Idioms that Originate in the Bible 5-4-25
Overview
Idioms That Originate in the Bible
Many everyday English phrases come straight from Scripture, even when speakers have no idea of their origin. Tracing them back to their biblical roots not only enriches our vocabulary—it draws us deeper into the story of God's dealings with His people.
Falling and Failing
"Fall from grace" today describes a respected person whose reputation has collapsed. Paul, however, uses the phrase with sharper theological weight in Galatians 5:4: "You who want to be justified by the law have cut yourselves off from Christ; you have fallen away from grace." To trade the freedom of the gospel for the yoke of law-keeping is to fall from the very grace that saves us.
"How the mighty have fallen" is now spoken with sarcasm at someone whose pride has caught up with them. In 2 Samuel 1:17–27, David sings these words as a genuine lament over Saul and Jonathan, slain in battle. It is a sobering reminder that even God's anointed can fall when the heart turns from the Lord.
"Am I my brother's keeper?" is often used today to commend caring for the vulnerable. But in Genesis 4:9, Cain throws the question at God as a snide deflection after murdering Abel. The irony is that he was responsible—and so are we for one another.
The Scapegoat and the Cross
The word "scapegoat" comes from the Day of Atonement ritual in Leviticus 16. The high priest laid the sins of Israel on a goat and sent it into the wilderness to bear those iniquities away. Isaiah points us forward to the true and final scapegoat: "the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all" Isaiah 53:6, and "he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors" Isaiah 53:11–12. Jesus is our Scapegoat—unjustly bearing the weight of our sin so that we might go free.
Words, Warnings, and Narrow Escapes
"Putting words in someone's mouth" now suggests misrepresenting another person. Scripture uses it more straightforwardly: in Exodus 4:10–16, the Lord promises to put His words in Moses's mouth and Aaron's, and in 2 Samuel 14:1–3 Joab coaches the wise woman of Tekoa with the words she should say. When the Lord puts His words in our mouths, that is no manipulation—it is gift.
"The writing on the wall" signals impending disaster. In Daniel 5, King Belshazzar profanes the temple vessels at his feast, and a divine hand writes his judgment on the plaster: his kingdom is numbered, weighed, and divided. Pride against the Lord of heaven always finds its reckoning.
"Skin and bones" and "by the skin of my teeth" both come from the suffering of Job. In Job 19:17–20, Job describes his wasted body and his narrow survival amid affliction—language we still borrow whenever we describe close calls and broken bodies.
Going the Extra Mile
To "go the extra mile" today means giving exceptional effort. Jesus, however, spoke these words in Matthew 5:38–42 in the context of refusing to retaliate: turn the other cheek, give your cloak as well, and if forced to walk one mile, walk two. Going the extra mile is not about impressing others with our excellence—it is the cross-shaped grace of refusing to repay evil with evil.
A Word of Encouragement
The fact that so much of our common speech is borrowed from Scripture testifies to the deep impression God's Word has made on the world. Yet idioms can drift far from their original meaning. As biblical literacy fades, even Christians may use these phrases without knowing the rich truths behind them. Take time to study the source: you will find the gospel hiding in plain sight—a Savior who became our scapegoat, a Lord who puts His words in our mouths, and a King whose grace calls us to go the extra mile.
