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{{short description|Collection of religious texts in Judaism and Christianity}}
{{about|the Christian Bible|the Hebrew one|Hebrew Bible}}
{{other uses}}
[[File:Holy bible book.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The Holy Bible.]]
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2020}}
[[File:Bible from 1300 (20).jpg|300px|thumb|Hebrew Bible from 1300. Genesis]]
[[File:Gutenberg Bible, Lenox Copy, New York Public Library, 2009. Pic 01.jpg|upright=1.55|thumb|The [[Gutenberg Bible]], the first printed Bible (mid-15th century)]]
The '''Bible''', also known as the '''Holy Bible''', is a group of [[religious]] [[text]]s of [[Judaism]] and [[Christianity]], it contains both The Old Testament and The New Testament. The word Bible comes from the [[Ancient Greek language|Greek]] word τὰ {{lang|grc|βιβλία}} (''biblía'') which means "books" in [[English language|English]], because it is many books in one book. It includes [[law]]s, stories, [[prayer]]s, songs, and wise words. A number of texts are both in the [[Hebrew Bible]], used by [[Jews]], and this Christian one. 


<!-- Consensus established on the talk page for this article has established that BCE/CE dates will be used when referring to the Jewish Bible/Judaism and BC/AD dates for the Christian Bible/Christianity. -->
In considering the source and inspiration for the Bible one must see what the Bible says of itself.  Several verses  of scripture define the source, intent, and Author.  2 Peter 1:21 says this - "No prophecy was ever made by the act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God."  Isaiah 55:11 tells us that His is a word of power - "So shall My sword be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it."  Hebrews 4:12 says this - "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."


The '''Bible'''<!-- Per consensus, please do not add the word 'holy'. --> (from [[Koine Greek]] τὰ βιβλία, ''tà [[biblía]]'', "the books") is a collection of [[religious text]]s, writings, or scriptures sacred to [[Jews]], [[Samaritans]], [[Christians]], [[Rastafaris]], and others. It appears in the form of an [[anthology]], a compilation of texts of a variety of forms that are all linked by the belief that they are collectively [[Divine revelation|revelations of God]]. These texts include theologically-focused historical accounts, [[hymn]]s, prayers, proverbs, [[parable]]s, [[epistle#New Testament epistles|didactic letters]], admonitions, essays, poetry, and prophecies. Believers also generally consider the Bible to be a [[Biblical inspiration|product of divine inspiration]].
When talking about the Bible, a ''book'' is used to speak about a number of texts. All the texts that make a ''book'' are believed to belong together. Most of the time, people believe they were written or collected by the same person. The Bible contains different kinds of such books. Some are history, telling the stories of the [[Jew]]s, [[Jesus]], or Jesus' followers. Some are collections of [[wise]] sayings. Some are God's commands to his people, which he expects them to obey. Some are songs of praise to God. Some are books of ''[[prophecy]]'', messages from [[God]] that he gave through chosen people called prophets.


Those books that are included in the Bible by a tradition or group are called [[Biblical canon|canonical]], indicating that the tradition/group views the collection as the true representation of God's word and will. A number of biblical canons have evolved, with overlapping and diverging contents from denomination to denomination.{{sfn|Riches|2000|pp=7–8}} The [[Hebrew Bible]] shares most of its content with its ancient Greek translation, the [[Septuagint]], which in turn was the base for the Christian [[Old Testament]]. The Christian [[New Testament]] is a collection of writings by [[early Christians]], believed to be [[Jewish Christian|Jewish disciples of Christ]], written in first-century [[Koine Greek]]. Among [[Christian denomination]]s there is some disagreement about what should be included in the canon, primarily about the [[biblical apocrypha]], a list of works that are regarded with varying levels of respect or recognition.
Different groups of Christians do not agree which texts should be included in the Bible. [[Christian]] Bibles range from the 66 books of the [[Protestantism|Protestant]] canon to 81 books in the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church|Ethiopian Orthodox]] Bible.<ref name="Ethiopian">{{cite web | url=http://www.ethiopianorthodox.org/english/canonical/books.html | title=The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church }}</ref> The oldest surviving Christian Bible is the [[Codex Sinaiticus]], a Greek manuscript from the fourth century AD.<ref>Codex Sinaiticus: http://codexsinaiticus.org/en/codex/</ref> The oldest complete Hebrew manuscripts date from the [[Middle Ages]].<ref>{{cite book| last = Davies| first = Philip R.| title = Memories of Ancient Israel: An Introduction to Biblical History - Ancient and Modern| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=M1rS4Kce_PMC| year = 2008| publisher = Westminster John Knox Press| isbn = 978-0-664-23288-7| page = 7 }}</ref>


Attitudes towards the Bible also differ among Christian groups. [[Roman Catholics]], [[High Church]] [[Anglicanism|Anglicans]], [[Methodism|Methodists]] and [[Eastern Orthodox]] Christians stress the harmony and importance of both the Bible and [[sacred tradition]],<ref name=WELS>{{cite web|url=http://www.wels.net/what-we-believe/questions-answers/christian/methodist-beliefs|title=Methodist Beliefs: In what ways are Lutherans different from United Methodists?|year=2014|publisher=Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod|language=en|access-date=22 May 2014|quote=The United Methodists see Scripture as the primary source and criterion for Christian doctrine. They emphasize the importance of tradition, experience, and reason for Christian doctrine. Lutherans teach that the Bible is the sole source for Christian doctrine. The truths of Scripture do not need to be authenticated by tradition, human experience, or reason. Scripture is self authenticating and is true in and of itself.|archive-date=22 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140522105449/http://www.wels.net/what-we-believe/questions-answers/christian/methodist-beliefs|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Humphrey2013">{{cite book|last=Humphrey|first=Edith M.|title=Scripture and Tradition |date=15 April 2013|publisher=Baker Books|language=en |isbn=978-1-4412-4048-4|page=16|quote=historically Anglicans have adopted what could be called a prima Scriptura position.}}</ref> while many [[Protestantism|Protestant]] churches focus on the idea of ''[[sola scriptura]]'', or scripture alone. This concept rose to prominence during the [[Reformation]], and many denominations today support the use of the Bible as the only [[Biblical infallibility|infallible]] source of Christian teaching. Others, though, advance the concept of ''[[prima scriptura]]'' in contrast, meaning scripture primarily or scripture mainly.<ref name="WELS" />
==How it was written==
For a long time the texts were passed on by word of mouth from [[generation]] to generation. The Bible was written long ago in [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]], [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], and [[Greek language|Greek]]. Translations were made later into [[Latin]] and some other languages. Now there are translations in English and many other languages. The books of the Hebrew Bible—what Christians call the [[Old Testament]]—were not all written at the same time. It took hundreds of years (about 1200 years). The [[process]] of putting it all together began around 400&nbsp;B.C. The books of the [[New Testament]], which was originally written in [[Greek language|Greek]], began to be collected together in about 100 [[Anno Domini|A.D.]] It tells about events that happened between 4 B.C. and 70 A.D. These events included the birth, life, death and [[resurrection]] of Jesus.  It also tells how his followers went around spreading his message. It ends with a description of how the world will end when Jesus returns to earth. Most of the writers of the New Testament were [[Twelve Apostles|apostles of Jesus]]. These were people who said they had seen Jesus alive after his [[crucifixion]].  


The Bible has had a profound influence on literature and history, especially in the [[Western world]], where the [[Gutenberg Bible]] was the first book printed using [[movable type]].<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-30036581|title=The Bible tops 'most influential' book survey|date=13 November 2014|website=[[BBC]]|access-date=11 August 2018|archive-date=12 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180812052559/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-30036581|url-status=live}}</ref> According to the March 2007 edition of ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'', the Bible "has done more to shape literature, history, entertainment, and culture than any book ever written. Its influence on world history is unparalleled, and shows no signs of abating."<ref name=":0" /> With estimated total sales of over five billion copies, it is widely considered to be the [[List of best-selling books|best-selling book of all time]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1601845,00.html|title=The Case For Teaching The Bible|last=Biema|first=David|date=22 March 2007|website=Time Magazine|access-date=11 August 2018|quote=Simply put, the Bible is the most influential book of all-time... The Bible has done more to shape literature, history, entertainment, and culture than any book ever written. Its influence on world history is unparalleled, and shows no signs of abating. Even pop culture is deeply influenced by the Bible.|archive-date=27 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180927152109/http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1601845,00.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/best-selling-book-of-non-fiction|title=Best selling book of non-fiction|publisher=Guinness World Records|access-date=9 December 2015|archive-date=8 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508113001/https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/best-selling-book-of-non-fiction|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111903918104576502782310557332|title=How We Got the Best-Selling Book of All Time|last1=Ryken|first1=Leland|newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=9 December 2015|archive-date=8 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508064956/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111903918104576502782310557332|url-status=live}}</ref> As of the 2000s, it sells approximately 100 million copies annually.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/node/10311317?story_id=10311317|title=The battle of the books|date=22 December 2007|work=The Economist|access-date=20 February 2020|archive-date=20 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130120151635/http://www.economist.com/node/10311317?story_id=10311317|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="RussellAsh">{{cite book|title=Top 10 of Everything 2002|author=Ash, Russell|publisher=Dorling Kindersley|year=2001|isbn=978-0-7894-8043-9|author-link=Russell Ash|url=https://archive.org/details/top10ofeverythin00ashr_0}}</ref>
=== Translations and versions ===
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A [[translation]] is when a [[scribe]] takes the [[source]] in one language and writes it in another [[language]]. Most texts of the Bible were written in [[Ancient Greek language|Ancient Greek]] or in [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] or [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]].


== Etymology ==
The first to provide a translation into [[Latin]] was [[Jerome]], in the 5th century. He started what is known as the Vulgate today. [[Wufila]] translated the Bible into the [[Gothic language|Gothic]] language. In the early Middle Ages, people such as [[Petrus Valdes]], and [[Jan Hus]] provided translations.
The English word ''[[:wikt:Bible|Bible]]'' is derived from {{lang-grc-x-koine|τὰ βιβλία|translit=ta biblia}}, meaning "the books" (singular {{lang-grc-x-koine|βιβλίον|translit=biblion|label=none}}).{{sfnm |1a1=Bandstra |1y=2009 |1p=7 |2a1=Gravett et al. |2y=2008 |2p=xv}}
The word {{lang|grc|βιβλίον}} itself had the literal meaning of "scroll" and came to be used as the ordinary word for "book". It is the diminutive of {{lang|grc|βύβλος}} ''byblos'', "Egyptian papyrus", possibly so called from the name of the [[Phoenicia]]n sea port [[Byblos]] (also known as Gebal) from whence Egyptian [[papyrus]] was exported to Greece.


By the 2nd century [[Common Era|BCE]], Jewish groups began calling the books of the Bible the "[[Religious text|scriptures]]" and they referred to them as "[[Religious text|holy]]", or in Hebrew כִּתְבֵי הַקֹּדֶשׁ (''Kitvei hakkodesh''), and Christians now commonly call the Old and New Testaments of the Christian Bible "The Holy Bible" (in Greek {{lang|grc|τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια}}, {{lang|grc-Latn|tà biblía tà ágia}}) or "the Holy Scriptures" ({{lang|grc|η Αγία Γραφή}}, {{lang|grc-Latn|e Agía Graphḗ}}).<ref>[http://biblehub.com/greek/1124.htm Bible Hub] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140816221046/http://biblehub.com/greek/1124.htm |date=16 August 2014 }} – The NT generally uses 1124 (graphḗ) for the Hebrew Scriptures (the OT) – but see also 2 Tim 3:16 and 2 Pet 3:16. 1124 (graphḗ) was used for the Hebrew Scriptures as early as Aristeas (about 130 bc; so MM)</ref>
The New Testament was first translated into English in 1382 by [[John Wycliffe]], and his associates translated the Old Testament. The translation was made from the [[Vulgate]] Latin bible. Wycliffe did this so that people could see for themselves what the Bible said. The translation was completed in 1382. There were some later editions by other people to the Wycliffe bible, as it is called. It was translated into [[Middle English]], the language of his day. Wycliffe did not have Church permission to do this, but he was protected by [[John of Gaunt]], one of the most powerful men in the kingdom. After both Wycliffe and his protector were dead, the Church declared Wycliffe a [[heretic]] in 1415, and banned his writings. The [[Council of Constance]] decreed Wycliffe's works should be burned and his remains exhumed (dug up). Why was the Church so opposed? The translations challenged the Church's authority over the people. In church, explaining the Bible was the priest's work. Whatever he said could not be challenged. Once the ordinary people could read the Bible, they might have other opinions.


