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This image is not meant to endorse any religion.

Last time, we looked at some common Russian phrases that have a biblical origin. There was some interest in the topic, so let’s add a few more phrases — this time, let us concentrate on noun phrases. Just as last time, I cannot interpret these phrases theologically, but we can look at how they are used in contemporary Russian.

Фома неверующий

Фома неверующий (hear it pronounced) is the Russian equivalent of doubting Thomas, a disciple who did not believe Jesus had been resurrected until he saw him.

Фома is a somewhat obsolete name in Russian, unlike the English Thomas. Верить is to believe, and вера is faith. Верующий may be said of an observant, pious, or religious person.

Заметьте, даже самые заядлые скептики и “Фомы неверующие” начинают надеяться… (Notice how the most avowed skeptics and doubting Thomases start hoping…) [Какие забавные истории случались с Вами в новогоднюю ночь? // РИА Новости, 2006.12.29]

Козёл отпущения

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Козёл отпущения (listen here) is used as frequently in Russian as its counterpart “scapegoat” is in English. This expression comes from a story of two goats, one of whom was to be sacrificed, and the other let to run off to the desert carrying sin away. In contemporary Russian, козел отпущения refers to someone or something on which a negative situation is blamed.

Козёл is a male goat, a female goat is коза, and a baby goat (kid) is козлёнок. The first two of these are also used as mild curse words for an annoying/backstabbing man or woman, respectively. Отпускать is to let someone go or, here, to forgive someone’s sins.

Осенью, если экономическая ситуация будет неблагоприятной, может понадобиться козёл отпущения. (In autumn, if the economic situation is troublesome, a scapegoat may be needed.) [Анастасия Матвеева. Кремль и есть правительство (2003) // «Газета», 2003.06.19]

Камень преткновения

Камень преткновения (listen here) is a stumbling block. This is thought to have referred to a literal stone where non-believers and people who broke the law. In today’s Russian, this expression signifies an obstacle in achieving something.

Камень is a stone or rock. The adjective is каменный as in каменная лестница, stone stairs. Преткновение is not really used in contemporary Russian; it comes from an Old Church Slavonic word meaning “to stumble.”

Камнем преткновения стала добровольность исследования. Если проверять детей на наркотики спонтанно, то это может нарушать права человека, а если их предупреждать заранее, то само исследование теряет смысл. (Voluntary participation in the study became a stumbling block. If children are drug-tested randomly, it may violate human rights, and if they are warned ahead of time, the whole study loses its purpose.) [Елена Кудрявцева, Элионора Самотаева. Медицина // «Огонек», 2013]