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About This Quiz
The Good Book is full of great stories about prophets, priests, kings, judges, of empires and kingdoms that rise and fall, of a God who is by turns vengeful and loving. Much of its 66 books are taken up with nonstop action, with wars, miracles, exiles, exoduses, and all sorts of family drama. Other parts are full of family trees in exhaustive detail.
However, that's not all there is. The Bible contains an awful lot of wisdom. Some of this comes in the form of psalms and proverbs, where you might expect to find a beautifully constructed bon mot. Other pearls of wisdom come from substantial parts of the book dedicated to simply laying down the law, from how you should treat your fellow man to what you should wear, eat, and do with your time. A few appear in parables told by prophets and others, seeking to educate. Then there some gems that are simply tossed into the middle of stories that might not always seem to be the most important in the book.
Do you really understand what it means to demand an eye for an eye? What about the concept of a scapegoat? Let's put your Biblical knowledge to the test!
What does "by the skin of your teeth" mean?
Just getting away with it
This saying is about getting away from a situation without harm - but only very, very narrowly.
Eating something really big
Eating something really little
Being rude
What does "can a leopard change his spots" mean?
People can change.
Leopards are chameleons.
People can't change.
This saying means to say that people can't change: Jeremiah says a leopard can't change his spots and a bad person can't stop doing evil. Fortunately, people can change, it's just hard work.
People shouldn't change.
What does "eat, drink, and be merry" mean?
It means don't do those things.
Exactly what it says
This one literally means exactly what it says. You might say it to guests at a wedding after the speeches, to reassure them the potentially un-fun part is now over!
Have fun, but remember tomorrow is a work day.
Have fun and it will ruin your life.
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What does "cast the first stone" mean?
Stone people! It's fun!
Don't be mean.
Don't be a hypocrite.
The full saying is "let he who is without sin cast the first stone," which Jesus said to point out to a crowd stoning an adulteress that they were being hypocrites. It has retained the same meaning.
Don't be first to pile onto someone but if everyone else is doing it, go ahead.
What does "an eye for an eye" mean?
If someone knocks out your eye, you should knock out their eye.
Most people believe the saying "you should repay an eye for an eye" to mean that "you, the victim, should "repay" your attacker by doing unto them exactly what they did to you. That said. rabbinical scholars generally take the "you" in this saying to mean the perp. That is, "you", the attacker, need to literally "repay" your victim in the amount of harm done: If you did them harm in the amount of an eye, then you owe them the value of an eye in compensation.
If someone knocks out your eye, the legal system should remove their eye.
If someone is mean to you, take revenge but don't get caught.
If someone is mean to you, stand up for yourself.
What does "drop in a bucket" mean?
It's the same as "the straw that broke the camel's back."
When the bucket is suddenly too heavy, it's OK to drop it.
Don't give up because you can handle any extra problem.
One tiny action, good or bad, that won't affect the outcome
This saying is about how something can be good or bad but ultimately inconsequential. Eg "Sarah gets all A grades, so that test result was just a drop in a bucket".
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What does "fly in the ointment" mean?
You can do everything right and outside forces can ruin it.
You can work really hard on something and it might not be very good.
Nothing is perfect so stop worrying about it.
Everything's great except this one annoying thing that ruined it all.
Ointment is good, but flies are bad. This saying means that you can have something that is very nearly perfect and then it's ruined by a minor problem.
What does "for everything there is a season" mean?
Everything happens for a reason.
It'll happen when it's the right time.
This saying means that you can't rush things: they'll happen when they're good and ready. It doesn't mean you can't prepare ahead of time, though.
You will eventually have every experience you seek.
Don't worry, just go with the flow.
What does "bite the dust" mean?
To lose spectacularly
To lose completely
Biting the dust means losing at something in so complete a manner as to guarantee you're not coming back.
To lose slowly
To look down when you should be looking ahead
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What does "the blind leading the blind" mean?
A person giving bad advice
A person giving advice when they know nothing about the topic
The blind leading the blind means that a person who doesn't know anything about a subject is trying to impose their opinion. For example, "Jeff's proposal for the product release was terrible work, but the executives didn't even realize. It's the blind leading the blind."
