# Common "bible quotes" not in the Bible



## Stargazer65 (Nov 3, 2011)

What are some common quotes attributed to the Bible that are not really in the Bible?

This was recently in the news as a bible misquote by Jay Carney, and he's not the first to make the mistake:
"God helps those who help themeselves."

W.H. fact-checks W.H. | POLITICO 44


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## Rufus (Nov 3, 2011)

That quote pops up everywhere, Benjamin Franklin said it first in his Farmers Almanac. Benjamin Franklin despite being a Deist (he was also friends with George Whitefield by the way  ) would probably shake his head if he knew people where saying his quote was in the Bible.


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## jogri17 (Nov 3, 2011)

I've heard a pastor say ''a penny saved is a penny earned'' is from the book of Proverbs before.


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## RobertPGH1981 (Nov 3, 2011)

Ghandi said, "God hates sin but loves the sinner." This is misquoted all the time when I talk to people on the street.


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## Dane (Nov 3, 2011)




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## Stargazer65 (Nov 3, 2011)

jogri17 said:


> I've heard a pastor say ''a penny saved is a penny earned'' is from the book of Proverbs before.



I once heard a story based loosely on that proverb:

A man named Bernard (or Benny for short) found an old urn. He decided to polish it, and when he did a Djinn popped out. The Djinn said he would grant him wishes for the rest of his life, the only stipulation was, he could never shave his face again. If he did, the Djinn would put him in the urn and cast it into the sea. All was well until one day years down the road, Bernard got tired of his beard and forgot the Djinn's threat. When next the Djinn appeared, and saw Bernard's clean shaven face, he made good with his promise (stuffed him in the urn and cast him into the sea). 

The moral of the story is: 
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"A Benny shaved, is a Benny urned."

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RobertPGH1981 said:


> Ghandi said, "God hates sin but loves the sinner." This is misquoted all the time when I talk to people on the street.



Oh yes, that's a common one. My question to that would be: So why doesn't God just cast the sin into hell?


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## Rich Koster (Nov 3, 2011)

I have heard " Do unto others as they have done unto you". I think that is from Retaliation 1:1.


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## Frosty (Nov 3, 2011)

"God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called."
-Hezekiah 3:12


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## Mediaeval (Nov 3, 2011)

Lots of quotes people think are from the Bible actually come from Shakespeare. Here is a quiz "Shakespeare or the Bible." I'll post the answers later. (Also, "God helps those who help themselves." is originally from Aesop, "the gods help those who help themselves.")

1.) Neither a borrower nor a lender be.

2.) Eat, drink and be merry.

3.) Nothing but skin and bones.

4.) This above all: to thine own self be true.

5.) Practice what you preach.

6.) She’s the apple of my eye.

7.) You have to be cruel to be kind.

8.) Wear your heart on your sleeve.

9.) The left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing.

10.) By the sweat of your brow

11.) How the mighty have fallen!

12.) Forgive and forget.

13.) You can’t have too much of a good thing.

14.) He’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing.


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## Rufus (Nov 3, 2011)

How about "shes the apple of my eye" those words are not directly in the Bible but David referred to God as the apple of his eye.


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## Stargazer65 (Nov 3, 2011)

"Cleanliness is next to Godliness"

I was told that was in the bible, but I don't remember ever stumbling on it during my reading.


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## Rufus (Nov 3, 2011)

Stargazer65 said:


> "Cleanliness is next to Godliness"
> 
> I was told that was in the bible, but I don't remember ever stumbling on it during my reading.



Through a quick search its a Hebrew Proverb that found its way into one of the works of Francis Bacon and than nearly 200 years later John Wesley said something in which he replied "indeed cleanliness is next to Godliness" which may have been a reference back to Francis Bacon of some sort (from my understanding of it).


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## VictorBravo (Nov 3, 2011)

I had a neighbor who claimed to be a Christian. He also started a pressure washing business. One Lord's Day morning, he was prepping his equipment for a job. I asked him why he was going to work on the Lord's Day.

He said, "survival of the fittest. It's in the Bible. Besides, it's a big job I can't turn down."

I had never heard that one before.


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## GulfCoast Presbyterian (Nov 3, 2011)

I have often heard "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven" quoted as from the Bible. I believe it is actually from Paradise Lost.


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## Rufus (Nov 3, 2011)

VictorBravo said:


> I had a neighbor who claimed to be a Christian. He also started a pressure washing business. One Lord's Day morning, he was prepping his equipment for a job. I asked him why he was going to work on the Lord's Day.
> 
> He said, "survival of the fittest. It's in the Bible. Besides, it's a big job I can't turn down."
> 
> I had never heard that one before.



