圣经对英语谚语的影响

1.圣经对于英语语言发展的影响

The Bible in English Literature It is no exaggeration to say that the English Bible is, next to Shakespeare, the greatest work in English literature, and that it will have much more influence than even Shakespeare upon the written and spoken language of the English race. For this reason, to study English literature without some general knowledge of the relation of the Bible to that literature would be to leave one's literary education very incomplete. It is not necessary to consider the work from a religious point of view at all; indeed, to so consider it would be rather a hindrance to the understanding of its literary excellence. Some persons have ventured to say that it is only since Englishmen ceased to believe in the Bible that they began to discover how beautiful it was. This is not altogether true; but it is partly true. For it is one thing to consider every word of a book as the word of God or gods, and another thing to consider it simply as the work of men like ourselves. Naturally we should think it our duty to suppose the work of a pine being perfect in itself, and to imagine beauty and truth where neither really exists. The wonder of the English Bible can really be best appreciated by those who, knowing it to be the work of men much less educated and cultivated than the scholars of the nineteenth century, nevertheless perceive that those men were able to do in literature what no man of our own day could possibly do.Of course in considering the work of the translators, we must remember the magnificence of the original. I should not like to say that the Bible is the greatest of all religious books. From the moral point of view it contains very much that we can not to-day approve of; and what is good in it can be found in the sacred books of other nations. Its ethics can not even claim to be absolutely original. The ancient Egyptian scriptures contain beauties almost superior in moral exaltation to anything contained in the Old Testament; and the sacred books of other Eastern nations, notably the sacred books of India, surpass the Hebrew scriptures in the highest qualities of imagination and of profound thought. It is only of late years that Europe, through the labor of Sanskrit and Pali scholars, has become acquainted with the astonishing beauty of thought and feeling which Indian scholars enshrined in scriptures much more voluminous than the Hebrew Bible; and it is not impossible that this far-off literature will some day influence European thought quite as much as the Jewish Bible. Everywhere to-day in Europe and America the study of Buddhist and Sanskrit literature is being pursued not only with eagerness but with enthusiasm—an enthusiasm which sometimes reaches to curious extremes. I might mention, in example, the case of a rich man who recently visited Japan on his way from India. He had in New Zealand a valuable property; he was a man of high culture, and of considerable social influence. One day he happened to read an English translation of the “Bhagavad-Gita.” Almost immediately he resolved to devote the rest of his life to religious study in India, in a monastery among the mountains; and he gave up wealth, friends, society, everything that Western civilization could offer him, in order to seek truth in a strange country. Certainly this is not the only instance of the kind; and while such incidents can happen, we may feel sure that the influence of religious literature is not likely to die for centuries to come.But every great scripture, whether Hebrew, Indian, Persian, or Chinese, apart from its religious value will be found to have some rare and special beauty of its own; and in this respect the original Bible stands very high as a monument of sublime poetry and of artistic prose. If it is not the greatest of religious books as a literary creation, it is at all events one of the greatest; and the proof is to be found in the inspiration which millions and hundreds of millions, dead and living, have obtained from its utterances. The Semitic races have always possessed in a very high degree the genius of poetry, especially poetry in which imagination plays a great part; and the Bible is the monument of Semitic genius in this regard. Something in the serious, stern, and reverential spirit of the genius referred to made a particular appeal to Western races having certain characteristics of the same kind. Themselves uncultivated in the time that the Bible was first made known to them, they found in it almost everything that they thought and felt, expressed in a much better way than they could have expressed it. Accordingly the Northern races of Europe found their inspiration in the Bible; and the enthusiasm for it has not yet。

英语更多的是象征一种自由的文化，天主教并不喜欢英语，英语的兴起是最近几百年的事情，而这一阶段基督教对人类社会发展影响的高峰已经过去了，英语兴起的时期是科学的时代。虽然英语经常代表一种抗争教会的力量，比如新教和科学，但毕竟英国也是基督教国家，所以语言形成的历史可能也会受到文化的影响，文化影响中就包括宗教。

