Biblical proverbs, sayings and expressions

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The Bible is the most translated book in our language. Over the years, many Bible translations have been published in the Netherlands. The translations have brought many proverbs, sayings and expressions into our language. Proverbs, sayings and expressions consist of a number of words with a figurative meaning. The Bible consists of more than hundreds of proverbs, sayings and expressions.

Don’t be surprised, just be amazed

The Dutch language, our expressions, everyday sayings. They seem so normal and often are, but what is special is that they can all be traced back to Christianity. Our country, our lives, everyday things, everything is based on the word of God, which is the Bible. Everything can be traced back to where it came from and where we can all go soon.

What is the difference between a proverb, saying and an expression?

Proverb

A proverb is a collection of words that remains unchanged. A proverb always has a fixed form. So it’s not a question. It is a collection of words (pronunciation) that contains wisdom from and for life. You can also see it as an observation or a summary: ‘Speaking is silver, silence is gold.’

Proverb

A saying, like a proverb, has a figurative meaning and is a fixed expression. A saying does not contain a verb and can therefore never form a sentence. For example: ‘An open door’.

Expression

An expression also has a figurative meaning. An expression is a fixed combination of words that usually indirectly describes a situation. It can be a saying or a saying.

Do you know the meaning of these Biblical proverbs, sayings and expressions?

Below are the most common proverbs, sayings and expressions that we use in our daily lives. In addition to these expressions, the Bible books where the proverbs and sayings can be found are also shown.

As you can see, we have not included the original meaning behind the proverbs and sayings. This allows you to look for the authentic meaning yourself. You can also compare the authentic meaning with the current meaning . Has this changed due to the ‘spirit of the times’ or is it still useful in everyday life?

For now, ‘speaking is silver, silence is golden’, read and learn.

