The History of the Bible
The Original Languages
•The Old Testament was written in Hebrew and is the book they refer to as the Tanakh
<===== Hebrew
<===== Hebrew
•The New Testament was written in Greek, the common language of the Roman Empire.
<====== Greek
<====== Greek
Timeline of the Bible as we know it today:
•590 BC The city of Jerusalem falls to the Babylonians; Jews forced into exile
•480 BC The Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem (many elect not to return)
•430 BC Malachi is written
•400 BC The Tanakh is finalized in its current form and is considered closed
<==== This is a Tanakh
•480 BC The Jews were allowed to return to Jerusalem (many elect not to return)
•430 BC Malachi is written
•400 BC The Tanakh is finalized in its current form and is considered closed
<==== This is a Tanakh
The books of the Tanakh (22 Books):
•The Torah (Law)-
•Nevi’im (Prophets)-
•Ketuvim (Writings)-
•Nevi’im (Prophets)-
•Ketuvim (Writings)-
Ta-Na-Kh
•The Torah (Law) (TA)
•Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
•Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
•Nevi’im (Prophets) (NA)
•Joshua, Judges, Samuel (one book), Kings (one book)
•Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea
• Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah
•Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah
Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
•Joshua, Judges, Samuel (one book), Kings (one book)
•Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea
• Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah
•Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah
Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
•Ketuvim (Writings or Psalms) (KH)
•Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Solomon
• Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther
• Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah (one book), Chronicles (one book)
•Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Solomon
• Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther
• Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah (one book), Chronicles (one book)
Timeline Continued
•250 BC the Greek version of the Hebrew Tanakh is written. It is called the Septuagint (after the Latin word for 70) because there were 70 translators that worked on this version.
•During this time (250 BC- 95 AD) books of the Apocrypha were written in Greek and “added” to the Septuagint
•95 AD John writes the book of Revelation
•100 AD John dies on the Isle of Patmos
•250 AD Revelation is accepted by all Western Churches and is added to the New Testament (although most had accepted it before this date)
<===== This is the beginning of Genesis translated into Greek a la the Septuagint
•During this time (250 BC- 95 AD) books of the Apocrypha were written in Greek and “added” to the Septuagint
•95 AD John writes the book of Revelation
•100 AD John dies on the Isle of Patmos
•250 AD Revelation is accepted by all Western Churches and is added to the New Testament (although most had accepted it before this date)
<===== This is the beginning of Genesis translated into Greek a la the Septuagint
The Vulgate
•400 AD The Vulgate (Latin for “Popular”) was written by Saint Jerome and became the only Bible allowed by the Roman Catholic Church for over 1,000 years
•There were a group of books (Tobit, Judith, I & II Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach) that had made their way into the Greek Old Testament and he translated them into Latin.
•He gave them their own section called “the Apocrypha” (hidden books) or “deuterocanonical” (outside the “canon” of books). He attached a note to them saying the Jews did not use these books but that he translated them anyway.
<===== A Vulgate
•There were a group of books (Tobit, Judith, I & II Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach) that had made their way into the Greek Old Testament and he translated them into Latin.
•He gave them their own section called “the Apocrypha” (hidden books) or “deuterocanonical” (outside the “canon” of books). He attached a note to them saying the Jews did not use these books but that he translated them anyway.
<===== A Vulgate
Where did these books (Apocrypha) come from?
•All of the extra books were written in Greek and eventually made their way into the Septuagint even though they have no basis in the Hebrew Tanakh.
•The Tanakh was considered closed by the time these Greek stories made their way into the Septuagint and they were not accepted by the Jews because they were not written by Prophets.
•Judith and Tobit were written centuries after the stories are set so they are not reliable. (they claim to be about events in 800’s BC but were actually written in the 200’s BC)
•I & II Maccabees are history books recording the time in Israel’s history when they were under Greek rule between the Old and New Testaments.
•The Tanakh was considered closed by the time these Greek stories made their way into the Septuagint and they were not accepted by the Jews because they were not written by Prophets.
•Judith and Tobit were written centuries after the stories are set so they are not reliable. (they claim to be about events in 800’s BC but were actually written in the 200’s BC)
•I & II Maccabees are history books recording the time in Israel’s history when they were under Greek rule between the Old and New Testaments.
Wycliffe Bible
•In England around 1350 AD a man named John Wycliffe thought that man should know and read the Bible in his own native language. He figured that since the Apostles taught each person in his own native language then that should be the model for today.
•1380 AD the Wycliffe Bible was finished but was considered heretical and was thus banned by the Roman Catholic Church. Wycliffe translated from the Latin Vulgate (not from the Greek/Hebrew)
•“For God louede so the world, that he ȝaf his oon bigetun sone, that ech man that bileueth in him perische not, but haue euerlastynge lijf.” (John 3:16)
<===== John 1, Wycliffe Bible
•1380 AD the Wycliffe Bible was finished but was considered heretical and was thus banned by the Roman Catholic Church. Wycliffe translated from the Latin Vulgate (not from the Greek/Hebrew)
•“For God louede so the world, that he ȝaf his oon bigetun sone, that ech man that bileueth in him perische not, but haue euerlastynge lijf.” (John 3:16)
<===== John 1, Wycliffe Bible
The Gutenberg Bible
•By the end of the 700’s AD no common people spoke Latin anymore- let alone the fact that most could not even read. The common man was illiterate to the Bible of the Roman Catholic Church. Every single copy of the Bible had to be hand copied by Catholic monks so that meant that not many people had access to the few Bibles that existed.
•In 1450 Johannes Gutenberg (using the printing press) made the first mass produced version of the Bible (Latin Vulgate). Even though written in Latin (a dead language) it meant that the common man could now get his hands on a cheap(er) Bible.
<===== Printing Press
•In 1450 Johannes Gutenberg (using the printing press) made the first mass produced version of the Bible (Latin Vulgate). Even though written in Latin (a dead language) it meant that the common man could now get his hands on a cheap(er) Bible.
<===== Printing Press