The Greek ''ta biblia'' (lit. "little papyrus books")<ref name="Stagg">[[Frank Stagg (theologian)|Stagg, Frank]]. ''New Testament Theology.'' Nashville: Broadman, 1962. {{ISBN|0-8054-1613-7}}.</ref> was "an expression [[Hellenistic Jews]] used to describe their sacred books" (the [[Septuagint]]).<ref>[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/first/scriptures.html "From Hebrew Bible to Christian Bible" by Mark Hamilton] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180614021417/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/first/scriptures.html |date=14 June 2018 }} on PBS's site [https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/ From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091021023521/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/ |date=21 October 2009 }}.</ref><ref>[http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Bible Dictionary.com etymology of the word "Bible"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061015205119/http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=bible |date=15 October 2006 }}.</ref> Christian use of the term can be traced to c. 223 CE. The biblical scholar [[F. F. Bruce]] notes that [[Chrysostom]] appears to be the first writer (in his ''Homilies on Matthew'', delivered between 386 and 388) to use the Greek phrase ''ta biblia'' ("the books") to describe both the Old and [[New Testament]]s together.{{sfn|Bruce|1988|p=214}}
The next step in translation was done in 1525 by [[William Tyndale]]. His translation was into [[Early Modern English]], which we can just about understand today. Tyndale also did it without Church permission. His was the first translation to be [[print]]ed, and several thousand copies were made. He had no protector, and his fate was terrible. He fled to Europe, but the agents of [[Thomas More]] (Chancellor of England at the time) eventually found him. Both Tyndale and his printer were executed by burning at the stake.


[[Medieval Latin]] {{Lang|la-x-medieval|biblia}} is short for ''biblia sacra'' "holy book", while ''biblia'' in Greek and Late Latin is neuter plural (gen. ''bibliorum''). It gradually came to be regarded as a feminine singular noun ({{Lang|la-x-medieval|biblia}}, gen. {{Lang|la-x-medieval|bibliae}}) in medieval Latin, and so the word was loaned as singular into the vernaculars of Western Europe.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/02543a.htm|title=The Catholic Encyclopedia|publisher=Newadvent.org|year=1907|access-date=23 April 2010|archive-date=13 June 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613102636/http://newadvent.org/cathen/02543a.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Latin ''biblia sacra'' "holy books" translates Greek {{lang|grc|τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια}} ''tà biblía tà hágia'', "the holy books".<ref>[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3D%2319917 Biblion, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A'' Greek-English Lexicon'', at Perseus].</ref>
Another well known translation is the 1611 King James translation (commonly known as the Authorized King James Version of the Bible).


== Development ==
Some texts were written by [[historian]]s who tried to show what [[history of ancient Israel and Judah|Ancient Israel]] was like. Other texts are [[poem]]s about [[God]] and his work. And others were used to make [[law]]s. Followers of Judaism and Christianity consider the Bible [[sacred]] but they do not all agree about what belongs in the Bible. What is considered part of the Bible changed with history. Different [[Christian denomination|denominations]] include certain parts or leave out other parts. There is not one single version of the Bible; both the content of the books and their order may change.
{{See also|Authorship of the Bible|Dating the Bible}}


The Bible is not a single book but a collection of books, whose complex development is not completely understood. The books began as songs and stories orally transmitted from generation to generation before being written down in a process that began sometime around the start of the first millennium BCE and continued for over a thousand years. The Bible was written and compiled by many people, from a variety of disparate cultures, most of whom are unknown.{{sfnm |1a1=Lim |1y=2017 |1pp=40, 44, 58–59 |2a1=Hayes |2y=2012 |2loc=ch. 1 |3a1=Brown |3y=2010 |3loc=Intro. |4a1=Carr |4y=2010 |4p=17 |5a1=Bandstra |5y=2009 |5pp=7–9 |6a1=Gravett et al. |6y=2008 |6pp=xv, 41 |7a1=Harris & Platzner |7y=2008 |7pp=21–22 |8a1=Riches |8y=2000 |8pp=9, 18}}
Languages do not match. When a translation is done, the translator has to decide between translation word for word, or capturing the sense of the text. When he decides to capture the sense, he will choose other words in the target language. This is called paraphrasing.
British biblical scholar John K. Riches wrote:{{sfn|Riches|2000|p=9}}


{{quote|[T]he biblical texts were produced over a period in which the living conditions of the writers – political, cultural, economic, and ecological – varied enormously. There are texts which reflect a nomadic existence, texts from people with an established monarchy and Temple cult, texts from exile, texts born out of fierce oppression by foreign rulers, courtly texts, texts from wandering charismatic preachers, texts from those who give themselves the airs of sophisticated [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] writers. It is a time-span which encompasses the compositions of [[Homer]], [[Plato]], [[Aristotle]], [[Thucydides]], [[Sophocles]], [[Caesar]], [[Cicero]], and [[Catullus]]. It is a period which sees the rise and fall of the [[Assyrian empire]] (twelfth to seventh century) and of the [[Persian empire]] (sixth to fourth century), [[Alexander the Great|Alexander]]'s campaigns (336–326), the rise of [[Ancient Rome|Rome]] and its domination of the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] (fourth century to the founding of the [[Principate]], {{BCE|link|27}}), the destruction of the [[Second Temple|Jerusalem Temple]] (70 CE), and the extension of Roman rule to parts of [[Scotland]] (84 CE).}}
Today there are [[dozen]]s of [[version]]s of the Bible. Some are translations and some are paraphrases. A paraphrased version is where people take a translation and put it in their own words. As the Bible has been translated into modern languages, it is also possible that there are different translations of the same texts. The Bible is the best selling book of all time. 2.5 billion to more than 6 billion copies of the Bible have been sold to date.<ref name="RussellAsh">{{cite book | author= Ash, Russell | authorlink= | title=Top 10 of Everything 2002 | year=2001 | publisher=Dorling Kindersley | location= | isbn=0789480433 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/jul2005/di20050721_060250.htm Businessweek] on ''The Bible'': "The Bible (2.5 billion copies sold)" (18 July 2005)</ref> A complete version of the Bible exists in 471 languages. Parts have been translated in 2225 languages.<ref>[http://wycliff.de/?q=zahlen_und_statistik Wycliffe translators' homepage], (Sept 2009)</ref> Most Bibles can be found in the [[British Museum]] in [[London]].


[[File:Bible from 1300 (20).jpg|alt=Hebrew Bible from 1300. page 20, Genesis.|thumb|Hebrew Bible from 1300. Genesis.]]
== Old Testament ==
Considered to be [[scripture]]s (sacred, authoritative religious texts), the books were compiled by different religious communities into various [[biblical canon]]s (official collections of scriptures). The earliest compilation, containing the first five books of the Bible and called the [[Torah]] (meaning "law", "instruction", or "teaching") or Pentateuch ("five books"), was accepted as [[Jewish canon]] by the fifth century BCE. A second collection of narrative histories and prophesies, called the [[Nevi'im]] ("prophets"), was canonized in the third century BCE. A third collection called the [[Ketuvim]] ("writings"), containing psalms, proverbs, and narrative histories, was canonized sometime between the second century BCE and the second century CE. These three collections were written mostly in Hebrew, with some parts in Aramaic, and together form the [[Hebrew Bible]] or "TaNaKh" (a [[portmanteau]] of "Torah", "Nevi'im", and "Ketuvim").{{sfnm |1a1=Lim |1y=2017 |1pp=40, 44–45, 58–60 |2a1=Hayes |2y=2012 |2loc=ch. 1 |3a1=Brown |3y=2010 |3loc=Intro. |4a1=Carr |4y=2010 |4pp=3, 17 |5a1=Bandstra |5y=2009 |5pp=7–9 |6a1=Gravett et al. |6y=2008 |6p=54 |7a1=Harris & Platzner |7y=2008 |7p=3 |8a1=Riches |8y=2000 |8loc=chs. 2 and 3}}
{{main|Old Testament}}
The Christian Bible is a collection of 66 books. The first 39 books are the Old Testament. It is the first part of the God's story of salvation. "Salvation" is God's long work of saving us from our sins. "Sin" is what happened when people decided to live their own way instead of God's way in the world that God created. That was when God began His great work of saving us from our sins.
To prepare the way, God had to destroy the whole world by a great flood, except for the family of Noah. Then God raised up a new people for Himself. They were the ancient Hebrews. God promised the Hebrews they would bring His salvation to the whole world.
The first five books of the Old Testament are mostly the story of how God chose the ancient Hebrews and taught them his laws. Following these are the twelve books that tell the history of the Hebrews. The next five are books of poetry and wisdom. One of these five books, the "Psalms", is a book of songs showing mainly how God wants to be worshiped.
The last seventeen books of the Old Testament were written by Hebrew prophets. These books tell about God's disappointment with the ancient Hebrews and His promise to bring them back to friendship with Him. The prophets also foretell a great surprise God was planning for the world-He was going to send His very own Son, the Messiah (the "Anointed One"), the Saviour, to save us from our sins.
You can read about this Messiah in the New Testament.
In the Old Testament, [[Tanakh]] was mostly written in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]; a few parts were written in [[Aramaic]]. This part of the Bible is considered to be holy by [[Jews]] as well as Christians.


Greek-speaking Jews in [[Alexandria]] and elsewhere in the [[Jewish diaspora]] considered additional scriptures, composed between 200 BCE and 100 CE and not included in the Hebrew Bible, to be canon. These additional texts were included in a translation of the Hebrew Bible into [[Koine Greek]] (common Greek spoken by ordinary people) known as the [[Septuagint]] (meaning "the work of the seventy"), which began as a translation of the Torah made around 250 BCE and continued to develop for several centuries. The Septuagint contained all of the books of the Hebrew Bible, re-organized and with some textual differences, with the additional scriptures interspersed throughout.{{sfnm |1a1=Lim |1y=2017 |1pp=45–46, 58 |2a1=Hayes |2y=2012 |2loc=ch. 1 |3a1=Brown |3y=2010 |3loc=Intro. |4a1=Carr |4y=2010 |4p=250 |5a1=Bandstra |5y=2009 |5pp=8,  480 |6a1=Gravett et al. |6y=2008 |6p=47 |7a1=Harris & Platzner |7y=2008 |7p=27 |8a1=Riches |8y=2000 |8loc=ch. 3}}
There are also a few books of the Old Testament's time called [[Deuterocanonical]] by those Churches that accept them as part of the Bible, and [[Apocrypha]] by those that do not.


[[File:PaulT.jpg|thumb|right|''Saint Paul Writing His Epistles'', 16th-century painting.]]
== New Testament ==
During the rise of [[Christianity]] in the first century CE, new scriptures were written in Greek about the life and teachings of [[Jesus Christ]], who Christians believed was the [[messiah]] prophesized in the books of the Hebrew Bible. Two collections of these new scriptures{{snd}}the [[Pauline epistles]] and the [[Gospels]]{{snd}}were accepted as canon by the end of the second century CE. A third collection, the [[catholic epistles]], were canonized over the next few centuries. Christians called these new scriptures the "[[New Testament]]", and began referring to the Septuagint as the "[[Old Testament]]".{{sfnm |1a1=Lim |1y=2017 |1pp=45–46 |2a1=Brown |2y=2010 |2loc=Intro. and ch. 1 |3a1=Carr |3y=2010 |3p=17 |4a1=Bandstra |4y=2009 |4pp=7, 484 |5a1=Riches |5y=2000 |5loc=chs. 2 and 3}}
{{main|New Testament}}
The second part is called the New Testament. The main part of this book is the story of the life of [[Jesus Christ]]. The four different versions of this story in the New Testament are called the [[Gospel]]s. After the Gospels, there is also the story of what happened to the [[Church]] after Jesus's death and resurrection. Part of this is told through letters by early Christian leaders, especially [[Saint Paul]]. The [[Book of Revelation|final book of the Bible]] tells about a vision that [[John the Apostle|St. John]], one of the disciples of Jesus, had. In the vision John saw what would happen at the end of the world.  This included judgement for evil and happiness for the people who had followed Jesus.  One of the most quoted verses in the Bible is [[John 3:16]]: "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish <nowiki>[die]</nowiki> but have eternal life." <sup>[[NIV]]</sup>


Between 385 and 405 CE, the [[early Christian church]] translated its canon into [[Vulgar Latin]] (the common Latin spoken by ordinary people), a translation known as the [[Vulgate]], which included in its Old Testament the books that were in the Septuagint but not in the Hebrew Bible. The Vulgate introduced stability to the Bible, but also began the [[East-West Schism]] between Latin-speaking [[Western Christianity]] (led by the [[Catholic Church]]) and multi-lingual [[Eastern Christianity]] (led by the [[Eastern Orthodox Church]]). Christian denominations' biblical canons varied not only in the language of the books, but also in their selection, organization, and text.{{sfnm |1a1=Lim |1y=2017 |1p=40 |2a1=Hayes |2y=2012 |2loc=ch. 1 |3a1=Brown |3y=2010 |3loc=Intro. |4a1=Carr |4y=2010 |4pp=3–5 |5a1=Bandstra |5y=2009 |5pp=7–8, 480–481 |6a1=Gravett et al. |6y=2008 |6p=xv |7a1=Harris & Platzner |7y=2008 |7pp=3–4, 28, 371 |8a1=Riches |8y=2000 |8loc=ch. 3 }}
== Views about the Bible ==
People have different ideas about the Bible. Christians believe it is God's Word to people. The Jews believe that only the Old Testament is from God. Protestants and Catholics believe that the Old and New Testaments are God's Word. Catholics also believe that the books called Apocrypha or Deuterocanonical are part of the Bible. Sometimes different [[Christian denomination|denominations]] disagree over exactly what the Bible means.


