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Literary Allusion Title / The Bible

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Literary Allusion Titles from The Bible.

    open/close all folders 

    Comic Books 

    Comic Strips 

    Fan Works 
  • Empath: The Luckiest Smurf
    • "For The Smurf Of Money" is based on 1 Timothy 6:10: "For the love of money is the root of all evil..."
    • "The Smurf Of Solomon" is both a Pragmatic Adaptation and an Adaptation Expansion of The Song Of Solomon.
    • "To Everything There Is A Season" (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
  • Star Wars vs. Warhammer 40K: The title of the episode "Oh Death, Where Is Your Sting?" is a reference to 1 Corinthians 15:55.
  • A Voice in the Wilderness refers to Isaiah 40:3: "A voice of one calling: 'In the wilderness prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God.'" Given what the voice turns out to be, i.e. the original Borg Queen, it's more like preparing the way for Satan in the end.

    Film — Live-Action 

    Literature 

    Live-Action TV 
  • 13 Reasons Why
    • "Let The Dead Bury The Dead" (Matthew 8:22 or Luke 9:60 paraphrased)
  • Babylon 5
    • In The Beginning (prequel movie) (Genesis 1:1 or John 1:1)
    • "A Voice in the Wilderness" (Isaiah 40:3)
    • "Revelations"
    • "Passing Through Gethsemane" (allusion to Matthew 26:36 or Mark 14:32)
  • Battlestar Galactica (reboot)
    • "Valley of Darkness" (Psalms 23:4)
    • "Exodus"
    • "Rapture" (1 Thessalonians 4:17 via some confusing etymology)
    • "He That Believeth In Me" (John 7:38)
    • "Revelations"
  • The Brittas Empire
    • "In The Beginning..." (Genesis 1:1 or John 1:1)
  • Dollhouse
    • "The Left Hand" (Matthew 6:3)
  • Due South
    • "An Eye for an Eye" (Exodus 21:24)
  • ER
    • "My Brother's Keeper" (Genesis 4:9)
    • "Thy Will Be Done" (Matthew 6:13)
  • Heroes
    • "Genesis"
    • "Our Father" (Matthew 6:9 or Luke 11:2)
    • "Brother's Keeper" (Genesis 4:9)
    • "Upon This Rock" (Matthew 16:18)
  • Lost
    • "Exodus"
    • "The 23rd Psalm"
    • "Stranger in a Strange Land" (Exodus 2:22)
    • Possibly "316" in reference to the passage John 3:16
    • Possibly "Numbers"
  • Millennium (1996)
    • "Powers, Principalities, Thrones, and Dominions" (Colossians 1:16)
    • "Somehow, Satan Got Behind Me" (Playing off of "Get thee behind me, Satan" in Luke 4:8)
    • "The Fourth Horseman" (Revelation 6:7)
    • "Through a Glass Darkly" (1 Corinthians 13:13)
  • Northern Exposure
    • "All Is Vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2)
    • "Revelations"
    • "Heal Thyself" (Luke 4:23)
  • Person of Interest
  • Power Rangers RPM
    • "Brother's Keeper" (Genesis 4:9)
  • Quantum Leap
    • "The Right Hand of God'' (multiple occurrences including Psalms 63:6 and Mark 16:19)
    • "Thou Shalt Not" (Exodus 20 or Deuteronomy 5)
    • "Deliver Us From Evil" (Matthew 6:13)
  • Red Dwarf
    • "Legion" (Mark 5:9)
  • Smallville
    • "Exodus"
  • Star Trek
    • "And The Children Shall Lead" (TOS) (reference to Isaiah 11:6)
    • "Sins of the Father" (TNG) (Exodus 20:5 or Deuteronomy 5:9)
    • "...Nor The Battle To The Strong" (DS9) (Ecclesiastes 9:11)
    • "Let He Who Is Without Sin" (DS9) (John 8:7)
    • "Eye of the Needle" (Voyager) (Matthew 19:24)
    • "Good Shepherd" (Voyager) (John 10:11 or John 10:14)
    • "In A Mirror, Darkly" (Enterprise) (1 Corinthians 13:12)
  • Stargate SG-1
    • "The Fourth Horseman" (Revelation 6:7)
  • Supernatural
    • "In The Beginning" (Genesis 1:1 or John 1:1)
    • "No Rest For The Wicked" (Isaiah 48:22)
  • Touched by an Angel
    • "A Time for Every Purpose" (Ecclesiastes 3:1)
  • War of the Worlds (1988) TV series
    • "The Walls of Jericho" (Hebrews 11:30)
    • "Thy Kingdom Come" (Matthew 6:10 or Luke 11:2)
    • "A Multitude of Idols" (Ezekiel 14:4)
    • "Eye for an Eye" (Exodus 21:24)
    • "The Second Seal" (Revelation 6:3)
    • "The Good Samaritan" (Luke 10)
    • "Among the Philistines" (2 Chronicles 26:6)
    • "He Feedeth Among the Lilies" (Song of Solomon 2:16)
    • "The Prodigal Son" (Luke 15)
    • "The Meek Shall Inherit" (Matthew 5:5)
    • "Unto Us A Child Is Born" (Isaiah 9:6)
    • "Vengeance Is Mine" (Romans 12:19)
    • "So Shall Ye Reap" (Galatians 6:7)
  • The West Wing episodes:
    • "Evidence of Things Not Seen" (Hebrews 11:1)
    • "In Excelsis Deo" (Luke 2:14)
    • "Isaac and Ishmael" (Genesis 17:20-21)
    • "Shibboleth" (Judges 12:6)
    • "Take This Sabbath Day" (Deuteronomy 5:12)
  • The X-Files
    • "Talitha Cumi" (Mark 5:41)
    • "Gethsemane" (Matthew 26:36)
  • Yes, Minister
    • "The Writing On The Wall" (Daniel 5:25)