因此应该说，圣经作为宗教经典对英语文化的影响，即不能忽视，也不需过评价高。举个例子，你说道家思想和佛家对我的语言有怎样的影响？更多的影响的是我们这些信奉者的思想，给语言留下的也就是有些成语典故罢了，和语言相伴随的文化应该也就只是这些。

圣经是由亚洲传到欧洲非洲再到美洲澳洲

对英美文化的影响可谓深远

美国建国的始初，是一群清教徒为逃避当时欧洲政治的逼迫，在新大陆新建自由敬拜上帝的一个国度。美国白宫和联合国大厦的根基处，都埋下一本圣经，以示他们对圣经的尊重和对上帝的敬畏

现在的美国包括英国都自称是基督化国家，有充分的信仰自由。美国的总统就职时要亲吻圣经

欧洲美洲多数国家人们结婚的婚礼，需有牧师的见证和祝福。

人们开口常以圣经上的话作为问安和祝福的语言

表示惊讶时，常有：“我的神！”MY GOD！这样的感叹

不过这些年发现，欧美的圣经文化也有许多负面的影响

正确的信仰 是基於圣经对神的敬畏，远离恶事和争斗，远离不法和不义。

但美英的错误是常用自己对圣经的认识去要求别人，

常用自己的价值观去要求全人类都这样

以民主和自由当作自以为义的资本

是上帝所憎恶的

《圣经》对英语语言的影响

《圣经》对英语语言的影响是不言而喻的。首先，现代英语的形成就与《圣经》的英译有密切关系。《钦定圣经译本》（以下简称《译本》）出版于1611年，它一问世便在社会上产生了广泛的影响。《译本》所用的英语，朴素，清新，精练，优美，具有很强的表现力。它的出现不仅进一步确立了规范而统一的英语，而且大大拓宽了它的使用面，使这一语言从狭小的学术，文艺领域走了出来，进入广大社会的千家万户之中。《译本》的成功奠定了现代英语的基础。有人统计过这本书里所用的单词，总数虽只有六千五百多个，但却表达了极其丰富的内容。这种语言还具有一种典雅，高贵的气质，因而一直被当作英语的典范。十七世纪以来，英美人便世世代代从这本书里汲取养分。美国总统林肯的演讲以其言简意赅，深刻优美著称，他的文学装备便是一本《译本》；诗人惠特曼的新韵律也是从《译本》受启发而来的。

《译本》不仅奠定了现代英语的基础，而且为英语输入了新鲜的血液，增添了大量的习语，格言，典故词，派生词等，从而丰富，发展和完善了这一语言。首先，《译本》在流传中形成了大量的习语，这些习语鲜明生动，成为现代英语中重要的组成部分。the apple of the/one's eye （眼睛中的瞳孔） 源自《圣经·旧约·诗篇》第17章，"Keep me as the apple of the eye."（求你保护我，如同保护眼中的瞳孔。）另《申命记》第32章也出现"He kept him as the apple of his eye."（保护他如同保护眼中的瞳孔。）。现译作"掌上明珠"，表示特别珍视的东西。又如： an eye for an eye （以眼还眼） 在《圣经》中多次出现，如《圣经·旧约·申命记》的19篇，摩西受上帝之命，成为在埃及做奴隶的以色列人的领袖。他发布法令："The punishment is to be a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand and a foot for a foot."（"要以命偿命，以眼还眼，以 牙还牙，以手还手，以脚还脚。" 。汉语中"以眼还眼"、"以牙还牙"即源于此，表示"以其人之道还治其人之身"。