Jewish [[rabbi]]s began developing a standard Hebrew Bible in the first century CE, maintained since the middle of the first millennium by the [[Masoretes]], and called the [[Masoretic Text]]. Christians have held [[ecumenical council]]s to standardize their biblical canon since the fourth century CE. The [[Council of Trent]] (1545–63), held by the Catholic Church in response to the [[Protestant Reformation]], authorized the Vulgate as its official Latin translation of the Bible. The Church deemed the additional books in its Old Testament that were interspersed among the Hebrew Bible books to be "[[Deuterocanonical books|deuterocanonical]]" (meaning part of a second or later canon). [[Protestant Bible]]s either separated these books into a separate section called the "[[Apocrypha]]" (meaning "hidden away") between the Old and New Testaments, or omitted them altogether. The 17th century Protestant [[King James Version]] was the most ubiquitous English Bible of all time, but it has largely been superseded by modern translations.{{sfnm |1a1=Lim |1y=2017 |1pp=40, 46, 49, 58–59 |2a1=Hayes |2y=2012 |2loc=ch. 1  |3a1=Brown |3y=2010 |3loc=Intro. |4a1=Carr |4y=2010 |4pp=3–5 |5a1=Bandstra |5y=2009 |5pp=7–8, 480–481 |6a1=Gravett et al. |6y=2008 |6pp=xv, 49 |7a1=Harris & Platzner |7y=2008 |7pp=3–4, 28, 31–32, 371 |8a1=Riches |8y=2000 |8loc=ch. 3}}
According to [[Islam]], the [[Injil]] itself is to be followed but it is believed to have been corrupted with time. The [[Qur'an]] is believed to be the successor.


== Textual history ==
[[Atheist]]s do not believe that gods exist, so the Bible is only an ancient book.
The books of the Bible were written and copied by hand, initially on papyrus scrolls. No originals survive, and the oldest existing scrolls are copies that were made centuries after the books were first written. The copies contained both errors and intentional changes, resulting in different versions of the books in circulation, ultimately diverging into distinct lineages, called "text families" or "text types". Over time, the individual scrolls were gathered into collections, but these collections had different scrolls, and different versions of the same scrolls, with no standard organization. By the 3rd century CE, scrolls were supplanted by early bound books called [[codex]]es, and collections of biblical books began being copied as a set.{{sfnm |Lim|2017|1p=47 |Ulrich|2013|2pp=103–104 |VanderKam & Flint|2013|3loc=ch. 5 |Brown|2010|4loc=ch. 3(A) |Harris & Platzner|2008|5p=22}}


[[File:Great Isaiah Scroll.jpg|thumb|upright=1.35|right|The [[Isaiah scroll]], which is a part of the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]], contains almost the whole [[Book of Isaiah]]. It dates from the 2nd century BCE.]]
[[Deist]]s believe in God, but they believe that the Bible was written by people, so they don't see it as important.
More than 220 [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] discovered in [[Qumran]] in 1947, which date between 250 BCE and 100 CE, are the oldest existing copies of the books of the [[Hebrew Bible]] of any considerable length. The Qumran scrolls attest to many different biblical text types. In addition to the Qumran scrolls, there are three major [[biblical manuscript|manuscript witnesses]] (historical copies) of the Hebrew Bible: the [[Septuagint]], the [[Masoretic Text]], and the [[Samaritan Pentateuch]]. Existing complete copies of the Septuagint, a translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, date from the third to the fifth centuries CE, with fragments dating back to the second century BCE. The Masoretic Text is a standardized version of the Hebrew Bible that began to be developed in the first century CE and has been maintained by the [[Masoretes]] since the latter half of the first millennium CE. Its oldest complete copy in existence is the [[Leningrad Codex]], dating to c. 1000 CE. The Samaritan Pentateuch is a version of the [[Torah]] maintained by the [[Samaritan]] community since antiquity and rediscovered by European scholars in the 17th century; the oldest existing copies date to c. 1100 CE.{{sfnm |Lim|2017|1pp=46–49 |Ulrich|2013|2pp=95–104 |VanderKam & Flint|2013|3loc=ch. 5 |Carr|2010|4p=8 |Bandstra|2009|5p=482 |Gravett et al.|2008|6pp=47–49 |Harris & Platzner|2008|7pp=23–28}}


There are about 3,000 existing New Testament manuscripts, copied between the 2nd and 17th centuries. The manuscripts include papyri, over a hundred of which have been discovered in Egypt since 1890; about 300 [[great uncial codices]], which are vellum or parchment books written in block Greek letters, mostly dating between the 3rd and 9th centuries CE; and about 2,900 [[New Testament minuscule|minuscules]], written in a cursive style (using connected letters) that superseded [[uncial]]s beginning in the 9th century. These manuscripts differ in varying degrees from one another and are grouped according to their similarities into textual families or lineages; the four most commonly recognized are [[Alexandrian text-type|Alexandrian]], [[Western text-type|Western]], [[Caesarean text-type|Caesarean]], and [[Byzantine text-type|Byzantine]].{{sfnm |Parker|2013|1pp=412–420, 430–432 |Brown|2010|2loc=ch. 3(A)}}
== Some people in the Bible ==
 
{{Div col}}
== Hebrew Bible ==
* [[Abraham]]
{{Tanakh}}
* [[King]] [[David]]
{{Main|Development of the Hebrew Bible canon}}
* [[Isaac]]
[[File:2nd century Hebrew decalogue.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Nash Papyrus]] (2nd century BCE) contains a portion of a pre-Masoretic Text, specifically the [[Ten Commandments]] and the [[Shema Yisrael]] prayer.]]
* [[Jacob]]
The [[Masoretic Text]] is the authoritative [[Biblical Hebrew|Hebrew]] text of the Hebrew Bible. It defines the books of the Jewish canon, and also the precise letter-text of these biblical books, with their [[niqqud|vocalization]] and [[cantillation|accentuation]].
* [[James (son of Zebedee)]]
 
* [[Jesus Christ]]
The oldest extant manuscripts of the Masoretic Text date from approximately the 9th century CE,<ref>A 7th-century fragment containing the Song of the Sea (Exodus 13:19–16:1) is one of the few surviving texts from the "silent era" of Hebrew biblical texts between the Dead Sea Scrolls and the [[Aleppo Codex]]. See [https://archive.today/20120527082242/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1178708654713&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull "Rare scroll fragment to be unveiled," Jerusalem Post, May 21, 2007].</ref> and the [[Aleppo Codex]] (once the oldest complete copy of the Masoretic Text, but now missing its Torah section) dates from the 10th century. The term "Keter" (crown, from the Arabic, ''taj'') originally referred to this particular manuscript, Over the years, the term Keter came to refer to any full text of the Hebrew Bible, or significant portion of it, bound as a codex (not a scroll) and including vowel points, cantillation marks, and Masoretic notes. Medieval handwritten manuscripts were considered extremely precise, the most authoritative documents from which to copy other texts.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Damascus Keters|url=https://web.nli.org.il/sites/nli/english/collections/jewish-collection/pages/damascus.aspx|website=National Library of Israel|access-date=1 July 2020|archive-date=28 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728235241/https://web.nli.org.il/sites/NLI/English/collections/jewish-collection/Pages/damascus.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[John the Apostle]]
 
* [[Joseph (Bible)|Joseph]]
The name [[Tanakh]] ([[Hebrew language|Hebrew]]: {{Script/Hebrew|תנ"ך}}) reflects the threefold division of the Hebrew Scriptures, [[Torah]] ("Teaching"), [[Nevi'im]] ("Prophets") and [[Ketuvim]] ("Writings").
* [[Luke the Evangelist]]
 
* [[Mark the Evangelist]]
=== Torah ===
* [[The Virgin Mary]]
{{Main|Torah}}
* [[Matthew the Evangelist]]
{{See also|Oral Torah}}
* [[Moses]]
[[File:Köln-Tora-und-Innenansicht-Synagoge-Glockengasse-040.JPG|thumb|A [[Torah scroll]] recovered from [[Glockengasse Synagogue]] in [[Cologne]].]]
* [[Book of Joshua|Joshua]]
The Torah (תּוֹרָה) is also known as the "Five Books of [[Moses]]" or the [[Pentateuch]], meaning "five scroll-cases".<ref>[[iarchive:isbn 9780393064933/page/647|<!-- quote=Pentateuch from Greek meaning "five scroll-cases. -->]] The Restored New Testament: A New Translation with Commentary, Including the Gnostic Gospels Thomas, Mary, and Judas by [[Willis Barnstone]] – W. W. Norton & Company. p. 647</ref>
* [[Noah]]
Traditionally these books were considered to have been [[Mosaic authorship|written almost entirely by Moses]] himself.<ref name="Pentateuch">"Pentateuch". Cross, F. L., ed. The Oxford dictionary of the Christian church. New York: Oxford University Press. 2005</ref>
* [[Saint Peter]]
In the 19th century, [[Julius Wellhausen]] and other scholars proposed that the Torah had been compiled from earlier written documents dating from the 9th to the 5th century BCE, the "[[documentary hypothesis]]".<ref name="Pentateuch" /> Scholars [[Hermann Gunkel]] and [[Martin Noth]], building on the [[form criticism]] of [[Gerhard von Rad]], refined this hypothesis, while other scholars have proposed other ways that the Torah might have developed over the centuries.<ref name="Pentateuch" />
* [[Paul of Tarsus|Saint Paul]]
[[File:Samaritan Inscription containing portion of the Bible in nine lines of Hebrew text, currently housed in the British Museum.jpg|thumb|Samaritan Inscription containing portion of the Bible in nine lines of Hebrew text, currently housed in the British Museum]]
* [[First Epistle to Timothy|Timothy]]
The Hebrew names of the books are derived from the [[Incipit|first words]] in the respective texts. The Torah consists of the following five books:
* [[adam and eve|Adam]]
* [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]], ''Beresheeth'' (בראשית)
* [[adam and eve|Eve]]
* [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]], ''Shemot'' (שמות)
{{Div col end}}
* [[Book of Leviticus|Leviticus]], ''Vayikra'' (ויקרא)
* [[Book of Numbers|Numbers]], ''Bamidbar'' (במדבר)
* [[Book of Deuteronomy|Deuteronomy]], ''Devarim'' (דברים)
 
The first eleven chapters of Genesis provide accounts of the [[Genesis creation narrative|creation]] (or ordering) of the world and the history of God's early relationship with humanity. The remaining thirty-nine chapters of Genesis provide an account of God's [[biblical covenant|covenant]] with the [[Patriarchs (Bible)|biblical patriarchs]] [[Abraham]], [[Isaac]] and [[Jacob]] (also called [[Israel (name)|Israel]]) and Jacob's children, the "[[Children of Israel]]", especially [[Joseph (Hebrew Bible)|Joseph]]. It tells of how God commanded Abraham to leave his family and home in the city of [[Ur of the Chaldees|Ur]], eventually to settle in the land of [[Canaan]], and how the Children of Israel later moved to Egypt. The remaining four books of the Torah tell the story of [[Moses]], who lived hundreds of years after the patriarchs. He leads the Children of Israel from slavery in [[ancient Egypt]] to the renewal of their covenant with God at [[biblical Mount Sinai]] and their wanderings in the desert until a new generation was ready to enter the land of Canaan. The Torah ends with the death of Moses.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=AzZlANCOIRgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Seymour+Rossel%22#v=onepage [[Seymour Rossel]] (2007).] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727113354/https://books.google.com/books?id=AzZlANCOIRgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=inauthor:%22Seymour+Rossel%22#v=onepage |date=27 July 2020 }} ''The Torah: Portion by Portion'', p. 355. Torah Aura Productions, CA. Retrieved 31 August 2019.</ref>
 
The commandments in the Torah provide the basis for [[Halakha|Jewish religious law]]. Tradition states that there are [[613 commandments]] (''taryag mitzvot'').
 