    Music 
  • Avenged Sevenfold:
    • The band takes their name from Genesis 4:15, and lampshades that with the song "Chapter 4".
    • The band's debut album, Sounding the Seventh Trumpet, refers to the Book of Revelation identifying a series of trumpets signalling various disastrous events, with the seventh and final one signifying the end of the world and the return of Jesus to Earth.
    • "Beast and the Harlot" from City of Evil refers to the Whore of Babylon, also from the Book of Revelation, who rides a seven-headed beast. The song is about the fall of Babylon and contains the Album Title Drop, meaning that the titular "city of evil" refers to Babylon.
  • "No Mean City" by Maggie Bell (better known as "Theme from Taggart"), as above.
  • Nick Cave album Kicking Against the Pricks (Acts 26:14)
  • The Fiery Furnaces get their name from Daniel 3:6.
    • The song "Straight Street" references the "Street Called Straight" (Acts 9:10-19).
  • Joshua Judges Ruth by Lyle Lovett, listing three Old Testament books in order.
  • "All Is Vanity" (Ecclesiastes 1:2), a song by the Manic Street Preachers, from Journal For Plague Lovers.
  • Rivers of Babylon, by Melodians, covered by Boney M (Psalm 137; lyrics are adapted from Psalms 19 and 137)
  • Catch for Us the Foxes, album by Mewithoutyou, from Song of Solomon 2:15.
  • The Scottish rock band Nazereth had an album called No Mean City (Acts 21:39, but probably more directly from the Alexander McArthur and H. Kingsley Long novel above). (Their name isn't a direct Biblical allusion either; it's after Nazareth, PA, mentioned in "The Weight" by The Band.)
  • "Mene, Mene, Tekel" (Daniel 5:25), from the political revue Pins and Needles.
  • "Moving Mountains" and "Image of the Invisible" by Thrice, from 1 Corinthians 13:2 and Colossians 1:15, respectively.
  • White Stripes album "Get Behind Me Satan" (Matthew 16:23)
  • The Brownsville Station's "Let Your Yeah Be Yeah" (Matthew 5:37, James 5:12)
  • KISS' "Thou Shalt Not" (Exodus 20 or Deuteronomy 5) and "The Street Giveth and the Street Taketh Away" (playing off of Job 1:21)
  • Ozzy Osbourne's album No Rest For The Wicked (Isaiah 48:22)
  • Christian band Casting Crowns is based on Revelation 4:10.
  • One of the soundtracks Bear McCreary composed for The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is called "In The Beginning" (Genesis 1:1)

