Proverbs of Biblical origin: from a single source to linguistic diversity

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Introduction

The influence of the Bible on national languages and cultures, not only Christian, is recognized, has long been accurately assessed and interpreted in linguistic and cultural aspects. Even seventy years of Soviet “militant atheism” with its official and unofficial bans on religion did not significantly reduce this influence on the Russian language due to universal literacy, reading and reprinting of classical literature, and indelible linguistic memory. Moreover, Marxism-Leninism philosophers, who widely used biblical winged expressions, and the Soviet press, whose front page constantly featured the biblical unit «На злобу дня» “On the Evil of the Day”, implicitly contributed to the indelibility of these words and expressions. But Perestroika and the subsequent social and cultural transformations in Russian society have sharply raised interest in studying biblical winged expressions. Over the last 30 years, the linguistic and cultural heritage of the Bible has received multidimensional coverage as evidenced in the most extensive bibliography of these issues (Ivanov, Maslova, Mokienko, 2022: 366–405).

The increase in lexicographic description of winged words and expressions from the Bible was also significant. Thus, the classic “Phraseological dictionary of the Russian language” edited by A.I. Molotkov with over 4000 phraseological expressions, contained 115 biblicalisms were recorded; their number in the special dictionary of N. Nikolayuk (Nikolayuk, 1998) “Biblical word in our speech”, about 300; our dictionary (Lilich, Mokienko, Trofimkina, 2010), about 2000; the encyclopedic dictionary of K.N. Dubrovina (Dubrovina, 2010), about 2000. The latter does not include winged words like Adam, Judah, Cain. Thus, the modern dictionary description of biblical winged words gave twice more “maximum number of Russian biblical terms” than 800 units once defined by V.V. Kolesov (Kolesov, 1995: 24).

The sacred source itself is a kind of bookishness marker, and biblical images often appeal to the corresponding symbolism and plots. Nevertheless, biblical units in Russian artistic and journalistic texts show that their use corresponds to the same stylistic rules as the use of words and set expressions of other origin. The dictionary description of biblical units among Russian winged words (Berkov, Mokienko, Shulezhkova, 2008, 2009) or individual-authorial phraseological units (Melerovich, Mokienko, 2005) leads to the same conclusion. Even specialized dictionaries of biblical units (Lilich, Mokienko, Trofimkina, 2010; Dubrovina, 2010; Shulezhkova, 2013, etc.) reflect the fact that these units have organically entered the blood and flesh of our literary language and living speech. The degree of forgetting the internal form of biblical units and even their source or, on the contrary, their constant actualization depends largely on the brightness and transparency of the image embedded in them. The more explicit and detailed theimage is, the more likely it will be actualized and used in different contexts.

The use of biblical units is influenced not only by their imagery and semantics, but also by their structure. K.N. Dubrovina categorizes the biblical units in her dictionary into the following groups.

“1. Non-predicative expressions correlated with word combinations, i.e. phraseological phrases proper: башня из слоновой кости ‘ivory tower’, благую часть избрать ‘to choose the good part’, блудный сын ‘prodigal son’, вавилонское столпотворение ‘Tower of Babel’, козел отпущения ‘scapegoat’, питаться манной небесной ‘feed on the manna of heaven’, стереть с лица земли ‘wipe off the face of the earth’, etc.
2. Predicative expressions, i.e. sentences which in proverbial and aphoristic form express all kinds of instructions, advice, moralizing, warnings, prohibitions, prescriptions, exhortations, wishes, etc.:

The second group are proverbs, where “as in a small drop of water” the wisdom of the Book of Books is concentrated. Both readers of the Bible and writers, poets and publicists, who often use such proverbs in their texts, constantly refer to this wisdom. A.S. Pushkin defined the significance of this paremiological heritage a year before his death: “There is a book, where every word is interpreted, explained, preached in all ends of the earth, applied to all possible circumstances of life and incidents of the world; where there is no single expression which is not learnt by heart and made a proverb of the peoples; it contains nothing unknown to us. This book is called the Gospel. It has the ever-new charm; if we happen to open it, we are unable to resist its sweet fascination and sink into its divine eloquence even if we are satiated with the world or discouraged by despondency”^[1].

What became the “proverbs of the peoples” in the Russian literary language? Are all the proverbs relevant nowadays? Have they remained unchanged in form and content? Are they understandable without special historical and theological commentary?

Perhaps, it is impossible to determine the exact number of proverbs co-occurring with the biblical text. Such an attempt was made in an old collection by I.M. Sirot (Sirot, 1897) with 1475 “proverbs”. But, (1) they are expressions and sayings of different types; (2) they are aphorisms, which are not reproduced in literary texts; therefore they cannot be called “proverbs of the peoples”. According to our calculations and the above-mentioned sources, there are no more than three hundred of them in the Russian language. But most of them are or were in demand in our language and generated its creative paremiological energy.

Here are some of them that have received a systematic lexicographic reflection in the sources cited above: Бог (Господь) и взял ‘God Giveth and God Taketh Away’; Вера без дела мертва [есть] ‘Faith without works is dead’; Всякая власть от Бога ‘All power is from god’; Могущий (Могий) вместить да вместит ‘Let the one who is able to receive this receive it’; Если правый глаз соблазняет тебя, то вырви его ‘If your right eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out’; Горе одному ‘Woe to him that is alone’, etc.

At the same time, many maxims of biblical origin being adapted to the language system have undergone various structural and semantic modifications; as a result, their connection with the biblical source became gradational.

The aim of the study is to identify and differentiate in the modern Russian literary language the structural-semantic dynamics of paremiological units which originate from biblical texts.

