Online Etymology Dictionary

Bible-thumper: "strict Christian," by 1843.
Bible Belt: 1926, reputedly coined by H.L. Mencken.
Bible: early 14c., from Anglo-L. biblia, from M.L./L.L. biblia (neuter plural interpreted as fem. singular), in phrase biblia sacra "holy books," a translation of Gk. ta biblia to hagia "the holy books," from Gk. biblion "paper, scroll," the ordinary word for "book," originally a dim. of byblos "Egyptian papyrus," possibly so called from Byblos (modern Jebeil, Lebanon), the name of the Phoenician port from which Egyptian papyrus was exported to Greece (cf. parchment). Or the place name might be from the Gk. word, which would then probably be of Egyptian origin. The Christian scripture was refered to in Gk. as Ta Biblia as early as c.223. Bible replaced O.E. biblioðece (see bibliothek) as the ordinary word for "the Scriptures." Figurative sense of "any authoritative book" is from 1804.
scripture: c.1300, "a writing, an act of writing," esp. "the sacred writings of the Bible," from L.L. scriptura "the writings contained in the Bible, a passage from the Bible," from L. scriptura "a writing, character, inscription," from scriptus, pp. of scribere "write" (see script).
locust (1): "grasshopper," c.1300, borrowed earlier in O.Fr. form languste (c.1200), from L. locusta "locust, lobster" (see lobster).
"In the Hebrew Bible there are nine different names for the insect or for particular species or varieties; in the English Bible they are rendered sometimes 'locust,' sometimes 'beetle,' 'grasshopper,' 'caterpillar,' 'palmerworm,' etc. The precise application of several names is unknown." [OED]
Goshen: from the Bible, fertile land settled by the Israelites in Egypt; light shone there during the plague of darkness [Gen. xxxxv:10].
A.V.: abbreviation of Authorized Version (of the English Bible, 1611) attested from 1868.
breeches: c.1200, a double plural, from O.E. brec "breeches," which already was pl. of broc "garment for the legs and trunk," from P.Gmc. *brokiz (cf. O.N. brok, Du. broek, Dan. brog, O.H.G. bruoh, Ger. Bruch, obsolete since 18c. except in Swiss dialect), perhaps from PIE base *bhreg- (see break). The P.Gmc. word is a parallel form to Celt. *bracca, source (via Gaulish) of L. braca (cf. Fr. braies), and some propose that the Gmc. word group is borrowed from Gallo-Latin, others that the Celtic was from Germanic. Expanded sense of "part of the body covered by breeches, posterior" led to senses in childbirthing (1670s) and gunnery ("the part of a firearm behind the bore," 1570s). As the popular word for "trousers" in English, displaced in U.S. c.1840 by pants. The Breeches Bible (Geneva Bible of 1560) so called on account of rendition of Gen. iii.7 (already in Wyclif) "They sewed figge leaues together, and made themselues breeches."
Laodicean: "lukewarm in religion," 1564, from Laodicea, Syrian city (modern Latakia) whose early Christians were chastised in the Bible for indifference to their religion [Rev. iii.14-16].
creationism: 1847, originally a Christian theological position that God immediately created a soul for each person born; from creation + -ism. As a name for the religious reaction to Darwin, opposed to evolution, it is attested from 1880.
"James Ussher (1581-1656), Archbishop of Armagh, Primate of All Ireland, and Vice-Chancellor of Trinity College in Dublin was highly regarded in his day as a churchman and as a scholar. Of his many works, his treatise on chronology has proved the most durable. Based on an intricate correlation of Middle Eastern and Mediterranean histories and Holy writ, it was incorporated into an authorized version of the Bible printed in 1701, and thus came to be regarded with almost as much unquestioning reverence as the Bible itself. Having established the first day of creation as Sunday 23 October 4004 B.C. ... Ussher calculated the dates of other biblical events, concluding, for example, that Adam and Eve were driven from Paradise on Monday 10 November 4004 BC, and that the ark touched down on Mt Ararat on 5 May 1491 BC `on a Wednesday'." [Craig, G.Y., and E.J. Jones, "A Geological Miscellany," Princeton University Press, 1982.]
lectio difficilior: 1901, from L., lit. "harder reading," from phrase maxim difficilior lectio potior. In textual reconstruction (of the Bible, etc.) the idea that, of two alternative manuscript readings, the one whose meaning is less obvious is less likely to be a copyist's alteration, and therefore should be given precedence.
