Christian Resource Center – New Hampshire (www.crcnh.org) Overview of the Bible Where Did the Bible Come From? The Bible is the most important and most published book that has ever been possessed by mankind. It is the only book comprised of texts that were given to mankind directly by God. Everything that we need to know about spiritual, familial, and civil institutions as well as how to live a joyful and righteous life is contained within the 66 books of the bible. A huge portion of the bible points to the salvation that would come to humanity through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Below are some interesting biblical statistics. Bible Statistics (approximate) Data Total number of bibles printed 6,001,500,000 Approximate number of languages spoken in the 6,900 world today. Number of translations into new languages 1,300 currently in progress. Number of languages with a translation of the New 1,185 Testament. Number of languages with a translation of the 451 entire Bible. (Protestant Canon) Total Words in the King James Bible 788,258 Number of verses in the King James Bible 31,102 Total Chapters in the King James Bible 1,189 Total Books in the King James Bible 66 Total Number of Authors in the Bible 40 Years it took to write the Bible 1,600 Shortest Chapter Psalm 117 (2 verses) Longest Chapter Psalm 119 Middle Chapter Psalm 117 (the 595th chapter) Shortest Verse in the Bible John 11:35 – “Jesus wept.” Longest Verse in the Bible Esther 8:9 Please Make Copies and Distribute Freely Christian Resource Center – New Hampshire (www.crcnh.org) [2 Timothy 3:16-17] All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. What is being referred to here as “Scripture” is the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek text that was given to writers by inspiration of God. What this means exactly is difficult to say; however, it was not a trance like thing or a “robotic” writing. God chose specific individuals and gave them inspiration through the Holy Spirit to record certain texts of the bible. Bible Translation Types We read translations of the bible which are not exactly the same as inspired scripture; however, they are usually close enough to be doctrinally equivalent. There are good and bad translations. 1) Literal (Word for word - as close to the original Hebrew & Greek as possible). 2) Dynamic (thought for thought – each verse is a general meaning of the original text) 3) Free Translation (Paraphrase – the translator changed the verses into “story like” or “easy reader” form.) Good Bible Translations Include: - King James Version (KJV) - New King James Version (NKJV) - New American Standard Bible (NASB) - English Standard Version (ESV) Canon - The word "canon" comes from the Greek "κανών" (Kanon), meaning "rule" or "measuring stick". The current 66 books of the bible are the “canon”. 39 books in the Old Testament (called the Tanakh by Jews) and 27 books in the New Testament. There have been many important milestones with respect to the transmission, recording, copying, and translating of the bible. Let’s do a quick review of some of the more important ones. [Page 2 of 17] Christian Resource Center – New Hampshire (www.crcnh.org) Approximate Timeline of Bible History 1,400 BC: The Ten Commandments, which was the first written word of God was delivered to Moses. 500 BC: Completion of All Original Hebrew Manuscripts which make up The 39 Books of the Old Testament. 200 BC: Completion of the Septuagint Greek Manuscripts which contain The 39 Old Testament Books AND 14 Apocrypha Books. 1st Century AD: Completion of All Original Greek Manuscripts which make up The 27 Books of the New Testament. 315 AD: Athenasius, the Bishop of Alexandria, identifies the 27 books of the New Testament which are today recognized as the canon of scripture. 382 AD: Jerome's Latin Vulgate Manuscripts Produced which contain All 80 Books (39 Old Test. + 14 Apocrypha + 27 New Test). 500 AD: Some scripture has been translated into over 500 languages. 600 AD: LATIN was the Only Language Allowed for Scripture. 995 AD: Anglo-Saxon (Early Roots of English Language) Translations of The New Testament Produced. 1384 AD: Wycliffe is the First Person to Produce a (Hand-Written) manuscript Copy of the Complete Bible; All 80 Books. 1455 AD: Gutenberg Invents the Printing Press; Books May Now be mass- Produced Instead of Individually Hand-Written. The First Book Ever Printed is Gutenberg's Bible in Latin. 1516 AD: Erasmus Produces a Greek/Latin Parallel New Testament. 1522 AD: Martin Luther's German New Testament. 1526 AD: William Tyndale's New Testament; The First New Testament printed in the English Language. [Page 3 of 17] Christian Resource Center – New Hampshire (www.crcnh.org) 1535 AD: Myles Coverdale's Bible; The First Complete Bible printed in the English Language (80 Books: O.T. & N.T. & Apocrypha). 