Materials and methods

The materials for the study were dictionaries of biblical units, paremiological dictionaries, Russian National Corpus (subcorpora: main, newspaper, poetic, Russian classics)^[2].

The authors used methods of structural-semantic modeling, contextual analysis, historical-etymological, and linguistic-cultural analysis.

Results

The common sacral source of this paremiological heritage ad hoc might preserve the maxims of Holy Scripture in the language time and space. However, the dynamics of paremi in the Russian language refutes this assumption. There are quite a lot of proverbs that fully preserve the spirit and letter of the source, i.e. are identical to it in linguistic usage, especially if we do not consider semantic and stylistic nuances. Nevertheless, adapting to the constantly changing linguistic system, biblical proverbs are subject to changes.

In general, the degree of such changes can be presented in the following way: 1) paremiological identities; 2) proverbs that have undergone semantic transformation in comparison with the original source; 3) proverbs that have undergone structural-semantic transformation in comparison with the original source; 4) folk proverbs formed on the basis of biblical wisdom; 5) proverbs that have lost their connection with the biblical source and have been reinterpreted; 6) individual-author transformations of proverbs of biblical origin.

Discussion

Let us consider the features and functioning of the presented paremiological groups on specific examples.

Paremiological identities

These include proverbs that have preserved the structure and semantics of the biblical source in speech and in literary and journalistic contexts: «Бездна бездну призывает» ‘The abyss calls the abyss’ «И бесы веруют [и трепещут]» ‘Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror’; «Возлюби ближнего как самого себя» ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’; «Возлюби (люби) врагов своих» ‘Love your enemies’; «Бог (Господь) дал, Бог (Господь) и взял» ‘God Giveth and God Taketh Away’, etc.

The biblical aphorisms which retain the imprint of the Old Slavonic text are more likely to preserve the form and content of proverbs. Typical in this respect are the paremi «Могущий (могий) вместить да вместить» ‘Let the one who is able to receive this receive it’ and «Всякое даяние благо [и всяк дар совершен]» ‘Every good and perfect gift’.

The first quotation from the Bible is a call to do whatever one’s strength and ability allow: “But I say to you, whoever divorces his wife not for adultery and marries another woman commits adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. His disciples said to Him, If such is a man’s duty to his wife, it is better not to marry. But He said to them, Not all can receive this word, but to whom it is given; <...> Let the one who is able to receive this receive it”. (Matthew 19:9–12) (in Church Slavonic text: “He who can contain let him contain”).

The contexts of the proverb are identical to the source, even if it is used jokingly, as in V. Dudintsev’s text:

“I am not capable of such an evangelical life <...> Yes, after all, they say: ‘Let the one who is able to receive this receive it’. Well, but I cannot, therefore I do not receive. I need people, light, brilliance, activity <...>” (A. Sokolov. Mystery)^[3].

“<...> He says, ‘Drink, drink your tea’. I object: ‘I’m drinking my second glass already!’ He replies: ‘Drink some more. Learn to understand words’”. And also <...>: “Let the one who is able to receive this receive it” (V. Dudintsev. White Clothes)^[4].

The second winged expression from the Church Slavonic text of the New Testament also retains its original form, even in humorous use. Not only its form remains unchanged, but also its basic meaning laid down in the Gospel, “One should be grateful for any, however modest, gifts and favors”. “Every gift is good, and every gift is perfect from above <...>” (James 1: 17) (Russian translation: “Every gift is good”):

“Eat, every gift to us is perfect and giving is good; // Eat healthy, my dear, Lord have mercy on you!” (V. Zhukovsky. Oatmeal Kissel)^[5].

“<...> In a flash, she [Lizaveta Nikolaevna] took off her diamond earrings and put them on the dish. — May I, may I? To decorate the vesture? — all excited she asked the monk. — Yes, you may”, — he replied, “every gift is good” (F. Dostoevsky. Demons)^[6].

“And my parents gave me only one tulup // One tulup, // And the advice — while begging // not to be foolish, // That ‘every gift is good’, // And ‘bend your back’, // That was our education // In the old days” (V. Kurochkin. Old man in retirement)^[7].

“The code of his administrative activity consisted of a single rule: every giving is good, and every gift is perfect” (I. Makarov. Memories)^[8].

As we see, such proverbs are not identical to the source. Moreover, the given paremi in the modern Russian language have different frequency, different stylistics, and different “recognition effect”. These differences are relatively easy to recognize when referring to the contexts of use of the corresponding proverbs both in the works of classical writers and in contemporary journalism. Russian National Corpus provides very convincing arguments. However, the above-mentioned large dictionaries of Russian biblical expressions and winged words differentiate the paremi in the category of identical proverbs.

Thus, proverbs «Око за око, зуб за зуб» ‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’; «Что посеешь, то [и] пожнешь» ‘What you sow, you will reap’; «Нет (несть) пророка в своем отечестве» ‘There is no prophet in his own country’ stand out in terms of frequency.

The first one is the formula of retribution from the Mosaic Law, which regulated the daily life of the Israelites in the Old Testament era. It has long been very popular in the Russian language and widely used by classical writers, modern writers, and publicists — A.N. Ostrovsky, D. Mamin-Sibiryak, L. Charskaya, A.I. Kuprin, K. Sluchevsky, M. Gorky, V.F. Tendryakov, B.A. Lavreniev, V.P. Astafiev, V. Erofeev, R. Kovalenko, V.E. Maximov, A. Vaksberg and many others. The contexts testify to the fact that despite the difference of their creative manner, the authors keep the structural and semantic identity of the sacral formula. Even if a writer purposefully creatively transforms this formula, there is no significant shift in its semantics and structure because the sacred reminiscence somehow brings it back to the source. Cf: “No, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, cheese for cheese. Here the ancient but newly used Old Testament approach to justice rules the citadel of goodness and progress. From Seattle to Miami, everybody sues; the value of what is contested is irrelevant...” (T. Tolstaya. I will sue, I will torture, like Pol Pot to Kampuchea)^[9].