The Bible in English Literature It is no exaggeration to say that the English Bible is, next to Shakespeare, the greatest work in English literature, and that it will have much more influence than even Shakespeare upon the written and spoken language of the English race. For this reason, to study English literature without some general knowledge of the relation of the Bible to that literature would be to leave one's literary education very incomplete. It is not necessary to consider the work from a religious point of view at all; indeed, to so consider it would be rather a hindrance to the understanding of its literary excellence. Some persons have ventured to say that it is only since Englishmen ceased to believe in the Bible that they began to discover how beautiful it was. This is not altogether true; but it is partly true. For it is one thing to consider every word of a book as the word of God or gods, and another thing to consider it simply as the work of men like ourselves. Naturally we should think it our duty to suppose the work of a pine being perfect in itself, and to imagine beauty and truth where neither really exists. The wonder of the English Bible can really be best appreciated by those who, knowing it to be the work of men much less educated and cultivated than the scholars of the nineteenth century, nevertheless perceive that those men were able to do in literature what no man of our own day could possibly do.Of course in considering the work of the translators, we must remember the magnificence of the original. I should not like to say that the Bible is the greatest of all religious books. From the moral point of view it contains very much that we can not to-day approve of; and what is good in it can be found in the sacred books of other nations. Its ethics can not even claim to be absolutely original. The ancient Egyptian scriptures contain beauties almost superior in moral exaltation to anything contained in the Old Testament; and the sacred books of other Eastern nations, notably the sacred books of India, surpass the Hebrew scriptures in the highest qualities of imagination and of profound thought. It is only of late years that Europe, through the labor of Sanskrit and Pali scholars, has become acquainted with the astonishing beauty of thought and feeling which Indian scholars enshrined in scriptures much more voluminous than the Hebrew Bible; and it is not impossible that this far-off literature will some day influence European thought quite as much as the Jewish Bible. Everywhere to-day in Europe and America the study of Buddhist and Sanskrit literature is being pursued not only with eagerness but with enthusiasm—an enthusiasm which sometimes reaches to curious extremes. I might mention, in example, the case of a rich man who recently visited Japan on his way from India. He had in New Zealand a valuable property; he was a man of high culture, and of considerable social influence. One day he happened to read an English translation of the “Bhagavad-Gita.” Almost immediately he resolved to devote the rest of his life to religious study in India, in a monastery among the mountains; and he gave up wealth, friends, society, everything that Western civilization could offer him, in order to seek truth in a strange country. Certainly this is not the only instance of the kind; and while such incidents can happen, we may feel sure that the influence of religious literature is not likely to die for centuries to come.But every great scripture, whether Hebrew, Indian, Persian, or Chinese, apart from its religious value will be found to have some rare and special beauty of its own; and in this respect the original Bible stands very high as a monument of sublime poetry and of artistic prose. If it is not the greatest of religious books as a literary creation, it is at all events one of the greatest; and the proof is to be found in the inspiration which millions and hundreds of millions, dead and living, have obtained from its utterances. The Semitic races have always possessed in a very high degree the genius of poetry, especially poetry in which imagination plays a great part; and the Bible is the monument of Semitic genius in this regard. Something in the serious, stern, and reverential spirit of the genius referred to made a particular appeal to Western races having certain characteristics of the same kind. Themselves uncultivated in the time that the Bible was first made known to them, they found in it almost everything that they thought and felt, expressed in a much better way than they could have expressed it. Accordingly the Northern races of Europe found their inspiration in the Bible; and the enthusiasm for it has not yet。

一 引言基督教产生于公元一世纪中叶，它起源于希伯来人创立的世界上最早的神教——犹太教，基督教承认和沿用了犹太教的宗教思想，并在此基础上加以发展。

除了承认耶和华为上帝外，基督教又认为救世主（既Christ）是上帝之子，名叫耶稣，是上帝派来拯救世人的。基督教徒们把记载基督教的传播、发展等文字，启名为《新约》。

《新约》和犹太教经典《旧约》合而为一，成为基督教的经典著作——《圣经》。随着基督教在世界上的广泛传播的传播，它对西方文化产生了极大的影响。

公元四世纪，罗马帝国的君士坦丁把基督教定为国教，从此基督教便向欧洲各地传播，其教义和思想也逐渐成为西方文化和思想的基石。在英美文化史上其影响之深远，也是其它作品所无法比拟的 。

