The question: what is your all-time favorite out-of-context Bible quote? I'm talking about the kind that either make a passage say something very different from what it says in its context, or the kind that just sounds silly and absurd. All responses are welcome. Here's one of my favorites:

Luke 10:18 "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven." I don't know how many times I've heard this preached or taught on about Jesus' pre-existence, Satan's fall and all the rest, as if Jesus is describing something he saw way back even before creation. But that's not what it says. The disciples came back from their mission all excited, and they commented that even demons were subject to Jesus' authority. This is his reply: I saw you defeating them. Figuratively speaking, I saw Satan crash to earth like a lightning bolt when your kingdom activities started invading his realm. He's not talking about Satan's literal fall, he's using a metaphor to describe their success.

What are yours?

Ok. I will play along since you always try to answer my questions.

I am sure there are more but here are two off the top of my head.

Hebrews 9:27 It is appointed unto men once to die. ONLY my pastor never quotes it like that. He says it is appointed unto EVERY man once to die. I have such a issue with it that everyone who knows me turns to look at me in church when he says it. Lol. It changes the meaning of the verse. First, I believe in a pre-trib rapture and so no, it isn't appointed unto EVERY man. In fact even you if don't believe in the rapture, Enoch and Elijah were both caught up so that really bugs me.

The other one is Judge not lest you be judged. That one really gets me. My sister-law-quotes it all the time, she doesn't know any other verse, just that one. Not only that but she actually says "LEST". Ugh It doesn't mean we can't judge right behavior from wrong behavior. It drives me crazy when she says it. And YES, I am judging her. Ha ha

This isn't quite what you are looking for, methinks, but....

Romans 8:28 - And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Too often said after a natural disaster or plane crash or auto accident or when a child dies or when the dog dies or when ANY loved one dies. This verse isn't a quick fix for someone's emotional turmoil. Spouting it at those times is thoughtless and mean. Reminds me of a fellow funeral home visitor who whispered at the casket of a baby that lived only a few days: "God needed him to be an angel" and "This was God's will." Arrrrggggggghhhhhhh!

T: the first is more of a misquote than an out-of-context, but I get what you mean. As you know, I'm not pre-trib, but even us non-pre's agree that there are those who will be translated without dying; good point about Enoch and Elijah. The fact that it's already happened a couple of times should make some people re-examine their understanding of the verse.

If I may be so bold, what sort of "judging" does your sister-in-law mean when she talks about that verse? It's a difficult one to balance, that's for sure.

WG, I couldn't agree more. Every time I hear someone make a comment like that I want to pretend they're the seven sons of Sceva. (Acts 19, for the curious.) But I wonder (see what I did there?): what do you consider a proper use of (and understanding of) that verse?

Thanks! Keep 'em coming!

WG,

I totally hate the "God needed him to be an angel." statement too. What in the world does that mean? Why couldn't God just watch over us or send one of his angels he has already created. We aren't ever going to be angels and no one who has a loved one laying in a casket finds that comforting. I completely agree with you.

Dave, I know my first example was a misquote but it is a pet peeve of mine and it felt good to vent. :)

Colossians 3:15 - "And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts."

Context is everything here. The Greek word for "peace" has two different meanings: 1) subjective, a sense of inner harmony and emotional equanimity or 2) objective, a lack of conflict between two or more groups formerly at odds with each other.

Reading and understanding the entire passage is vital. In verse 11, Paul says that in the Body of Christ there are no divisions between Greek and Jew, slave and free, etc. In verse 15, peace (not conflict), as in definition #2, should be the rule that guides relationships.

T, yeah, I understand. And I'm sure I can use it. Incidentally, all this is for an episode I want to do about the importance of context. Trouble is, these days I'm loaded up with so many medications I'm having trouble coming up with good examples. Hence the call for help :)

I watched "Milk and Meat" and was totally impressed.

How about I Tim. 2:12 - "I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man. She must be quiet." Written for a specific reason and interpreted by too many churches to mean for all time. And it kept me (and many other young women) from becoming a Lutheran pastor.

In the same vein, Eph. 5:22 - "Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord." Ya gotta read the entire passage, not just this verse.

Deut.23:1 - "No one whose testicles are crushed or whose male organ is cut off shall enter the assembly of the Lord."

Ezekial 23:19-20 - "Yet she increased her prostitution, remembering the days of her youth when she engaged in prostitution in the land of Egypt. She lusted after their genitals as large as those of donkeys, and their seminal emission was as strong as that of stallions."

Ps. 137:9 - “Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones against the stones.”

One of my favorites: Genesis 19:8 - “Look, I have two daughters, virgins both of them. Let me bring them out to you and you could do what you like with them. But do nothing to these men because they have come under the shelter of my roof.”