=== Nevi'im ===
{{Main|Nevi'im}}
{{Books of Nevi'im}}
''Nevi'im'' ({{lang-he|נְבִיאִים|translit=Nəḇî'îm}}, "Prophets") is the second main division of the Tanakh, between the ''Torah'' and ''Ketuvim.'' It contains two sub-groups, the Former Prophets ({{lang|he-Latn|Nevi'im Rishonim}} {{lang|he|נביאים ראשונים|rtl=yes}}, the narrative books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings) and the Latter Prophets ({{lang|he-Latn|Nevi'im Aharonim}} {{lang|he|נביאים אחרונים|rtl=yes}}, the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel and the [[Twelve Minor Prophets]]).
 
The Nevi'im tell the story of the rise of the Hebrew monarchy and its division into two kingdoms, [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|ancient Israel]] and [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]], focusing on conflicts between the [[Israelites]] and other nations, and conflicts among Israelites, specifically, struggles between believers in "the {{LORD}} God"<ref>{{bibleref2|1 Kings.18:24;1 Kings.18:37–39|9}}</ref> ([[Yahweh]]) and believers in foreign gods,<ref>George Savran "I and II Kings" in ''The Literary Guide to the Bible'' edited by [[Robert Alter]] and [[Frank Kermode]]. "Each king is judged either good or bad in black-and-white terms, according to whether or not he "did right" or "did evil" in the sight of the Lord. This evaluation is not reflective of the well-being of the nation, of the king's success or failure in war, or of the moral climate of the times, but rather the state of cultic worship during his reign. Those kings who shun idolatry and enact religious reforms are singled out for praise, and those who encourage pagan practices are denounced." 146</ref><ref>[[Yehezkel Kaufmann]] "Israel In Canaan" in ''Great Ages and Ideas of the Jewish People'' edited by Leo Schwartz, The Modern Library. "The fight against Baal was initiated by the prophets" 54</ref> and the criticism of unethical and unjust behaviour of Israelite elites and rulers;<ref>[[Yehezkel Kaufmann]] "The Age of Prophecy" in ''Great Ages and Ideas of the Jewish People'' edited by Leo Schwartz, The Modern Library. "The immediate occasion of the rise of the new prophecy was the political and social ruin caused by the wars with Israel's northerly neighbor, Aram, which continued for more than a century. They raged intensely during the reign of Ahab, and did not end until the time of Jeroboam II (784–744). While the nation as a whole was impoverished, a few&nbsp;– apparently of the royal officialdom&nbsp;– grew wealthy as a result of the national calamity. Many of the people were compelled to sell their houses and lands, with the result that a sharp social cleavage arose: on the one hand a mass of propertyless indigents, on the other a small circle of the rich. A series of disasters struck the nation&nbsp;– drought, famine, plagues, death and captivity (Amos 4: 6–11), but the greatest disaster of all was the social disintegration due to the cleavage between the poor masses and the wealthy, dissolute upper class. The decay affected both Judah and Israel ... High minded men were appalled at this development. Was this the people whom YHWH had brought out of Egypt, to whom He had given the land and a law of justice and right? it seemed as if the land was about to be inherited by the rich, who would squander its substance in drunken revelry. it was this dissolution that brought the prophetic denunciations to white heat." 57–58</ref><ref>[[Abraham Joshua Heschel]] 1955 ''The Prophets'' Harper and Row: "What manner of man is the prophet? A student of philosophy who runs from the discourses of the great metaphysicians to the orations of the prophets may feel as if he were going from the realm of the sublime to an area of trivialities. Instead of dealing with the timeless issues of being and becoming, of matter and form, of definitions and demonstrations, he is thrown into orations about widows and orphans, about the corruption of judges and affairs of the market place. Instead of showing us a way through the elegant mansions of the mind, the prophets take us to the slums. The world is a proud place, full of beauty, but the prophets are scandalized, and rave as if the whole world were a slum. They make much ado about paltry things, lavishing excessive language upon trifling subjects. What if somewhere in ancient Palestine poor people have not been treated properly by the rich? .... Indeed, the sorts of crimes and even the amount of delinquency that fill the prophets of Israel with dismay do not go beyond that which we regard as normal, as typical ingredients of social dynamics. To us a single act of injustice&nbsp;– cheating in business, exploitation of the poor – is slight; to the prophets, a disaster. To us an injustice is injurious to the welfare of the people; to the prophets it is a deathblow to existence; to us an episode; to them, a catastrophe, a threat to the world." 3–4</ref><ref>Joel Rosenberg "I and II Samuel" in ''The Literary Guide to the Bible'' edited by [[Robert Alter]] and [[Frank Kermode]]. "Samuel is thus a work of national self-criticism. It recognizes that Israel would not have survived, either politically or culturally, without the steadying presence of a dynastic royal house. But it makes both that house and its subjects answerable to firm standards of prophetic justice&nbsp;– not those of cult prophets or professional ecstatics, but of morally upright prophetic leaders in the tradition of Moses, Joshua, Deborah, Gideon, and others ..." 141</ref> in which prophets played a crucial and leading role. It ends with the conquest of the Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians followed by the conquest of the Kingdom of Judah by the Babylonians and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem.
 
==== Former Prophets ====
The Former Prophets are the books Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings. They contain narratives that begin immediately after the death of Moses with the divine appointment of Joshua as his successor, who then leads the people of Israel into the [[Promised Land]], and end with the release from imprisonment of the last [[king of Judah]]. Treating Samuel and Kings as single books, they cover:
* Joshua's conquest of the land of Canaan (in the [[Book of Joshua]]),
* the struggle of the people to possess the land (in the [[Book of Judges]]),
* the people's request to God to give them a king so that they can occupy the land in the face of their enemies (in the [[Books of Samuel]])
* the possession of the land under the divinely appointed kings of the House of David, ending in conquest and foreign exile ([[Books of Kings]])
 
==== Latter Prophets ====
The Latter Prophets are divided into two groups, the "major" prophets, [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]], [[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]], [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]], [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]], and the [[Twelve Minor Prophets]], collected into a single book. The collection is broken up to form twelve individual books in the Christian Old Testament, one for each of the prophets:
* [[Book of Hosea|Hosea]], ''Hoshea'' (הושע)
* [[Book of Joel|Joel]], ''Yoel'' (יואל)
* [[Book of Amos|Amos]], ''Amos'' (עמוס)
* [[Book of Obadiah|Obadiah]], ''Ovadyah'' (עבדיה)
* [[Book of Jonah|Jonah]], ''Yonah'' (יונה)
* [[Book of Micah|Micah]], ''Mikhah'' (מיכה)
* [[Book of Nahum|Nahum]], ''Nahum'' (נחום)
* [[Book of Habakkuk|Habakkuk]], ''Havakuk'' (חבקוק)
* [[Book of Zephaniah|Zephaniah]], ''Tsefanya'' (צפניה)
* [[Book of Haggai|Haggai]], ''Khagay'' (חגי)
* [[Book of Zechariah|Zechariah]], ''Zekharyah'' (זכריה)
* [[Book of Malachi|Malachi]], ''Malakhi'' (מלאכי)
 
=== Ketuvim ===
{{Main|Ketuvim}}
{{Books of Ketuvim}}
''Ketuvim'' or ''Kəṯûḇîm'' (in {{lang-hbo|כְּתוּבִים}} "writings") is the third and final section of the Tanakh. The Ketuvim are believed to have been written under the [[Ruach HaKodesh]] (the Holy Spirit) but with one level less authority than that of [[prophecy]].<ref>[[Jacob Neusner|Neusner, Jacob]], The Talmud Law, Theology, Narrative: A Sourcebook. University Press of America, 2005</ref>
 
==== The poetic books ====
[[File:Bhs psalm1.png|thumb|[[Hebrew]] text of {{bibleverse|Psalm|1:1–2}} ]]
In [[Masoretic]] manuscripts (and some printed editions), Psalms, Proverbs and Job are presented in a special two-column form emphasizing the parallel stichs in the verses, which are a function of their [[Biblical poetry|poetry]]. Collectively, these three books are known as ''Sifrei Emet'' (an acronym of the titles in Hebrew, איוב, משלי, תהלים yields ''Emet'' אמ"ת, which is also the Hebrew for "truth").
 
These three books are also the only ones in Tanakh with a special system of [[cantillation]] notes that are designed to emphasize parallel stichs within verses. However, the beginning and end of the book of Job are in the normal prose system.
 
==== The five scrolls (''Hamesh Megillot'') ====
The five relatively short books of [[Song of Songs]], [[Book of Ruth]], the [[Book of Lamentations]], [[Ecclesiastes]] and [[Book of Esther]] are collectively known as the ''Hamesh Megillot'' ([[Five Megillot]]). These are the latest books collected and designated as "authoritative" in the Jewish canon even though they were not complete until the 2nd century CE.<ref name="Coogan2009">Coogan, Michael D. ''A Brief Introduction to the Old Testament: the Hebrew Bible in its Context.'' Oxford University Press. 2009; p. 5</ref>
 
==== Other books ====
Besides the three poetic books and the five scrolls, the remaining books in Ketuvim are [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]], [[Ezra–Nehemiah]] and Chronicles. Although there is no formal grouping for these books in the Jewish tradition, they nevertheless share a number of distinguishing characteristics:
* Their narratives all openly describe relatively late events (i.e., the Babylonian captivity and the subsequent restoration of Zion).
* The Talmudic tradition ascribes late authorship to all of them.
* Two of them (Daniel and Ezra) are the only books in the Tanakh with significant portions in [[Biblical Aramaic|Aramaic]].
 
==== Order of the books ====
The following list presents the books of Ketuvim in the order they appear in most printed editions. It also divides them into three subgroups based on the distinctiveness of ''Sifrei Emet'' and ''Hamesh Megillot''.
 
The Three Poetic Books (''Sifrei Emet'')
* ''Tehillim'' ([[Psalms]]) תְהִלִּים
* ''Mishlei'' ([[Book of Proverbs]]) מִשְלֵי
* ''Iyyôbh'' ([[Book of Job]]) אִיּוֹב
The [[Five Megillot]] (''Hamesh Megillot'')
* ''Shīr Hashshīrīm'' ([[Song of Songs]]) or (Song of Solomon) שִׁיר הַשִׁירִים ([[Passover]])
* ''Rūth'' ([[Book of Ruth]]) רוּת ([[Shābhû‘ôth]])
* ''Eikhah'' ([[Book of Lamentations|Lamentations]]) איכה ([[Ninth of Av]]) [Also called ''Kinnot'' in Hebrew.]
* ''Qōheleth'' ([[Ecclesiastes]]) קהלת ([[Sukkôth]])
* ''Estēr'' ([[Book of Esther]]) אֶסְתֵר ([[Pûrîm]])
Other books
* ''Dānî’ēl'' ([[Book of Daniel]]) דָּנִיֵּאל
* ''‘Ezrā'' ([[Book of Ezra]]–[[Book of Nehemiah]]) עזרא
* ''Divrei ha-Yamim'' ([[Books of Chronicles|Chronicles]]) דברי הימים
 
The Jewish textual tradition never finalized the order of the books in Ketuvim. The [[Talmud|Babylonian Talmud]] ([[Bava Batra]] 14b–15a) gives their order as Ruth, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Lamentations of Jeremiah, Daniel, Scroll of Esther, Ezra, Chronicles.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=9NUejG2IGPMC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906085337/https://books.google.com/books?id=9NUejG2IGPMC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage |date=6 September 2015 }} The Babylonian Talmud, Vol. 7 of 9: Tract Baba Bathra (Last Gate) translated by Michael L. Rodkinson, first published 1918 – published 2008 by Forgotten Books, p. 53</ref>
 
In Tiberian [[Masoretic]] codices, including the [[Aleppo Codex]] and the [[Leningrad Codex]], and often in old Spanish manuscripts as well, the order is Chronicles, Psalms, Job, Proverbs, Ruth, Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations of Jeremiah, Esther, Daniel, Ezra.<ref>[http://www.beitemet.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10:ketuvim&catid=39:about-the-bible&Itemid=57&fontstyle=f-smaller] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170123074217/http://www.beitemet.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10:ketuvim&catid=39:about-the-bible&Itemid=57&fontstyle=f-smaller |date=23 January 2017 }} Ketuvim כְּתוּבִים 30 July 2008</ref>
 
==== Canonization ====
The Ketuvim is the last of the three portions of the Tanakh to have been accepted as [[biblical canon]]. While the Torah may have been considered canon by Israel as early as the 5th century BCE and the [[Former Prophets|Former]] and [[Latter Prophets]] were canonized by the 2nd century BCE, the Ketuvim was not a fixed canon until the 2nd century of the [[Common Era]].<ref name="Coogan2009" />
 
Evidence suggests, however, that the people of Israel were adding what would become the Ketuvim to their holy literature shortly after the canonization of the prophets. As early as 132 BCE references suggest that the Ketuvim was starting to take shape, although it lacked a formal title.{{sfn|Henshaw|1963|pp=16–17}} References in the four [[Gospels]] as well as other books of the New Testament indicate that many of these texts were both commonly known and counted as having some degree of religious authority early in the 1st century CE.
 
