The Bible was a little over 1500 years in the making. From the time the first words were written until the last words in Revelation – 1500 B.C.–100 A.D. - 1600 years.
The first words written are not “in the beginning.” They were “I am the Lord your God …” Exodus 20: 2” - The Ten Commandments.
The materials the Bible was written on – stone, clay, animal hide (leather) and papyrus – at first scrolls and later (N.T. era) bound volumes.
Originally the Bible was not divided into chapters and verses. The Bible was first divided into chapters in the 1100’s. The chapters were divided into verses in the 1500’s. The first printing of a Bible with chapters and verses was published in 1551. The original purpose for verses was not for the reader’s benefit but for the printer’s benefit. It helped the printer know where a page began and ended so that there would be no duplication on the next page. Thus the verses sometimes break off in the middle of a thought, sentence, or paragraph. What is the positive to the Bible being divided into chapter and verses? Help us memorize Scripture. What is the negative to the Bible being divided into chapter and verses? They can interfere with the understanding of what a verse is saying by taking it out of context. Ex. Romans chapters 6-8.
The official canon (authoritative writings) of the Bible was established during the Protestant Reformation (1500’s A.D.) – Catholic canon was established at the Council of Trent (1546); Protestant canon was established by Martin Luther (1534), King James Version (1611), and by Separatists groups (Puritans, Presbyterians, Baptists, etc.) within the Church of England.
How the Bible came together is act of God. The official canon was completed after centuries of deliberation, discussion, and debates. Multiple councils and meetings were held and numerous treatises and letters were written to decide on what books should or should not be in the Bible. There were those (Jewish and Christian) who believed certain books should be excluded (most notably Esther) or included (the Apocrypha). A number of benchmarks had to be met before a book was considered canonical. Old Testament - Historical authenticity – events and author, fulfilled prophecy, God played a major role in the book; commonality among O.T. books – Books of O.T. fit together like pieces in a large jigsaw puzzle. Other books that scholars and churches claim should be canon (ex. Apocrypha books) are jigsaw pieces that do not fit in the authorized O.T. jigsaw puzzle. New Testament – Historical authenticity – eyewitness of Jesus, lived during the birth of Christianity, and/or church was known to have existed (ex. Revelation) and consistency in doctrine with other accepted NT books. Over the course of time (centuries), this discussion and debate produced the Bible we have today.
382-410 A.D. – Jerome was commissioned by the pope who was the leader of the Church to translate the Hebrew Old Testament and Greek New Testament into Latin, the predominant language in the world at that time. The Latin Vulgate was THE official Bible of the Church and would be for the next thousand years. It is still the Bible used by the Catholic Church today and would be the template for future bible translations. The New Testament in the Vulgate Bible included the 27 books regarded at the time to be the New Testament adding greater authority to the 27.
Late 1400’s-early 1500’s A.D. – The Protestant Reformation era. The Church divides between Catholic led by Pope in Rome and Protestant led by Martin Luther, John Calvin, and others. Protestant leaders reexamine/call into question decisions/church rules made by the papal led Church during the past one thousand years including the books that made up the Old and New Testament.
One should not forget the role played by God in the creation of the Bible. For example, Martin Luther openly stated that the Books of Esther, Hebrews, James, Jude, and Revelation should be excluded from the biblical canon. Esther – because it does not mention God’s name. Hebrews, James, Jude, and Revelation – they did not support Luther’s doctrine of justification. However, Luther included all these books in what became the Luther Bible. Why? It’s my opinion that the Holy Spirit convinced Luther to leave these books in his Bible. The Luther Bible had a huge impact on the development and direction of Christianity.
Bible divided into two parts – Old Testament and New Testament. They were not referred to as Old and New Testament until after 100 A.D. Prior to then, the Old Testament was referred to as the Law and the Prophets or sometimes the Law, the Psalms/Writings, and the Prophets. Testament is Latin for Covenant. Old Covenant and New Covenant. Covenant defined – a solemn agreement that is binding on all parties. God and man. Old/New Covenant – God agrees to redeem man in return man agrees to submit to God’s authority.
Old Testament – An overview
Consists of 39 books that covers a period from the beginning of time (Genesis) until 400 B.C. (Malachi)
Written mostly in Hebrew. Some Aramaic. Authors - Shepherds, farmers, kings, priests, and government officials.
Origins of the Old Testament:
I. The Tanakh – is an acronym that identifies the Hebrew Bible. The acronym is based on the initial Hebrew letters of each of the text's three parts:
1. Torah תורה meaning "Instruction." It is also called the Chumash חומש, meaning "the five" or "the five books of Moses." In Greek, it is called the Pentateuch. The Torah is often referred to as the law of the Jewish people.
2. Nevi'im נביאים, meaning "Prophets." This term is associated with anything to do with the prophets.
3. Ketuvim כתובים, meaning "Writings" or "Hagiographa."
The Tanakh contains 24 books. Christians count the books found in the OT as thirty-nine, not twenty-four. This is because Jews often count as a single book what Christians count as several. Examples – Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra-Nehemiah, Minor Prophets are grouped together as one book called the Twelve.
Evidence suggests that the process of canonization of the Tanakh occurred between 200BC and 200 AD. Jewish historian Flavius Josephus in the 70’s AD wrote that the Tanakh contained the books "all Jews immediately - and from their very birth! - esteem to contain Divine doctrines, and persist [in performing these doctrines] in them, and, if occasion be, willingly die for them". Josephus also wrote “Many ages have passed, no one has been so bold as to either add anything to them or take anything from them, or to make any changes to them. By 200 AD, after much deliberation, the Jews recognized the Tanakh as the authorized Hebrew Scripture.
Masoretes
The Masoretes were a special group of Jewish scribes entrusted with the task of making copies of the Tanakh by hand between 500 B.C.-90 AD. They developed a meticulous system of counting the number of words in each book of the Bible to make sure they copied it accurately. Any scroll found to have an error was buried according to Jewish law
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment