Book Minute

“Elementary, my dear Watson.” When hearing these words, most of us think we’re hearing a quote from Sherlock Holmes. However, what most people don’t know is that Sherlock Holmes never says those words — at least not in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s original books. Later writers put them into Sherlock’s mouth. The Bible, likewise, has sayings wrongly attributed to it — phrases that may sound like the Bible but come from some place else. Some are slight, but significant. For example, the Bible doesn’t say, “Money is the root of all evil.” Rather it says, “The love of money is the root of all evil.” Other prominent examples don’t appear in the Bible at all: “God helps those who help themselves”; “This too shall pass”; and, “God works in mysterious ways.” The Bible is credited with hundreds of well-known phrases and proverbs, including some that never appear in its pages. If you ever embarrass yourself by misquoting the Bible, remember, this too shall pass.