The meaning of this expression is that allegedly children get punished for the actions of their parents. It is taken from Chapter 18 of the Book of Ezekiel: “The Lord’s word came to Ezekiel and said: What do you mean by this proverb of yours about the land of Israel: “When parents eat unripe grapes, the children’s teeth suffer”? As surely as I live, says the Lord God, no longer will you use this proverb in Israel! All lives are mine; the life of the parent and the life of the child belong to Me. Only the one who sins will die.”

This biblical expression is taken from the Book of Ezekiel, Chapter 16, verse 44. There are other such expressions also: “See the mother, take her daughter”; “The fruit does not fall far from the tree.” The Book of Ezekiel reflects one of the crucial episodes of the history of Israel. In Chapter 16, Israel is presented in the image of adulteress, who went with Egyptians, Assyrians, and Babylonians. The love of God toward people is often likened to the love between husband and wife. But unlike human marital relationships where a husband can send away or even hate his disloyal wife, God is patient and merciful.

This biblical expression means fair and fast judgment that, at first glance, has a rather queer verdict. The son and heir of David, Solomon, ruled in 1015 – 975 BCE. The first manifestation of his wisdom is described in the 3rd chapter of the 3rd Book of Kings.

In Chapter 20 of the Book of Prophet Ezekiel, God says, “I will make you pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant.” In the Bible, the notion of rod or staff is associated with the shepherd. In the days of patriarchs, the ancestors of Jews were engaged in cattle breeding and used to lead a nomadic life; therefore, the Holy Scripture conveys numerous pictures of pastoral life.

This expression is taken from Matthew 19:6. Jesus went away from Galilee and entered the region of Judea beyond the Jordan. As always, a large crowd followed Him. Pharisees came up to him and tested Him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?” His somehow mysterious answer was, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

We think about this biblical expression, leafing again through the pages of the Book of Job. The readers of this book are aware that its theme is the sorrow. What is the origin of suffering, and what is its reason? Or, if to take it more personally, why has this exact anguish happened right to me?

And finally, “what to do when sorrow visits me” – the answer to this question comes from the depths of the thoughts of Job wounded by sorrow and confusion and gets revealed in his speeches in the form of poems (Chapters 3-31).

This expression has the following meaning – to have a humble obedience during any bereavement. This biblical expression is taken from the Book of Job and we are going to dedicate two episodes to our reflections on it. The readers of the Book of Job are aware that the theme of it is anguish. What is the problem of anguish? Many of us ask why there is suffering in our life? Where does it come from, and what is the reason of it?

This expression is used in everyday life as an unresponded word, a call, or word without proper attention. In the days of the preaching of John the Baptist, Jewish leaders sent priests and Levites to him from Jerusalem to find out who John was, whether he was the Christ or a prophet, or maybe Elijah.

John gave negative answers to their questions. They asked, “Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?” John replied, “I am a voice crying out in the wilderness, “Make the Lord’s path straight” just as the prophet Isaiah said.”

It’s a place where plenitude and happiness rule. It is something much desired and seams to be the supreme happiness. In the chapter 11 of the Epistle to the Hebrews, Apostle Paul describes the exemplary faith of the ancestors and writes about Abraham: “By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he looked for a city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”

This means that human being should care not only for his material but also spiritual needs.

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He was afterward hungered. And when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread”. But Jesus answered and said, “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.”

This biblical expression is used when someone abandons something for the sake of profit and benefits. In Rebecca’s womb, her two sons were struggling with each other, were “colliding.” That struggle showed that the twins would become enemies in the future.  According to the legend, a quarrel broke out between them over the birthright, starting from the womb of their mother. To obtain the right of getting the spiritual blessings of Abraham and Isaac, one needed to be the senior among brothers. “So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus, Esau despised his birthright.”

This is the whole picture of Esau’s life: to eat, drink, and leave without thinking where one goes, what one leaves behind and what one pays for material goods.

