{"id":882,"date":"2025-11-21T19:15:38","date_gmt":"2025-11-22T02:15:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/?p=882"},"modified":"2025-11-21T19:17:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-22T02:17:23","slug":"putting-words-in-peoples-mouths-semiotics-in-a-biblical-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/mdia300\/archives\/882","title":{"rendered":"Putting Words in People\u2019s Mouths: Semiotics in a Biblical World"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Painting by Gerard Dou, titled “Reading the Bible”<\/em> (c. 1645)<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Bridghet\u2019s original blogpost, Escaped Hell by the Skin of my Teeth: Semiotic Systems and Contex<\/em>t, she examines and dissects the denotation and connotation of the idiom \u201cby the skin of my teeth.\u201d She focusses on the contrast between its denotation\u2014its visceral imagery\u2014and its connotation, which is its metaphorical meaning of a narrow escape, which is derived from the Biblical story of how Job is left with nothing after God\u2019s divine punishment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was when I first realized that that phrase was from the Book of Job, as someone who attended Catholic school for a decade. Thus, I delved further and found a plethora of phrases with Biblical origins\u2014a lot more than I expected. Here, I want to expand this textual and semiotic analysis of that one specific Biblical idiom into a broader understanding of how religion permeates into our systems, environment, and habitus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As discussed in lecture, the human symbolic capacity is analogical: we understand things in relation to and in terms of other things. Thus, human language and thought are a foundationally metaphorical and social processes. It is of no surprise that Christianity, the world\u2019s largest and most widespread religion would have a severe and dominant grasp on our cultural lexicon and symbology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Let there be light<\/td>Forbidden fruit<\/td>Fall from grace<\/td>By the sweat of your brow<\/td>Ashes to ashes, dust to dust<\/td>My brother\u2019s keeper<\/td><\/tr>
Land of milk and honey<\/td>Fire and brimstone<\/td>An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth<\/td>Man does not live on bread alone<\/td>Scapegoat<\/td>A man after my own heart<\/td><\/tr>
How the mighty have fallen<\/td>To put words in someone\u2019s mouth<\/td>The writing is on the wall<\/td>Nothing but skin and bones<\/td>By the skin of my teeth<\/td>Bite the dust<\/td><\/tr>
At wits\u2019 end<\/td>There is nothing new under the sun<\/td>Eat, drink, and be merry<\/td>A drop in a bucket<\/td>No rest for the wicked<\/td>Like a lamb to the slaughter<\/td><\/tr>
Baptism of fire<\/td>Head on a platter<\/td>Go the extra mile<\/td>Wolves in sheep\u2019s clothing<\/td>The blind leading the blind<\/td>To move mountains<\/td><\/tr>
The eleventh hour<\/td>Kiss of death<\/td>Good Samaritan<\/td>Throw the first stone<\/td>Better to give than receive<\/td>The love of money is the root of all evil<\/td><\/tr>
Armageddon<\/td>The four horsemen of the apocalypse<\/td>Apple of my eye<\/td>A little birdie told me<\/td>Can a leopard change his spots?<\/td>To the ends of the earth<\/td><\/tr>
Salt of the earth<\/td>A cross to bear<\/td>He who lives by the sword, dies by the sword<\/td>Wash your hands of the matter<\/td>O ye, of little faith<\/td>The prodigal son returns<\/td><\/tr>
Fight the good fight<\/td>Reap what you sow<\/td>The powers that be<\/td>Labour of love<\/td>The truth will set you free<\/td>Flesh and blood<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Above is a list of 54 popular phrases, metaphors, and idioms that have originated from the Bible. This list is not all-encompassing; there is indubitably more than what I\u2019ve included above. It\u2019s interesting to note that meanings of each phrase do not necessarily align to its original context or intention. The contemporary definitions of these statements now represent its modern usage, which shifts across space and time due to changes in communities and culture. If one were to study the Bible, what is communicated through the scripture differs greatly to how we would use these phrases in daily life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The theoretical process behind the use of idioms, both Biblical and not, derives from semiotic systems who have always functioned in this way. Individuals and communities reinterpret and manipulate language, signs, and symbols to fit the context of their system, resulting in new meanings. As Bridghet mentions in her blogpost: \u201cif one is not a part of a system, they cannot make use of it. However, one does not need to know the origins of a sign or symbol, [but there] needs to be context of how it is used [within] that system.