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Allgemeines Über Die Bibel

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Allgemeines Über Die Bibel © Dr. Ludwig Neidhart, Augsburg 2017 Allgemeines über die Bibel online veröffentlicht auf der Seite http://catholic-church.org/ao/ps/Bibel.html, 2017 revidierte Version vom 19. Januar 2018 Inhalt 1. Begriffsklärung und Einordnung................................................................................................................2 2. Altes Testament (oder Alter Bund), kurz AT...............................................................................................7 3. Neues Testament (oder Neuer Bund), kurz NT...........................................................................................9 4. Verfasser, Abfassungszeit und Entstehungshypothesen............................................................................10 5. Handschriften mit biblischen Texten; Zuverlässigkeits-Vergleich mit anderen antiken Schriften...........15 6. Typen des griechischen Abschriften des NT.............................................................................................17 7. Übersetzungen der Bibel in alte Sprachen................................................................................................18 8. Übersetzungen der Bibel in neue Sprachen..............................................................................................20 9. Wissenschaftliche Druckausgaben der maßgeblichen biblischen Texte...................................................32 10. Hilfsmittel der Bibelwissenschaft...........................................................................................................34 11. Bibelauslegung........................................................................................................................................35 12. Die Bibel in der Kirchengeschichte: Einschränkung oder Förderung des Bibel-Lesens?......................38 1 1. Begriffsklärung und Einordnung Die Bibel (von griech. ta hierá biblía = die heiligen Bücher“) oder Heilige Schrift ist, wie der Name schon sagt, eine kleine Bibliothek. Die Bibel besteht aus zwei Teilen, dem Alten Testament (AT) und dem Neuen Testament (NT), und sie umfasst nach katholischer Festlegung insgesamt 73 Schriften, von denen 46 zum Alten Testament und 27 zum Neuen Testament gehören.1 Die Bibel wird auch mit Recht auch „das Buch der Bücher“ genannt, denn sie ist das am weitesten verbreitete Buch der Welt: kein Buch ist in so viele Sprachen übersetzt wie sie (siehe Kap. 8) und von keinem anderen sind mehr Exemplare in Umlauf gebracht worden: insgesamt wohl über 3 Milliarden (über 2,5 Milliarden Exemplare allein zwischen 1815 und 2000).2 (Proto- und Deutero-)Kanonisch und apokryph. Diese genannten 73 Schriften gelten für die kath. Kirche als kanonisch (von griech. „Kanon“ = Richtschnur, was wiederum von hebr. qanäh=Messstab, Schilfrohr abgeleitet ist), d.h. als maßgebend für den Glauben, als wichtigste Quelle der göttlichen Offenbarung und vor allem als Zeugnisse für die wichtigsten Gotteserfahrungen der Menschheitsgeschichte, die für die Konstitution des wahren Glaubens grundlegend waren und sind. Die evangelischen Kir- chen und das Judentum erkennen 7 von den 46 Schriften des katholischen AT nicht als kanonisch an, nämlich Tob, Jdt, 1 Makk, 2 Makk, Sir, Weish, Bar. Der evangelische Kanon umfasst also nur 39 alttestamentliche (und insgesamt 66) Schriften; der jüdi- sche stimmt inhaltlich damit überein, zählt aber (durch Zusammenfassung mehrerer Schriften zu Einheiten) nur 24 Schriften. Auch gewisse nur in griechischer Sprache überlieferte Zusätze zu den Büchern Daniel und Ester gelten im Judentum und Protes- tantismus nicht als kanonisch.3 Die 7 alttestamentlichen Schriften und die genannten Zusätze zu Daniel und Ester nennt man seit dem 16. Jh. deuterokanonisch (deuteros = griech. „zweiter“; d.h. zum zweiten, größeren, Kanon gehörig); die übrigen Texte hei- ßen protokanonisch (protos = griech. „erster“; d.h. zum ersten, auch von Juden und evangelischen Christen anerkannten, kleine- ren Kanon gehörig). Die deuterokanonischen Texte unterscheiden sich von den protokanonischen des Alten Testaments dadurch, dass (1) die deuterokanonischen erst in den letzten Jahrhunderten vor Christus (und somit später als die protokanonischen) ge- schrieben und/oder im jüdischen Gottesdienst verwendet wurden, und dass (2) die protokanonischen in hebräischer/aramäischer Sprache vorliegen, während von den deuterokanonischen Schriften vor dem 20. Jahrhundert nur griechische Versionen bekannt waren; hebräisch/aramäische Originalformen einiger dieser Texte wurden aber im 20. Jahrhundert entdeckt. Von den (proto- und deutero-)kanonischen Büchern sind die apokryphen Bücher zu unterscheiden (apokryph = griech. „verborgen“, d.h. nicht öffent- lich in Gottesdienst verlesen), die von