Transcript
Heavenly Lord, we thank you so much for this day. We thank you for the beautiful weather, 3s
for the birds singing, for the breeze blowing. Lord, you are good and we see your goodness 9s
in creation continually. Lord, we also know of your goodness through your word. We ask 14s
that you would use this time of study that we would know you better, that we would grow 20s
in faith and that we would be more deeply and deeply in love with you as our Lord, our 25s
Savior. Lord, we thank you and we praise you, lifting this up to you in the name of Jesus 33s
Christ. Amen. Okay, so today we're going to look at some different idioms. So idioms, 38s
those are little phrases in our language that we say. I had a lot of fun learning some 45s
idioms in Spanish. I can't remember them, but I had a lot of fun learning them and it's 53s
you know, where a group of words means something in the slang and then you know, but not necessarily 60s
how we read it out. So there are a lot of idioms in our language today. A lot of people use 70s
these phrases and they have no idea that it is directly from scripture or that they began 77s
in scripture. Some of them still have similar meanings as those that we find in scripture, 86s
but a lot of them, you kind of go, how do we get from scripture to here? So we're going 93s
to just look at a handful of those and I was just having a great time coming up with these or 101s
studying these the other day. So the first one we're going to talk about is probably commonly known 110s
to at least be linked with scripture. Although as we find more and more these days, people are becoming 118s
more illiterate in God's word. And so they may not know exactly that this is linked to scripture. 127s
We'll find out. Well, we won't find out because we're not going to do a poll out there in the streets. But 137s
okay, so the first one we're going to look at is fall from grace. To fall from grace that's usually 142s
used to describe a high status individual who's fallen on hard times or become a social inathema. I 148s
think about the cancel culture. That is a perfect example of a fall from grace. Someone that is taken 158s
from the heights of respect and adoring or adoration. And then for one thing that they say or 165s
like poster do, about they are done. People reject them. They have fallen from grace. People stop 174s
admiring them or liking them in history. Henry VIII, someone said in a poll, someone said Henry VIII has to be up there. 183s
You know, he was this mighty king and then decided he wanted a different lady and did that a few times. And so he 193s
fell from grace in the history books. He's no longer revered as he once was. Now we know him more as a wife killing 201s
tyrant. Another one that I thought was really interesting that someone had brought up is Bill Cosby. Bill Cosby was, 210s
I mean, he was Bill Cosby. He was funny. He was smart. He was such, what we would say is such a great guy. And then we find 222s
some not great stuff that he involved himself in and he fell from grace. Not only did he fall from grace, but he was convicted and is in prison. 235s
Now, biblically, of course, this comes from Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. So if you open your Bibles to actually, you know what? 251s
Well, yeah, yeah, yeah, open your Bibles to Galatians chapter five. Now, because we are, are we all familiar with Adam and Eve? And we're all familiar with what happened in the Garden of Eden in Genesis chapter three for 261s
anyone who is watching for the first time. Welcome to Living Word, Lutheran Church. Genesis three is where we have sin enter into creation. So Adam and Eve are in the Garden of Eden. And then when they partake of the fruit, when they eat the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge and good of good and evil, their sin, 277s
their sin results in a fall from immorality to morality. They are no longer in a state of perfection, but of imperfection. And Paul references a fall from grace in Galatians. You know, I told you all to go there and I was stopped flipping. So, hmm, let me get there myself. Galatians chapter five. 301s
Are you all there? Awesome. Perfect. Okay. So you know how to find it. Galatians chapter five verse four, he brings it up. He says, you who want to be justified by the law have cut yourselves off from Christ. You have fallen away from grace. 326s
And I think that this is really interesting in the context that Paul is writing because we know Adam and Eve, their fall from grace was the very first fall from grace. They brought sin into creation. 345s
But Paul is saying when you, when you submit to the law as your way of righteousness, which we've gone through Galatians, so I'm not going to hash much into it. But when you submit yourself to, to the law, you're cutting yourself off from the grace, from the freedom. 362s
So, so we have, when we, when we submit to the yoke of the law, we're rejecting or we're falling from the freedom of grace, from the freedom that we have in the forgiveness of our sins through Jesus Christ. 385s
