The Good Book

Extract

It is undoubtedly one of the glories of our English language that normal usage, both in speech and in writing, is so frequently in debt to the text of the Bible. It is probably true that the speech of civilised man has for centuries everywhere been greatly influenced by the words of Scripture, but it may perhaps be claimed that this is particularly true of the speech of Englishmen. Whether we realize it or not, we are constantly quoting Scripture, or using phrases or metaphors coming directly from the Bible. Often enough we are unaware that we are quoting the Sermon on the Mount, when we describe someone as the ‘salt of the earth’ (Matt. 5, 13) or ‘a wolf in sheep's clothing’ (7, 15), when we speak of ‘blowing one's own trumpet’ (6, 2), not caring a ‘jot’ or ‘iota’ (5, 18), putting a light ‘under a bushel’ (5, 15), or serving ‘God and mammon’ (6, 24).