Jude: masc. proper name, Hellenized form of Judah (q.v.), maintained in the Bible for the names of two disciples of Christ, to distinguish them from Judas (q.v.).
Caleb: masc. proper name, in the Bible, one of the 12 men sent by Moses to reconnoiter Canaan, from Heb. Kalebh, lit. "dog-like," from kelebh "dog."
lamia: 1382, from Gk., "female vampire," lit. "swallower, lecher," from laimos "throat, gullet." Probably cognate with L. lemures "spirits of the dead" (see lemur). Used in early translations of the Bible for screech owls and sea monsters.
bibliolatry: 1763, "worship of books," from biblio- + -latry. Meaning "worship of the Bible" is from 1847.
timbrel: "percussive Middle Eastern instrument," c.1500, dim. of timbre (q.v.) in its older Fr. sense of "drum." Used in Bible translations, chiefly to render Heb. taph, cognate with Arabic duff "drum," of imitative origin.
biblical: 1790, from Bible + -ical.
Good Friday: late 13c., from good in sense of "holy" (e.g. the good book "the Bible," 1896), also, esp. of holy days or seasons observed by the church (early 15c.); it was also applied to Christmas and Shrove Tuesday.
inspire: mid-14c., from O.Fr. enspirer (12c.), from L. inspirare (see inspiration), a loan-translation of Gk. pnein in the Bible. General sense of "influence or animate with an idea or purpose" is from late 14c.
seer: late 14c., "one to whom divine revelations are made," from see (v.). Originally rendering L. videns, Gk. bleptor (from Heb. roeh) in Bible translations (e.g. I Kings ix.9). Lit. sense of "one who sees" is attested from early 15c.
Douai: or Douay, 1837, name of town in northern France, used elliptically in ref. to the Eng. translation of the Bible begun there late 16c., sanctioned by Roman Catholic Church. [Also called Rheims-Douai translation because it was published in Rheims in 1582]. It uses more Latinate words than the KJV.
Gideon: Bible propagation society, 1906, formally Christian Commercial Young Men's Association of America, founded 1899. It takes its name from Gideon, Israelite judge and warrior [Judg. vi:11-viii:25], from Heb. Gidh'on, lit. "feller," from stem of gadha "he cut off, hewed, felled."
concordance: late 14c., "alphabetical arrangement of all the words in a book" (esp. the Bible), from Fr. concordance (12c.), from L.L. concordantiæ, from concordantem (see concord). Originally a citation of parallel passages. Literal meaning "fact of agreeing" attested in English from mid-15c.
Elohim: a name of God in the Bible, 1605, from Heb., pl. (of majesty?) of Eloh "God," a word of unknown etymology, perhaps an augmentation of El "God," also of unknown origin. Generally taken as singular, the use of this word instead of Yahveh is taken by biblical scholars as an important clue to authorship in the O.T.
leprosy: 1535; see leper. First used in Coverdale Bible, where it renders Heb. cara'ath, which apparently was a comprehensive term for skin diseases. Because of pejorative associations, the use of the word in medical context has been banned by the World Health Organization and replaced by Hansen's disease, named for Norw. physician Armauer Hansen (1841-1912) who in 1871 discovered the bacillus that causes it.
apostille: "note, especially on text of the Bible," 1520s, from Fr. apostille, probably from M.L. postilla, which probably represents L. post illa, lit. "after those."
celt: 1715, from L. ghost word (apparently a misprint of certe) in Job xix:24 in Vulgate: "stylo ferreo, et plumbi lamina, vel celte sculpantur in silice;" translated, probably correctly, in KJV as, "That they were graven with an iron pen and lead in the rock for ever." But assumed to be a genuine carving tool, since it was in the Bible, and adapted by archaeologists for a class of prehistoric implements.
biblio-: from Gk. biblio-, comb. form of biblion "book" (see Bible).
magi: c.1200, from L. magi, pl. of magus, from Gk. magos, word used for the Persian learned and priestly class as portrayed in the Bible (said by ancient historians to have been originally the name of a Median tribe), from O.Pers. magush "magician" (see magic).
maranatha: 1382, from Gk. maranatha, untranslated Sem. word in the Bible (I Cor. xvi.22), where it follows Gk. anathema, and therefore has been taken as part of a phrase and used as "a curse." Usually assumed to be from Aramaic maran atha "Our Lord has come," which would make the common usage erroneous (cf. OED entry), but possibly it is a false transliteration of Heb. mohoram atta "you are put under the ban," which would make more sense in the context.
