What’s the origin of the phrase ‘Flesh and blood’?
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Bone seems to have been given short shrift for some reason.
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The earliest usage of this phrase relates to the general ‘mankind’ usage. This comes from an Old English translation of the Bible - the Anglo-Saxon Gospels, Matthew XVI 17, circa 1000:
Hit ye ne onwreah flaesc ne blod.
The later King James Version lists this passage as:
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.