几百年来，《圣经》深入英美国家人们的生活中，成为日常生活的规范，对英美国家的习俗产生了深刻的影响。《圣经》对英语语言也产生了巨大的影响，成为英美语言的一大源泉。

因此，本文将从习俗、语言两方面，祥谈基督教及《圣经》对英美文化产生的影响。 二 基督教对英美民间习俗的影响 1、《圣经》对英美国家人生礼仪的影响英美国家是基督教国家，一个人从出生到死亡，无不与基督教有着千丝万缕的关系。

英美国家，孩子生下来以后，往往要接受洗礼，父母或把孩子抱进教堂，或请牧师到家里，牧师在读完《圣经》中的词句后，把清水轻轻的洒在孩子头上，口中念到： “Ibaptize you in the name of the father ,and the son ,and of the holy spirit .”同时，还给孩子取个名，既用《圣经》中的人名给孩子取名。男孩子多用Abraham 、David、Mose 、Joseph 或用耶稣十二门徒的名字命名，如：John 、Peter 、Thomos 、Andran 等；女孩多用Mary、Elizabeth 、Sarah、Luth 等名。

洗礼和命名结束后，有时父母会给小孩戴上一个小小的十字架，心中祝福孩子在主的保佑下一生平安。基督教认为，婚姻是上帝配给的，而且婚姻应该建立在敬畏上帝的基础上，人们要在婚姻和家庭生活中，使上帝得到荣耀。

因而婚姻在英美国家中是一个重要的礼仪。婚礼在教堂由牧师主持。

男女双方在上帝面前盟誓，终生相爱。之后，他们随牧师到小礼拜堂，在结婚证书和登记册上签字。

作为基督教一个重要组成部分的天主教，把婚礼列为七种圣礼之一，并不是没有道理的。英美国家的丧礼，也带有浓厚的基督教色彩，丧礼分为两部分，前半部分在教堂里举行，后半部分在墓地举行。

教堂的丧礼由牧师主持，包括祷告、唱赞美诗和牧师致颂词。整个仪式包含一个愿望，愿死者的灵魂早日升入天堂。

在墓地举行简短的入葬仪式，由牧师做下葬祈祷。在英国，下葬时死者面朝东方表示迎接日出或复活之意。

2、基督教对英美国家传统节日的影响在英美国家，许多传统节日与基督教有着密切的关系。这些节日往往比其它节日更具有普遍性。

基督教为纪念耶稣基督诞生，把12 月25 日定位圣诞节。圣诞节已经成为英美国家最重要的公众节日。

圣诞树是圣诞节活动的中心，通常由常青松柏制成，树上缀有小星星、蜡烛、小铃铛等饰物，树下放着家人互赠的礼物。圣诞老人是该节日里最受喜爱的施恩者。

互赠贺卡也是上呢公担界的传统习俗，圣诞期间在教堂、在家里、在街上，到处可听到人们咏唱圣诞颂歌。英美国家信奉基督教的家庭和不信奉基督教的家庭都庆祝圣诞节。

3、基督教对英美国家世俗生活的影响作为一种文化现象，《圣经》赋予人们的世俗生活一种神圣色彩，它以独特的象征意义显示出它在世俗生活中所具有的独特功能。在英美国家，《圣经》对人们日常生活随处可见。

许多人胸前戴着十字架，《圣经》记载，耶稣为救世人愿降世为人，甘愿被钉在十字架上流血牺牲。基督教的十字架，表示以耶稣舍己爱人的精神作为自己生活的最高准则。

但英美国家的人们更多的是在胸前画一个无形的十字架表示崇拜、祈祷、献身、求助、谢恩、祝福等。甚至有的人说谎时也将食指和中指交叉成十字，放在背后或别人看不见的地方，乞求上帝保佑自己免遭谴责。