gopher: 1812, Amer.Eng., perhaps an Anglicization of Louisiana Fr. gaufre "honeycomb, waffle," said to have been used by Fr. settlers of small mammals on analogy of the structure of their burrows, from O.Fr. gaufre, of Frank. origin. The rodent was the nickname of people from Arkansas (1845) and later Minnesota (1872). The gopherwood tree of the Bible (used by Noah to make the ark, Gen. vi:14) is unrelated; it is from Heb. gofer, perhaps meaning the cypress.
bibliothek: O.E. biblioðece "the Scriptures," from L. bibliotheka "library," from Gk. bibliotheke, lit. "book-repository" (from biblion + theke "case, chest, sheath," from base of tithenai "to put, place;" see theme), used of the Bible by Jerome and the common L. word for it until Biblia began to displace it 9c.
bibliomancy: 1753, "divination by opening a book (especially the Bible) at random," the first verse presenting itself being taken as a prognostication of future events, from biblio- + manteia "divination" (see -mancy). In pagan times, Homer (sortes Homericæ) and Virgil (sortes Virgilianæ) were used.
lesson: early 13c., "a reading aloud from the Bible," also "something to be learned by a student," from O.Fr. leçon, from L. lectionem (nom. lectio) "a reading," from lectus, pp. of legere "to read" (see lecture). Transf. sense of "an occurrence from which something can be learned" is from 1580s.
goad (n.): O.E. gad "spearhead," from P.Gmc. *gaido (cf. Lombardic gaida "spear"), from PIE *ghai- (cf. Skt. hetih "missile, projectile," O.Ir. gae "spear"). Figurative use is since 16c., probably from the Bible. The verb is from 1579.
Pentateuch: first five books of the Bible, c.1405, from L.L. pentateuchus (Tertullian, c.207), from Gk. pentateuchos (c.160), originally an adj. (abstracted from phrase pentateuchos biblos), from pente "five" + teuchos "implement, vessel, gear" (in Late Gk. "book," via notion of "case for scrolls"), lit. "anything produced," related to teuchein "to make ready," from PIE *dheugh- "to produce something of utility."
juniper: "evergreen shrub," late 14c., from L. juniperus (cf. Fr. genièvre, Sp. enebro, Port. zimbro, It. ginepro), of uncertain origin, perhaps related to junco "reed." Applied to various N.Amer. species from 1748. In the Bible, it renders Heb. rethem, the name of a white-flowered shrub unrelated to the European evergreen.
ariel: 1382, in the Wyclif Bible, a word taken untranslated from the Vulgate, from Gk. ariel (Sept.), from Heb. ariel; in later Bibles, translated as "altar."
"(Gesenius would here translate 'fire-hearth of God,' after Arab. arr; elsewhere in O.T. the same word occurs as a man's name, and appellation of Jerusalem, where it is taken as = 'lion of God.') Ariel in T. Heywood and Milton is the name of an angel, in Shakespeare of 'an Ayrie spirit'; in Astron. of one of the satellites of Uranus." [OED]
fornication: c.1300, from O.Fr. fornication, from L.L. fornicationem (nom. fornicatio), from fornicari "fornicate," from L. fornix (gen. fornicis) "brothel," originally "arch, vaulted chamber" (Roman prostitutes commonly solicited from under the arches of certain buildings), from fornus "oven of arched or domed shape." Strictly, "voluntary sex between an unmarried man and an unmarried woman;" extended in the Bible to adultery.
news: late 14c., plural of new (n.) "new thing," from new (adj.), q.v.; after Fr. nouvelles, used in Bible translations to render M.L. nova (neut. pl.) "news," lit. "new things." Sometimes still regarded as plural, 17c.-19c. Meaning "tidings" is early 15c. The News in the Virginia city Newport News is said to derive from the name of one of its founders, William Newce.
Solomon: masc. proper name, Biblical name of David's son, king of Judah and Israel and wisest of all men, from Gk. Solomon, from Heb. Sh'lomoh, from shelomo "peaceful," from shalom "peace." The Arabic form is Suleiman. The common medieval form was Salomon (Vulgate, Tyndale, Douai); Solomon was used in Geneva Bible and KJV. Used allusively for "a wise ruler" since 1554.
