In Front | The Impact of the New Testament: Language

The New Testament is filled with one-liners that tend to stick in one’s mind. Therefore, it’s not surprising to discover that over time many phrases from those 27 books have come into the English language. Many of these common sayings originally came into common usage through the popularity of the King James Version. Above are some examples.

Not all common sayings linked to the New Testament are direct quotes. Here are a few that came into English as paraphrases:

“Go the extra mile”
Matthew 5:41

“The blind leading the blind”
Matthew 15:13-14

“Fall from grace”
Galatians 5:4

Here is a list of common phrases taken just from the book of Hebrews (ESV):

Wear out like a garment (1:11)

Foundation of the world (4:3)

Do not harden your heart (3:8, 15; 4:7, also in Ps 95:8)

Consuming fire (12:29, also in Deut 4:24; 9:3 and Is 33:14)

One linguist has completed a study on the common phrases with biblical origins. His study concluded that 257 common sayings have been adopted into English from both the Old and New Testament combined.

Source: http://www.npr.org/2010/12/22/132262167/thank-the-king-james-bible-for-favorite-phrases; Accessed March 7, 2019. 

Idioms have not only come into English. Many languages around the world have adopted idioms with biblical roots. One notable language influenced by the New Testament is German—in particular Martin Luther’s 1522 translation. 

Luther said of his work:

To translate properly is to render the spirit of a foreign language into our own idiom. I try to speak as men do in the market place.

Historian Neil MacGregor has said of the Luther Bible’s impact on German language:

Today, even Germans who have never seen, let alone touched, a Luther Bible, unknowingly use its words and phrases every day. ‘Sündenbock’ (scapegoat) and ‘Herzenslust’ (heart’s content), for example, are just two of the many new words that Luther invented. ‘Der Geist ist willig, aber das Fleisch ist schwach’ (the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak), phrases now so familiar they’ve become proverbial. Luther had not just caught the way that ordinary German people did speak, he’d also shaped the way that they would … and do.

Since other Bible translations in Europe were influenced by Luther’s translation, other languages have also born the fingerprint of Luther. Matthew 7:6 (“pearls before swine”), is one example of a saying that most likely came into the King James Version through Luther’s translation.

Sources: http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-34/bible-translation-that-rocked-world.html. Accessed March 7, 2018. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b04k6rc8. Accessed March 7, 2018.