在英美小酒店门口，有许多用白云做成的招牌，招徕顾客。据《圣经》记载，洪水大劫之后，诺亚等从方舟走出时，蔚蓝的天空上飘着一朵朵白云，天际映衬着旷古以来的彩虹。

这是上帝与人立约的记号，表示洪水大劫不会重演。据此，水手们把这种类似船身的白云命名为“诺亚方舟”而方舟含有“避难所”喻意。

这就是与《圣经》故事相关的白云作为招牌的的文化内涵。美国人在晚饭之前全家人必须做祈祷；在10 元、100 元美钞上，印有“I God,We trust”的字样；在英国学校，《圣经》是宗教课的必读课本；当人们乘坐的船或车出故障，你会看见许多人，特别是妇女在祈祷，口里念着“Amen! Thus maythe lord do ！”之类的话。

在英美国家，13 与星期五被认为是认为是不吉利的数字和日子，这些都与基督教有着密切的关系。 三、基督教对英语语言、词汇的影响 英语语言的形成与完善是兴对《圣经》的翻译联系在一起的。

宗教改革以后，为了顺应时代之需要， 西方各国都开始用自己的本民族语言来翻译《圣经》，这对各民族语言的发展起了极大的。

起源于 民间口语，也有一部分源于 文化典籍或 宗教文献。

它们源远流长，在历史长河里兼收并蓄，得到不断的丰富和发展。经过千锤百炼，终成为简洁生动、意味深长、富有哲理的英语的精华。

本文主要从 民间口语、文化典籍和 宗教文献3 个方面对英语谚语的 起源进行了探讨，旨在揭示谚语所反映的社会的发展进程、人民群众的思想观念、价值取向及其超越时空的价值和意义。恩格斯在《自然辩证法：劳动在从猿到人转变过程中的作用》中指出：“语言是从劳动当中并和劳动一起产生出来的”[1 ]语言是一种社会存在物，是随着人类的实践而形成发展起来的交流系统，是人类社会实践的共同创造物。

作为日常口语的一部分，谚语的 起源十分悠久。其源头是人类先民的生产劳动，他们的实践、感知和经验，经过漫长的历史进程，不断积累、概括和提炼，并随着社会的发展和人们活动范围的扩大，传播开来。

始于 民间口语的英语谚语，在传流的过程中，伴随文字的出现，逐渐进入到书面文献中。 文化典籍中的“雅谚”有些可追溯到民间流传的“俗谚”，有些已不可考，但萌生于 民间口语或是由某些大众化说法提炼而来应是不争的事实。

本文主要从 民间口语、文化典籍、宗教文献3 个方面对英语谚语的 起源进行探讨，旨在揭示谚语所反映的人类生产、生活历程和超越时空的价值和意义。一、民间口语谚语是在群众中流传的固定语句，用简单通俗的话反映出深刻的道理。

英语谚语绝大多数来自民间，是人民群众生活经验的总结，凝结着人民大众的智慧。英语谚语中有大量关于农业生产、气象、渔牧、狩猎的谚语，如气象谚语、节令谚语、农事要诀等，通常称为“农谚”。

Evening red and morning grey are the signs of a fineday. （晚霞红，晨雾蒙，天会晴。） A red sky at night is the shepherds'delight . （向晚天发红，羊倌喜盈盈。）

Rain from the east ; wet two days at the least . （风雨东方起，至少两天雨。） 这几个谚语反映的都是气象常识，如热冷的交替，晚霞、晨雾主晴等，都是从事农业生产的先民长期的经验积累形成的对天气的认识。

Ill weeds grow fast . （杂草长得快。） Out of old field comes new corn. （老田出新谷。）

A year of snow , a year of plenty. （瑞雪兆丰年。） After a rainy winter follows fruitful spring. （今冬雨水足，来春果满枝。）