In the New Testament, the proverb “What you sow, you will reap” is used in the form “Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap”: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life”. (Galatians 6:7–8). Nevertheless, the impersonal form of the verb, traditional for Russian paremiology, has become the most frequent:

“You disregarded my advice and persisted in your false views; moreover, you also involved your sister in your delusions <...> Now you are both in a bad way. So what? What you sow, you reap!” (A. Chekhov. My Life)^[10].

“– You must realize that your game is lost, Ivan Vasilyevich said coldly <...> You’re intelligent... You know the proverb: ‘What you sow, you reap’. Now it’s time to reap the harvest” (G. Matveev. Tarantula)^[11].

“Time passed, we missed the winter, we finally started sowing. But you know better than me: what you sow, you reap. If the collective farm fails sowing, the whole economic year is ruined” (V. Ovechkin. Difficult Spring)^[12].

It is characteristic that in the classical language it still retains full grammatical identity: “What I see, godfather, you’ve messed up everyone in the village... / You have to blame yourself: / What you sow, you reap” (I.A. Krylov. The Wolf and the Cat).

As with the Old Testament paremy “An eye for an eye...”, some authors transform this proverb. But it does not lose its identity with the sacred maxim:

“Why are you silent, comrades? — Why talk for nothing? Someone else’s uncle won’t sow for us, will he? — That’s true. We’ll manage somehow, not very confident voices came in reply. — ‘Somehow’ are penny words. ‘What you sow, you will reap’ is a good saying, but it can be supplemented with ‘And if you sow well, you will reap more!’” (Y.G. Laptev. The Dawn)^[13].

The proverb “There is no prophet in his own country” is also an example of paremiological identity. These words of Jesus Christ are quoted in the Gospels in different forms: “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown, among his relatives, and in his household” (Mark, 6, 4); “No prophet is accepted in his fatherland” (Luke 4:24); “A prophet has no honor in his fatherland” (John 4:44).

In the literary language, this proverb was fixed in the form “There is no prophet in his own country”, which seems to be considered identical to the sacred source because it became a kind of linguistic tertium comparationis of the known Gospel variants:

It seems that the saying is true: “there is no prophet in his fatherland” (L. Tolstoy. Youth)^[14].

“Well, here is a sad example of the indifferent attitude of ‘users’, local population, local authorities to the monuments placed, so to speak, at home. It’s true that ‘there is no prophet in his fatherland’” (D. Likhachev. From Past to Future)^[15].

“Much has been written by Vl. Krupin <...> His books make us remember the exception to the old truth that there is no prophet in his fatherland” (V. Rasputin. From the Motherland to the Motherland)^[16].

“We learn many things from books, / And truths are passed on by word of mouth: / There are no prophets in our own country. / And in other homelands there are not so many...” (V. Vysotsky. I went out of business)^[17].

As we see, the identity of a paremy to its sacral source does not mean its absolute “rigidity”, invariability.

Proverbs that have undergone semantic transformation in comparison with their source

The expansion of semantics here does not lead to a sharp or a complete break from the original sacral semantics of the biblical unit. Nevertheless, the semantic shift allows us to consider such proverbs a kind of “desacralized”, having acquired a certain “civil” status. Such proverbs include «Много званых, да мало избранных» ‘Many are invited, but few are chosen’; «Что делаешь, делай скорее» ‘What you are about to do, do quickly’; «Не сотвори себе кумира» ‘Do not make an idol for yourself’; «Пусть Мертвые хоронят своих мертвецов» ‘Let the dead bury their dead’; «Один Бог Без греха» ‘God only is without sin’ and others.

The phrase «Много званых, да мало избранных» ‘Many are invited, but few are chosen’ in the Gospel parable is close to its direct meaning; it refers to the story about the poor and maimed invited to the feast instead of the guests who were invited but did not come: “For there was once a man who threw a great dinner party and invited many. When it was time for dinner, he sent out his servant to the invited guests, saying, ‘Come on in; the food’s on the table. Then they all began to beg off, one after another making excuses <…> He was outraged and told the servant, Quickly, get out into the city streets and alleys. Collect all who look like they need a square meal, all the misfits and homeless and down-and-out <…> Let me tell you, not one of those originally invited is going to get so much as a bite at my dinner party, for many are called, but few are chosen” (Luke 14:16–24).

In literary language, where the phrase has become a proverb, its meaning is generalized: “Those who claim something are far more numerous than those who are truly worthy of it”:

“Wide access to higher education institutions, in my opinion, is quite ne­cessary because in relation to the main purpose of higher education institutions the saying ‘many are called, but few are chosen’ is quite applicable. It is mostly the notion that among the chosen there are only a few who meet the primary purpose of higher education institutions, i.e. the desire of countries and peoples to have their ‘Platos and Newtons’” (D. Mendeleev. Cherished thoughts)^[18].

“<...> We can live by conscience. Let’s give man land and freedom, and then we see whether he is lazy or aggressive. It’s nonsense. They say the last will become the first, and the first will become the last, for there are many called and few chosen” (P. Kirichenko. Photo for memory)^[19].