Many scholars believe that the limits of the Ketuvim as canonized scripture were determined by the [[Council of Jamnia]] c. 90 CE. ''[[Against Apion]]'', the writing of [[Flavius Josephus|Josephus]] in 95 CE, treated the text of the Hebrew Bible as a closed canon to which "... no one has ventured either to add, or to remove, or to alter a syllable..."<ref>Lightfoot, Neil R. ''How We Got the Bible'', 3rd edition, rev. and expanded. Baker Book House Company. 2003, pp. 154–155.</ref> For a long time following this date the divine inspiration of Esther, [[the Song of Songs]], and [[Ecclesiastes]] was often under scrutiny.{{sfn|Henshaw|1963|p=17}}
 
=== Original languages ===
The Tanakh was mainly written in [[biblical Hebrew]], with some small portions (Ezra 4:8–6:18 and 7:12–26, Jeremiah 10:11, Daniel 2:4–7:28)<ref>{{Bibleref2|Ezra|4:8–6:18}} and {{Bibleref2-nb|Ezra|7:12–26}}, {{Bibleref2|Jeremiah|10:11}}, {{Bibleref2|Daniel|2:4–7:28}}</ref> written in [[biblical Aramaic]], a sister language which became the ''[[lingua franca]]'' for much of the Semitic world.<ref name="Driver">[[Sir Godfrey Driver]]. "Introduction to the Old Testament of the New English Bible." Web: 30 November 2009</ref>
 
== Samaritan Pentateuch ==
{{Main|Samaritan Pentateuch}}
Samaritans include only the Pentateuch in their biblical canon.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=SBMXnB4CRpUC&pg=PA91 Vanderkam 2002, p. 91] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126064821/https://books.google.com/books?id=SBMXnB4CRpUC&pg=PA91 |date=26 January 2021 }}.</ref> They do not recognize [[Authorship of the Bible#Divine authorship|divine authorship]] or [[Biblical inspiration|inspiration]] in any other book in the Jewish [[Tanakh]].<ref>Although a paucity of extant source material makes it impossible to be certain that the earliest Samaritans also rejected the other books of the Tanakh, the third-century church father [[Origen]] confirms that the Samaritans in his day "receive[d] the books of Moses alone." ([http://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf04.vi.ix.i.l.html Commentary on John 13:26] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210203123708/https://www.ccel.org/ccel/schaff/anf04.vi.ix.i.l.html |date=3 February 2021 }})</ref> A [[Book of Joshua (Samaritan)|Samaritan Book of Joshua]] partly based upon the Tanakh's [[Book of Joshua]] exists, but Samaritans regard it as a non-canonical secular historical chronicle.<ref>{{cite journal
|last=Gaster
|first=M.
|title=A Samaritan Book of Joshua
|journal=The Living Age
|volume=258
|year=1908
|page=166
|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eUCRAfZvwRgC&pg=PA166
|access-date=5 January 2019
|archive-date=19 September 2020
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919083143/https://books.google.com/books?id=eUCRAfZvwRgC&pg=PA166
|url-status=live
}}</ref>
 
== Septuagint ==
{{Main|Septuagint}}
[[File:Codex Vaticanus (1 Esdras 1-55 to 2-5) (The S.S. Teacher's Edition-The Holy Bible).jpg|thumb|upright|Fragment of a Septuagint: A column of [[uncial]] book from [[1 Esdras]] in the ''[[Codex Vaticanus Graecus 1209|Codex Vaticanus]]'' c. 325–350&nbsp;CE, the basis of Sir Lancelot Charles Lee Brenton's Greek edition and [[Brenton's English Translation of the Septuagint|English translation]].]]
The Septuagint, or the LXX, is a translation of the Hebrew Scriptures and some related texts into [[Koine Greek]], begun in the late 3rd century BCE and completed by 132&nbsp;BCE,<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=owd9zig7i1oC&pg=PA369 ''Life after death: a history of the afterlife in the religions of the West'' (2004)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906090851/https://books.google.com/books?id=owd9zig7i1oC&pg=PA369 |date=6 September 2015 }}, Anchor Bible Reference Library, [[Alan F. Segal]], p. 363</ref><ref>Gilles Dorival, Marguerite Harl, and Olivier Munnich, ''La Bible grecque des Septante: Du judaïsme hellénistique au christianisme ancien'' (Paris: Cerfs, 1988), p. 111</ref><ref name="ndq" /> initially in [[Alexandria]], but in time it was completed elsewhere as well.<ref name="Jobes and Silva">{{cite book|author=[[Karen H. Jobes]] and [[Moises Silva]]|title=Invitation to the Septuagint|year=2001|publisher=[[Paternoster Press]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OysSAQAAIAAJ|isbn=978-1-84227-061-5|access-date=14 August 2015|archive-date=12 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200312072203/https://books.google.com/books?id=OysSAQAAIAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> It is not altogether clear which was translated when, or where; some may even have been translated twice, into different versions, and then revised.<ref>Joel Kalvesmaki, [http://www.kalvesmaki.com/LXX/ The Septuagint] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109160346/http://www.kalvesmaki.com/LXX/texts.htm |date=9 November 2014 }}</ref>
 
As the work of translation progressed, the canon of the Septuagint expanded. The Torah always maintained its pre-eminence as the basis of the canon but the collection of prophetic writings, based on the ''Nevi'im'', had various [[hagiographa|hagiographical]] works incorporated into it. In addition, some newer books were included in the Septuagint, among these are the [[Books of the Maccabees|Maccabees]] and the [[Wisdom of Sirach]]. However, the book of [[Sirach]], is now known to have existed in a Hebrew version, since ancient Hebrew manuscripts of it were rediscovered in modern times. The Septuagint version of some Biblical books, like [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]] and [[Book of Esther|Esther]], are longer than those in the Jewish canon.<ref>Rick Grant Jones, ''Various Religious Topics'', "[https://web.archive.org/web/20030606114529/http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/7224/Rick/Septuagint/sp_books.html Books of the Septuagint]", (Accessed 2006.9.5).</ref> Some of these [[deuterocanonical books]] (e.g. the [[Book of Wisdom|Wisdom of Solomon]], and the [[2 Maccabees|second book of Maccabees]]) were not translated, but composed directly in Greek.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}}
 
Since [[Late Antiquity]], once attributed to a hypothetical late 1st-century [[Council of Jamnia#Developments attributed to Jamnia|Council of Jamnia]], mainstream [[Rabbinic Judaism]] rejected the Septuagint as valid Jewish scriptural texts. Several reasons have been given for this. First, some mistranslations were claimed. Second, the Hebrew source texts used for the Septuagint differed from the Masoretic tradition of Hebrew texts, which was chosen as canonical by the Jewish rabbis.<ref>"The translation, which shows at times a peculiar ignorance of Hebrew usage, was evidently made from a codex which differed widely in places from the text crystallized by the Masorah." {{cite web|title=Bible Translations – The Septuagint|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3269-bible-translations|publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com|access-date=10 February 2012|archive-date=15 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315222428/http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3269-bible-translations|url-status=live}}</ref> Third, the rabbis wanted to distinguish their tradition from the newly emerging tradition of Christianity.<ref name="ndq">"[...] die griechische Bibelübersetzung, die einem innerjüdischen Bedürfnis entsprang [...] [von den] Rabbinen zuerst gerühmt (.) Später jedoch, als manche ungenaue Übertragung des hebräischen Textes in der Septuaginta und Übersetzungsfehler die Grundlage für hellenistische Irrlehren abgaben, lehte man die Septuaginta ab." Verband der Deutschen Juden (Hrsg.), neu hrsg. von Walter Homolka, Walter Jacob, Tovia Ben Chorin: Die Lehren des Judentums nach den Quellen; München, Knesebeck, 1999, Bd.3, S. 43ff</ref><ref>"Two things, however, rendered the Septuagint unwelcome in the long run to the Jews. Its divergence from the accepted text (afterward called the Masoretic) was too evident; and it therefore could not serve as a basis for theological discussion or for homiletic interpretation. This distrust was accentuated by the fact that it had been adopted as Sacred Scripture by the new faith [Christianity] [...] In course of time it came to be the canonical Greek Bible [...] It became part of the Bible of the Christian Church."{{cite web|title=Bible Translations – The Septuagint|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3269-bible-translations|publisher=JewishEncyclopedia.com|access-date=10 February 2012|archive-date=15 March 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315222428/http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/3269-bible-translations|url-status=live}}</ref>
Finally, the rabbis claimed a divine authority for the Hebrew language, in contrast to Aramaic or Greek – even though these languages were the ''[[lingua franca]]'' of Jews during this period (and Aramaic would eventually be given a holy language status comparable to Hebrew).<ref>Mishnah Sotah (7:2–4 and 8:1), among many others, discusses the sacredness of Hebrew, as opposed to Aramaic or Greek. This is comparable to the authority claimed for the original Arabic Koran according to Islamic teaching. As a result of this teaching, translations of the Torah into Koine Greek by early Jewish [[Rabbi]]s have survived as rare fragments only.</ref>
 
The Septuagint is the basis for the [[Vetus Latina|Old Latin]], [[Old Church Slavonic language|Slavonic]], [[Syro-hexaplar version|Syriac]], Old [[Armenian language|Armenian]], Old [[Georgian language|Georgian]] and [[Coptic language|Coptic]] versions of the Christian Old Testament.<ref name="Würthwein">Ernst Würthwein, ''The Text of the Old Testament'', trans. Errol F. Rhodes, Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. Eerdmans, 1995.</ref> The [[Roman Catholic]] and [[Eastern Orthodox]] Churches use most of the books of the Septuagint, while [[Protestant]] churches usually do not. After the [[Protestant Reformation]], many Protestant Bibles began to follow the Jewish canon and exclude the additional texts, which came to be called [[biblical apocrypha]]. The Apocrypha are included under a separate heading in the [[Authorized King James Version|King James Version]] of the Bible, the basis for the [[Revised Standard Version]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/|title=NETS: Electronic Edition|publisher=Ccat.sas.upenn.edu|date=11 February 2011|access-date=13 August 2012|archive-date=29 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110729150550/http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
=== Incorporations from Theodotion ===
In most ancient copies of the Bible which contain the Septuagint version of the Old Testament, the [[Book of Daniel]] is not the original Septuagint version, but instead is a copy of [[Theodotion]]'s translation from the Hebrew, which more closely resembles the Masoretic Text.{{citation needed|date=June 2014}} The original Septuagint version was discarded in favour of Theodotion's version in the 2nd to 3rd centuries CE. In Greek-speaking areas, this happened near the end of the 2nd century, and in Latin-speaking areas (at least in North Africa), it occurred in the middle of the 3rd century. History does not record the reason for this, and St. [[Jerome]] reports, in the preface to the [[Vulgate]] version of Daniel, "This thing 'just' happened."<ref name="EncBibTV">{{EncyclopaediaBiblica|article=Text and Versions|section=Text and Versions}}</ref> One of two Old Greek texts of the Book of Daniel has been recently rediscovered and work is ongoing in reconstructing the original form of the book.<ref name="Dines">Jennifer M. Dines, ''The Septuagint'', Michael A. Knibb, Ed., London: T&T Clark, 2004.</ref>
 
The canonical [[Ezra–Nehemiah]] is known in the Septuagint as "Esdras B", and 1 Esdras is "Esdras A". 1 Esdras is a very similar text to the books of Ezra–Nehemiah, and the two are widely thought by scholars to be derived from the same original text. It has been proposed, and is thought highly likely by scholars, that "Esdras B" – the canonical Ezra–Nehemiah – is Theodotion's version of this material, and "Esdras A" is the version which was previously in the Septuagint on its own.<ref name="EncBibTV" />
 
=== Final form ===
Some texts are found in the Septuagint but are not present in the Hebrew. These additional books are [[Book of Tobit|Tobit]], [[Judith]], [[Book of Wisdom|Wisdom of Solomon]], [[Sirach|Wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach]], [[Book of Baruch|Baruch]], the [[Letter of Jeremiah]] (which later became chapter 6 of Baruch in the Vulgate), [[additions to Daniel]] ([[The Prayer of Azariah|The Prayer of Azarias]], the [[The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children|Song of the Three Children]], [[Susanna (Book of Daniel)|Susanna]] and [[Bel and the Dragon]]), additions to [[Book of Esther|Esther]], [[1 Maccabees]], [[2 Maccabees]], [[3 Maccabees]], [[4 Maccabees]], [[1 Esdras]], [[Book of Odes (Bible)|Odes]], including the [[Prayer of Manasseh]], the [[Psalms of Solomon]], and [[Psalm 151]].
 