A person helping someone who is in the same boat
A person being kind to someone less fortunate
What does "forbidden fruit" mean?
Something you can't have but may or may not want
Forbidden fruit comes from Eden, where humanity was told not to eat of the Tree of Knowledge or the Tree of Life (people tend to forget there are in fact two trees; Adam and Eve eat from Knowledge, but are banished before they can enjoy Life too).
Something you can have but shouldn't
Something you can't have but really want
Something you can't have and don't want
What does "let there be light" mean?
Let's be hopeful.
Please turn on the light.
Let's come up with Ian idea.
God creating the world
This is what God said to create the world. However, it is sometimes used in friendly jest, for example when a person has a really good idea their friends might jokingly approve of it with this phrase, as it to suggest (sarcastically or not) that it is godlike in quality.
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What does "the love of money is the root of all evil" mean?
Rich people are mean.
People do bad things in the name of greed.
This saying is sometimes taken to mean that wealth or ambition are inherently bad, but generally it is taken to mean that loving money more than anything else was a good way to end up corrupt.
You should give more to charity.
Evil people generally like having nice things because their hearts are so empty.
What does, "He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword" mean?
Violent people die violently.
Violent people drive themselves to suicide.
People who like swords tend never to change their mind.
People who dish it out better expect to take it.
Live by the sword, die by the sword means that if you accept that violence, cruelty, bullying etc. are acceptable ways for you to behave, then you can be sure other people will use them against you. It doesn't always literally mean dying, though it can do.
What does "good Samaritan" mean?
A person who picks up when you call them
A person who helps those in need
In a parable of Jesus, the good Samaritan stopped to help a man in need by the side of the road after a priest and various others ignored him.
A person who is not as bad as other people from Samaria, who are mostly horrible
A person who is nice
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What does "go the extra mile" mean?
Doing more than is expected of you
People who go the extra mile are folks who do more than duty, decency, or good manners require of them. It's the cabbie who helps a frail old lady into the cab and doesn't start the meter until she's inside, the coworker who agrees to complete your task so you can make it to your kid's recital, etc.
Setting yourself a new challenge
Winning a contest by so much that you were figuratively a mile ahead of the competition
Being willing to travel
What does "nothing but skin and bones" mean?
Being dead
Being very thin
In its original Biblical use, Job said this to suggest that he was without love and friendship. These days it simply means being skinny to a degree that is not healthy.
Being a skeleton
Suffering a famine
What does "the powers that be" mean?
People who style themselves as more important than they are
People or entities in authority, whether government or a financial elite
Powers that be mean all the people/angels/God etc. who are deemed to be in charge of things. You might send a prayer to the powers that be and refer to God, or you might lament the indifference of the powers that be and mean your senator.
God
God and the angels
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What does "render unto Caesar" mean?
You should pay the government to stop them harassing you.
You should choose the right leader and stick with him or her.
Imperialism is good.
Religious people should do their civic duty.
Render unto Caesar is a short way of saying that the earthly government has a right to expect a person of faith to be an upstanding citizen who keeps the law and pays taxes - but it goes on to specify that this is the limit of what the government can demand, for anything further than this is God's domain.
What does, "Pride goes before a fall" mean?
Don't be mean to people on the way up because you might need them on the way down.
Be proud while you can.
It's fun to enjoy the fruits of your labors because it won't last.
Hubris is a bad idea.
This saying means that if you are fortunate, but you become arrogant or smug about it, that's exactly when you're likely to lose your good fortune.
What does "rise and shine" mean?
Get up and get going!
Rise and shine used to be an exhortation to get up and do service to God through good deeds that would make His word shine. Nowadays it mostly means just get up and don't be grumpy!
Get out of bed.
Say your morning prayers.
Don't sleep too late.
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What does "see eye to eye" mean?
To get aggressively in someone's face
To make fun of a person
To agree on all things, very naturally
When you see eye to eye with a person, it means you agree on things, often without even having to argue about it. You just get each other.