“The president did not invite any living classics whose spiritual quests did not meet the standards of the builders of the new state ideology. And this can hardly be explained by the desire to save money on the dinner in the Faceted Chamber in honor of the masters of culture who were honored by the Kremlin’s grace. Well, we have to be comforted by the eternal: many are called, but few are chosen” (Pravda, 22.11.1994)^[20].

Moreover, jokingly ironic style expands the meaning of this proverb; it can characterize ‘a large number of people, claiming certain worldly goods which are initially limited and intended for the minority’:

“The easiest way to enter the university is with the help of a ‘furry paw’, when the right people, relatives, your parents’ friends, are at the head of your chosen alma mater. Here, perhaps, you just need to make an application in time — and you can relax. But they say that ‘many are called, but few are chosen’; there are not enough familiar rectors, deans, or professors for each applicant” (I. Sergeyev, E. Dobryukha. Wrap yourself in the university. Moskovsky Komsomolets, 27.09.2001)^[21].

Proverbs which have undergone structura- semantic transformation in comparison with the original source

Here the complete maxim turns into its part. According to A.A. Potebnya’s concept (cf. Mokienko, 1989: 96–100), a proverb can turn into a saying and further into a word with symbolic meaning.

A typical case is an aphorism from the New Testament: “Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will spill, and the wineskins will be ruined. Instead, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved” (Matthew 9:17). This phrase of Jesus fully explains its literal, real meaning: “old wineskins (leather bags for storing wine) are incapable of preserving young wine”. The figurative meaning of this phrase ‘One should not put new content into old forms; one cannot create something new without breaking with the old’ is directly derived from this allegory.

Being assimilated into the literary language, the phrase went through structural and semantic transformation at different levels. If the structure is preserved, the grammatical form of the verb may change, and semantics may be specified:

“As for me, I believe that the first necessity is ‘not to pour new wine into old wineskins’ [That is, I do not agree with those who suggested that in order to reduce and simplify the electoral process, the first elections should be held in the existing zemstvos]” (D. Mendeleev. Cherished thoughts)^[22].

“But you must also agree that new wine cannot be poured into old wineskins. In art, as everywhere, the proletariat must say its word, say it loudly, powerfully, sonorously, like a power holder, to the whole world”. (M. Aldanov. Escape)^[23].

“How good, how fresh are Tretiakov’s dreams! But alas! The conductor of the ‘genius’ plan forgot that it is inadmissible to pour young wine into old wineskins” (Sovetskaya Rossiya, 22.08.1998)^[24].

The next stage of this transformation is the transformation of this proverb into a proverb with the meaning ‘to put new content into old forms’. The grammatical form of the verb and its collocations can also change:

“Many observers suspect that what is happening is simply a cynical attempt, as they say, to pour old wine into new wineskins’ (Sovetskaya Rossiya, 16.05.2000)^[25].

“The real task of the actor in the new theater can hardly be realized <...> He has to be a new man himself not in words, but in actions. And where do we have such performers? They do not exist, they are unreal. And the new wine is poured into the old wineskins” (A. Belyi. Theater and Modern Drama)^[26].

And further on, the creative potential of the new proverb initiates new transformations. The reminiscence of the original image remains vital, no matter how wide the structural range of these transformations may be:

“Next year, if you want, I will take on the entire medical part of your calendar, now I will only pour new wine into the old wineskins. I cannot do more because I have no plan or material at hand” (A. Chekhov. Letter to A.S. Suvorin)^[27].

“My dear Ilyin, it will be very good and quite worthy of you if you cross out this script ‘Conversation about the weather’. It is good, but only as an attempt to pour ‘new wine into old wineskins’” (M. Gorky. Letter to Ilyin)^[28].

“What can a modern author impress us with? There is obviously only one thing — if he manages to pour new, young, and fresh wine into the ancient wineskins of art” (Literaturnaya Gazeta, No. 33, 1983)^[29].

“The healthy, real direction of our Russian literature <...> has shown us our Great Russian life in full view. We know what our ‘old wineskins’ are like, thay crackle when young wine is poured into them <...>” (N. Leskov. Old Psychopaths)^[30].

“Young wine in old wineskins. New Ministers. Who are they?” (Pravda, 26.12.1992)^[31].

“It must be funny: / Poems on the slope of years. / But new wine can be poured into old wineskins. / I look out of the window, thinking, / It’s so cold nowadays... / Wine can’t be sweet, / If our life is wormwood” (Y. Drunina. It must be funny...)^[32].

Characteristic is the structural-semantic transformation of the iconic biblical maxim from the Book of Ecclesiastes “Время разбрасывать камни, и время собирать камни” ‘A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones’, which has become a popular bookish proverb with the meaning ‘In due time destruction will be replaced by creation’. The Bible elaborates its metaphoric image: “… a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them; <…> a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak” (Ecclesiastes 3: 5–7).

Many contexts “disintegrate” this proverb into two antonymous sayings, “to gather stones” and “to scatter stones”, with corresponding semantics:

“Modern heroes among economists, publicists, and artists compete to see who can mock our lives in the most wicked, sophisticated way, just as recently many of them competed in glorifying the regime. It seems that society will soon change idols. Those who offer nothing, who are preoccupied with how to shout in a more flippant and Khlestakov manner in order to draw attention to themselves for career purposes, will be discarded. It’s time to gather stones” (P. Bunich. We call this groaning the market... Ogonyok, No. 9, 1992)^[33].

“But since it is time to collect the stones scattered by the storms of history, let us not forget about the modest experience of the ‘Komsomolskaya Pravda’” (B. Pankov. The air of the 6th Floor. Komsomolskaya Pravda, 05.05.1988)^[34].