Some books that are set apart in the Masoretic Text are grouped together. For example, the [[Books of Samuel]] and the [[Books of Kings]] are in the LXX one book in four parts called Βασιλειῶν ("Of Reigns"). In LXX, the [[Books of Chronicles]] supplement Reigns and it is called ''Paralipomenon'' (Παραλειπομένων – things left out). The Septuagint organizes the [[minor prophets]] as twelve parts of one Book of Twelve.<ref name="Dines" />
 
{| class="toccolours" style="width:75%; margin:auto; clear:center; text-align:left; font-size:85%;" cellspacing="0"
|- style="vertical-align:bottom; font-weight:bold;"
| style="border-bottom:2px groove #aaa; "| The Orthodox <br />Old Testament<ref name="Jobes and Silva" /><ref name="McLay">Timothy McLay, ''The Use of the Septuagint in New Testament Research {{ISBN|0-8028-6091-5}}.'' – The current standard introduction on the NT & LXX.</ref>{{efn|The canon of the original Old Greek LXX is disputed. This table reflects the canon of the Old Testament as used currently in Orthodoxy.}}
| style="border-bottom:2px groove #aaa; "|Greek-based<br /> name
| style="border-bottom:2px groove #aaa; "|Conventional<br /> English name
|-
!colspan=3|Law
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Γένεσις}} || Génesis || Genesis
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἔξοδος}} || Éxodos || Exodus
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Λευϊτικόν}} || Leuitikón || Leviticus
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἀριθμοί}} || Arithmoí || Numbers
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Δευτερονόμιον}} || Deuteronómion || Deuteronomy
|-
!colspan=3|History
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἰησοῦς Nαυῆ}} || Iêsous Nauê || Joshua
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Κριταί}} || Kritaí || Judges
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ῥούθ}} || Roúth || Ruth
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν Αʹ{{efn|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν}} (Basileiōn) is the genitive plural of {{lang|grc|Βασιλεῖα}} (Basileia).}}}} || I Reigns || I Samuel
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν Βʹ}} || II Reigns || II Samuel
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν Γʹ}} || III Reigns || I Kings
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Βασιλειῶν Δʹ}} || IV Reigns || II Kings
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Παραλειπομένων Αʹ}} || I Paralipomenon{{efn|That is, ''Things set aside'' from {{lang|grc|Ἔσδρας Αʹ}}.}} || I Chronicles
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Παραλειπομένων Βʹ}} || II Paralipomenon || II Chronicles
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἔσδρας Αʹ}} || I Esdras || 1 Esdras
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἔσδρας Βʹ}} || II Esdras || Ezra–Nehemiah
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Τωβίτ}}{{efn|Also called Τωβείτ or Τωβίθ in some sources.}} || Tobit || Tobit or Tobias
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἰουδίθ}} || Ioudith || Judith
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἐσθήρ}} || Esther || Esther with additions
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Αʹ}} || [[I Maccabees|I Makkabaioi]] || 1 Maccabees
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Βʹ}} || [[II Maccabees|II Makkabaioi]] || 2 Maccabees
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Γʹ}} || [[III Maccabees|III Makkabaioi]] || 3 Maccabees
|-
!colspan=3|Wisdom
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ψαλμοί}} || [[Psalms]] || Psalms
|-
| style="text-indent:2em"|{{lang|grc|Ψαλμός ΡΝΑʹ}} || [[Psalm 151]] || Psalm 151
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Προσευχὴ Μανάσση}} || [[Prayer of Manasseh]] || Prayer of Manasseh
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἰώβ}} || Iōb || Job
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Παροιμίαι}} || [[Book of Proverbs|Proverbs]] || Proverbs
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἐκκλησιαστής}} || [[Ecclesiastes|Ekklesiastes]] || Ecclesiastes
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἆσμα Ἀσμάτων}} || [[Shir Hashirim|Song of Songs]] || Song of Solomon or Canticles
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Σοφία Σαλoμῶντος}} || [[Wisdom of Solomon]] || Wisdom
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Σοφία Ἰησοῦ Σειράχ}} || [[Sirach|Wisdom of Jesus the son of Seirach]] || Sirach or Ecclesiasticus
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ψαλμοί Σαλoμῶντος}} || [[Psalms of Solomon]] || Psalms of Solomon<ref>Not in Orthodox Canon, but originally included in the LXX. http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110729150550/http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/nets/edition/ |date=29 July 2011 }}</ref>
|-
!colspan=3|Prophets
|-
!style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Δώδεκα}} || The Twelve || Minor Prophets
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ὡσηέ Αʹ}} || I. Osëe || Hosea
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἀμώς Βʹ}} || II. Amōs || Amos
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Μιχαίας Γʹ}} || III. Michaias || Micah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἰωήλ Δʹ}} || IV. Ioël || Joel
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ὀβδίου Εʹ}}{{efn|Obdiou is genitive from "The vision ''of'' Obdias", which opens the book.}} || V. Obdias || Obadiah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἰωνᾶς Ϛ'}} || VI. Ionas || Jonah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ναούμ Ζʹ}} || VII. Naoum || Nahum
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἀμβακούμ Ηʹ}} || VIII. Ambakum || Habakkuk
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Σοφονίας Θʹ}} || IX. Sophonias || Zephaniah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἀγγαῖος Ιʹ}} || X. Angaios || Haggai
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ζαχαρίας ΙΑʹ}} || XI. Zacharias || Zachariah
|- style="text-indent:2em"
| {{lang|grc|Ἄγγελος ΙΒʹ}} || XII. Messenger || Malachi
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἠσαΐας}} || Hesaias || Isaiah
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἱερεμίας}} || Hieremias || Jeremiah
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Βαρούχ}} || Baruch || Baruch
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Θρῆνοι}} || Lamentations || Lamentations
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἐπιστολή Ιερεμίου}} || [[Epistle of Jeremiah]] || Letter of Jeremiah
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἰεζεκιήλ}} || Iezekiêl || Ezekiel
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Δανιήλ}} || Daniêl || Daniel with additions
|-
!colspan=3|Appendix
|-
| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Μακκαβαίων Δ' Παράρτημα}} || [[IV Maccabees|IV Makkabees]] || 4 Maccabees{{efn|Originally placed after 3 Maccabees and before Psalms, but placed in an appendix of the Orthodox Canon.}}
|}
 
== Christian Bibles ==
{{Christianity}}
{{Main|Biblical canon|List of English Bible translations}}
[[File:Gutenberg Bible scan.jpg|thumb|A page from the [[Gutenberg Bible]] ]]
A Christian Bible is a set of books that a [[Christian denomination]] regards as [[Biblical inspiration|divinely inspired]] and thus constituting [[Religious text|scripture]]. Although the [[Early Christianity|Early Church]] primarily used the Septuagint or the [[Targum]]s among [[Aramaic]] speakers, the [[Apostles in Christianity|apostles]] did not leave a defined set of new scriptures; instead the canon of the New Testament [[Development of the New Testament canon|developed over time]]. Groups within Christianity include differing books as part of their sacred writings, most prominent among which are the biblical apocrypha or deuterocanonical books.
 
Significant versions of the Christian Bible in [[English language|English]] include the [[Douay–Rheims Bible]], the [[Authorized King James Version]], the [[Revised Version]], the [[American Standard Version]], the [[Revised Standard Version]], the [[New American Standard Version]], the [[New King James Version]], the [[New International Version]], the [[New American Bible]], and the [[English Standard Version]].
 
=== Old Testament ===
{{Main|Old Testament}}
The books which make up the Christian Old Testament differ between the Catholic (see [[Catholic Bible]]), Orthodox, and Protestant (see [[Protestant Bible]]) churches, with the Protestant movement accepting only those books contained in the Hebrew Bible, while Catholic and Orthodox traditions have wider canons. A few groups consider particular translations to be divinely inspired, notably the Greek Septuagint and the Aramaic [[Peshitta]].{{citation needed|date=June 2012}} The Old Testament consists of many distinct books produced over a period of centuries: The first five books – [[Book of Genesis|Genesis]], [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]], [[Leviticus]], [[book of Numbers]] and [[Deuteronomy]] – reached their present form in the [[Yehud Medinata|Persian period (538–332 BCE)]], and their authors were the elite of exilic returnees who controlled the [[Second Temple|Temple at that time]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Cambridge companion to biblical interpretation|others=Barton, John|isbn=978-0-521-48144-1|edition= 1st|location=Cambridge|oclc=37353764|year = 1998|last1=Barton|first1=John}}</ref> The books of [[Book of Joshua|Joshua]], [[Book of Judges|Judges]], [[Books of Samuel|Samuel]] and [[Books of Kings|Kings]] follow, forming a history of Israel from the [[Conquest of Canaan]] to the [[Siege of Jerusalem (587 BC)|Siege of Jerusalem c. 587 BCE]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Eerdmans commentary on the Bible|date=2003|publisher=W.B. Eerdmans|others=Dunn, James D. G., Rogerson, J. W. (John William)|isbn=978-0-8028-3711-0|location=Grand Rapids, MI|oclc=53059839}}</ref>
 
These history books make up around half the total content of the Old Testament. Of the remainder, the books of the various prophets – [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]], [[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]], [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]], and the twelve "[[minor prophets]]" – were written between the 8th and 6th centuries BC, with the exceptions of [[Book of Jonah|Jonah]] and [[Book of Daniel|Daniel]], which were written much later. The "wisdom" books – [[Book of Job|Job]], [[Book of Proverbs|Proverbs]], [[Book of Ecclesiastes|Ecclesiastes]], [[Book of Psalms|Psalms]], [[Book of Song of Solomon|Song of Solomon]] – have various dates: Proverbs possibly was completed by the Hellenistic time (332–198 BCE), though containing much older material as well; Job completed by the 6th century BCE; Ecclesiastes by the 3rd century BCE.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Old Testament wisdom : an introduction|last=Crenshaw, James L.|date=2010|publisher=Westminster John Knox Press|isbn=978-0-664-23459-1|edition= 3rd|location=Louisville, Ky.|oclc=426147298}}</ref>
 
==== Apocryphal or deuterocanonical books ====
[[File:KJV 1769 Oxford Edition, vol. 1.djvu|page=21|thumb|The contents page in a complete 80 book [[King James Bible]], listing "The Books of the Old Testament", "The Books called Apocrypha", and "The Books of the New Testament".]]
In [[Eastern Christianity]], translations based on the Septuagint still prevail. The Septuagint was generally abandoned in favour of the 10th-century Masoretic Text as the basis for translations of the Old Testament into [[Western world|Western]] languages.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}} Some modern Western translations since the [[Wycliffe's Bible|14th century]] make use of the Septuagint to clarify passages in the Masoretic Text, where the Septuagint may preserve a variant reading of the Hebrew text.{{citation needed|date=October 2012}} They also sometimes adopt variants that appear in other texts, e.g., those discovered among the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]].<ref>[http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/bible-versions-and-translations/the-masoretic-text-and-the-dead-sea-scrolls/ The Masoretic Text and the Dead Sea Scrolls] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130127011646/http://www.biblicalarchaeology.org/daily/biblical-topics/bible-versions-and-translations/the-masoretic-text-and-the-dead-sea-scrolls/ |date=27 January 2013 }} – ''biblicalarchaeology.org.'' Retrieved 26 December 2012.</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/sine-data,_Absens,_Dead_Sea_Scrolls_%5BTexts_And_Translations%5D,_EN.pdf |title=Dead Sea Scrolls |access-date=6 June 2013 |archive-date=18 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130218124644/http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/03d/sine-data,_Absens,_Dead_Sea_Scrolls_%5BTexts_And_Translations%5D,_EN.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
 