To get close so you can see what someone is thinking
What does "put words in one's mouth" mean?
To claim someone's words mean something they did not intend
Putting words in someone's mouth used to mean telling someone what to say - that is, literally putting the words in their mouth. These days it means twisting what they've already said, for example, if they say "Blue is my favorite color," replying, "How dare you say that red and yellow are terrible colors!"
To tell someone what to say
To lie to someone
To convince someone you are their friend
What does "how the mighty have fallen" mean?
If you go up really high then it's a big fall if you come down.
Powerful people always lose their position if they overreach.
Someone who used to have it really good lost it - and deservedly so.
This is a way of describing that an arrogant and unpleasant person has lost their power or fortune, and being just a little smug about it. In the Bible, it doesn't have the smug connotation.
Even the wealthy will die.
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What does "scapegoat" mean?
Someone taking the blame for what everyone did
This comes from the Bible where the sins of the people were put onto a goat that was sent into the wilderness.
Someone who everyone bullies
The worst person in a group of bad people
The only bad person in a group of decent people
What does "sign of the times" mean?
A sundial
A tragedy that is common in a certain time
Something that sums up how things are these days
This used to mean a sign of the end times, that is, Judgment Day, but now it's slightly more optimistic!
A way of expressing satisfaction with things
What does "straight and narrow" mean?
Being narrowminded
Not being gay
Being law-abiding and well-behaved
In the Bible, the straight and narrow path is where law-abiding, decent people walk - it's straight because it's correct but it's narrow because it's easy to stray from it.
Only having friends who are like you
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What does "twinkling of an eye" mean?
Very quickly
This is in Corinthians describing how fast Judgment will come. A twinkle in an eye usually only appears briefly so it means a thing that happens very fast.
Biblical flirting!
Someone is being mischievous
Someone is being dishonest
What does "wash your hands of the matter" mean?
To quit a job
To refuse to help a person you promised to help
To help do something bad and get away with it
To walk away from a situation that is not resolved
This comes from Pilate trying to wash the blood from his hands but realizing he could not: it refers to a person who walks away from things they should not, leaving others to deal with it - and usually implies that they are guilty of something.
What does "weighed in the balance" mean?
To be someone who is good and bad
To be evaluated
To weigh something in the balance is to evaluate it. Usually this refers to people being both good and bad, meaning their deeds must be weighed. It comes from the idea of literal scales.
To comment on an issue
To be the best at everything
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What does "there's nothing new under the sun" mean?
God knows what's going to happen.
Life is monotonous.
The important part of this saying, Biblically speaking, is "under the sun" - that is, there are new things in Heaven, thus we ought not to bother too much about the fact that everyone on Earth has already made every mistake we'll ever make, and we might very well never get where we want to be.
People are predictable.
People think they are more original than they are.
What does "at my wit's end" mean?
Out of ideas and feeling frustrated
This is from the Psalms, and describes drunk people. These days it means someone who is simply out of ideas and cannot function.
Angry and hurt
No longer able to joke
Other cleverer people will have to handle it.
What does "writing's on the wall" mean?
There is graffiti!
People are starting to agree.
It's not over yet, but clearly it will be soon.
When the writing is on the wall, it means everyone can see that obviously, a situation is about to change. For example, "The police were gaining on the suspect and he could see the writing on the wall."
People are writing on the wall because there is no parchment, which is a sign of poverty.
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What does "wolf in sheep's clothing" mean?
Someone who seems nice, but is not
A wolf in sheep's clothing is a bad person pretending to be good, for example a conman who promises you the world, when really they are scamming you.
Someone who can be really sweet sometimes
Someone who is complicated
Someone who will take care of you
What does it mean to "fall from grace"?
Not being in people's good books any more
This comes from the idea of falling from "Grace", that is, being in good with God as we were when we were sinless in Eden. Nowadays it's more generic, as in, "The former golden boy of Wall Street has fallen from grace and now can't get work."
Having bad manners
Embarrassing yourself publicly, repeatedly
Getting kicked out of a school or professional organization
You Got:
/35
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