“It’s Time’s concern, not ours, to sift out everything petty, ‘superfluous’, to put everything in its place. But it is time for us to ‘gather stones’, it is time to sort out our past” (P. Aleshkovsky. From my experience...)^[35].

“Not so long ago it seemed that it was ‘time to scatter stones’, so great was the pressure of refreshing criticism; it penetrated literally all spheres of our economic, social, cultural, and moral life. This pressure does not subside even now” (Literaturnaya gazeta, 08.04.1987)^[36].

“The supporter of a strong state Putin ‘is collecting stones’ scattered by his predecessors Gorbachev and Yeltsin, is collecting them with the help of the army” (L. Radzikhovsky. The entire “Kursk”. Segodnya, 28.11.2000).

Some proverbs of this type can develop quite a lot of variants retaining structural-semantic adequacy to their source. A typical example is the biblical unit Не хлебом единым (Не о хлебе едином) жив (сыт) человек ‘Man does not live by bread alone’, the answer of Jesus to the devil in Old Testament: “The tempter came to Him and said, If You are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. But Jesus answered, It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God’”. (Deut. 8: 3) (in Church Slavonic text: “Man shall not live on bread alone”).

M. Saltykov-Shchedrin, L. Tolstoy, F. Dostoevsky, F. Sologub, D. Merezhkovsky, N. Leskov, V.V. Ovechkin, T. Kalugina, S. Yesin, etc. reproduce this proverb unchanged.

Nevertheless, its frequency due to its transparent imagery and deep instructive meaning becomes the reason of its structural and semantic transformations. Many original variants are created on the structural model of this proverb. Here are some of them, which we have placed in the procrustean bed of the “Big Dictionary of Russian Winged Words” (Berkov, Mokienko, Shulezhkova, 2009: 84–85):

“No, the republic lives not by oil alone, — Musa Bayramov said in a conversation with us over tart, fragrant tea. — I am very proud that to the first Soviet oilfield, which I opened with my friends, much has been added” (Pravda, 29.05.1984).

“The Hero of the Soviet Union, Honored Test Pilot of the USSR Sergey Nikolaevich Anokhin believes that one should not go to the extremes. Man does not live by entertainment alone” (Izvestia, 16.11.1985).

“But, listen, not medals alone live in these sultry days the world sports students forum” (Leningradskaya Pravda, 03.09.1985).

“And I want, dear readers, that we rejoice together. When the editorial board manages to publish such an issue, you believe that literature is not the capital city alone, that the provinces, the periphery can publish a magazine no worse than those in the centre” (Ogonyok, No. 49, 1988).

“Not on profit alone... The note under the heading ‘Morning phone’ about charity of businessmen in Magnitogorsk” (Magnitogorsk worker, 15.08.2003).

Folk proverbs based on biblical wisdom

The biblical text could create proverbs in a generalized way, as a kind of linguistic crystallization of sacral wisdom learned by the people. A typical case is the proverb included in the famous collection of V.I. Dahl in two versions: «Кто добро творит, того Бог благословит» ‘Whoever does good God will bless’ (DP 1, 26)^[37] and «Кто добро творит, тому Бог отплатит» “Whoever does good God will repay” (DP 1, 26; D 1, 443). These proverbs are not found in the Holy Scripture. But the main idea expressed in the folk proverb can be found in its different parts. After all, the very expression делать (творить) добро in the meaning of ‘to do good deeds, acts’ is repeated in it:

“He who does good is of God; but he who does evil has not seen God” (3 John 11); “How is it to your credit if you are beaten for doing wrong and you endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God” (1 Peter 2:20).

Russian literature usually reproduces only the biblical expression, not the proverb recorded by V.I. Dal. This also testifies to the folk status of the corresponding proverb:

“So, true goodness // does good without any bribe, // Whoever is good, to him excesses are a burden, // If he does not share them with his neighbor” (I. Krylov. The Doe and the Dervish)^[38].

“The old man is honest, attentive to the man, not only gets profits, but also does good, helps, etc.” (G. Ouspensky. Sketches of Transitional Time)^[39].

“His heart is kind and loving, but it is clear that he will do good not so much because of the attraction of his heart, but because it is necessary to do good” (N. Dobrolyubov. When will the real day come?)^[40].

“I know how to love, and I can love, but I can only love, not do good, not pay you for your favors” (F. Dostoevsky. Poor Folk)^[41].

It is curious that V.I. Dal’s Explanatory Dictionary also records a proverb with the opposite meaning, which does not contradict the biblical one: «Добро творя, не жди платы» “When you do good, do not wait for payment” (D 3, 122). Later, the proverb творить добро ‘to do good’ gave rise to several other proverbs, also not known in the Holy Scriptures: «Добро твори, сколько можешь, [от того] вовек не занеможешь (не изнеможешь)» “Do good as much as you can, [from that] you will never get sick” (Sn. 1848, 94; Tan. 1986, 50); «Добро твори, сколько можешь, от того никогда не занеможешь» “Do good as much as you can, from that you will never get sick” (Bars. 1770, 55; SlRYa XVIII c. 8, 37); «Добро творить — себя веселить» “To do good is to cheer yourself up” (Tver. TPP 1993, 33; Sergeeva, 2016: 156).

Similar case is the proverb «Добро сеять – добро и пожнешь» ‘If you sow good, you will reap good’ (D 1, 443), also known in the variant «Добро сеять – добро и пожинать» ‘To sow good is to reap good’ (Sok., 170).

V.I. Dahl’s collection also records the folk proverb «Дай вам Бог пировать, а нам бы крохи подбирать» “May God give you feast, and we pick up crumbs” (DP 1, 68). It might be a paremiological reminiscence of a famous episode from the Bible about the beggar Lazarus, who unsuccessfully begged at least crumbs from the lord’s table: “There was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table” (Luke 16:20–21).

