A-Z: Common sayings from the Bible: At one's last gasp

Usage

Literally meaning near to death, dying from exhaustion, and hence used as a metaphor to describe great tiredness.

Definition

In the text, one by one, seven brothers are tortured to death: this is the last speech of one of them. 'And when he was at the last gasp, he said thus: Thou indeed, O most wicked man, destroyest us out of this present life: but the King of the world will raise us up, who die for his laws, in the resurrection of eternal life' (2 Maccabees 7:9, traditional version). 'And when he was at the last gasp, he said thus: Thou indeed, O most wicked man, destroyest us out of this present life: but the King of the world will raise us up, who die for his laws, in the resurrection of eternal life' (2 Maccabees 7:9, modern version)

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