SOLA SCRIPTURA -- THROUGH THE BIBLE ALONE

So, you think you know your Bible?  Hang with me a bit, and I bet I can get you to wondering about how smart you really are about what you know about the contents of this Sacred Book.  If you are a native speaker of English, or if you know English as an accomplished second language, you will recognize a lot of these common expressions.   The challenge that I am hurling at you is to match the expression of everyday English with the Scripture source that gave it to us English speakers.
Ready?  Here goes.


1. A fly in the ointment.
2. The signs of the times.
3. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
4. Don't cast pearls before swine.
5. In the twinkling [blink] of an eye.
6. The land of Nod.
7. The apple of his eye.
8. A wolf in sheep's clothing.
9. There is a season [time] for everything.
10. You reap what you sow.

I know that you Catholics are going to be at a disadvantage here.  First of all, most of us don't know the Chapter and Verse of the Scripture.  We know the whole story and sometimes we don't even know the author.  Don't let that bother you, this is not a test.  It is just a statement of the influence that the Scripture has on the inhabitants of this earth.  Look around and see other proofs of this.  Look at the great paintings, the sculptures and the architecture.  So why would the language be exempt?  Not only English, by the way.  Other languages have the same expressions.  In French we do things "dans un clin d'oeil" [#5] and we "récolte ce qu'on a semé." [#10]
This is a little bit of  fun for you all.  The real reason behind it is to show you that the Bible isn't the heaviest book that you have in the house.  I'll bet that some of you, no matter what your religious convictions are, haven't given this much thought.   When you finish this little exercise and while you are still shaking your head about the fact that these expressions are only 3,000 years old, think about this: Proverbs.  This is living proof that the "More things change, the more they stay the same."  When I looked up the origin of this aphorism, which is French in the 19th century.  Then at the same time, I found this: http://supergrannysmusings.blogspot.com/2009/11/more-things-change-more-they-stay-same.html
You have to visit this.  There is something there that I guarantee will demand your attention.


  See below for the references to the Bible verses responsible for the expressions listed above.
1. Ecclesiastes, Chapter 10, verse 1
2. Matthew, Chapter 16, verse 3
3. Matthew, Chapter 5, verse 38
4. Matthew, Chapter 7, verse 6
5. 1 Corinthians, Chapter 15, verse 52
6. Genesis, Chapter 4, verse 16
7. Deuteronomy, Chapter 32, verse 10
8. Matthew, Chapter 7, verse 15
9. Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3
10. Galatians, Chapter 6, verse 7


Some may not be word for word depending on the English Language Translation that you own.  By the way, there are at least 100 more of these sayings which have their source in the Bible.  Good luck.  Don't forget to explore Proverbs.