The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #135039   Message #3077611
Posted By: Kent Davis
18-Jan-11 - 09:18 PM
Thread Name: BS: How the Bible altered how we speak
Subject: RE: BS: How the Bible altered how we speak
Here are a few interesting metaphors which originate in the gospel of Matthew:

-straight (strait) and narrow (Matthew 7:14)
"Straight and narrow" gets about four times as many hits on Google as "strait and narrow", but the "way to life" is, in the original metaphor, "strait" (not wide), rather than "straight" (not curved).

- talent (Matthew 25:14-29)
This metaphor is dead but, originally, a talent was a unit of measurement, typically used for silver or gold. In the parable of the talents, different people received different measures of precious metal, and were expected to use them for the master. The metaphoric meaning has now nearly driven the literal meaning of "talent" out of the language.

- washing one's hands of something (Matthew 27:4)
Pilate attempted to deflect blame for Jesus's crucifixion by literally washing his hands publicly as symbol of his "disapproval" of Jesus's crucifixion even as he hypocritically ordered that it be done. The modern metaphor doesn't have the suggestion of hypocrisy.

- potter's field (Matthew 27:7)
Judas returned the "blood money" he got for betraying Jesus, but the money was considered too contaminated to put back into the Temple treasury. It was used to buy an actual potter's field, which was then used as a public graveyard for the indigent.   These graveyards are still called "potter's fields".

Kent