Many of us are familiar with the sight of a big, black Bible on a bookshelf. When we take it down and open its pages, we discover that the Bible is, in fact, not just one book. It is made up of an entire collection of books containing many different writings: law, history, poetry, prophecy -- even sermons, hymns, and personal letters. A deeper look reveals that the Bible is composed of two main sections or divisions: the Old Testament and the New Testament. But how did the books of the Bible come to be written? Who were the writers? (We will be discussing more about the writers in chapter 8) When did they write these books? This chapter will help provide some insight on the history behind God’s Wonderful Book, the Holy Bible.
The Old Testament
The first 39 books of the Bible are known as the Old Testament. They were first written down in Hebrew and Aramaic, the ancient languages of the Jews. We do not have any of the original manuscripts today. When the Old Testament authors finished their scrolls, they did not have copy machines or any other mechanical devices or presses to make copies of their writings. The work of copying, belong to Jewish scribes who would laboriously make handwritten copies of the original writings. When the documents became worn-out the scribes made new copies from the old copies. Unfortunately, many of these scrolls have not survived over time. They deteriorated in the climate of the Bible lands. As a result, today there are few surviving copies of these early holy books, first written down about 1400 BC.
Before 1947, the oldest known manuscripts of the Hebrew Old Testament dated from the ninth and tenth centuries AD. These were copies of the first five books of the Bible. In 1947, however, there was an amazing discovery. Arab shepherds found a priceless treasure in the caves near the Dead Sea. They discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls . These second century BC copies of all the books of the Old Testament (except Esther) were from the library of a Jewish religious group at Qumran (near the Dead Sea in Israel) who lived about the time of Jesus. This remarkable find revealed that the Old Testament text had changed very little over a thousand years. In fact, the Qumran manuscripts were so similar to the ninth-century “documents,” it showed that the scribes had done an outstanding job of accurately passing on the sacred writings. By this we know that the Old Testament as we now have it is probably very similar in the way it was originally written.
How The Old Testament Was Put Together
Jewish tradition holds that the scribe Ezra (whose story is told in the Book of Ezra) compiled the books of the Old Testament. Lacking evidence, however, we do not know for certain how the books actually came together in the collection we now have. We do know that by the time of Jesus, the Hebrew sacred writings usually comprised the 39 books we accept as the Old Testament. And Jesus himself makes it clear which books he and his apostles accepted as their “Bible."
The Jews arranged their sacred books into three major divisions: the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. When Jesus spoke to his disciples about the Old Testament, he referred to these same groupings. Besides, most of the books of our Old Testament are quoted somewhere in the New Testament. It seems, then, that Jesus and his followers were familiar with the same Old Testament we have today.
Besides the 39 Old Testament books, the Jews had other holy texts. These books and chapters are known as the Apocrypha, and may be found in some Bibles. In the Greek version, these writings were given the same respect as other Old Testament books. However, in the Hebrew Bible, they were not considered to have the same authority as the other books of the Bible. Most Roman Catholic Bibles today will include the Apocrypha.
Other Ancient Versions of the Old Testament
One of the most important translations of the Old Testament is the Greek version known as the Septuagint. Jews who spoke Greek and many Christians of the first centuries AD used the Septuagint. It has been suggested that this text was put together during the reign of Pharaoh Ptolemy Philadelphia (285-286 BC). As Christianity spread to people of other cultures and languages, the Old Testament was translated into Latin and many other languages.
The Text of the New Testament
The writers of the New Testament finished their work in the first century AD. Today, we have many fragments of the New Testament text from as early as the second century AD. Originally written down in Greek, there are perhaps 15,000 complete manuscripts and fragments available today to help scholars put together the final 27 books of the Bible. In addition, scholars have available several early translations of the New Testament in Latin, Syriac, Coptic, and other languages. There are also New Testament quotations in the writings of the early church fathers. With all this information, scholars have had to be cautious in selecting and preserving the most accurate texts of the original writings.