1537 AD: Tyndale-Matthews Bible; The Second Complete Bible printed in English. Done by John "Thomas Matthew" Rogers (80 Books). 1539 AD: The "Great Bible" Printed; The First English Language Bible Authorized for Public Use (80 Books). 1560 AD: The Geneva Bible Printed; The First English Language Bible to add Numbered Verses to Each Chapter (80 Books). 1568 AD: The Bishops Bible Printed; The Bible of which the King James was a Revision (80 Books). 1609 AD: The Douay Old Testament is added to the Rheims New Testament (of 1582) Making the First Complete English Catholic Bible; Translated from the Latin Vulgate (80 Books). 1611 AD: The King James Bible Printed; Originally with All 80 Books. The Apocrypha was Officially Removed in 1885 Leaving Only 66 Books. 1782 AD: Robert Aitken's Bible; The First English Language Bible (KJV) Printed in America. 1791 AD: Isaac Collins and Isaiah Thomas Respectively Produce the First Family Bible and First Illustrated Bible Printed in America. Both were King James Versions, with All 80 Books. 1808 AD: Jane Aitken's Bible (Daughter of Robert Aitken); The First Bible to be Printed by a Woman. 1833 AD: Noah Webster's Bible; After Producing his Famous Dictionary, Webster Printed his Own Revision of the King James Bible. 1841 AD: English Hexapla New Testament; an Early Textual Comparison showing the Greek and 6 Famous English Translations in Parallel Columns. 1846 AD: The Illuminated Bible; The Most Lavishly Illustrated Bible printed in America. A King James Version, with All 80 Books. [Page 4 of 17] Christian Resource Center – New Hampshire (www.crcnh.org) 1863 AD: Robert Young's "Literal" Translation; often criticized for being so literal that it sometimes obscures the contextual English meaning. 1885 AD: The "English Revised Version" Bible; The First Major English Revision of the KJV. 1901 AD: The "American Standard Version"; The First Major American Revision of the KJV. 1952 AD: The "Revised Standard Version" (RSV); said to be a Revision of the 1901 American Standard Version, though more highly criticized. 1971 AD: The "New American Standard Bible" (NASB) is Published as a "Modern and Accurate Word for Word English Translation" of the Bible. 1973 AD: The "New International Version" (NIV) is Published as a "Modern and Accurate Phrase for Phrase English Translation" of the Bible. 1982 AD: The "New King James Version" (NKJV) is Published as a "Modern English Version Maintaining the Original Style of the King James." 1990 AD: The "New Revised Standard Version" (NRSV); further revision of 1952 RSV, (itself a revision of 1901 ASV), criticized for "gender inclusiveness". 2002 AD: The English Standard Version (ESV) is Published as a translation to bridge the gap between the accuracy of the NASB and the readability of the NIV. The Old Testament (OT) The OT was written over a fairly long period of time. It is estimated that it was written between 1445 B.C. and 424 B.C. by more than 24 different authors. The authorship of several of the OT books is unknown. The OT was written almost entirely in Hebrew with the exception of certain sections of Ezra, Jeremiah, and Daniel which were written in Aramaic. Aramaic was specifically used when the author wanted to impart information to the gentile or non-Hebrew people of the time and area that the book was being written because it was the “common” language. [Page 5 of 17] Christian Resource Center – New Hampshire (www.crcnh.org) The texts of the OT were meticulously copied and transmitted from generation to generation by chosen Hebrew scribes in the B.C. time period and Jewish scribe/scholars known as “Masoretes” (which means “tradition keeper”) between the 5th and 10th centuries. All of these scribes took great care in counting letters and words in order to preserve perfect copies. They also had very extreme traditions and methods for their transcriptions which included changing their clothing and bathing before writing the name of God (YHWH). The OT is also referred to as the Masoretic Text. OT manuscripts are written either on single pages of papyri, parchment scrolls (animal hides), or in codex books. (papyrus sheet on left and parchment scroll on right) [Page 6 of 17] Christian Resource Center – New Hampshire (www.crcnh.org) Codex Book (Sinaiticus) Date of Version Examples Language Composition Oldest Copy Hebrew, Aramaic Dead Sea Tanakh at and Greek 150 BC–70 AD 150 BC–70 AD Scrolls Qumran (Septuagint) Codex 2nd century BC Vaticanus, Codex (fragments) Septuagint Sinaiticus and Greek 300–100 BC 4th century AD other earlier (complete) papyri early 5th century Peshitta Syriac AD early 5th century AD Vulgate Codex Amiatinus Latin early 8th century AD (complete) Aleppo Masoretic Codex, Leningrad Hebrew ca.