     Professional Wrestling 

    Theatre 
  • Awake And Sing, play by Clifford Odets (Isaiah 26:19)
  • Balm in Gilead, play by Lanford Wilson (Jeremiah 8:22)
  • The Good and Faithful Servant, play by Joe Orton (Matthew 25:21 and 23)
  • The Green Bay Tree, play by Mordaunt Shairp (Psalm 37:35)
  • The Green Pastures, play by Marc Connelly (Psalm 23:2)
  • Inherit the Wind (Proverbs 11:29)
  • The Little Foxes, play by Lillian Hellman (Song of Solomon 2:15)
  • The Voice of the Turtle, play by John van Druten (Song of Solomon 2:12)

    Video Games 
  • Gears of War chapter 5-3 "Pale Horse" (Revelation 6:8)
  • Mass Effect mission titles, particularly in the sequel:
    • "The Prodigal" (Luke 15:11-32)
    • "A House Divided" (Luke 11:17)
    • More of a Literary Allusion Name, but the character Legion is named after a part of Mark 5:9 ("My name is Legion: for we are many.").
  • Starcraft
    • Zerg mission 8: Eye for an Eye (Exodus 21:24)
  • Ultimate Doom
    • Thy Flesh Consumed (Proverbs 5:11)
    • E4 M1: Hell Beneath (Proverbs 15:24)
    • E4 M2: Perfect Hatred (Psalm 139:22)
    • E4 M3: Sever The Wicked (Matthew 13:49)
    • E4 M4: Unruly Evil (James 3:8)
    • E4 M5: They Will Repent (Luke 16:30)
    • E4 M6: Against Thee Wickedly (Psalm 139:20)
    • E4 M7: And Hell Followed (Revelation 6:8)
    • E4 M8: Unto The Cruel (Proverbs 5:9)

    Webcomics 

    Web Original 
  • Whateley Universe: the origin novel for Phase has five chapters, titled: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
  • RWBY: In the in-universe book Fairy Tales of Remnant, there is a story called The Judgement of Faunus. It's an allusion to the Judgement of Solomon, where the god in the tale finds two warring species (Humans and animals) and employs a solution to end the war... by merging them all into a new species known as the Faunus, which is part-animal, part-Human. It then deconstructs the wisdom of the solution with an allusion to the Greek mythology of the Judgement of Paris, where the god's solution to one problem creates a brand new one: Faunus are hunted by Grimm and reviled by Humans (Paris' solution to which goddess was the most beautiful led to the Trojan War).

    Western Animation 
  • "Sins of the Father", episode of The New Batman Adventures (Exodus 20:5 or Deuteronomy 5:9)
  • "My Brother's Keeper", episode of Danny Phantom (Genesis 4:9)
  • "She of Little Faith", episode of The Simpsons ("O ye of little faith," repeated phrase in Matthew)
  • The Smurfs
    • "Smurf the Other Cheek" (Matthew 5:39)
    • "The Root of Evil" (1st Timothy 6:10; "For the love of money is the root of all evil...")
    • "Wolf in Peewit's Clothing" (Matthew 7:15; "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.")
  • Looney Tunes:
    • "A Mouse Divided" (playing off of Luke 11:17)
  • MGM One Shot Cartoons:

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