j a m e s f o r s y t h ✡ n e t

[Feel like you’ve read this before? I’ve brought this old post back to the front of the blog because I’ve added a new idiom to the list.]

I’d be interested to hear from anybody who knows of Chinese idioms which correspond with events or stories from the Bible.

Examples are:

肉中刺
Paul’s thorn in the flesh, 2 Corinthians 12:7.

开天辟地
The creation of the heavens and the earth, Genesis 1:1.

良莠不齐
See the parable of the weeds, Matthew 13:24-30.

泥足巨人
See Daniel’s interpretation of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream, particularly Daniel 2:31-35.

把珍珠丢在猪
Do not cast your pearls before swine, Matthew 7:6.

I don’t know whether these idioms actually originated from the Bible or not. But there is definitely an uncanny similarity.

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 14th, 2007 at 8:03 am and is filed under Chinese, Bible. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.