So similar to fall from grace, the next idiom we're going to look at is how the mighty have fallen. And I promise not all of us are going to be looking at people just dropping. 401s
So how the mighty have fallen is usually sarcastic. And it's indicating that someone who thought more of themselves that was, than was warranted or believed in their position of life to be more important than it truly was has finally gotten their comeuppance or has collided with harsh reality. 414s
So, you know, when, when someone has a big headed idea of themselves, think, think they're pretty, pretty great. And greater than you or I might think they should think of themselves. 436s
We may say, you know, oh, how the mighty have fallen. An example of this from history, President Nixon, you know, he, he was revered, respected, not by all, by some, I, you know, I think I was, when was he ousted? 452s
74, I thought it was before I was born. 476s
See, now this, this would be a, this would be a moment where you could say, oh, I could do something stupid. And you could say, oh, how the mighty have fallen because I'm, I'm thinking bigger of myself. 482s
So, but, you know, he, he thought he had a position of, of greatness that, he, he did something stupid. And, and so people could say, or did say, oh, how the mighty have fallen. 494s
And another example that came up in research was O.J. Simpson, you know, and, and notice what's very interesting is that in this, in this example of how the mighty have fallen or how, in this idiom, this is usually a person elevating themselves or being elevated even. 511s
And, and then they do something. It's that, that forbidden fruit always. Have you ever, ever thought, I'm going to good path, I'm doing okay, I'm doing okay. And then all of a sudden, you get humbled really quickly. Am I the only one that happens to? 537s
Okay. Anytime I start feeling pretty good about myself, I go, oh, no, no, no. Nope, stop it. Okay, so, but it's interesting because how the mighty have fallen, biblically comes from second Samuel. Let's go to second Samuel. That's in the old testament. 561s
It is, it's after judges and roofs and first Samuel. We're going to get to second Samuel chapter one. And this is, this is David. So, so Saul had been after David. 579s
Saul was trying to kill David and in battle Saul and Jonathan die. They're killed in battle. Look with me please at verse 17 of second Samuel chapter one, verse 17. 600s
So, Saul and Jonathan have been killed in battle. And David intoned this lamentation over Saul and his son Jonathan. He ordered that the song of the bow of the bow be taught to the people of Judah. It is written in the book of Jaysher. He said, your glory, oh Israel lies slain upon your high places. How the mighty have fallen. 621s
Now, Saul didn't kill him. Well, I guess actually he did run, like fall on his sword. But in battle Saul and Jonathan were, were killed. And David lamented their deaths because at one point Saul was might. He was the appointed king of Israel, appointed by God. And yet he fell. 646s
He fell. He had not followed God. His heart was not after the Lord. And, and so David in his lamentation says, oh, how the mighty have fallen. The anointed of the Lord has fallen. 670s
Another idiom, my brothers keeper. Today, people use my brothers keeper to express the idea of looking after others. I am my brothers keeper. I am going to look after others. We are called to look after one another. It's, it's taking responsibility when others are in need. 688s
I thought it was very interesting. Someone who was writing on this said, people who work at food lines and shelters, folks who contribute a part of their small income or belongings to the less fortunate, who volunteer with troubled babies and mothers and children. There are many examples of this. Of course, a billionaire who donate something is not truly exercising the idea of my brothers keeper at all. 714s
I thought it was very interesting that this person's commentary is that to be my brothers keeper today has to mean complete sacrifice. And while it is good and, and we sacrifice of our time, our possessions, it does not mean that, that if we, if we give a candy bar and we're still able to buy a candy bar for ourselves, 740s
that does not mean that we're not sharing or giving. So I thought it was very kind of a, I didn't like that. I didn't like that. But, but my brothers keeper is really about helping. It's about taking responsibility for those in need, making sure that people are cared for and looked after what's very interesting is that it's different in scripture. 770s
It's different in the original placement of this. Turn with me please to Genesis chapter four. Genesis chapter four, that's the first book in the Bible, the fourth chapter. 800s
Genesis chapter four, cane had killed able. Cain had killed able. And if we look at verse nine, the Lord said to Cain, where is your brother able? He, that's Cain, said, I do not know and I, my brothers keeper. 813s