By the fifth century AD, the text of the New Testament was standardized from a common text found in many Greek manuscripts. The first printed edition of the standard Greek text came in 1516, prepared and published by the Dutch scholar Erasmus. Up to this point, there had been no thought to examine the accuracy of this text. During the next two centuries, however, some Bibles noted certain alterations from the standardized version, including the text of Stephanus used in translating the King James Version in England (1611), and the edition of Elzevir (1633) which became the model for New Testament translations in Europe. They had discovered older texts that were quite different from the fifth century standard text.
As scholars continued their work of translation, they became more involved in the history and accuracy of texts. It became clear that certain texts were more reliable than others. Manuscripts were then grouped together according to their similarities. We now know that certain families of older texts (such as the Alexandrian and the Western texts) are closer to the original writings than the standard fifth century text.
How the New Testament Books were collected.
When the first Christians met together to worship, they probably read from the Old Testament, following the Jewish synagogue tradition. Since the focus of their worship was Jesus Christ, they likely added to their meetings an account of some part of his life and ministry. At first, the reports might have been first-hand accounts from people who knew Jesus. However, as the church grew in numbers and eyewitnesses began to die, it became important to write these accounts down. This was how Matthew, Mark, Luke and John came into being. These four gospels became an important part of the life and account of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
As the Christian movement began in the book of Acts, chapter one, the apostles wrote letters to the young churches and various key individuals, providing guidance on Christian life and beliefs. These letters were considered useful to the church as a whole, and so they were preserved. This also occurred with the Book of Acts, which was accepted because it continued Luke’s gospel account and provided the only full record of the beginnings of Christianity.
By AD 200, the church was officially using the four gospels as their authority for the life and teachings of Jesus. By this time also, Paul’s letters were accepted as equally important. Then, during the third and fourth centuries, the remaining books of the New Testament were approved for use.
This process was formally established when church leaders compiled a list of books similar to our New Testament at the Council of Laodicea (AD 363) and the Council of Carthage (AD 397).
Now we have the entire Bible in our hands, Old and New Testaments, all 66 books. Many scholars and critics believe that the world’s best seller (often referred to as the Holy Writ or the Word of God) is an accurate record of the authors’ words, handed down without significant loss from generation to generation throughout the centuries. †
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Ten Quick Bible Facts
The Old Testament
The first 39 books of the Bible are known as the Old Testament. They were first written down in Hebrew and Aramaic, the ancient languages of the Jews. We do not have any of the original manuscripts today. When the Old Testament authors finished their scrolls, they did not have copy machines or any other mechanical devices or presses to make copies of their writings. The work of copying, belong to Jewish scribes who would laboriously make handwritten copies of the original writings. When the documents became worn-out the scribes made new copies from the old copies. Unfortunately, many of these scrolls have not survived over time. They deteriorated in the climate of the Bible lands. As a result, today there are few surviving copies of these early holy books, first written down about 1400 BC.
Before 1947, the oldest known manuscripts of the Hebrew Old Testament dated from the ninth and tenth centuries AD. These were copies of the first five books of the Bible. In 1947, however, there was an amazing discovery. Arab shepherds found a priceless treasure in the caves near the Dead Sea. They discovered the Dead Sea Scrolls . These second century BC copies of all the books of the Old Testament (except Esther) were from the library of a Jewish religious group at Qumran (near the Dead Sea in Israel) who lived about the time of Jesus. This remarkable find revealed that the Old Testament text had changed very little over a thousand years. In fact, the Qumran manuscripts were so similar to the ninth-century “documents,” it showed that the scribes had done an outstanding job of accurately passing on the sacred writings. By this we know that the Old Testament as we now have it is probably very similar in the way it was originally written.
How The Old Testament Was Put Together
Jewish tradition holds that the scribe Ezra (whose story is told in the Book of Ezra) compiled the books of the Old Testament. Lacking evidence, however, we do not know for certain how the books actually came together in the collection we now have. We do know that by the time of Jesus, the Hebrew sacred writings usually comprised the 39 books we accept as the Old Testament. And Jesus himself makes it clear which books he and his apostles accepted as their “Bible."
The Jews arranged their sacred books into three major divisions: the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings. When Jesus spoke to his disciples about the Old Testament, he referred to these same groupings. Besides, most of the books of our Old Testament are quoted somewhere in the New Testament. It seems, then, that Jesus and his followers were familiar with the same Old Testament we have today.