Really? 2 Chron.13:17 - "And Abijah and his people slew them with a great slaughter: so there fell down slain of Israel five hundred thousand chosen men."

Prov. 21:19 (New Living Translation) - "It is better to live alone in the desert than with a crabby, complaining wife."

Be sure to use mouthwash after you brush your teeth: Job 19:17 (New International Version) - "My breath is offensive to my wife; I am loathsome to my own brothers."

Be careful where you sit: Acts 20:9 (New Living Translation) - "As Paul spoke on and on, a young man named Eutychus, sitting on the windowsill, became very drowsy. Finally, he fell sound asleep and dropped three stories to his death below."

Don't touch the roadkill: Deut.14:21 (New International Version) - "Do not eat anything you find already dead. You may give it to an alien living in any of your towns and he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner..."

Check out the mall parking lots on Sundays: Exodus 35:1-3 (New International Version) - "Moses assembled the whole Israelite community and said to them, "These are the things the LORD has commanded you to do: For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day shall be your holy day, a Sabbath of rest to the LORD. Whoever does any work on it must be put to death. Do not light a fire in any of your dwellings on the Sabbath day."

Tsk tsk tsk, WG. You know the actual Sabbath is on Saturday, not Sunday ;) (Christians don't celebrate the Sabbath, we celebrate the Lord's Day, which is why it's on Sunday.)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dwashbur

Tsk tsk tsk, WG. You know the actual Sabbath is on Saturday, not Sunday ;) (Christians don't celebrate the Sabbath, we celebrate the Lord's Day, which is why it's on Sunday.)

---

Yeah, yeah. In observance of the Resurrection. Didja like some of the others though? You're supposed to say one nice thing before you say one negative thing.

Dave,

OH! I didn't know this was for an episode. Ok, Well I will think of more.

Here is one off the top of my head but it is a no brainer: Money is the root of all evil. People say that all the time. Oops that may just be another misquote.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ;

Yeah, yeah. In observance of the Resurrection. Didja like some of the others though? You're supposed to say one nice thing before you say one negative thing.

---

To be honest, I'm a little puzzled how they constitute out-of-context quotes. Several have possibilities, but I'd like to know a lot more about what you have in mind.

T, yeah, I forgot to mention that. I want to do an episode about the importance of context, at all levels - language, broader literature, culture and history - and I have a few hobby-horses of my own, but I'm having trouble coming up with enough examples to make a full episode. At the moment I have two, one not biblical: "woman without her man would die of stupidity." In this case, the context is punctuation. "Woman: without her, man would die of stupidity." The other example is from a time when I saw a girl use the "close my eyes and point" method of finding a verse for the day. What she got scared the liver out of her:

Matthew 25:41 (AV)
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

I tried to explain the context of the verse, but she was so rattled I'm not sure she heard me.

Actually, I just thought of another one. Some groups like to use Eccl 9:10 to claim that there's no life after death (the "soul sleep" idea). They don't pay any attention to what the context is, what kind of literature Ecclesiastes is, what other books say about the subject, and all that. Okay, I just gave myself one; who's next?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by dwashbur

To be honest, I'm a little puzzled how they constitute out-of-context quotes. Several have possibilities, but I'd like to know a lot more about what you have in mind.

---

The verses I posted are wild and crazy and make no sense until one understands why they were written and what the context is.

Your idea of out-of-context must be different from mine.

Good point. Clarification time:

"out of context quote" to me means taking something like Eccles 9:10 and building a theology on it, even though Ecclesiastes is about as deeply theological as Fifty Shades of Grey. In context, the verse is saying "Enjoy life, because your time to do so is limited." It does NOT say "when you die your soul is annihilated and not re-created until your resurrection," but groups use it that way anyway. That's more or less what I mean when I say "out of context."

But I see what you mean, and with that explanation, I'll start looking at them and see how I can incorporate them. Cool.

Love this question!

I've always been partial to Amos 4:4
"Go to Bethel and sin; go to Gilgal and sin yet more..."

Since I attended Bethel College you can imagine how frequently my friends and I (mis)quoted this scripture ;)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by classyT

Here is one off the top of my head but it is a no brainer: Money is the root of all evil. People say that all the time. Oops that may just be another misquote.

---

Yep, that's another misquote. The correct quote is: For the love of money is the root of all evil.

HH,

That is hilarious. :) still giggling.

Admin,
Yep!

"...an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth".

Today, it usually is used as a justification for all-out violence. However, in its original context, it meant precisely the opposite - a caution that retaliation must be measured and not excessive.

Athos,

Well, if I took that verse literally, I would have given you a big fat reddie, like you usually do me. You know.. a reddie for a reddie? Lol yes, I already know... you don't find me the least bit funny. Bummer :(