It's a rhetorical question that Cain is asking the Lord. It's, it's this, summing his nose like I'm not, I'm not responsible for able, even though we know that he is, he is responsible for able. 837s
It's not the question or the, the idiom of my brothers keeper. It is not as generous in the Bible as what we make it to be today. 854s
We keep a very generous look on that that, that it is good to be my brothers keeper. And here Cain, he, he needed to be his brothers keeper. He was not. 866s
And he uses it at this, as this retort, this rhetorical, just kind of snide remark back to the Lord. So I thought that was very, very interesting. 878s
Okay, our next idiom, it's not really a phrase, but it's, it's a word, a scapegoat, scapegoat. This one, I remember, and I grew up in the church. 889s
And I didn't know what the origin of this was until I was an adult. So, so scapegoat, that's blaming someone else for one's mistakes. 902s
Or a scapegoat can be a person who is blamed for wrong doings, mistakes, or faults of others, especially for reasons of expediency. 916s
So, and I thought this was interesting, scapegoating, it can be individuals against individuals, using another person as a scapegoat. 925s
It can be that's that whole like he did it, not me, it was him, it was him. 934s
Individuals against groups, I couldn't see anything because of all the tall people, you know, you're using the tall people as a scapegoat there. 941s
Groups against individuals, he was the reason our team didn't win, putting all of the blame on one person, and groups against groups. 949s
I love, love this historical example, Yoko Ono. 960s
Yoko Ono, she was the second wife of John Lennon, one of the founding members of the Beatles, and he, she was absolutely and continues to absolutely be blamed for the breakup of the Beatles. 972s
You can ask my kids what happened to the Beatles, and they'll all say Yoko Ono. 989s
Yoko Ono is the scapegoat that we as a whole people generally use for the breakup of the Beatles. 995s
Another favorite scapegoat in history is Harry Frazy, the owner of the Red Sox, who sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees. 1005s
Oh, weeping and gnashing of teeth. 1016s
It is the curse of the Bambino, the Red Sox when Babe Ruth was sold, there was an 86 year championship drought, and this man was the scapegoat. 1022s
The team never won again, or for 86 years, because of Harry Frazy. 1040s
So, biblically, what? 1047s
You know what? I am not going to knock Broadway plays, so Babe Ruth or Broadway, I don't know. 1053s
But, yeah, he was a theatrical man. 1059s
So, to find it biblically, let's go to Leviticus. 1063s
This is after Exodus. 1067s
It is in the Old Testament Leviticus chapter 16. 1070s
Leviticus chapter 16. 1077s
So, it is the laws are being laid out and written and told on various sacrifices, various aspects of atoning. 1082s
And so, in this chapter, we have atonement, and we're hearing about how atonement happens in the Old Testament. 1097s
So, looking at verse 15, or beginning at verse 15, this is the law that the priests shall slaughter the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the curtain, and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it upon the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. 1106s
So, it is making that atonement with the blood of the goat. 1128s
Thus, he shall make atonement for the sanctuary because of the uncleanly cleannesses of the people of Israel, and because of their transgressions, all their sins, and so he shall do for the tentative meeting, which remains with them, in the midst of their uncleannesses. 1133s
No one shall be in the tentative meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the sanctuary until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house, and for all the assembly of Israel. 1150s
Then he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement on its behalf, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and the blood of the goat and put it on each of the horns of the altar. 1163s
He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times and cleanse it and hollow it from the uncleanly cleannesses of the people of Israel. 1174s
When he has finished atoning for the holy place and the tentative meeting and the altar, he shall present the live goat. 1184s
Then Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the iniquities of the people of Israel and all their transgressions, all their sins, 1191s
putting them on the head of the goat and sending it away into the wilderness by means of someone designated for the task. 1204s
The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to a barren region and the goat shall be set free in the wilderness. 1213s
The scapegoat, the scapegoat was the goat over which the high priest would pray and put all of the iniquities of the people on that goat. 1220s
That was the one that bore all of the iniquities. 1238s
Now let's go to Isaiah chapter 53. 1242s
This is in the middle of the Bible. 1246s
If you get two Psalms, you go over one book and you'll find yourself in the prophet Isaiah chapter 53. 1250s