Semite: 1847, "Jew, Arab, Assyrian, Aramæan," from Mod.L. Semita, from L.L. Sem "Shem," one of the three sons of Noah (Gen. x:21-30), regarded as the ancestor of the Semites (in the days when anthropology was still bound by the Bible), from Heb. Shem. Semitic (1813 of languages, 1826 of persons) is probably from Ger. semitisch (first used by Ger. historian August Schlözer, 1781), denoting the language group that includes Hebrew, Arabic, Aramaic, Assyrian, etc. In recent use often with the specific sense "Jewish," but not historically so limited.
harlot: early 13c., "vagabond," from O.Fr. herlot, arlot "vagabond, tramp" (usually male in M.E. and O.Fr.), with forms in O.Prov. (arlot), O.Sp. arlote), and It. (arlotto), of unknown origin. Used in both positive and pejorative senses by Chaucer; applied to jesters, buffoons, jugglers, later to actors. Sense of "prostitute" probably had developed by 14c. but reinforced by use as euphemism for "strumpet, whore" in 16c. translations of the Bible. The word may be Gmc., with an original sense of "camp follower," if the first element is hari "army," as some suspect.
anoint: c.1300 (implied in anointing), from O.Fr. enoint "smeared on," pp. of enoindre "smear on," from L. inunguere, from in- "on" + unguere "to smear" (see unguent). Originally in ref. to grease or oil smeared on for medicinal purposes; its use in the Coverdale Bible in ref. to Christ (cf. The Lord's Anointed, see chrism) has spiritualized the word.
cockle: 1311, "mollusk," from O.Fr. coquille "a blister, shell, cockle," alt. by infl. of cock, from L. conchylium, from Gk. konkhylion "little shellfish," from konkhe "mussel, conch." Phrase cockles of the heart (1669) is perhaps from similar shape, or from L. corculum, dim. of cor "heart." Unrelated O.E. coccel was the name of a flowering weed that grows in wheatfields and was used in M.E. to translate the Bible word now usually given as tares. It is in no other Gmc. language and may be from a dim. of L. coccus "grain, berry."
Zion: O.E. Sion, from Gk. Seon, from Heb. Tsiyon, name of a Canaanite hill fortress in Jerusalem captured by David and called in the Bible "City of David." It became the center of Jewish life and worship. Zionism "movement for forming (later supporting) a Jewish national state in Palestine" first attested 1896, from Ger. Zionismus (from Zion + L.-derived suffix -ismus), first recorded 1886 in "Selbstemancipation," by "Matthias Acher" (pseudonym of Nathan Birnbaum).
dragon: early 13c., from O.Fr. dragon, from L. draconem (nom. draco) "serpent, dragon," from Gk. drakon (gen. drakontos) "serpent, seafish," from drak-, strong aorist stem of derkesthai "to see clearly." But perhaps the lit. sense is "the one with the (deadly) glance." The young are dragonets (14c.). Obsolete drake "dragon" is an older borrowing of the same word. Used in the Bible to translate Heb. tannin "a great sea-monster," and tan, a desert mammal now believed to be the jackal.
afraid: early 14c., originally pp. of afray "frighten," from Anglo-Fr. afrayer, from O.Fr. esfreer (see affray (n.)). A rare case of an English adjective that never stands before a noun. Because it was used in A.V. Bible, it acquired independent standing and thrived while affray faded, chasing out the once more common afeard (q.v.). Sense in I'm afraid "I regret to say, I suspect" (without implication of fear) is first recorded 1590s.
"Her blue affrayed eyes wide open shone" [Keats, "The Eve of St. Agnes," 1820]
messiah: c.1300, Messias, from L.L. Messias, from Gk. Messias, from Aramaic meshiha and Heb. mashiah "anointed" (of the Lord), from mashah "anoint." This is the word rendered in Septuagint as Gk. Khristos (see Christ). In O.T. prophetic writing, it was used of an expected deliverer of the Jewish nation. The modern Eng. form represents an attempt to make the word look more Heb., and dates from the Geneva Bible (1560). Transf. sense of "an expected liberator or savior of a captive people" is attested from 1666.
Vulgate: c.1600, Latin translation of the Bible, especially that completed in 405 by St. Jerome (c.340-420), from M.L. Vulgata, from L.L. vulgata "common, general, ordinary, popular" (in vulgata editio "popular edition"), from L. vulgata, fem. pp. of vulgare "make common or public," from vulgus "the common people" (see vulgar). So called because the translations made the book accessible to the common people of ancient Rome.