do not retaliate when someone wrongs you
—My mother always taught me that if someone insults me, I should just turn the other cheek .

In the Old Testament, God told the Israelites, through Moses, that if two men were fighting and hurt a woman, the punishment was to be

life for a life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise. (Exodus 21:23-25)

The meaning of this command is that a just punishment should be equal to, and not go beyond, the crime. From this we get the phrase eye for an eye, which today is used to mean “the punishment should be as severe as the crime.” But Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, taught that we should not seek revenge. Instead we should “turn the other cheek”:

You have heard that it was said, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” But I say to you, do not resist the evildoer. But whoever strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well [whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also]. And if someone wants to sue you and to take your tunic, give him your coat also. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two [whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain]. Give to the one who asks you, and do not reject the one who wants to borrow from you. (Matthew 5:38-42)

Because their land was controlled by the Romans, the Jews of Jesus’ day had to submit to the authority of Caesar, the Roman ruler, and his soldiers. Forces you to go one mile refers to a Roman soldier making a civilian travel with him to carry his belongings. Jesus’ teaching to go with the soldier two (“twain”) miles gives us the phrase go the extra mile. It means “to do more than is necessary or expected,” as in “He not only bought my meal, but he went the extra mile and paid for my taxi ride, too.”

a small amount, part, or detail
—I don’t care a jot about your opinion. It doesn’t make one iota of difference to me.

Jesus impressed some people with his teaching, but he also made some angry. Many of the Jewish leaders thought that Jesus was an enemy of God because his ideas seemed to contradict the Old Testament laws. But Jesus said he wanted to teach the true meaning of the laws:

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have not come to abolish these things but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter [jot] or stroke of a letter [tittle] will pass from the law until everything takes place. So anyone who breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever obeys them and teaches others to do so will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness goes beyond that of the experts in the law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:17-20)

The word jot comes from iota, which is the name of the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet. Jesus used iota to refer to the smallest letter in Hebrew, the language of the Old Testament. A tittle is a small mark used in writing and refers to the tiny stroke added to some Hebrew letters to distinguish them from other, similar letters. Jesus used these words to show that even though he was bringing a “new testament,” the Old Testament was still God’s word, even down to the smallest part of the law.

To a T probably comes from the old saying “to a tittle,” both meaning “exactly,” as in “To win the game, you must follow the rules to a T.”

city on a hill; city upon a hill

a highly visible ideal or example of virtue
—If our country can eliminate poverty within our borders, we have the chance to become a city on a hill for the rest of the world.

hide one’s light under a bushel; hide one’s light under a basket

to keep one’s talents or accomplishments a secret
—Don’t hide your light under a bushel! You need to let everybody know about your volunteer work.

During the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus called his followers “the light of the world.” and gave us two related phrases used today:

You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill [city that is set on an hill] cannot be hidden. People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket [under a bushel] but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they can see your good deeds and give honor to your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14-16)

reliable, good, hard-working people
—My neighborhood isn’t the fanciest in the city, but that’s why I like it. It’s filled with regular, salt-of-the-earth people.

One of Jesus’ most famous speeches is called “The Sermon on the Mount.” It includes several phrases that are currently well known, such as salt of the earth. In Jesus’ time, salt was considered valuable, as it served many purposes, including preserving or adding flavor to food. Jesus called his disciples the salt of the earth, but he also added a warning:

You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its flavor, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people. (Matthew 5:13)

follow your own advice; don’t criticize others for a problem you have yourself
—When the policeman was arrested for driving while intoxicated, I thought, “Physician, heal thyself.”

While in a synagogue in Nazareth, the town where he grew up, Jesus read from the Book of Isaiah a passage that said,

The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,

because the Lord has chosen me.

He has commissioned me to encourage the poor. . . . (Isaiah 61:1)

When Jesus said that the scripture was about himself, the people of Nazareth asked,

“Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” Jesus said to them, “No doubt you will quote to me the proverb, ‘Physician, heal yourself [Physician, heal thyself]!’ and say, ‘What we have heard that you did in Capernaum, do here in your hometown too.’” And he added, “I tell you the truth, no prophet is acceptable in his hometown [No prophet is accepted in his own country]. (Luke 4:22-24)

When he said, “Physician, heal thyself,” Jesus was using a saying that had already existed in several different forms. The meaning of the phrase when applied to Jesus in this passage means “show us proof that you are who you say you are.”

Jesus quoted another proverb when he said, “No prophet is accepted in his own country.” This phrase is used to mean “a person with great abilities or authority is often not accepted by those who have been closest to him.” Another version is no man is a prophet in his own country. Yet another wording of the phrase appears in Matthew, when Jesus

came to his hometown and began to teach the people in their synagogue. They were astonished and said, “Where did this man get such wisdom and miraculous powers? “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother named Mary? And aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? And aren’t all his sisters here with us? Where did he get all this?” And so they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own house [A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house].” (Matthew 13:55-57)

Such a person who is not accepted by others can be called simply “a prophet without honor.”

a person who brings deliverance or new leadership
—The faculty welcomed the new dean, hoping he would be the messiah who could save their department from budget cuts.

The special king from David’s family, whom the Old Testament prophets had said would save Israel, was called, in Hebrew, “Messiah,” and in Greek, “Christ.” Both titles mean “anointed one.” Originally, anoint referred to spreading oil or grease on a sick or wounded person as a type of medicine. There are several other uses for anointing in the Bible as well, including pouring perfumed oil on the head of someone to set him apart as a priest or king.

