Digging Deeper – Fell by the Wayside

In 1526, an English priest by the name of William Tyndale published his English translation of the Bible, an act that was condemned by the institutional religion of his time. As a result, he was charged as a heretic, hunted, and burned at the stake in October of 1536. But the work had already begun; his Bibles had been smuggled into England inside bales of cloth and were being distributed throughout the country. By the time of his death, more than 50,000 copies of his New Testament had been sold in England. His dying words were said to have been, “Lord, open the king of England’s eyes!”—a prayer that was soon to be answered by God Almighty. Less than five years later, King Henry VIII broke ties with Rome and ordered English translations to be placed in churches throughout the country.

Not only did Tyndale’s translation make an enormous contribution to the emerging Protestant cause, but it also left a lasting legacy on the English language. Many idiomatic expressions have their origin in Tyndale’s translation, such as “salt of the earth,” “writing on the wall,” “a stone’s throw,” and “fight the good fight.” One phrase that is particular to this week’s devotion is “fell by the wayside” (Luke 8:5).

Tyndale’s translation of Luke 8:5 reads, “A sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed some fell by the wayside and it was trodden under feet and the fowls of the air devoured it up.” Compare this to the NLT translation, which reads, “…some seed fell on a footpath, where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it.” Notice how our understanding of the idiomatic expression lends new perspective to the text. When one “falls by the wayside,” they are said to fail to accomplish something or to give up. For example, “As life got busier, his fitness routine fell by the wayside,” or “When the going got tough, we fell by the wayside for lack of preparation.” Likewise, the seed that falls by the wayside doesn’t amount to anything—to employ the vernacular.

Next time you hear the expression “fall by the wayside,” remember two things: 1) the parable of the sower and the unfruitful conditions of this first type of terrain and 2) the enormous impact the Word of God has had on our language, mostly without our even being aware of it! Wouldn’t it be cool if even etymology could become an avenue for us to share the gospel with others who use these phrases unwittingly?