You got that title where?

I have been reading  Proverbs in the Bible and was struck by the extraordinary number of familiar-sounding passages.  Although I am sure the titles of many books and plays come from the Bible, I was unable to find a list of books and plays with Bible passages as their inspiration. However, here are a few:

Whoever brings ruin on their family will inherit only wind,
   and the fool will be servant to the wise.
Proverbs 11:29

This verse was pretty popular -- a play and four movies were titled Inherit the Wind, plus an Elvis Presley song (who knew Elvis was a religious guy?). Even though the first movie was made in the 1950s, the question of whether creationism or evolution should be taught in school is still a subject for debate. As a Christian and a liberal (yes, it is possible to be both), I believe in freedom of speech and the openness of debate. The movie is not about which theory is correct, but about an individual's right to decide.   Made when McCarthyism was threatening our basic freedoms, this continues to be a cautionary tale of what could happen.

TE in his usual garb

Wisdom has built her house;
   she has set up its seven pillars.

Proverbs 9:1 

Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph by T. E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia") is an autobiography of Lawrence during the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Turks of 1916 to 1918. I love how he subtitled his own book "A Triumph." Have to remember that for the next book...

  

Catch for us the foxes,

  the little foxes
that ruin the vineyards,

   our vineyards that are in bloom.

Song of Solomon 2:15

The Little Foxes is a 1939 play by Lillian Hellman about a southern family. Bette Davis played the main character, Regina, in the 1941 movie.

Helena BC at left

And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.  Psalms 55:6
The Wings of the Dove is a 1902 novel by Henry James and a wonderful 1997 movie starring Helena Bonham Carter.

The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it soon cut off, and we fly away.  Psalms 90:10

"I'll Fly Away" is a hymn written by Albert E. Brumley in 1929 and is said to be the most recorded hymn ever. My favorite movie O Brother Where Art Thou featured Alison Krause singing this.

So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.  Psalms 90:12
Number Our Days is a 1976 short documentary film directed by Lynne Littman.

Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life.  Proverbs 13:12
Hope Deferred: Narratives of Zimbabwean Lives (Voice of Witness) is a book edited by Peter Orner and Annie Holmes.

A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.  Proverbs 25:11
I couldn't even begin to list the number of books out there that have apples of gold in the title -- there are 353 results on Amazon!

As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country.  Proverbs 25:25
Good news from a far country is the title of a Reuters Institute report about impartialty in news reporting.

Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.  Ecclesiastes 1:2
Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan chronicled Christian's travels through a placed called Vanity Fair, which inspired the novel of the same name by William Makepeace Thackery.

Consider the lilies of the field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; And yet I say unto you, that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Matthew 6:28-29

Lilies of the Field is a 1962 semi-fictional novel by William Edmund Barrett and also (of course) a 1963 movie starring Sidney Poiter.