We're going to look at a few verses here. 1260s
First, we're going to look at verse 6. 1264s
All we like sheep have gone astray. 1268s
We have all turned to our own way and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all going down to verses 11 and 12. 1270s
Out of his anguish, he shall see light. 1282s
He shall find satisfaction through his knowledge. 1284s
The righteous one, my servant, shall be made righteous and he shall bear their iniquities. 1287s
Therefore, I will allot him a portion with the great and he shall divide the spoil with the strong because he poured out himself to death and was numbered with the transgressors. 1292s
Yet he bore the sin of many and made intercession for the transgressors. 1303s
So Jesus is our scapegoat. 1307s
He is the scapegoat of our sin. 1311s
Our iniquities are laid and have been laid upon him. 1313s
He bears our transgressions. 1318s
He bears our iniquities. 1321s
And so he is unfairly unjustly bearing the weight of our sin. 1323s
He is our scapegoat before the Father. 1332s
And he died for that purpose. 1335s
So that's scapegoat. 1341s
The next one we are going to do is to put words in someone's mouth. 1344s
So this is suggesting that someone said or meant something that he or she did not actually say or mean. 1350s
Have you ever said that? 1357s
Don't put words in my mouth. 1358s
Usually in the heat of an argument. 1359s
Don't put words in my mouth. 1362s
We see a lot of that in political debate. 1364s
As a modern example of that. 1368s
There is a movie, the Breakfast Club, where the teenagers are all sitting around and they are discussing things. 1371s
And one of the teens gets really upset with another teen and says, 1378s
Oh, you are putting words in my mouth and she is very frustrated. 1381s
I love that scene because it is that whole, like, that's not what I meant. 1385s
You are making things up. 1389s
You are putting words in my mouth. 1390s
I didn't say you look fat in the red dress. 1394s
I said you look slim in the black dress. 1397s
You are putting words in my mouth. 1400s
So in Exodus, Exodus chapter 4, we find this. 1405s
And it is not in a bad way. 1414s
Exodus chapter 4, Exodus is the second book in the Bible, second book of the pen to took, the five books of Moses. 1417s
Exodus chapter 4, this is where this is after Moses had been called. 1424s
Let's see here. 1433s
Yep, Moses had been called by the Lord to go to Pharaoh, to go and lead his people and he keeps giving those excuses of, 1434s
well, what about this? 1443s
But what about this? 1444s
But what about this? 1445s
And trying to not be the one that the Lord would call. 1446s
Picking up in verse 10, we see, it says, 1450s
but Moses said to the Lord, oh, my Lord, I have never been eloquent neither in the past nor even now that you have spoken to your servant. 1453s
But I am slow of speech and slow of tongue. 1462s
Then the Lord said to him, who gives speech to mortals? 1466s
Who makes the mute or deaf, seeing or blind? 1470s
Is it not I, the Lord? 1473s
Now go and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you are to speak. 1475s
But he said, oh, my Lord, please send someone else. 1480s
Then the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses and he said, what of your brother Aaron the Levite? 1484s
I know that he can speak fluently, even now he is coming out to meet you. 1490s
And when he sees you, his heart will be glad. 1495s
You shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth. 1498s
And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and he will teach you what you shall do. 1502s
The Lord was putting the words in the mouth of Moses, putting the words in the mouth of Aaron. 1508s
That is not a bad thing. 1517s
Praise be to God whenever we get the words of the Lord put in our mouths. 1520s
That's a good thing. 1525s
It's a very, very good thing. 1526s
In 2 Samuel, let's go to 2 Samuel, chapter 14. 1529s
So if you keep going to the right, you'll pass the rest of the pen to took. 1534s
Joshua, judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, chapter 14. 1539s
Verses 1 through 3. 1550s
Now, Joshua, son of Zaruai, perceived that the king's mind was on Absalom. 1555s
Joab sat to Takoa and brought from there a wise woman. 1562s
He said to her, pretend to be a mourner, put on mourning garments. 1565s
Do not annoy yourself with oil, but behave like a woman who has been mourning many days for the dead. 1569s
Go to the king and speak to him as follows. 1574s
And, Joab put the words into her mouth. 1578s
Again, the connotation or the happening of someone telling another what to say. 1581s
So it's not confusing the words as we use to put words in someone's mouth that has a negative connotation to it. 1588s
You put words in my mouth. 1596s
But this is, I'm going to tell you what to say. 1598s
It's putting words in your mouth. 1601s
First, we read how the Lord put the words in the mouth of Moses, of Aaron. 1603s
Here we see how Joab put the words, told this woman, this wise woman, what to say when she went before the king. 1609s
The writing is on the wall. 1619s