Jesus claimed to be “the anointed one.” Once, a woman from the region of Samaria said to him,

“I know that Messiah [Messias] is coming” (the one called Christ); “whenever he comes, he will tell us everything.” Jesus said to her, “I, the one speaking to you, am he.” (John 4:25,26)

In the same way that people “take God’s name in vain,” they also use Christ and Jesus as exclamations—such as to express anger, surprise, or excitement. Substitutions include criminy (for Christ), for crying out loud (for for Christ’s sake), and geez/jeez, gee, geeminy, and sheesh (for Jesus).

to have a new start; to be converted
—After spending a year studying the effects of pollution on the nation’s rivers, Julie became a born-again environmentalist.

The Pharisees (whose name comes from an Aramaic word meaning “separated”) were a Jewish sect who believed they could be righteous on their own by obeying all of of the hundreds of laws God gave Moses, as well as those added to the Old Testament by the Jewish teachers. Jesus said to them,

Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs [whited sepulchres] that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. (Matthew 23:27,28)

Therefore, a self-righteous, hypocritical person or someone who gives more importance to ceremonies and appearances than to attitudes and motives can be called a “pharisee” or can be said to be “pharisaical.” Whited sepulchre (or whited sepulcher) and the slightly more modern whitewashed tomb are other names used for hypocrites.

But not all the Pharisees were enemies of Jesus. One night, a Pharisee named Nicodemus came to Jesus and said,

“Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs that you do unless God is with him.” Jesus replied, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born from above [born again], he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time, can he?”

Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth, unless a person is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must all be born from above.’ The wind blows wherever it will, and you hear the sound it makes, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus replied, “How can these things be?” (John 3:2-9)

The word nincompoop means “fool.” There have been several theories on how this word came to be, but the best seems to be that it came from Nicodemus’s name. Evidence for this is the French word nicodème, meaning “a foolish or naive person.” Though Nicodemus is not normally seen as foolish, he did have a difficult time understanding Jesus’ teaching. Later, though, he figured it out and became a follower of Jesus.

there is more to life than just meeting physical needs or pursuing material gain
—I know that your business classes will help you get a good job, but you should learn about art and music, too. Man doesn’t live by bread alone.

As Jesus began his ministry, he fasted for 40 days. He was hungry, and Satan tried to tempt him to turn away from God’s plan:

The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become bread.” But he answered, “It is written, ‘Man does not live by bread alone [Man shall not live by bread alone], but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:3,4)

Jesus was using the words of Moses, when he had talked with the Israelites about how God had tested them during their 40 years in the wilderness:

So he humbled you by making you hungry and then feeding you with unfamiliar manna. He did this to teach you that humankind cannot live by bread alone [man doth not live by bread only], but also by everything that comes from the Lord’s mouth. (Deuteronomy 8:3)

being forced into a difficult situation and having to learn by doing
—Because she missed the training session, Donna felt as if her first day working at the factory was a baptism of fire.

The John who announced the coming of Jesus was called John the Baptist because he baptized those who wanted to turn away from their sins to get ready for Jesus’ arrival. But he said that the baptism that Jesus would bring was greater than his:

I baptize you with water, for repentance, but the one coming after me is more powerful than I am—I am not worthy to carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire [baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire]. (Matthew 3:11)

Baptism comes from a Greek word meaning “to dip, immerse.” There are several views as to what the “fire” in this verse represents, including judgment, suffering, purification, and the power of God’s Holy Spirit.

In the past, baptism of fire was used to refer to the death of a Christian martyr and later to the first time a soldier takes part in a battle. Now it used for any experience in which soemeone learns a hard lesson by experiencing difficulty.

a lone person trying to warn others, often ignored by them
—Josh feels like a voice crying in the wilderness when he tells his friends about the dangers of smoking.

Under Persian rule, many of the Jews returned to the Promised Land, rebuilding Jerusalem and the temple. But lasting peace had not yet arrived, nor had the eternal king come from God to bring freedom. Instead, the land of Israel was taken over first by the Greeks and then by the Romans.

It was during the time of the Roman Empire that a new prophet came with a new message: John the Baptist didn’t say that the king would come some day. He said that the king was already there. When some Jewish authorities came from Jerusalem to ask him who he was, John replied,

I am the voice of one shouting in the wilderness [voice of one crying in the wilderness], “Make straight the way for the Lord,” as Isaiah the prophet said. (John 1:23)

John was quoting a prophecy made by Isaiah many years earlier:

A voice cries out,

“In the wilderness [The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness] clear a way for the Lord;

construct in the desert a road for our God.

Every valley must be elevated,

and every mountain and hill leveled.

The rough terrain will become a level plain,

the rugged landscape a wide valley.

The splendor of the Lord will be revealed,

and all people will see it at the same time.

For the Lord has decreed it.” (Isaiah 40:3-5)

Later in Isaiah 40, the prophet writes about the weakness of man and the greatness of God. He asks who has measured the oceans and sky, who has held the earth’s dust in a basket, and who has weighed the mountains and hills. The implied answer is “only God.” Isaiah then adds,

Look, the nations are like a drop in a bucket [drop of a bucket];

they are regarded as dust on the scales.

He lifts the coastlands as if they were dust. (Isaiah 40:15)

Drop of a bucket first appeared here in the Wycliffe Bible. Over time, drop of a bucket became, drop in the bucket and took the meaning of “something small that is insignificant when compared to the full amount of which it is a part.”

John the Baptist was announcing that the God who had created the earth had sent Jesus to save the people, calling Jesus “the son of God” and “the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”