\u201d Yet, I was struck with the question\u2014how could atheists and those practicing non-Christian religions employ these phrases without having understood its Biblical contexts?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps it\u2019s because of the sheer hold that Christianity has on history, literature, and art that these phrases permeate across generations and cultures. Take the phrase \u201cno rest for the wicked\u201d as an example. This proverb from the Book of Isaiah has been quoted in the Biblical sense for millennia, but its secular meaning gained popularity within the past century, spanning multiple mediums within music, film, art, and literature. Notable examples are Ozzy Osbourne\u2019s 1988 album, the 2003 fantasy webcomic by Andrea Peterson, and the 2014 song by Swedish performer\u2019s Lykke Li. Even if you were unaware of the original proverb, there is no rest for the wicked who want to escape this phrase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, the denotation and reinterpretation of the connotation of such phrases is distinctly demonstrated. In the Old Testament, the proverb goes: \u201cThe Lord God said, peace is not to wicked men\u201d (Isaiah 48:22). Wicked denotes the evil-doers who go against the word of God, and the absence of peace means that they must face eternal punishment and damnation for doing so. In popular culture, it means that a person\u2019s work and responsibility, specifically in reference to one\u2019s own laziness or work ethic. Although its original context is one of gloom and damnation, its contemporary usage is both casual and humorous. The aforementioned examples of its usage utilize this saying to by evoking the original sense of the proverb in application to flawed people who labour to complete something despite their failings. This secular turn of the proverb shows the perplexity of human communication\u2014language allows us to build layers of conceptual representations that we adapt and conform to our habitus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We see how the Bible can work to influence art and literature, but what about the literature influencing elements of Christianity? For example, when we think of imagery of Hell, we think of a blazing inferno\u2014which is often attributed to Dante\u2019s poem, Inferno<\/em>. The Bible does provide us the \u201clake of fire,\u201d but not much else in terms of physical descriptors. One must also acknowledge the medieval literature and art on the afterlife that influenced Dante at his time of writing. However, it was really Inferno<\/em>, which describes a fictionalised version of Dante and his descent into Hell. Hence, the semiosis of Biblical symbolism works both ways; literature can also affect how religious iconography is represented in history.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Fresco by Domenico di Michelinon depicting Dante holding a copy of the Divine Comedy at the entrance of Hell (1465)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

This goes to show the evocative power of interpretation and reinterpretation within signs and language. Language is a performance\u2014and it is one that matters, with real sociocultural implications. As mentioned in lecture, when the right person says the right thing in the right time and in the right place, it has effects and consequences. Dante created and sketched in impeccable detail and literary brilliance the dimensions of hell, and it continues to inform our abstract perceptions of the afterlife. Understanding can only be done when we put a concept in relation to what we already know, and literature is a medium for us to comprehend this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, the Bible itself may be the most influential and enduring pieces of literature to ever grace the Earth. Biblical wonder and fear have pervasive impacts on our conceptions of fundamental human issues. It is common knowledge that you would have a difficult time understanding a lot of Western classic literature without having a base-level understanding of the Bible. Shakespeare\u2019s Macbeth<\/em>, Steinbeck\u2019s East of Eden<\/em>, and Milton\u2019s Paradise Lost <\/em>are few exemplars that come to mind. It is more uncommon to know that Biblical knowledge, or lack thereof, can also aid or impede your understanding of prevalent idioms and sayings. In a world where the Church and the State already struggle to be separated, this may not be a good thing, but can a leopard really change his spots? How Christianity permeates within language is simply a cross we must bear as media-making individuals entrenched within society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Xelena Ilon<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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