The writing is on the wall. 1621s
If you say that the writing is on the wall, you mean that there are clear signs that a situation is going to become a woman. 1623s
That's very difficult or unpleasant. 1631s
For example, if a company is consistently losing money and there are massive layoffs and financial troubles, someone might say the writing is on the wall for the company's bankruptcy. 1634s
So it means that there are signs of financial collapse for this company. 1646s
So it's foreboding. 1652s
The writing is on the wall. 1655s
This comes from the prophet Daniel. 1657s
So if you go again to the center, you'll find Psalms and then you keep going through the prophets. 1660s
You'll get to Daniel, Daniel chapter 5. 1666s
Daniel chapter 5. 1672s
And Daniel had been interpreting dreams for Nebuchadnezzar. 1674s
He interpreted dreams for Nebuchadnezzar and here there's a new king, King Belfchazar. 1681s
And he has this festival, it's this great, great feast that's happening. 1690s
And under the influence of the wine, as it says beginning in verse 2, 1695s
Belchazar commanded that they bring in the vessels of gold and silver that his father, Nebuchadnezzar, had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem so that the king and his lords, his wives and his cockybions might drink from them. 1701s
So they brought the vessels of gold and silver that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives and his cockybions drank from them. 1712s
They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver bronze iron wood and stone, so they were praising these false gods. 1721s
Immediately, verse 5, immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and began writing on the plaster of the wall of the royal palace next to the lampstand. 1731s
The king was watching the hand as it wrote, then the king's face turned pale and his thoughts terrified him. 1742s
His limbs gave away and his knees knocked together. 1749s
So he sees a hand writing on the wall and it was very scary. 1753s
And David comes and he interprets it for him and indeed it was not good. 1761s
It was not good stuff. 1769s
He was giving the interpretation. 1771s
Verse 17, then Daniel answered in the presence of the king, let your gifts be for yourself or give your rewards to someone else. 1778s
Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and let him know the interpretation. 1786s
O king, the most high god gave your father, Nebuchadnezzar, kingship, greatness, glory and majesty. 1790s
And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations and languages trembled and feared before him. 1796s
He killed those he wanted to kill, kept alive those he wanted to keep alive, honored those he wanted to honor and degraded those he wanted to degrade. 1803s
I'll hold on a second here, sorry. 1813s
But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he acted proudly, he was deposed from his kingly throne and his glory was stripped from him. 1815s
He was driven from human society and his mind was made like that of an animal. 1825s
His dwelling was with the wild asses. 1829s
He was fed grass like oxen and his body was bathed with a dew of heavens until he learned that the most high god has sovereignty over the kingdom of mortals and sets over it, whomever he will. 1831s
And you, Belch-Sazar, his son, have not humbled your heart even though you knew all this. 1845s
You have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven. 1849s
The vessels of his temple have been brought in before you and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them. 1852s
You have praised the gods of silver and gold and of bronze iron wood and stone which do not see or hear or know, but the god in whose power is your very breath and to whom, belong all your ways, you have not honored. 1859s
So from his presence, the hand was sent and this writing was inscribed and this writing that was inscribed, many, many, Teckel and person. 1872s
This is the interpretation of the matter. 1881s
Many, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end. Teckel, you have been weighed on the scales and found wanting Paris, sorry, my contacts. 1884s
Your kingdom is divided and given to the needs and the Persians. 1896s
So the writing on the wall was a warning, just saying, you're going down. 1899s
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. 1906s
This is the writing on the wall. So the writing on the wall or that phrase is used to connote that or connotate that something bad is going to happen. 1909s
Read the writing on the wall. Something bad is going to happen. 1922s
Okay, we've got a couple more minutes here. I'm trying to decide. I've got. 1929s
Okay, the next one we'll do is skin and bones and the skin of my teeth. 1934s
These are both biblically in Job. In our usage of skin and bones, it means it's not a good thing. 1939s
It means they're painfully, someone is painfully emaciated. They have whittled down to nothing but skin and bones. 1949s
It's not a compliment to say that. The Holocaust survivors were skin and bones. 1957s
