Biblical Sources of Phrases in Common Use: A Drop in a Bucket

The phrase, “a drop in a bucket,” is an idiomatic saying which speaks of an insignificant, overwhelmed thing.  Something too small to make any sort of difference to a situation.  The phrase, “a drop in the ocean” has the same meaning.

The first known use of the phrase is believed to have been in Isaiah 40:15.

“Behold, the nations are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the small dust of the balance: behold, he taketh up the isles as a very little thing.” Isaiah 40:15