den großen Kirchen nicht als kanonisch anerkannt werden, aber von manchen außerhalb der großen Kirchen stehenden Christen für kanonisch gehalten werden oder einst als kanonisch gehalten worden sind. Evange- lische und jüdische Autoren nennen auch die deuterokanonischen Schriften „apokryph“. Inspiration. Man nennt die kanonischen Schriften der Bibel inspiriert (= lat. von Gottes Geist eingegeben) und sagt, dass sie das „Wort Gottes“ enthalten und Gott zum Urheber (Autoren) haben. Dies ist jedoch nicht so zu verstehen, das Gott den ganzen Text „diktiert“ hat; vielmehr haben die Schreiber dieser Bücher, vom Geist Gottes angetrieben (inspiriert), selbständig gearbeitet und dabei auch manches Zeitbedingte und Missverständliche gesagt. Aber Gott verbürgt trotzdem, dass die Schriften in ihrem Gesamtzusammenhang „sicher, getreu und ohne Irrtum“ die (Heils-)Wahrheit lehren, so dass, wer die ganze Bibel aufmerksam studiert, am Ende die Wahrheit erkennen kann, die Gott uns um unseres Heiles willen offenbaren wollte.4 Die Kirche bürgt 1 Die Zahl von ausgerechnet 73 vom Geist Gottes inspirierten Schriften erscheint im Hinblick auf die Geschichte Numeri 11,24–26 als symbolisch äußerst ange- messen: Moses „holte 70 Männer aus den Ältesten des Volkes zusammen“ (Num 11,24) und Gott „nahm von dem Geiste, der auf ihm [Moses] ruhte, und legte ihn auf die siebzig Ältesten“, die dann in prophetische Verzückung gerieten (Num 11,25); da meldete man Moses, dass sich der Geist auch auf zwei weitere Männer niedergelassen habe, die im Lager geblieben waren, die ebenfalls in prophetische Verzückung gerieten (Num 11,26). Somit hatte sich der prophetische Geist Gottes insgesamt auf 73 Männer (Moses + die 70 + 2 weitere) niedergelassen. Im Hinblick auf diese 72 inspirierten Männer, die Moses unterstützten (gemäß der 72 Völker der Erde, die in der Völkertafel Gen 10 aufgelistet werden), hatte wohl auch Jesus neben den 12 Aposteln auch „72 andere“ ausgesendet (Lk 10,1; manche Handschriften haben hier nur die Zahl 70), die seine Botschaft „in jede Stadt und an jeden Ort“ bringen sollten, zu dem er selbst kommen wollte. Mit Jesus selbst waren dies ebenfalls 73 Verkündiger. Die Tradition spricht auch von 70 bzw. 72 Übersetzern des Tenak ins Griechische (daher der Name „Septuaginta“) und für 72 Mitgliedern des Hohen Rates zur Zeit Jesu. – Auch für die Zahlen 27 und 46 der neu- bzw. alttestamentlichen Bücher gibt es verschiedene (wenn auch vielleicht eher zufällige, auf jedem Fall zum Merken geeignete) Parallelen. Die Zahl 27 (= 333) ist die Anzahl der Zeichen für Buchstaben und Zahlen im griechischen Alphabets (24 Buchstaben plus die üblichen 3 zusätzliche Zahlreichen Digamma = 6, Koppa = 90 und Sampi = 900). Es ist zugleich auch die Anzahl der Zeichen im hebräischen Alphabets (22 Buchstaben, von denen 5 Buchstaben eine zusätzliche besondere Form am Ende des Wortes haben). Die Zahl 46 aber ist die Summe der Anzahlen der Buchstaben in den biblischen Sprachen Hebräisch/Aramäisch und Griechisch (22 Buchstaben des hebräisch/aramäischen Alphabets plus 24 Buchstaben des griechischen). Sie ist auch die Zahlensumme des Wortes „Adam“ im Griechischen (Alpha = 1 + Delta = 4 + Alpha = 1 + My = 40). Und sie ist die Anzahl der Chromosomen in jeder menschlichen Zelle. 2 Drei Milliarden Bibelexemplare übereinandergestapelt ergäben einen Turm von 150.000 km Höhe (= die Hälfte der Strecke von der Erde zum Mond). 3 Die Zusätze zum Danielbuch sind (1) in Kapitel 3 das Gebet des Asarja, (2) ebenfalls in Kapitel 3 das Lobgebet der drei Jünglingen im Feuerofen: das sog. „Benedicite“, das in der Liturgie der alten Kirche und in der heutigen orthodoxen und katholischen Liturgie verwendet wird, (3) Kap. 13: die Geschichte von Su- sanna und (4) Kap. 14: die Geschichte von „Bel und dem Drachen“. Die beiden Zusätze in Kap. 3 folgen hintereinander nach Dan 3,23 (und zwar Gebet des Asarja = Dan 3,24–50; Benedicite = Dan 51–90); die sieben Verse Dan 3,24–30 des hebräischen Daniel werden dann als Dan 3,91–97 zitiert. Von diesen Zusät- zen (auch vom gesamten Danielbuch) gibt es mehrere Versionen: außer dem Septuaginta-Text vor allem die Version des Theodotion, die hier als kanonisch gilt (siehe Fußnoten 11 und 37). – Die Zusätze zum Esterbuch sind: (1) die einleitende Vision des Mordechai (2) die Verhinderung eines Attentats auf König Xerxes durch Mordechai, (3) der Wortlaut von Xerxes’ Befehl zur Vernichtung der Juden, (4) je ein Gebet von Mordechai und Ester, (5) eine Ausweitung der Szene, in der Ester fürbittend vom dem König erscheint, (6) der spätere Erlass zugunsten der Juden, (7) die Deutung des einleitenden Traums durch Mordechai. In der Vulgata-Ausgabe der Bibel bilden diese Zusätze einen Anhang zum Esterbuch, dessen Hauptteil in Est 10,3 endet, und dem der Anhang Est 10,4–16,24 folgt. In der Standardausgabe des griechischen AT
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