This phrase points out the minor concerns, all the small and useless things that have no permanent and real values. “Vanity of vanities – said Ecclesiastes – vanity of vanities; all is vanity.” There was a very specific genre in philosophical literature that was typical of the ancient Middle East. That genre is the so-called “pessimistic literature.” In the Bible, this genre is represented only by the Book of Ecclesiastes, though the pessimism in the Book of Ecclesiastes is a little different. Desperateness was typical of the works of  “ordinary pessimistic” literature, which left no hope whatever.

The Christian life is also full of problems, that is why the words of Ecclesiastes not only have historical importance but are also actual today.

In our everyday life, this biblical expression is used with the meaning of “gentle, peaceful, decorous and harmless person.”

The Gospel of John the Evangelist states that “John saw Jesus coming unto him, and said, Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

The sacrifice is one of the most important themes of the Bible, as the creation of the world is somehow a sacrifice of our Creator: He is a self-sufficient Being who holds everything for the endless bliss. The Almighty as if self-limited Himself, “minimized” His presence from some spheres of the universe to “step back” for other beings and many other creatures and worlds.

The Apostle John was acutely conscious of the sacrificial meaning of the expression “The Lamb of God.” He starts his evangelical story about Jesus introducing Him as the Lamb of God and from his point of view, this is the key to understanding of the meaning of His ministry.

This expression is used as an illustrated definition of firmness. It comes from Exodus 3. Moses was tending the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God, where God was revealed to him in flames of fire from within a blackthorn bush. “There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire, it did not burn up.”

The bush which God called to Moses from within is a uniquely versatile picture and makes us think.

This expression is used in the following meanings: to stiffen in astonishment, to freeze, to petrify. Lot, nephew of Abraham, son of Aran, left the land of Chaldeans and settled in Canaan together with his uncle. With sizable possessions, Lot and Abraham had problems with sharing the lands they had occupied, so they separated in peace. Lot settled down in Sodom.

Shortly after, two angels came down to Lot and told that they had come to destroy the city of Sodom, since the noise of its inhabitants had reached the Lord. Lot had to leave the city together with his daughters, sons-in-law, and wife.

At daybreak, as soon as Lot made it to Zoar, the heavens opened up raining down fire and sulfur upon the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah until they were completely destroyed, including all surroundings, inhabitants, and vegetation. On their way to Zoar, Lot’s wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.

This expression is taken from the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 24. Jesus predicts the complete destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem. Jesus warns about the coming of the siege of Jerusalem, which will be preceded by the destruction of the Temple. "So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place, then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house."

When saying Sodom and Gomorrah, we mean disorder, noise, hubbub, fuss, or excess of immorality and hard drinking. Sodom and Gomorrah are two of the five cities conquered by Cedorlaomer, the king of Elam. Except for the city of Zoar, the other four cities were completely consumed by fire from heaven, and this is a warning for us. Abraham prayed for the salvation of Sodom and Gomorrah; however, it was only the family of Lot whom his prayers helped.

We find this expression in the second commandment of the Decalogue. The Lord is love, and one of the manifestations of His love is the overall harmony. Thus, everything related to disagreement, rebelliousness, etc. in us is not desirable for God. To reach harmony both in our inner world and in interpersonal relationships, the Lord announces the ten commandments so that they may become the beginning, center and end of the moral path of humanity. These commandments, as a basis for the Lord's law, have a great significance for tաe New Testament.

The expression “You will see me from the back of your head” or the more widespread version, “you will rather see the back of your head than…,” is used in the sense that a human sees not the essence of the matter or perceives its truth, but confines himself to superficial, fragmentary information only. The Book of Exodus tells us that when God announced about His plans on the earth to the people of Israel, only Moses, unlike the sinful people, was awarded the gift of understanding those plans.

In everyday life, this expression has the following meanings: blasphemy, perversion, noisy feast in the overall distress. The Bible tells about Belshazzar's feast in the Book of Daniel, where several tense episodes of the eternal struggle between the domains of light and darkness are reflected. In such dramatic moments, the Bible helps us today too, to regain courage of spirit and find necessary power for spiritual struggle.