  • A tree is known by its fruits – Matthew 7:17-18
  • Seeing Abraham – John 8:57
  • All mine are yours – Luke 15:31
  • All is vanity – Ecclesiastes 1:2
  • Everything is weary beyond words – Ecclesiastes 1:8
  • Everything in due time – Ecclesiastes 3:1
  • If one blind man leads another, both will fall into the ditch – Matthew 15:14
  • Like a thief in the night – 1 Thessalonians 5:2
  • Standing as a pillar of salt – Genesis 19:26
  • Babylonian Confusion of Tongues – Genesis 11:7-9
  • Better a good neighbor than a friend far away (A friend near is better than a brother far away.) – Proverbs 27:10
  • Sitting down – Genesis 49:14
  • In high and low sores – Matthew 5:34-35
  • There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth – Matthew 8:12
  • That’s the writing on the wall – Daniel 5:5
  • That’s nothing new under the sun – Ecclesiastes 1:8-9
  • That cannot endure the light of day – John 3:20
  • The Alpha and the Omega – Revelation 1:8
  • Let the cup pass from you – Matthew 26:39
  • The Benjamin of the Family / Genesis 35
  • The belly of the wicked is never enough – Proverbs 13:25
  • Casting the first stone – John 8:7
  • Death in the pot – 2 Kings 4:40
  • The Philistines against you – Judges 16:9-20
  • The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak – Matthew 26:40-41
  • Putting one’s hand into one’s own bosom – Exodus 4:6
  • Your hair stands on end – Job 4:15
  • Strengthening the inner man – 2 Corinthians 4:16
  • The inner man – Ephesians 3:16
  • The Jews said, ,You are not yet fifty and you have seen Abraham?, – John 8,57
  • The last will be first – Mark 10:31
  • The last will be first – Matthew 19:30, Matthew 20:16, Mark 10:31 and Luke 13:30
  • Hang the lyre/harp on the willows – Psalm 137:2
  • Blowing the trumpet – 2 Chronicles 7:6
  • The government does not bear the sword in vain – Romans 13
  • The scales fall from his eyes – Acts 9:18
  • The scales fall from their eyes – Acts 9:18
  • Seeing the speck in another’s eye, but not the beam in your own eye – Matthew 7:3 and Luke 6:41
  • The Prodigal Son – Luke 2:11-31
  • The desert will blossom like the rose – Isaiah 35:1
  • Being the scapegoat – Leviticus 16:21 and Hebrews 10:4
  • He who does not work shall not eat – 2 Thessalonians 3:10
  • He who sows the wind will reap the whirlwind – Hosea 8:7
  • He who exalts himself will be humbled – Matthew 23:12 and Luke 18:14
  • Going through the eye of a needle – Matthew 19:24
  • A mockery – Jeremiah 19:8
  • A beam in the eye – Matthew 7:3-5
  • A Good Samaritan Luke 10:25-37 an unexpected helper in need
  • Do a mountain of work – Mark 11:23
  • A thorn in the side – Numbers 33:55 and Joshua 23:13
  • Being a Pharisee – Matthew 23:26
  • Faith like a mustard seed – Luke 17:6
  • A dog returns to its own vomit – 2 Peter 2:22
  • A feast for the eyes – Genesis 3:6
  • A new heaven and a new earth – Isaiah 65:17 and Revelation 21:1
  • An Unbelieving Thomas – John 20:24-29
  • A rib from your body – Genesis 2:21-22
  • A rib from your body – Genesis 2:21-22
  • One crying in the wilderness – Isaiah 40:3, quoted in Matthew 3:3, Luke 3:4, John 1:23
  • A Solomon’s Judgment – 1 Kings 3:16-28
  • A writing on the wall – Daniel 5:25
  • A Sign of the Times [Matthew 16:3]
  • A Law of the Medes and Persians – Esther I:19 and Daniel 6:9
  • A wolf in sheep’s clothing – Matthew 7:15
  • It is sooner for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven – Matthew 19:24
  • See first and then believe – John 20:25
  • Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land which the Lord your God is giving you – Exodus 20:12
  • And behold it was Leah Genesis 29:25
  • There is nothing new under the sun – Ecclesiastes 1:10
  • There’s a catch – Genesis 3:1 and Matthew 12:34, Matthew 3:7
  • Give credit where credit is due – Romans 13:7
  • Go and sin no more – John 8:11
  • Go and multiply – Genesis 1:28 and 9:1
  • Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s – Matthew 22:21
  • Do not change one tittle or one jot – Matthew 5:18
  • Do not worry about tomorrow – Matthew 6:34
  • Faith, hope and love, these three, but the greatest of these is love – 1 Corinthians 13:13
  • Weighed and found wanting – Daniel 5:27
  • The Holy of Holies – Exodus 27:33ff
  • This is a Sodom and Gomorrah – Genesis 18:20
  • Separating the wheat from the chaff – Matthew 3:12 and Luke 3:17
  • The land of the living – Isaiah 53:8
  • The land of milk and honey – Exodus 3:8
  • He is a real Judas – Luke 22:48
  • He had to fight a Goliath – 1 Samuel 17
  • Hunger makes raw beans sweet (To the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet) – Proverbs 27:7
  • Pride goes before a fall – Proverbs 16:18
  • Turning the other cheek – Luke 6:29
  • To silence someone – 1 Peter 2:15 and Romans 3:19
  • Putting words into someone’s mouth – Exodus 4:15
  • To cherish someone – Psalm 91:12
  • I fear with great fear – Luke 2:9
  • In Adam’s Suit – Genesis 3:10
  • Groping in the Dark – Job 12:25
  • In the sweat of your brow – Genesis 3:17-19
  • Being in sackcloth and ashes – Esther 4:1-3
  • I fear with great fear – Luke 2:9
  • To wail like Jeremiah: also verb to wail synonyms to wail, lament, lament
  • Being your brother’s keeper – Genesis 4:9
  • Your days are numbered – Daniel 5:26
  • You have surely plowed with my calf – Judges 14:18
  • You cannot serve two masters – Matthew 6:24
  • Not wasting your talents – Matthew 25:14-30
  • Coming as a thief in the night – 1 Thessalonians 5:2
  • Let the children come to me – Matthew 19:14 Mark 10:14 Luke 18:16
  • Please let me drink of that red, that red thing – Genesis 25:30
  • Do not worry about tomorrow – Matthew 6:34
  • Measuring with the same measure – Proverbs 20:10
  • Growing Your Talents – Matthew 25
  • Double standards – Matthew 7:2
  • Nitpicking – Matthew 23:24
  • To the Philistines – Judges 13:1
  • Humility adorns man – Matthew 23:12, Luke 14:11 and 18:14
  • Take and eat – Matthew 26:26
  • You shall not live by bread alone / Matthew 4:4
  • Not from yesterday – Job 8:9
  • Sleep a little longer, slumber a little longer, lie down with folded hands… – Proverbs 6:10 and 24:33
  • Examine all things, and hold fast that which is good – 1 Thessalonians 5:19-21
  • An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth – Exodus 21:24
  • Apple of the eye – Psalm 17:8
  • Hands on – Psalm 91:12
  • Being in two minds – 1 Kings 18:21
  • Old and full of days – Genesis 25:8
  • Old wine in new bottles – Matthew 9:17, Mark 2:22 and Luke 5:37
  • Casting pearls before swine – Matthew 7:6
  • Sodomy – Genesis 19:4-11
  • At the eleventh hour (or the workers of the eleventh hour) – Matthew 20:9
  • From evil – Matthew 5:37
  • Whence Gehazi? -2 Kings 5:25
  • Forgive them, for they know not what they do – Luke 23:34
  • What the heart is full of, the mouth overflows with – Matthew 12:34
  • What is truth? – John 18:38
  • Whoever digs a pit for another will fall there himself (Proverbs 26:27).
  • What you would not have done to you, do not do to others – Matthew 7:12
  • Whoever uses the sword will die by the sword – Matthew 26:52
  • He who sows the wind will reap the whirlwind – Hosea 8:7
  • Let him who is without sin cast the first stone – John 8:7
  • Wise and foolish virgins – Matthew 25:1-13
  • Waste and void – Genesis 1:2
  • Putting words in our mouths – Exodus 4:15, Isaiah 51:16
  • Blessed are the poor in spirit – Matthew 5:3
  • Even a fool who keeps his mouth shut is considered wise – Proverbs 17:28
  • Seven fat and seven lean years -Genesis 41:25-31
  • Behold, I make all things new – Revelation 21:5
  • Washing His Hands in Innocence – Matthew 27:24
  • Carrying His Cross Matthew 16:24, Mark 8:34 and Luke 9:23
  • As poor as Job – Job
  • As old as Methuselah – Genesis 5:27
  • Seek and you shall find – Matthew 7:7
  • Beating swords into plowshares – Isaiah 2:4

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