This image is also found in other parts of the Bible: “The woman came and knelt before Him. ‘Lord, help me!’ she said. But Jesus replied, It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs… ‘Yes, it is, Lord’, she said. Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master’s table” (Matthew 15:25–27). This is the base for the Dahl proverb with a generous wish to guests. Cf. the popular humorous proverb крохи (крошки) с барского (господского) стола ‘crumbs from the lord’s table’ ‘about a pitiful handout to the needy, paltry in comparison with the wealth of the giver’. To some extent, the folk proverb «Бог велит последнюю крошку делить» ‘God says to share the last crumb’ (Tan. 1986, 21) is a reminiscence of the biblical theme.

Different biblical ideas are reflected in many other folk proverbs. Thus, the humorous proverb «[И] рад бы в рай, да грехи не пускают» “[And] I would like to go to paradise, but sins do not let me in” with the meaning ‘I would like to do something, but it is impossible’ recalls the fall of Adam and Eve. The humorous proverb «С милым рай и в шалаше» ‘When you love someone, even a mud hut is paradise’ with the meaning ‘love and personal happiness are more important than material prosperity and comfort’ is also close to the biblical idea of paradise. Although it became popular thanks to N.M. Ibragimov’s poem and song ‘Russian Song’ (1815), it is included in many collections of Russian proverbs (Raz. 1957, 114; Spir. 1985, 115; Tan. 1986, 140; An. 1988, 277). This is quite understandable; after all, proverbs with the component paradise are quite numerous: «Богатому рай, а бедному ад» “Life is heaven for the rich and hell for the poor” (An. 1988, 24); «В рай за волоса (за волосы) не тянут» “You cannot be pulled into Paradise by hair” (Sn. 1848, 56; D 1, 235; Spir. 1985, 57; Tan. 1986, 31; An. 1988, 38); «Вольному вольно, спасенному рай, а дураку закон не писан» “The free get freedom, the saved get paradise, and laws do not apply to the fool” (Paus. early XVIII century, 44); «Где рай, тому (таму) муки не бывает» “Where there is paradise, there is no torment” (Bogd. 1741, 74); «Кто где родился, там тому и рай» “The paradise is where you were born” (An. 1988, 148); «Хоть в рай, хоть в муку — товарищи будут» “There will be comrades in paradise, as well as in torment” (Bogd. 1741, 115); «Быть тебе в раю, где горшки обжигают» “You will be in paradise where pots are burned” (DP 1, 29; An. 1988, 33); «И в раю жить тошно одному» “To live alone is annoying even in paradise” (DP 1, 281; Tan. 1986, 64; An. 1988, 110); «Лето-то от рая, а зима от мýки» “Summer is from paradise, and winter is from tornament” (Mal. 2002, 3, 505). Such proverbs exactly reflect the folk idea of the biblical paradise, sometimes even apocryphal.

Of course, some of such proverbs also reflect obsolete outdated principles. For example, there is a proverb justifying corporal punishment when raising children: «Кого люблю, того и бью» “Whom I love I beat” (DP 1, 165, 291; D 1, 89; D 2, 282). It is obviously related to a thought repeatedly expressed in the Bible. Cf. “He that spares his rod hates his son: but he that loves him chastens him betimes” (Proverbs 13:24); “I rebuke and punish all whom I love” (Revelation 3:19).

Proverbs that have lost connection with their biblical source and have been reinterpreted

Such proverbs are two popular paremiological ideologemes of the Soviet time Кто ищет, то всегда найдет He who seeks will always find and Кто с мечом к нам придет, тот от меча и погибнет He who comes to us with a sword will perish by the sword. The results of special surveys among Russian-speaking informants of three generations showed that these proverbs are perceived exactly as background Soviet cultural ideologemes.

Many people named as the source of the first proverb, didactically urging to strive purposefully for the goal, the refrain of I.O. Dunayevsky’s “Song of the Merry Wind” on verses by V. Lebedev-Kumach from the movie “Captain Grant’s Children” (1937): “Who used to fight for victory / With us let him sing: / He who is cheerful laughs, / He who wants achieves, / He who seeks will always find”. However, the true source is the Gospel aphorism from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.…” (Matthew 7: 7), also known in Church Slavonic form: «Проси́те, и҆ да́стсѧ ва́мъ: и҆щи́те, и ѡ҆брѧ́щете: толцы́те, и҆ ѿве́рзетсѧ ва́мъ» “Ask, and it shall be given unto you: seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you”. The Church Slavonic verb «ѡ҆брѧ́щете» uses the 2nd person plural from the verb обрящти (cf. обрести “to find”).

The contextual illustrations in the “Big Dictionary of Winged Words and Expressions of the Russian Language” (Berkov, Mokienko, Shulezhkova, 2008: 547) convincingly testify to the “Soviet” perception of this Gospel maxim.

“There is reason for them to say: He who seeks will always find. I thought of this when I opened the folders with the prince’s personal archive in a cozy house in a valley near Salzburg” (L. Bezymensky. Unraveled mysteries of the 3rd Reich).

“– So, everybody can find your news publications? — I would answer this way: He who seeks will always find” (Radio program “Microforum”, 14.03.1988).

“It is naive to explain the neglect of reality only by the personal qualities of the writers. It is the product of a special philosophy where desire and will are the most important arguments. As they sang in the mid-thirties: He who seeks will always find! The simple idea that you will not always find, and you can even lose, that the success of the search depends not only on the diligence of the seekers, but also on objective reality, has long been considered cromulent” (Book Review, 26.02.1988).