They had whittled down to nothing. He lost so much weight, he was skin and bones. 1966s
The other one that we find in Job is skin of my teeth. 1974s
That's used to describe a situation from which one has barely managed to escape or achieve something. 1981s
I'm so glad that my husband is a sports guy. I asked him. I said, give me a good example. 1988s
He gave it to me just a few minutes ago. He said, okay. 1996s
Last night, the stars. The Dallas stars were in the seventh game in this first round of the playoffs. 1999s
They were in their seventh game. They were losing in the third quarter. 2008s
Sorry, you have to have four for a quarter. 2013s
Third period. They were losing. They ended up winning and they advanced to the second round of finals by the skin of their teeth. 2019s
That's a really good example of that. We can look at Job. 2030s
If you go back from Daniel, go back through past Psalms, you'll find yourself at Job. 2035s
Job chapter 19. 2045s
We'll read verse two where Job is speaking. 2050s
He says, how long will you torment me and break me in pieces with words? 2056s
And then he continued. In beginning of verse 17, he says, my breath is repulsive to my wife. 2062s
I am loathsome to my own family. Even young children despise me when I rise. 2070s
They talk against me. All my intimate friends abhor me and those whom I loved have turned against me. 2075s
My bones cling to my sin and skin and to my flesh and I have escaped by the skin of my teeth. 2082s
He has skinned and bones. He has whittled away to nothing. 2091s
It's used in the same way that we use it today. 2097s
And he has escaped death by the skin of his teeth. He's narrowly escaping death. 2101s
He wonders why we're not going to get into Job. 2109s
Love it, but we're not going to get into it. 2113s
So that's where those two idioms, the skin and bones and by the skin of my teeth, those come out of Job, out of the Bible. 2115s
Going the extra mile, if you say that someone is willing to go the extra mile, 2125s
you mean that they are willing to put in special effort to make a special effort to do or achieve something. 2131s
There's a linked in article that's entitled five reasons why you should go the extra mile in providing an excellent service to your customers. 2139s
In the article, it says, let's be honest, in business space today just being good at customer service isn't enough. 2149s
You need to truly wow your customers. It's about creating an experience that's not just pleasant but memorable. 2156s
So it's all about going that extra mile, doing more, doing better, doing greater for the customer. 2164s
Let's look at where it is in scripture. 2174s
Let's turn to the New Testament to the Gospel of Matthew chapter five. 2176s
The Gospel of Matthew chapter five. 2180s
Beginning in verse 38. 2185s
So this is the New Testament, the first book in the New Testament. 2189s
Beginning in verse 38 of chapter five. 2194s
Jesus says, you have heard that it was said, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, but I say to you, do not revisit an evil doer. 2198s
But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also. 2206s
And if anyone wants to sue you and take your coat, give your other cloak as well. 2211s
And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go also the second mile. 2217s
Give to everyone who begs from you and do not refuse anyone who wants to borrow from you. 2223s
So in modern slang, going the extra mile is a good thing. 2228s
It's that giving out of your own kindness, giving, going the extra steps to be kind and generous to someone. 2235s
In scripture, it has to do with retaliation. 2248s
Going the extra mile in scripture is not retaliating. 2252s
Our knee jerk reaction or our immediate reaction is generally to retaliate, to get back at. 2259s
But here Jesus is saying, don't retaliate. 2267s
You turn the other cheek. 2271s
If one cheek is struck, turn the other cheek. 2273s
If someone sues you for your cloak, give them another one. 2276s
If someone makes you walk a mile, go an extra mile. 2279s
It has nothing to do with being generous out of kindness and generosity. 2283s
It is being generous of spirit in not retaliating, in having grace for those who are not treating us kindly. 2289s
That's how go the extra mile is based. 2300s
In modern slang, it's considered to be better and stand out as extra in the Bible. 2306s
It's the opposite of retaliating. 2312s
It's keeping control as far as not lashing out. 2316s
We have a few more, but we are about at time. 2322s
It's really interesting. 2330s
There are a lot of idioms, a lot of phrases that we use today in our everyday language that we don't realize, originate in scripture. 2331s
We will hear people using it. 2342s
It's a fun thing to dig into. 2345s
If you are ever looking for something fun to study, I really encourage you to check out various idioms and share them with people. 2349s
It's always surprising. 2355s
Maybe you all knew exactly where these idioms began. 2357s
Because you are brilliant. 2361s
You are brilliant. 2362s
Thank you. 2363s