Phrases Coined In The King James Bible Quiz

Answer: Matthew and Mark

Matthew 12:25 reads: "And Jesus knew their thoughts [the Pharisees], and said unto them, 'Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand'." In Mark 3:25, he echoes the phrase: "And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand."

In his speech on June 16, 1858, accepting the Illinois Republican party's nomination for United States senator, Abraham Lincoln echoed this phrase: "A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free."

Answer: Psalms

Psalm 107:27, discussing the effects of a storm on "those who go down to the sea in ships," reads: "They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's end"; that is, they have done all they could and have nowhere left to turn.

In the KJV, Psalms has 150 chapters, 2461 verses, and 42,704 words; Jeremiah has 52 chapters, 1364 verses, and 42,654 words; Genesis has 1533 verses and 38,262 words; and Isaiah has 66 chapters. [biblebelievers.com]

Answer: Isaiah

In a passage suggesting Christ's passion, Isaiah 53:7 reads: "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." The phrase also appears in Jeremiah 11:19: "But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter."

The allusion to the helplessness of lambs also appears in the 1991 film "The Silence of The Lambs."

Answer: Deuteronomy

In Deuteronomy 8:3, Moses is exhorting the people to obey the Ten Commandments. the verse reads: "And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedth out of the mouth of the Lord doth man live." The statement also appears in Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4:4.

The statement generally means that humans need both temporal and spiritual sustenance. It is sometimes expanded to suggest that humans need more than material things to live a full and useful existence.

Answer: I Timothy

In Timothy I, KJV 6:12, Paul advises Timothy: "Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses." "Fight the good fight" is used to encourage persons in all just conflicts, not only those involving faith.

Many know the line from the 1863 hymn "Fight The Good Fight With All Thy Might," by John S.B. Monsell and William Boyd.

Answer: False

It is from the KJV Old Testament. Jeremiah 13:23 reads: "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil."

The issue is whether any person or being can change its innate nature.

Answer: Luke

Luke 4:23 reads: "And he [Jesus] said unto them, 'Ye will surely say unto me this proverb, Physician, heal thyself: whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in thy country'."

The statement is usually interpreted to mean that one should deal with one's own faults rather than criticizing the faults of others.

Answer: False

The phrase comes from Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night." In III.iv., Antonio, thinking Viola is her twin Sebastian, says: "....This youth that you see here/ I snatch'd one half out of the jaws of death...." Antonio saved Sebastian's life during a shipwreck, symbolically keeping him from the "jaws of death."

The phrase is generally used to indicate narrowly escaping any close call with disaster.

Answer: Romans

Romans 2:14 reads: "For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves."

In modern usage, "a law unto themselves" suggests that a person or persons ignore laws that apply to everyone else and do as they please, as if they are above the law. [For example, "senators and congressmen believe they are a law unto themselves."]

Answer: First Thessalonians

In I Thessalonians 1:3, Paul writes: "Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father." The phrase recurs in Paul's epistle to the Hebrews 6:10: "For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do minister."

"A labour of love" is something done for the benefit of someone or something else, not for one's own benefit.