Besides the 39 Old Testament books, the Jews had other holy texts. These books and chapters are known as the Apocrypha, and may be found in some Bibles. In the Greek version, these writings were given the same respect as other Old Testament books. However, in the Hebrew Bible, they were not considered to have the same authority as the other books of the Bible. Most Roman Catholic Bibles today will include the Apocrypha.
Other Ancient Versions of the Old Testament
One of the most important translations of the Old Testament is the Greek version known as the Septuagint. Jews who spoke Greek and many Christians of the first centuries AD used the Septuagint. It has been suggested that this text was put together during the reign of Pharaoh Ptolemy Philadelphia (285-286 BC). As Christianity spread to people of other cultures and languages, the Old Testament was translated into Latin and many other languages.
The Text of the New Testament
The writers of the New Testament finished their work in the first century AD. Today, we have many fragments of the New Testament text from as early as the second century AD. Originally written down in Greek, there are perhaps 15,000 complete manuscripts and fragments available today to help scholars put together the final 27 books of the Bible. In addition, scholars have available several early translations of the New Testament in Latin, Syriac, Coptic, and other languages. There are also New Testament quotations in the writings of the early church fathers. With all this information, scholars have had to be cautious in selecting and preserving the most accurate texts of the original writings.
By the fifth century AD, the text of the New Testament was standardized from a common text found in many Greek manuscripts. The first printed edition of the standard Greek text came in 1516, prepared and published by the Dutch scholar Erasmus. Up to this point, there had been no thought to examine the accuracy of this text. During the next two centuries, however, some Bibles noted certain alterations from the standardized version, including the text of Stephanus used in translating the King James Version in England (1611), and the edition of Elzevir (1633) which became the model for New Testament translations in Europe. They had discovered older texts that were quite different from the fifth century standard text.
As scholars continued their work of translation, they became more involved in the history and accuracy of texts. It became clear that certain texts were more reliable than others. Manuscripts were then grouped together according to their similarities. We now know that certain families of older texts (such as the Alexandrian and the Western texts) are closer to the original writings than the standard fifth century text.
How the New Testament Books were collected.
When the first Christians met together to worship, they probably read from the Old Testament, following the Jewish synagogue tradition. Since the focus of their worship was Jesus Christ, they likely added to their meetings an account of some part of his life and ministry. At first, the reports might have been first-hand accounts from people who knew Jesus. However, as the church grew in numbers and eyewitnesses began to die, it became important to write these accounts down. This was how Matthew, Mark, Luke and John came into being. These four gospels became an important part of the life and account of Jesus Christ, the Messiah.
As the Christian movement began in the book of Acts, chapter one, the apostles wrote letters to the young churches and various key individuals, providing guidance on Christian life and beliefs. These letters were considered useful to the church as a whole, and so they were preserved. This also occurred with the Book of Acts, which was accepted because it continued Luke’s gospel account and provided the only full record of the beginnings of Christianity.
By AD 200, the church was officially using the four gospels as their authority for the life and teachings of Jesus. By this time also, Paul’s letters were accepted as equally important. Then, during the third and fourth centuries, the remaining books of the New Testament were approved for use.
This process was formally established when church leaders compiled a list of books similar to our New Testament at the Council of Laodicea (AD 363) and the Council of Carthage (AD 397).
Now we have the entire Bible in our hands, Old and New Testaments, all 66 books. Many scholars and critics believe that the world’s best seller (often referred to as the Holy Writ or the Word of God) is an accurate record of the authors’ words, handed down without significant loss from generation to generation throughout the centuries. †
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Ten Quick Bible Facts
- The first books of the Bible were written nearly 3,500 years ago.
- Approximately 40 different people wrote the books of the Bible.
- Some Bible authors dictated their words to a scribe or secretary who wrote them down.
- The first five books of the Bible were written about 1400 BC, and the last books were written about AD 96-100.
- The grouping of books in the Hebrew Bible is different from the ordering of the books in the Christian Bible.
- The Hebrews hid or buried old copies of their Bible.
- Scribes were so careful in copying that they counted all the words and letters in the original and in the copy to check for errors.
- The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in old jars in caves by the Dead Sea.
- The New Testament was written within the span of 50 years.
- The New Testament books came together because of the needs of the early church.