“I’ve been told by competent detectives that <...> nightlife enthusiasts can be tracked down...also with a help of computer. It’s more difficult than to pull a magazine from the top shelf <...> so decide for yourself. If you believe our song, he who seeks will always find...” (A. Kupriyanov. You chase them off to the door, they enter the window... Komsomolskaya Pravda, 10.11.1990).

The phrase of Jesus Christ “those who take the sword shall perish by the sword” was even more deliberately ideologized in Soviet times. These words were addressed to the one “of those who were with him” who “drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear” when he was taken into custody in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26: 51–52). Most of the informants we interviewed told that the source of this phrase the final remark of the movie “Alexander Nevsky” on the script by P.A. Pavlenko (1938); the main hero says these words, although they are not in his life story.

Most of the illustrative contexts (Berkov, Mokienko, Shulezhkova, 2008: 551) reproduce this proverb in two actual meanings corresponding to the patriotic idea of the Soviet movie “Whoever attacks Russia will be defeated” and ‘Anyone who uses violence will be punished by violence’:

1. “Looking at the defeated enemy battle banners, I couldn’t help thinking of the prophetic words of the glorious winner of the German ‘dog-knights’ Alexander Nevsky: ‘Whoever comes to us with a sword will perish by the sword!’. It was so, and it will always be so! And the crushing defeat of the fascist hordes in the Great Patriotic War is a lesson for those who still don’t understand it” (From the memoirs of Marshal of the Soviet Union I.Kh. Baghramyan. Sobesednik, No. 19, 1985).

“The Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian peoples will never submit to conquerors. Who came to the Russian land with a sword, will perish by the sword” (D. Zaslavsky. Feuilletons).

“Who will come to us with a sword...” (Selection of materials about the Great Patriotic War. Sovetskaya Kultura, 26.01.1985).

2. “– Have your grandmothers decided to leave you alone? — I giggled. — No, muttered Zhenka, — I beat them with the same weapon. — How could you? — I asked in surprise. — At the funeral, I sweetly asked each of them: ‘Ah, when will you be next’! — bellowed Zhenka. — It helped very well; they immediately lost the desire to pester. Let them remember whoever comes to us with a sword will die by the sword...” (D. Dontsova. Cure for strabismus).

“[Headlines:] Whoever comes to us with a ball will die from the ball. ‘Predicted’ result of the match between Russia and Scotland in the European Championship” (Komsomolskaya Pravda, 29.03.1995); “Whoever comes to us with a sword will obtain customs clearance for it. Article dedicated to the Day of Customs Officer in Russia” (Komsomolskaya Pravda, 25.10.1995); ‘Whoever comes to us with a ball will get the puck. Announcement about a joke contest for the best quatrain dedicated to the soccer championship” (Komsomolskaya Pravda, 07.07.2002).

The proverb he who does not work does not eat, one of the mottos of socialist ideology, has a similar fate. Cf. V.I. Lenin’s quote from his article “On Hunger” (1918): “He who does not work does not eat”^[42]. Nevertheless, it goes directly back to the Gospel: “For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10).

Individual-author transformations of proverbs of biblical origin

The functioning of biblical paremiology in the Russian language primarily depends on the frequency of its use both in live speech and in classical and modern texts. Their frequency is to some extent influenced by the distinction of three “levels of precedence”, high, average and low, similar to such distinction for mythonyms reflecting the individual-author’s picture of the world in I.A. Bunin’s poems (Selemenyeva, 2024). The recognizability of the source of a biblical unit, the frequency of its image and symbolism “inspire” writers, poets, and journalists to creatively transform such proverbs.

One of the typical examples of this paremiological creativity is the fate of the biblical aphorism “Не мечите бисера перед свиньями, да не попрут его ногами” “Neither cast you your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet”, which has become a bookish proverb and is usually used ironically as a recommendation not to waste words to convince, prove or explain something to those who do not or cannot understand you. The source of the proverb is the Church Slavonic text of the New Testament: “Give not that which is holy to the dogs, neither cast you your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you...” (Matthew 7:6).

This bookish proverb became popular in the Russian language due to its use in D.I. Fonvizin’s comedy “Nedorosl” (1782): “Kuteikin: I submitted a petition to the consistory <...> Merciful resolution soon followed it with a note: ‘The seminarian is to be dismissed from all teaching to; as it is written Neither cast you your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet’” (act 2, event 5).

The vivid and transparent image of this proverb not only ensured its frequency, but also gave a powerful impetus to various individual-author transformations. The proverb (respectively phraseological unit) “to throw (scatter) pearls before pigs” was created on its basis, then the word pig was replaced by corresponding nouns or pronouns and the proverb acquired the meaning ‘to talk, think about something that listeners are unable or unwilling to understand’:

Michel, you have forgotten the commandment of the Savior: “cast you your pearls before swine, you have forgotten that everything holy in life should be a secret for profane” (V.G. Belinsky. Letter to M.A. Bakunin, 01.11.1837).

“Stay with me for a while, and then we will find something. Don’t regret that you left your master and cast your pearls before swine” (I.I. Kozlov. Neither time nor distance).

“Jonah looked at everyone with an angry, attentive look, as if he wanted to make sure whether the people around him were really able to penetrate his serious reading and whether he, Jonah, would not degrade himself to throwing beads before swine” (N.N. Zlatovratsky. Foundations).

“You may laugh, uncle; you are right; I am alone to blame. Who to trust, who to seek sympathy in? Who to throw beads before?” (I. Goncharov. An Ordinary Story).