A number of books which are part of the [[Syriac versions of the Bible|Peshitta]] or the Greek Septuagint but are not found in the Hebrew Bible (i.e., among the protocanonical books) are often referred to as deuterocanonical books by Roman Catholics referring to a later secondary (i.e., deutero) canon, that canon as fixed definitively by the [[Council of Trent]] 1545–1563.<ref>[http://www.bible-researcher.com/trent1.html Council of Trent: ''Decretum de Canonicis Scripturis'' "Decree Concerning the Canonical Scriptures"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110805122857/http://www.bible-researcher.com/trent1.html |date=5 August 2011 }}, from the Council's fourth session, of 4 April 1546: Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, The Fourth Session, ''Celebrated on the eighth day of the month of April, in the year 1546'', English translation by James Waterworth (London 1848).</ref><ref>The Council of Trent confirmed the identical list/canon of sacred scriptures already anciently approved by the [[Synod of Hippo]] (Synod of 393), [[Council of Carthage (397)|Council of Carthage, 28 August 397]], and [http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Councils/ecum17.htm Council of Florence (originally Council of Basel), Session 11, 4 February 1442] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130424112748/http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Councils/ecum17.htm |date=24 April 2013 }}&nbsp; – [Bull of union with the Copts] ''seventh paragraph down''.</ref> It includes 46 books for the Old Testament (45 if Jeremiah and Lamentations are counted as one) and 27 for the New.<ref>{{Cite CCC|2.1|120}}</ref>
 
Eighty book Protestant Bibles have [[List_of_books_of_the_King_James_Version#Apocrypha|fourteen books]] in between the Old Testament and New Testament in a section called the Apocrypha.<ref name="Wells1911"/><ref name="FUP1970"/> [[Protestantism|Protestant]] traditions traditionally teach that these books are useful for instruction, but are non-canonical.<ref name="Wells1911"/><ref name="FUP1970"/> However, Eastern Orthodox Churches include these books as part of their Old Testament and the Roman Catholic Church most of them with the exception of three books.<ref name="Wells1911"/><ref name="FUP1970"/>
 
The Roman Catholic Church recognizes:<ref>[[Canon of Trent#List|Canon of Trent: List of the Canonical Scriptures]].
{{quote|But if anyone receive not, as sacred and canonical, the said books entire with all their parts, as they have been used to be read in the Catholic Church, and as they are contained in the old Latin vulgate edition; and knowingly and deliberately [[contemn]] the traditions aforesaid; let him be [[anathema]].|''Decretum de Canonicis Scripturis'', Council of Trent, 8 April 1546}}</ref>
* [[Book of Tobit|Tobit]]
* [[Book of Judith|Judith]]
* [[1 Maccabees]]
* [[2 Maccabees]]
* [[Book of Wisdom|Wisdom]]
* [[Wisdom of Sirach|Sirach]] (or Ecclesiasticus)
* [[Book of Baruch|Baruch]]
* [[The Letter of Jeremiah]] ([[Book of Baruch|Baruch]] Chapter 6)
* [[Additions to Esther|Greek Additions to Esther]] (Book of Esther, chapters 10:4–12:6)
* [[The Prayer of Azariah and Song of the Three Holy Children]] ''verses 1–68'' (Book of Daniel, chapter 3, verses 24–90)
* [[Susanna (Book of Daniel)|Susanna]] (Book of Daniel, chapter 13)
* [[Bel and the Dragon]] (Book of Daniel, chapter 14)
 
In addition to those, the [[Greek Orthodox Church|Greek]] and [[Russian Orthodox Church]]es recognize the following:{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}
* [[3 Maccabees]]
* [[1 Esdras]]
* [[Prayer of Manasseh]]
* [[Psalm 151]]
 
Russian and Georgian Orthodox Churches include:{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}
* [[2 Esdras]] i.e., Latin Esdras in the Russian and Georgian Bibles
 
There is also [[4 Maccabees]] which is only accepted as canonical in the [[Georgian Orthodox Church|Georgian Church]], but was included by [[St. Jerome]] in an appendix to the [[Vulgate]], and is an appendix to the Greek Orthodox Bible, and it is therefore sometimes included in collections of the Apocrypha.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}
 
The [[Syriac Orthodox Church|Syriac Orthodox tradition]] includes:{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}
* [[Psalms 152–155|Psalms 151–155]]
* The [[Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch|Apocalypse of Baruch]]
* [[2 Baruch#The Letter of Baruch|The Letter of Baruch]]
 
The [[Ethiopian Biblical canon]] includes:{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}
* [[Jubilees]]
* [[Book of Enoch|Enoch]]
* [[Meqabyan|1–3 Meqabyan]]
and some other books.
 
The [[Revised Common Lectionary]] of the [[Lutheran Church]], [[Moravian Church]], [[Reformed Church]]es, [[Anglican Church]] and [[Methodist Church]] uses the [[List_of_books_of_the_King_James_Version#Apocrypha|Apocryphal Books]] liturgically, with alternative Old Testament readings available.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.commontexts.org/rcl/rcl_introduction_web.pdf |title=The Revised Common Lectionary |year=1992 |publisher=Consultation on Common Texts |access-date=19 August 2015 |quote=In all places where a reading from the deuterocanonical books (The Apocrypha) is listed, an alternate reading from the canonical Scriptures has also been provided. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150701230910/http://www.commontexts.org/rcl/RCL_Introduction_Web.pdf |archive-date=1 July 2015 |df=dmy }}</ref> Therefore, editions of the Bible intended for use in the Lutheran Church and Anglican Church include the fourteen books of the Protestant Apocrypha, many of which are the Deuterocanonical books accepted by the Catholic Church, plus [[1 Esdras]], [[2 Esdras]] and the [[Prayer of Manasseh]], which were in the Vulgate appendix.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bryan |first1=Christopher |title=The Canon of Holy Scripture: An Anglican Note |url=http://christopherbryanonline.com/the-canon-of-holy-scripture-an-anglican-note/ |website=Christopher Bryan Online |access-date=29 November 2020 |archive-date=3 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210303051804/http://christopherbryanonline.com/the-canon-of-holy-scripture-an-anglican-note/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{self-published source |date=November 2020}}
 
==== Pseudepigraphal books ====
{{Main|Pseudepigrapha}}
The term pseudepigrapha commonly describes numerous works of Jewish religious literature written from about 300 BCE to 300 CE. Not all of these works are actually pseudepigraphical. It also refers to books of the New Testament canon whose authorship is misrepresented or questionable. The Old Testament pseudepigraphal works include the following:<ref name ="Harris">[[Stephen L Harris|Harris, Stephen L.]], ''Understanding the Bible''. Palo Alto: Mayfield. 1985.</ref>
* [[3 Maccabees]]
* [[4 Maccabees]]
* [[Assumption of Moses]]
* Ethiopic [[Book of Enoch]] (1 Enoch)
* Slavonic [[Second Book of Enoch|Book of Enoch]] (2 Enoch)
* Hebrew [[3 Enoch|Book of Enoch]] (3 Enoch) (also known as "The Revelation of Metatron" or "The Book of Rabbi Ishmael the High Priest")
* [[Book of Jubilees]]
* [[Syriac Apocalypse of Baruch]] (2 Baruch)
* [[Letter of Aristeas]] (Letter to Philocrates regarding the translating of the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek)
* [[Life of Adam and Eve]]
* [[Martyrdom and Ascension of Isaiah]]
* [[Psalms of Solomon]]
* [[Sibylline Oracles]]
* [[Greek Apocalypse of Baruch]] (3 Baruch)
* [[Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs]]
 
===== Book of Enoch =====
Notable pseudepigraphal works include the Books of Enoch (such as [[1 Enoch]], [[Second Book of Enoch|2 Enoch]], surviving only in [[Old Church Slavonic|Old Slavonic]], and [[3 Enoch]], surviving in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]], c. 5th to 6th century CE). These are ancient [[Jewish]] religious works, traditionally ascribed to the prophet [[Enoch (Biblical figure)|Enoch]], the great-grandfather of the patriarch [[Noah]]. They are not part of the [[biblical canon]] used by [[Jews]], apart from [[Beta Israel]]. Most Christian denominations and traditions may accept the Books of Enoch as having some historical or theological interest or significance. It has been observed that part of the Book of Enoch is quoted in the [[Epistle of Jude]] (part of the New Testament) but Christian denominations generally regard the Books of Enoch as non-canonical or non-inspired.<ref>[http://reluctant-messenger.com/enoch.htm The Book of Enoch] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140608170257/http://reluctant-messenger.com/enoch.htm |date=8 June 2014 }} – The Reluctant Messenger. Retrieved 14 June 2014.</ref> However, the Enoch books are treated as canonical by the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]] and [[Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church]].
 
The older sections (mainly in the Book of the Watchers) are estimated to date from about 300&nbsp;BCE, and the latest part (Book of Parables) probably was composed at the end of the 1st century&nbsp;BCE.<ref>Fahlbusch E., Bromiley G.W. ''The Encyclopedia of Christianity: P–Sh'' p. 411, {{ISBN|0-8028-2416-1}} (2004)</ref>
 
===== Denominational views of pseudepigrapha =====
There arose{{When|date=May 2019}} in some Protestant biblical scholarship an extended use of the term ''pseudepigrapha'' for works that appeared as though they ought to be part of the biblical canon, because of the authorship ascribed to them, but which stood outside both the [[biblical canon]]s recognized by Protestants and Catholics. These works were also outside the particular set of books that Roman Catholics called ''deuterocanonical'' and to which Protestants had generally applied the term Apocryphal. Accordingly, the term ''pseudepigraphical'', as now used often among both Protestants and Roman Catholics (allegedly for the clarity it brings to the discussion), may make it difficult to discuss questions of pseudepigraphical authorship of canonical books dispassionately with a lay audience. To confuse the matter further, Eastern Orthodox Christians accept books as canonical that Roman Catholics and most Protestant denominations consider pseudepigraphical or at best of much less authority. There exist also churches that reject some of the books that Roman Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants accept. The same is true of some [[Jewish denominations|Jewish sects]].  Many works that are apocryphal are otherwise considered genuine.{{clarify|date=May 2019}}
 
==== Role of the Old Testament in Christian theology ====
{{further|Sola scriptura|Christian theology}}
The Old Testament has always been central to the life of the Christian church. Bible scholar [[N.T. Wright]] says "Jesus himself was profoundly shaped by the scriptures."{{sfn|Wright|2005|p=3}} He adds that the earliest Christians also searched those same Hebrew scriptures in their effort to understand the earthly life of Jesus. They regarded the "holy writings" of the Israelites as necessary and instructive for the Christian, as seen from Paul's words to Timothy (2 Timothy 3:15), and as pointing to the Messiah, and as having reached a climactic fulfilment in Jesus himself, generating the "[[new covenant]]" prophesied by [[Jeremiah]].<ref name="Wright">{{harvnb|Wright|2005|p=}}</ref>
 
=== New Testament ===
{{Main|Development of the New Testament canon}}
The New Testament is the name given to the second and final portion of the Christian Bible. [[Jesus in Christianity|Jesus]] is its central figure.
 
The term "New Testament" came into use in the second century during a controversy among Christians over whether the Hebrew Bible should be included with the Christian writings as sacred scripture. The New Testament presupposes the inspiration of the Old Testament.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/inspirationandi00cincgoog/page/n351 <!--  quote=The New Testament presupposes the inspiration of the Old Testament. -->] ''Inspiration and Inerrancy: A History and a Defense'', Henry Preserved Smith – R. Clarke, 1893, p. 343</ref> Some other works which were widely read by early churches were excluded from the New Testament and relegated to the collections known as the [[Apostolic Fathers]] (generally considered orthodox) and the New Testament [[Apocrypha]] (including both orthodox and heretical works).
 
