hide one's light under a bushel

English

WOTD – 21 October 2022

Etymology

Originally a reference to one of Jesus Christ’s parables recorded in Matthew 5:14–15, Mark 4:21–25,^[1] and Luke 8:16–18 of the Bible.^[2] For example, in the King James Version the passage from Matthew states (spelling modernized): “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill, cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel: but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your father which is in heaven.”^[3]^[4] The parable uses the imagery of a candle hidden under an overturned bushel (“a dry-measure vessel with a capacity of eight gallons”), and is interpreted as a call to Christians to set a good example through their actions that other people may come to believe in the faith.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌhaɪd wʌnz ˈlaɪt ˌʌndɚ‿ə ˈbʊʃl̩/
(General American) IPA^(key): /ˌhaɪd wʌnz ˈlaɪt ˌʌndɚ‿ə ˈbʊʃ(ə)l/
Audio (General Australian): (file)
Rhymes: -ʊʃəl
Hyphenation: hide one's light un‧der a bush‧el

Verb

hide one's light under a bushel (third-person singular simple present hides one's light under a bushel, present participle hiding one's light under a bushel, simple past hid one's light under a bushel, past participle hidden one's light under a bushel)

(idiomatic) To conceal one's positive qualities or talents, especially due to modesty or shyness; to avoid attention.
- [1624 March 23 (Gregorian calendar), Robert Saunderson [i.e., Robert Sanderson], “[Ad Clerum.] The Third Sermon. At a Visitation at Boston Lincoln[shire] 13. March. 1624.”, in Twelve Sermons, […], [new] edition, London: […] Aug[ustine] Math[ews], for Robert Dawlman, and are to be sold by Robert Allet, […], published 1632, →OCLC, §. 33, page 117:
  O then doe not knit vp your Maſters talent in a Napkin; ſmother not his light vnder a buſhell; […] but aboue all, ſquander not avvay your rich portions by riotous living.]
- [1731, Augustus Hermannus Franke [i.e., August Hermann Francke], “Of the Signs and Effects which Discover the Fear of Man”, in [Anton Wilhelm Böhme], transl., Nicodemus: Or, A Treatise against the Fear of Man: […], 2nd English edition, Edinburgh: […] Thomas Lumisden and John Robertson, […], →OCLC, page 8:
  VVhen after all, a Man is fully convinced of Truth, and believes it in his Heart; yet, for Fear of Man, he hides this Light under a Bushel, by not confeſſing it before Men.
  Used to refer to a person’s reluctance to share his faith with others.]
- 1859, Harriet Beecher Stowe, “The Party”, in The Minister’s Wooing, New York, N.Y.: Derby and Jackson, […], →OCLC, page 210:
  "Really, Mrs. Scudder," said gallant old General Wilcox, "where have you kept such a beauty all this time? It's a sin and a shame to hide such a light under a bushel."
- 1867 September, “History of the Foreign Missions of the Secession and United Presbyterian Church. By Rev. John McKerrow, D.D. Bridge of Teith. 8vo., pp. 528. Edinburgh: A. Elliot, 1867. [book review]”, in The Home & Foreign Record of the Canada Presbyterian Church, volume VI, number 11, Toronto, Ont.: […] [F]or the Committee, by Lovell & Gibson, […], →OCLC, page 362:
  He is singularly sparing in his correspondence, and unaccountably hides his light under a bushel.
- 1910 September, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, “Pillingshot, Detective”, in Tales of Wrykyn and Elsewhere: Twenty-five Short Stories of School Life, Maidenhead, Berkshire: Porpoise Books, published 1997, →ISBN, pages 179–180:
  [Y]ou've got a bright, intelligent face. I shouldn't wonder if you weren't rather clever. Why do you hide your light under a bushel?
- 1915, Winston Churchill, chapter VI, in A Far Country, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company, →OCLC, section 4, page 91:
  He says I must become a writer. Think of it, me a writer! He says I'm a young Shakespeare, that I've been lazy and hid my light under a bushel!
- 1950 March 13, Harry Flood Byrd, Sr., quotee, “The Congress: The Elephant Hunt”, in Thomas Stanley Matthews, editor, Time‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 5 July 2009:
  If he has ever hidden his light under a bushel, I am not aware of it. I have not observed that he is of the shrinking-violet type …
- 1991, David Daiches, “Introduction: Boswell’s Ambiguities”, in Greg Clingham, editor, New Light on Boswell: Critical and Historical Essays on the Occasion of the Bicentenary of The Life of Johnson, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, New York, N.Y.: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 3:
  For all his enormous vanity, it can be said that [James] Boswell hid his true light under a bushel.
- 2001, Susan Mitchell Crawley, “Catalogue”, in Let It Shine: Self-taught Art from the T. Marshall Hahn Collection, Atlanta, Ga.: High Museum of Art, →ISBN, page 75:
  [P]rovoked by the hesitancy of a Pennsylvania friend to display his artistic talent, [Ned] Cartledge created this work. […] Cartledge accused him of hiding his light under a bushel and has inscribed the back of his panel: "Modesty is for those without talent."
- 2007 December 12, Joanna Moorhead, “Sisters vow to end their silence”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian‎^[2], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 16 March 2016:
  British soroptimists have hidden their light under a bushel: there's a feeling here that we shouldn't seek publicity because we'd be drawing attention to ourselves.

Translations

to conceal one’s positive qualities or talents

Chinese:
Mandarin: 深藏不露 (shēncángbùlòu)
Danish: sætte sit lys under en skæppe
Finnish: pitää kynttiläänsä vakan alla
French: dissimuler son talent, faire preuve de modestie, mettre son talent sous le boisseau
German: sein Licht unter den Scheffel stellen (de)
Hungarian: véka alá rejt (hu), véka alá rejti a tehetségét (hu)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: sette sitt lys under en skjeppe (no)
Polish: chować pod korcem impf, schować pod korcem pf, trzymać pod korcem impf
Russian: зарыва́ть свой тала́нт в зе́млю impf (zaryvátʹ svoj talánt v zémlju), зары́ть свой тала́нт в зе́млю pf (zarýtʹ svoj talánt v zémlju)
Swedish: sätta sitt ljus under skäppan (sv), sätta sitt ljus under ena skäppo

References

^ The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], 1611, →OCLC, Mark 4:21–22, column 2: “And he ſaid vnto them, Is a candle brought to be put vnder a buſhell, or vnder a bed? & not to be ſet on a candleſticke? For there is nothing hid, which ſhall not be manifeſted: neither was anything kept ſecret, but that it ſhould come abroad.”
^ The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], 1611, →OCLC, Luke 8:16, column 1: “No man when he hath lighted a candle, couereth it with a veſſell, or putteth it vnder a bed: but ſetteth it on a candleſticke, that they which enter in, may ſee the light.”
^ The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], 1611, →OCLC, Matthew 5:14–16, column 1:
Yee are the light of the world. A citie that is ſet on a hill, cannot be hid. Neither doe men light a candle, and put it vnder a buſhell: but on a candleſticke, and it giueth light vnto all that are in the houſe. Let your light ſo ſhine before men, that they may ſee your good workes, and glorifie your father which is in heauen.
^ John Ayto, editor (2009), “hide your light under a bushel”, in Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms, 3rd edition, Oxford, Oxforshire: Oxford University Press, published 2010, →ISBN, page 173.