We tried to systematize individual-author transformations of this biblical expression in our dictionary “Phraseologisms in Russian Speech” (Melerovich, Mokienko, 2005: 74–75). The typology is as follows:

I. Structural transformations:

TO SWEEP THE BEADS BEFORE THE PIGS IN VAIN — expansion of the composition;

TO SWEEP THE BEADS IN FRONT OF THE PUBLIC — component replacement;

DO NOT SWEEP THE BEADS BEFORE REPETILOVS — component replacement;

SWEEP CHEKHOV’S PEARL BEFORE PUBLIC — component replacement + component expansion;

NOT TO SWEEP PEARL BEFORE A PIG, ALBEIT EDUCATED — ironical. Component expansion (internal morphological trahsformation).

TO SWEEP YOUR ANGER in front of whom — component replacement.

II. Transformations based on key component extraction:

TO SWEEP PEARLS — ellipsis;

NOT TO SWEEP PEARLS — ellipsis.

III. Occasional phraseological units:

A GENEROUS SWEEP OF HUMOR. PEARLS BEFORE SWINE.

IV. Semantic transformations:

TO SWEEP ONE’S PEARLS in front of someone. To try to show oneself at one’s best in front of somebody, whose opinion is important.

The grammatical side of this biblical expression is also important. When it is in the imperative mood, it is an international expression. But its frequency in the indicative mood testify to the independent adaptation of this international expression in the Russian language.

It is indicative that on the Russian soil this phraseological unit has acquired special creative possibilities in poetic discourse. Thus, in A. Gitovich’s poem “In the dugouts”, the component expansion generates internal morphological transformation and an ironic effect:

“Let him ask, swear to God,

And I’m not going to throw pearls

In front of a pig, albeit an educated one.”

In I. Lisnyanskaya’s poem “Everything I’ve experienced is told” pearls are opposed to tears:

“Everything I’ve experienced is told.

Tears are not pearls.

And I was punished by the mockery of people

And went into deafening grace...”

“The generous thrower of lightning with pearls and the untouched pearls of the Swineherd are poetic riddles that require special decipherment” (Melerovich et al., 2016: 66–68). The riddles testify that the biblical maxim about pearls entered the Russian language, and its metaphoric image is understandable to readers.

Conclusion

As linguistic and linguistic-cultural analysis shows, the heritage of the Bible in the Russian language is not just a sacred relic, but also a dynamically developing part of the general linguistic system, including the paremiological system. It is based on paremiological identities, i.e. on accurately reproduced maxims of the Holy Scriptures. A considerable part of such maxims in our literary language undergoes semantic transformation in comparison with the original source, which contributes to their greater “Russification”. The next stage of linguistic adaptation of proverbs-biblicalisms is their structural-semantic transformation. Such variation does not break neither the original sacral meaning of biblical units, nor their generalized linguistic coloring. The further process of assimilation of such paremi leads to the creation of Russian folk proverbs based on biblical wisdom and symbolism. Some biblical proverbs due to different, especially ideological, reasons can lose connection with their original source and reinterpreted at different levels, up to cardinal ideological reinterpretation. The last stage of linguistic adaptation of biblical proverbs is creative individual-author transformations, which become a national treasure and the object of untranslatable in translation.

^{1 Pushkin, A. S. (1949). On the Duties of Man. Essay by Silvio Pellico. In A. S. Pushkin. Complete Works Collection (vol. 12, pp. 99–100). Moscow; Leningrad: Publishing House of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR.}

^{2 Russian National Corpus (2025). Retrieved from https://ruscorpora.ru}

^{3 Russian National Corpus (2025). Retrieved from https://ruscorpora.ru}

^{4 Ibid.}

^{5 Russian National Corpus (2025). Retrieved from https://ruscorpora.ru}

^{6 Ibid.}

^{7 Ibid.}

^{8 Ibid.}

^{9 Ibid.}

^{10 Russian National Corpus (2025). Retrieved from https://ruscorpora.ru}

^{11 Ibid.}

^{12 Ibid.}

^{13 Ibid.}

^{14 Ibid.}

^{15 Russian National Corpus (2025). Retrieved from https://ruscorpora.ru}

^{16 Ibid.}

^{17 Ibid.}

^{18 Russian National Corpus (2025). Retrieved from https://ruscorpora.ru}

^{19 Ibid.}

^{20 Ibid.}

^{21 Ibid.}

^{22 Russian National Corpus (2025). Retrieved from https://ruscorpora.ru}

^{23 Ibid.}

^{24 Ibid.}

^{25 Ibid.}

^{26 Ibid.}

^{27 Ibid.}

^{28 Ibid.}

^{29 Ibid.}

^{30 Russian National Corpus (2025). Retrieved from https://ruscorpora.ru}

^{31 Ibid.}

^{32 Ibid.}

^{33 Ibid.}

^{34 Ibid.}

^{35 Ibid.}

^{36 Ibid.}

^{37 The reader can find the full names of the abbreviated sources in our Big Dictionary of Russian Proverbs (Mokienko, Nikitina, Nikolaeva, 2010).}

^{38 Russian National Corpus (2025). Retrieved from https://ruscorpora.ru}

^{39 Ibid.}

^{40 Ibid.}

^{41 Ibid.}

^{42 Lenin, V. I. (1974). Complete Works (vol. 36, p. 357). Мoscow: Publishing House of Political Literature.}

About the authors

Valery M. Mokienko

Author for correspondence.
Email: mokienko40@mail.ru
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-0264-0576
SPIN-code: 1080-4012
Scopus Author ID: 55676245400

Doctor of Philology, Professor, Professor of the Department of Slavic Philology, Faculty of Philology

References

Supplementary files