 

       Dan 5:5-6 Suddenly the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on

       the plaster of the wall, near the lampstand in the royal palace. The

       king watched the hand as it wrote. His face turned pale and he was

       so frightened that his knees knocked together and his legs gave way.

 

14.   "Man does not live on ..... alone"

 

       Mt 4:3-4 The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of

       God, tell these stones to become bread." Jesus answered, "It is

       written: 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that

       comes from the mouth of God.'"

 

15.   Doing more than is required is called "going the extra ...."

 

       Mt 5:41 If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.

 

16.   When there is poor communication in an organization, we say that

            "their left hand doesn't know what their ..... .... is doing"

 

       Mt 6:3-4 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand

       know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in

       secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will

       reward you.

 

17.   Be careful, he's a "wolf in sheep's ........"

 

       Mt 7:15 "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's

       clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.

 

18.   United we stand, "divided we ...."

 

       Mt 12:25 Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom

       divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household

       divided against itself will not stand.

 

19.   "Either you're with us or you're ....... us"

 

       Mt 12:30 "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not

       gather with me scatters.

 

20.   "I'll have his .... on a platter"

 

       Mt 14:6-8 On Herod's birthday the daughter of Herodias danced for

       them and pleased Herod so much that he promised with an oath to give

       her whatever she asked. Prompted by her mother, she said, "Give me

       here on a platter the head of John the Baptist."

 

21.   "It's like the blind leading the ....."

 

       Mt 15:14 Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a

       blind man, both will fall into a pit."

 

22.   "Do as I say, not as I .."

 

       Mt 23:2-3 "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses'

       seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do

       not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

 

23.   "He doesn't practise what he ........"

 

       Mt 23:2-3 "The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses'

       seat. So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do

       not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.

 

24.   "He who lives by the sword .... by the sword"

 

       Mt 26:52 "Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for

       all who draw the sword will die by the sword.

 

25.   "I don't want anything to do with it - I .... my hands of it"

 

       Mt 27:24 When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that

       instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands

       in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said.

       "It is your responsibility!"

 

26.   "Money is the .... of all evil"

 

       1Tm 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some

       people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced

       themselves with many griefs.

 

27.   Having a long-term resentment is sometimes called "nursing a ....."

 

       Mk 6:18-19 For John had been saying to Herod, "It is not lawful for

       you to have your brother's wife." So Herodias nursed a grudge

       against John and wanted to kill him. But she was not able to,

 

28.   Stop being such a "doubting ......"

            John 20:27: "Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands.

            Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.""

 

29.   "Physician, heal .......!"

 

       Lk 4:23 Jesus said to them, "Surely you will quote this proverb to

       me: 'Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have

       heard that you did in Capernaum.'"

 

30.   "Eat, drink and be ....."

 

       Lk 12:19 And I'll say to myself, "You have plenty of good things

       laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry."'

 

31.   In the movies (usually war movies) you sometimes hear someone say,

            "Let us eat and drink today, for ........ we die!"

 

       Isa 22:13 But see, there is joy and revelry, slaughtering of cattle

       and killing of sheep, eating of meat and drinking of wine! "Let us

       eat and drink," you say, "for tomorrow we die!"

 

32.   "The truth shall set you ...."

 

       Jn 8:31-32 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you

       hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know

       the truth, and the truth will set you free."

 

33.   Marriage counselors often advise: "don't go to bed ....."

 

       Ep 4:26-27 "In your anger do not sin" : Do not let the sun go down

       while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold.

 

34.   "Oh, that's just an old ..... tale"

 

       1Tm 4:7 Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives' tales;

       rather, train yourself to be godly.

 

35.   "Well, let's just say that a little .... told me"

 

       Eccl 10:20 Do not revile the king even in your thoughts, or curse

       the rich in your bedroom, because a bird of the air may carry your

       words, and a bird on the wing may report what you say.

 

36.   The finest or noblest people are said to be "the .... of the earth"

 

       Mt 5:13 "You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its

       saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for

       anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

 

37.   "Red sky at night, sailor's delight;

            red sky in the morning, sailor's ......."

 

       Mt 16:1-3 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him

       by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. He replied, "When

       evening comes, you say, 'It will be fair weather, for the sky is

       red,' and in the morning, 'Today it will be stormy, for the sky is

       red and overcast.' You know how to interpret the appearance of the

       sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.

 

38.   I just can't get past this "stumbling ....."

 

       Mt 16:23 Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You

       are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of

       God, but the things of men."

 

39.   My relatives are "scattered to the four ....."

 

       Jer 49:36 I will bring against Elam the four winds from the four

       quarters of the heavens; I will scatter them to the four winds, and

       there will not be a nation where Elam's exiles do not go.

 

40.   "Out of the mouths of ....."

 

       Mt 21:16 "Do you hear what these children are saying?" they asked

       him. "Yes," replied Jesus, "have you never read, "'From the lips of

       children and infants you have ordained praise'?"

 

41.   An annoyance is sometimes called "a thorn in my ...."

 

       2Co 12:7 To keep me from becoming conceited because of these

       surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my

       flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.

 

42.   "A leopard can't change its ....."

 

       Jer 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its

       spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil.

 

43.   When you die, no matter how much money you have, "you can't ... it with you"

 

       1Tim 6:7 For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it.

 

44.   "It is better to give than to ......."

 

       Acts 20:35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of

       hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord

       Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

 

45.   "I'll pin him to the ...."

 

       1Sam 18:10-11 ...Saul had a spear in his hand and he hurled it,

       saying to himself, "I'll pin David to the wall." But David eluded him twice.

 

46.   "How the mighty have ......!"

 

       2Sam 1:19 "Your glory, O Israel, lies slain on your heights. How the

       mighty have fallen!

 

47.   He made a "........stock" out of me

 

       Exo 32:25 Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron

       had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies.

 

48.   Staying calm in a crisis is called "keeping your ...."

 

       2Tim 4:5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship,

       do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.

 

49.   I heard it "straight from the horse's ....."

 

       Num 22:28 Then the LORD opened the donkey's mouth, and she said to

       Balaam, "What have I done to you to make you beat me these three times?"

 

50.       "Do unto others as you would have them .. .... ... !"

 

 

                                                            *** * ***

 (Updated 21 December, 2008)


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