New book puts writing on the wall for Bible references
Added about 9 years ago by Sacristy Press
PRESS RELEASE: Book explains Bible’s impact on everyday language.
Everyone knows that pride comes before a fall, and that you’ll be at your wits’ end if you see that there is no rest for the wicked, but few people realise that these phrases first appear in the King James Bible.
Now Durham publisher Sacristy Press has put that right with The Writing on the Wall: Everyday Phrases from the King James Bible, by Richard Noble.
The book explore idioms and clichés that have entered everyone’s vocabulary from the King James Bible, explaining their context and delving into how we use them today.
The 65 phrases explored in the book include:
- all things to all men
- the apple of my eye
- fall from grace
- fight the good fight
- a fly in the ointment
- in the fullness of time
- give up the ghost
- the land of Nod
- a law unto themselves
- a leopard cannot change its spots
- putting words in my mouth
- by the skin of his teeth
- no rest for the wicked
Whether your interest is purely linguistic, theological, or devotional, this book assumes no prior familiarity with the scriptures. By providing the context of each book and phrase it becomes a useful guidebook, bringing the Bible alive. With 40 phrases in the first section and 25 in the second, it can even be used through the days of Lent and Advent.
Richard Noble, a Lay Minister at St Mary’s Buckden, gives a fascinating glimpse into this “inestimable treasure”, the first mainstream English translation of the Bible which is still unequalled in linguistic beauty.
Richard said:
The idea for this book arose from all the interest in the King James Bible during its 400th anniversary. In my mind the question was how to lead the general public to pick up the Bible and delve deeper? The answer came as a flash of inspiration. Realising that many popular idioms of everyday speech originate in the Bible I saw that these might be used as 'keys' to unlock the many books and epistles of the Bible itself.
ENDS-ENDS-ENDS
Additional Notes for Editors
The Writing on the Wall: Everyday Phrases from the King James Bible was published in 2015 by Sacristy Press, Durham, and is available to order from www.sacristy.co.uk (ISBN: 978-1-908381-22-4). For review copies and images, please contact us with details of your publication or media outlet.
Sacristy Press was founded in 2011 to publish historical and theological titles, both fiction and non-fiction. It is based in the historic academic city of Durham in North East England.
Richard Noble was born in 1939. After a career in engineering and business management, he became Bursar of Ridley Hall theological college in Cambridge. Following retirement in 2003, Richard has enjoyed exploring his childhood hobby of painting, as well as serving as a prison chaplaincy volunteer and as an authorised Lay Minister in his local parish church. He and his wife Rachel live in St Neots, Cambridgeshire and have four grown-up children and eight grandchildren.
Please note: Sacristy Press does not necessarily share or endorse the views of the guest contributors to this blog.