这几条谚语反映了人民群众对田地、庄稼特点的认识，还表达了他们对五谷丰登的祈盼。先民们生产工具落后，生活条件恶劣，随时面临着毒蛇猛兽的侵袭和疾病带来的死亡，加之当时交通不便，隔山隔水，交流少，活动范围窄，所以“家”的观念在人们心中非常强。

面对严酷的大自然，他们唯有在“家”里才能得到慰藉，找到安全感。下面的几条谚语正是“家”或乡土观念的反映。

East or west , home is best . （东好西好，家里最好。） There is no place like home. （没有什么地方能像家里一样。）

Better at home than a mile away from it . （在家万般好，出门时时难。） Every one seeks his own house. （家是自己的好先民们除从事繁重的农业生产劳动外，还会打猎或捕鱼以弥补生活的匮乏，这方面的经验在英语谚语中也有所反映。

Hunger drives the wolf out of the woods. （饥饿引狼出森林。） Great fish are caught in great waters. （要抓大鱼，就下大海。）

The fish will soon be caught that nibbles at the everybait . （爱咬钩的鱼逃不掉。） A bird in hand is worth two in the bush. （一鸟在手胜过二鸟在林。）

An old fox is not easily snared. （老狐狸难上圈套。） Two dogs will kill a lion. （两狗可杀一狮。）

If you run after two hares , you will catch neither.（一人追二兔，难免两手空。） 人类早期的生产劳动，由于生产工具原始，完全靠体力，靠长时间的辛苦劳作，翻土、播种、收割都有时间、季节限制，耽误不得，正所谓“农时不可误”；又由于渐渐意识到生命无常，生命短暂，因而感叹时光短促、劝人珍惜时间的英语谚语不少。

All time is no time when it is gone. （光阴一去不复返。） Time is money. （时间就是金钱。）

Time flies. （时光如梭。） 早期的人类势单力薄，无论是农耕或狩猎，都以群体出动、集体协作为主，有些英谚正是反映集思广益、共同协作这方面生活的。

So many heads so many wits. （三个臭皮匠，抵个诸葛亮。） Many hands make light work. （人手多，好办事。）

Two eyes see more than one. （两只眼睛比一只眼睛看得清。） Drop by drop the oceans are filled ; stone by stonethe walls are built . （涓滴之水汇成海；一石一石筑成墙。）

英语属于印欧语系，印欧语系的原创型文化滥觞于古希腊文化。古希腊所处的地理位置正居于尼罗河、两河、小亚细亚和南欧之“要冲”，生活在希腊半岛和爱琴海诸岛的先民从海中取食，靠海吃海，久而久之，便形成了海洋型文化特点。

后来的英伦三岛又为大海环抱，受之于古希腊的海洋文化因子得以传承、光大。英语谚语中有大量涉及海上航行、经风受雨、捕鱼捉蟹的内容，这正是英语民族，以及整个西语民族地理位置和海洋型文化的反映。

In a。

The influence of Bible

The Bible is often described as "the greatest book ever written." This is because of its unending significance and influence on people throughout the ages. No other book in history has impacted peoples and cultures like the Bible. So far, the Bible has been translated into 2,018 languages and every year more copies of the Bible are sold than any other single book.

The Bible covers a wide range of literary styles. It includes history, poetry, law, biography, prophecy, philosophy, science and inspirational reading. The major theme of the Bible, however, is God's relationship with man. Throughout the Bible, God expresses Himself to mankind through acts of protection, provision, love and judgement. The Bible also answers many important questions that men of all ages have asked such as, "Where have I come from?" "Where am I going?" "Why do I exist?" "What is truth?"

Even though it was written more than 2,000 years ago, the Bible continues to influence people today. The Bible has been read and studied by many different kinds of people from national leaders to famous sports figures to scientists.

Many basic concepts and principles of Western culture have come down from the Bible. Many common English phrases and expressions have their origin in the Bible well. This column contains excerpts from the Bible with notes and examples of various words and phrases.

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