Unlocking the Idioms: An LDS Perspective on Understanding Scriptural Idioms

Idioms are as Real in holy scripture as are prophecies and parables. Like a cultural shorthand, they describe without using lengthly explanations. Idioms and idiomatic language are words and phrases that express more than the actual words themselves. They paint mental or emotional images and bring intensity to events and feelings described in holy writ.

Idioms May Also Be meaningless and misleading if the reader has no experience with the culture and language from which they originate. Both mistranslation and cultural differences contribute to the misunderstanding of scriptural idioms.

Phrases such as

Gird Up Your Loins

Salt of the Earth

Mountain of the Lord's House and

Kick Against the Pricks

lose their intended effect if they are only taken literally.

In Unlocking the Idioms, George M. Peacock explains how to identify idioms, what they are, and how learning their meanings adds to your comprehension of the scriptures.

Unlocking the Idioms brings you new levels of insight, understanding, and knowledge as you feast upon the words of the Lord.