Epistle of Darwin to the Evolutionists in London? 



> I have often heard "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven" quoted as from the Bible. I believe it is actually from Paradise Lost.



Even than John Milton wasn't trying to convey people into wanting to reign in Hell, Paradise Lost was written to defend the Justice of God, but many commentators prefer Lucifer over God as a character in poem.


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## StrictBaptist (Nov 3, 2011)

Are people using these are Direct quotes? Or something the Bible says?

For Instance people down here in the South use "Spare the Rod, Spoil the Child" While it isnt a direct quote, I think the concept itself can be found...

I was at work the other day, and a guy I work with was complaining to me about a few of the company policies he did not like. we had a contractor come up and say(in a deep southern drawl)
Its like a preacher-man once told me... Jesus said to Moses, I laid all of this land out for you, but because of your murmering, you will only see the land from a rock
Then the guy proceeded to use some choice words I wont repeat


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## Scott1 (Nov 4, 2011)

There is a difference between quoting Scripture and a "cliche" that is of a biblical principle vs. one that is not.

"God helps those who help themselves," e.g., is the third.

"Spare the rod, spoil the child," is not the first, but is the second.

"the borrower is servant to the lender," is both of the first two.


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## RobertPGH1981 (Nov 4, 2011)

this is one of the most common..... 

"Money is the root of evil."

Should be, "For the *love *of money is a root of all kinds of evils." ~ 1Ti 6:10 

When I was driving to church one day a man had this on his bumper sticker it said, "If money is the root of evil, then why do churches ask for so much of it?"


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## Scott1 (Nov 4, 2011)

The good thing is that we learn to measure what we hear by God's Word!


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## InSlaveryToChrist (Nov 4, 2011)

"Don't judge a book by its cover." This phrase is often misquoted by Christians. But even though this sentence did not derive from the Bible, its point is still solidly Biblical. Compare with John 7:24: "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."


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## seajayrice (Nov 4, 2011)

VictorBravo said:


> I had a neighbor who claimed to be a Christian. He also started a pressure washing business. One Lord's Day morning, he was prepping his equipment for a job. I asked him why he was going to work on the Lord's Day.
> 
> He said, "*survival of the fittest. It's in the Bible.* Besides, it's a big job I can't turn down."
> 
> I had never heard that one before.


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## Stargazer65 (Nov 4, 2011)

Scott1 said:


> There is a difference between quoting Scripture and a "cliche" that is of a biblical principle vs. one that is not.
> 
> "God helps those who help themselves," e.g., is the third.
> 
> ...



When I was a child I misunderstood "Spare the rod, spoil the child". I thought it was a command as in "You should spare the rod, and spoil the child" 

It took me a while before I figured out that my parents weren't ignoring a command.


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## Mediaeval (Nov 4, 2011)

Answers to the quiz:

1.) Shakespeare. "Neither a borrower nor a lender be." Hamlet. Act i. Sc. 3.

2.) Bible. "Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry" Luke 12:19

3.) Bible. "All my intimate friends detest me; those I love have turned against me. I am nothing but skin and bones." Job 19:19-20

4.) Shakespeare. "This above all: to thine own self be true" Hamlet. Act i. Sc. 3.

5.) Bible. "They do not practice what they preach" Matthew 23:3

6.) Bible. "Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings" Psalm 17:8

7.) Shakespeare. "I must be cruel, only to be kind" Hamlet. Act iii. Sc. 4.

8.) Shakespeare. "I will wear my heart upon my sleeve" Othello. Act i. Sc. 1.

9.) Bible. "But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret." Matthew 6:3

10.) Bible. "By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return. Genesis 3:19

11.) Bible. "How the mighty have fallen!" 2 Samuel 1:19

12.) Shakespeare. "Pray you now, forget and forgive." King Lear, Act iv. Sc. 7

13.) Shakespeare. "Can one desire too much of a good thing?" As You Like It. Act iv. Sc. 1.

14.) Bible. Watch out for false prophets. "They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves." Matthew 7:15


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## Stargazer65 (Nov 4, 2011)

Mediaeval said:


> Answers to the quiz:
> 
> 1.) Shakespeare. "Neither a borrower nor a lender be." Hamlet. Act i. Sc. 3.
> 
> ...



Thanks, I'm going to use this for fun at some friend get togethers.


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