Researching adages is a fun pastime for me. Through the passage of time these incredible sayings speak a broad truth. Yet, if not integrated back into regular usage, these sayings are destined to fade into the sunset - never to be heard again. Would you be surprised to learn that many adages have Biblical origins?
From the blog’s title, you’ve probably already guessed today’s adage, right?
Some say this phrase can be traced back to the Victorians who would insert other reading materials between the pages of their Bibles. Outwardly, they appeared holy and devout, but what they hid between the pages of their Bibles might have been a far cry from the Word they should’ve been reading!
Then this truth made an appearance in the Piqua, OH newspaper, Piqua Democrat, in June 1867: “Don’t judge a book by its cover, see a man by his cloth, as there is often a good deal of solid worth and superior skill underneath a*jacket and yaller pants.”
Martin Luther King, Jr., may have harkened back to this adage when he implored us not to judge by skin color but look instead at …“the content of their character.”
In the 1944 edition of African Journal American Speech, the phrase read: “You can’t judge a book by its binding.”
But in the 1946 novel, Murder in the Glass Room, authors Edwin Rolfe and Lester Fuller penned: “you can never tell a book by its cover.” And let’s not forget Bo Didley’s 1962 hit, written by Willie Dixon: “You Can’t Judge a Book by its Cover.”
The above research cites interesting information, but the Old Testament book of Samuel gives the best, original, and accurate use of this adage:
For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7b, NKJV)
God sees through our thick outer layer. No matter who we are, how much we “paint the barn,” or hide behind book covers, He cuts through it all and discerns our hearts. No need to put on airs. In fact, the only way we can “dress for success” is to put on Jesus’ righteousness (2 Cor.5:21). When we accept Jesus Christ into our hearts, God doesn’t look at us any other way than through Jesus’ blood—clean, pure, holy. We’re no longer judged (condemned).
We’re covered!