The New Testament is a collection of 27 books<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=m2Lz7iwklhAC&pg=PA439&dq=The+New+Testament+is+a+collection+of+27+books#v=onepage&q=The%20New%20Testament%20is%20a%20collection%20of%2027%20books Mears, Henrietta C. (2007) "A glossary of Bible words".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727104608/https://books.google.com/books?id=m2Lz7iwklhAC&pg=PA439&dq=The+New+Testament+is+a+collection+of+27+books#v=onepage&q=The%20New%20Testament%20is%20a%20collection%20of%2027%20books |date=27 July 2020 }} ''What the Bible is All About Visual Edition'', pp. 438–439. Gospel Light Publications, CA. Retrieved 31 August 2019.</ref> of 4 different [[genres]] of Christian literature ([[Gospels]], one account of the [[Acts of the Apostles]], [[Epistles]] and an [[Apocalyptic literature|Apocalypse]]). These books can be grouped into:
 
{{Col-float}}
[[Gospel|The Gospels]]
* [[Synoptic Gospels]]
** [[Gospel of Matthew|Gospel According to Matthew]]
** [[Gospel of Mark|Gospel According to Mark]]
** [[Gospel of Luke|Gospel According to Luke]]
* [[Gospel of John|Gospel According to John]]
[[Acts of the Apostles (genre)|Narrative literature]], account and history of the Apostolic age
* [[Acts of the Apostles]]
 
[[Pauline Epistles]]
* [[Epistle to the Romans]]
* [[First Epistle to the Corinthians]]
* [[Second Epistle to the Corinthians]]
* [[Epistle to the Galatians]]
* [[Epistle to the Ephesians]]
* [[Epistle to the Philippians]]
* [[Epistle to the Colossians]]
* [[First Epistle to the Thessalonians]]
* [[Second Epistle to the Thessalonians]]
{{Col-float-break}}
 
[[Pastoral epistles]]
* [[First Epistle to Timothy]]
* [[Second Epistle to Timothy]]
* [[Epistle to Titus]]
* [[Epistle to Philemon]]
* [[Epistle to the Hebrews]]
 
[[General epistles]], also called catholic meaning general epistles
* [[Epistle of James]]
* [[First Epistle of Peter]]
* [[Second Epistle of Peter]]
* [[First Epistle of John]]
* [[Second Epistle of John]]
* [[Third Epistle of John]]
* [[Epistle of Jude]]
 
[[Apocalyptic literature]], also called Prophetical
* [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]], or the Apocalypse
{{Col-float-end}}
 
The New Testament books are ordered differently in the Catholic/Orthodox/Protestant tradition, the [[Slavonic translations of the Bible|Slavonic tradition]], the [[Syriac versions of the Bible|Syriac]] tradition and the Ethiopian tradition.
 
==== Original language ====
{{See also|Language of the New Testament}}
The mainstream consensus is that the New Testament was written in a form of [[Koine Greek]],<ref>Kurt Aland, Barbara Aland The text of the New Testament: an introduction to the critical 1995 p. 52 "The New Testament was written in Koine Greek, the Greek of daily conversation. The fact that from the first all the New Testament writings were written in Greek is conclusively demonstrated by their citations from the Old Testament ..."</ref><ref>Archibald Macbride Hunter Introducing the New Testament 1972 p9 "How came the twenty-seven books of the New Testament to be gathered together and made authoritative Christian scripture? 1. All the New Testament books were originally written in Greek. On the face of it this may surprise us."</ref> which was the [[lingua franca|common language]] of the [[Eastern Mediterranean]]<ref>Wenham The elements of New Testament Greek p. xxv Jeremy Duff, John William Wenham – 2005 "This is the language of the New Testament. By the time of Jesus the Romans had become the dominant military and political force, but the Greek language remained the 'common language' of the eastern Mediterranean and beyond, and Greek ..."</ref><ref>Daniel B. Wallace Greek Grammar Beyond the Basics: An Exegetical Syntax of the New Testament 1997</ref><ref>Henry St. John Thackeray Grammar of New Testament Greek ed. Friedrich Wilhelm Blass, 1911 "By far the most predominant element in the language of the New Testament is the Greek of common speech which was disseminated in the East by the Macedonian conquest, in the form which it had gradually assumed under the wider development ..."</ref><ref>David E. Aune The Blackwell companion to the New Testament 2009 p.61 Chapter 4 New Testament Greek Christophe Rico "In this short overview of the Greek language of the New Testament we will focus on those topics that are of greatest importance for the average reader, that is, those with important ..."</ref> from the [[Conquests of Alexander the Great]] (335–323 BCE) until the evolution of [[Byzantine Greek]] (c. 600).
 
==== Historic editions ====
{{See also|Biblical manuscript|Textual criticism}}
[[File:Lutherbibel.jpg|thumb|right|An early German translation by [[Martin Luther]]. His translation of the text into the [[vernacular]] was highly influential.]]
 
The original [[autograph]]s, that is, the original Greek writings and [[Biblical manuscript|manuscripts]] written by the original authors of the New Testament, have not survived.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Ze16lRIzIzcC&pg=PA9&dq=The+autographs,+the+Greek+manuscripts+written+by+the+original+authors,+have+not+survived#v=onepage&q=The%20autographs%2C%20the%20Greek%20manuscripts%20written%20by%20the%20original%20authors%2C%20have%20not%20survived] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727111232/https://books.google.com/books?id=Ze16lRIzIzcC&pg=PA9&dq=The+autographs,+the+Greek+manuscripts+written+by+the+original+authors,+have+not+survived#v=onepage&q=The%20autographs%2C%20the%20Greek%20manuscripts%20written%20by%20the%20original%20authors%2C%20have%20not%20survived |date=27 July 2020 }} Manuscripts and the Text of the New Testament: An Introduction for English Readers by Keith Elliott, Ian Moir – Continuum International Publishing Group, 2000, p. 9</ref> But historically ''copies'' exist of those original autographs, transmitted and preserved in a number of [[Bible manuscript#Textual criticism|manuscript traditions]]. There have been some minor variations, additions or omissions, in some of the texts. When ancient scribes copied earlier books, they sometimes wrote notes on the margins of the page (''[[Glosses to the Bible#Glosses as marginal notes|marginal glosses]]'') to correct their text – especially if a scribe accidentally omitted a word or line – and to comment about the text. When later scribes were copying the copy, they were sometimes uncertain if a note was intended to be included as part of the text.
 
The three main textual traditions of the Greek New Testament are sometimes called the [[Alexandrian text-type]] (generally [[biblical minimalism|minimalist]]), the [[Byzantine text-type]] (generally [[biblical maximalism|maximalist]]), and the [[Western text-type]] (occasionally wild). Together they comprise most of the ancient manuscripts.
 
=== Development of the Christian canons ===
{{Main|Development of the Old Testament canon|Development of the New Testament canon}}
[[File:Marinus Claesz. van Reymerswaele 002.jpg|thumb|''St. Jerome in his Study'', by [[Marinus van Reymerswaele]], 1541. [[Jerome]] produced a 4th-century [[Latin]] edition of the Bible, known as the ''[[Vulgate]]'', that became the Catholic Church's official translation.]]
The Old Testament canon entered into Christian use in the Greek Septuagint translations and original books, and their differing lists of texts. In addition to the Septuagint, Christianity{{vague|date=December 2014}} subsequently added various writings that would become the New Testament. Somewhat different lists of accepted works continued to develop in antiquity. In the 4th century a series of [[synod]]s produced a list of texts equal to the 39, 46, 51, or 54-book canon of the Old Testament and to the 27-book canon of the New Testament that would be subsequently used to today, most notably the [[Synod of Hippo]] in 393 CE. Also ''c''. 400, [[Jerome]] produced a definitive Latin edition of the Bible (see [[Vulgate]]), the canon of which, at the insistence of the Pope, was in accord with the earlier Synods. With the benefit of hindsight, it can be said that this process effectively set the New Testament canon, although there are examples of other canonical lists in use after this time.
 
The Protestant Old Testament of today has a 39-book canon – the number of books (though not the content) varies from the Jewish Tanakh only because of a different method of division – while the Roman Catholic Church recognizes 46 books (51 books with some books combined into 46 books) as the canonical Old Testament. The Eastern Orthodox Churches recognize 3 Maccabees, 1 Esdras, Prayer of Manasseh and Psalm 151 in addition to the Catholic canon. Some include 2 Esdras. The term "Hebrew Scriptures" is often used as being synonymous with the Protestant Old Testament, since the surviving scriptures in Hebrew include only those books, while Catholics and Orthodox include additional texts that have not survived in Hebrew. Eighty book Protestant Bibles include [[List_of_books_of_the_King_James_Version#Apocrypha|14 books]] called Apocrypha in between the Old Testament and the New Testament that are deemed useful for instruction but non-canonical.<ref name="FUP1970">{{cite book |title=Quaker Life, Volume 11 |date=1970 |publisher=Friends United Press |page=141 |language=English |quote=Even though they were not placed on the same level as the canonical books , still they were useful for instruction . ... These–and others that total fourteen or fifteen altogether-are the books known as the Apocrypha.}}</ref><ref name="Ewert">{{cite book|last=Ewert|first=David|title=A General Introduction to the Bible: From Ancient Tablets to Modern Translations|date=11 May 2010|publisher=Zondervan|isbn=9780310872436|page=104|quote=English Bibles were patterned after those of the Continental Reformers by having the Apocrypha set off from the rest of the OT. Coverdale (1535) called them "Apocrypha". All English Bibles prior to 1629 contained the Apocrypha. Matthew's Bible (1537), the Great Bible (1539), the Geneva Bible (1560), the Bishop's Bible (1568), and the King James Bible (1611) contained the Apocrypha. Soon after the publication of the KJV, however, the English Bibles began to drop the Apocrypha and eventually they disappeared entirely. The first English Bible to be printed in America (1782–83) lacked the Apocrypha. In 1826 the British and Foreign Bible Society decided to no longer print them. Today the trend is in the opposite direction, and English Bibles with the Apocrypha are becoming more popular again.}}</ref> <ref name="Wells1911">{{cite book |last1=Wells |first1=Preston B. |title=The Story of the English Bible |date=1911 |publisher=Pentecostal Publishing Company |page=41 |language=English |quote=Fourteen books and parts of books are considered ''Apocryphal'' by Protestants. Three of these are recognized by Roman Catholics also as ''Apocryphal''.}}</ref>  Both Catholics and Protestants (as well as Greek Orthodox) have the same 27-book New Testament Canon.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=gxEONS0FFlsC&pg=PA103&dq=Both+Catholics+and+Protestants+have+the+same+27-book+New+Testament+Canon#v=onepage&q=Both%20Catholics%20and%20Protestants%20have%20the%20same%2027-book%20New%20Testament%20Canon] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727105128/https://books.google.com/books?id=gxEONS0FFlsC&pg=PA103&dq=Both+Catholics+and+Protestants+have+the+same+27-book+New+Testament+Canon#v=onepage&q=Both%20Catholics%20and%20Protestants%20have%20the%20same%2027-book%20New%20Testament%20Canon |date=27 July 2020 }} ''Encyclopedia of Catholicism'', Frank K. Flinn, Infobase Publishing, 1 January 2007, p. 103</ref>
 
The New Testament writers assumed the inspiration of the Old Testament, probably earliest stated in {{Bibleref2|2Tim|3:16|9|2 Timothy 3:16}}, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God".<ref name="Stagg" />
 
Some denominations have [[Religious text#Additional scriptures|additional canonical holy scriptures]] beyond the Bible, including the [[standard works]] of the [[Latter Day Saints movement]] and ''[[Divine Principle]]'' in the [[Unification Church]].
 
==== Ethiopian Orthodox canon ====
{{Main|Ethiopian Biblical canon}}
The Canon of the [[Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church]] is wider than the canons used by most other Christian churches. There are 81 books in the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible.<ref name="Ethiopian">{{cite web|url=http://www.ethiopianorthodox.org/english/canonical/books.html|title=The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church|publisher=Ethiopianorthodox.org|access-date=19 November 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101105112040/http://ethiopianorthodox.org/english/canonical/books.html| archive-date=5 November 2010 |url-status=live}}</ref> The Ethiopian Old Testament Canon includes the books found in the [[Septuagint]] accepted by other Orthodox Christians, in addition to [[Book of Enoch|Enoch]] and [[Jubilees]] which are ancient Jewish books that only survived in [[Ge'ez language|Ge'ez]] but are quoted in the New Testament,{{citation needed|date=February 2012}} also Greek Ezra [[1 Esdras|First]] and the [[Jewish Apocalypse of Ezra|Apocalypse of Ezra]], 3 books of [[Meqabyan]], and [[Psalm 151]] at the end of the Psalter. The three books of Meqabyan are not to be confused with the books of Maccabees. The order of the other books is somewhat different from other groups', as well. The Old Testament follows the Septuagint order for the Minor Prophets rather than the Jewish order.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}
 
===Peshitta===
{{Main|Peshitta}}
The Peshitta ({{lang-syc|ܦܫܺܝܛܬܳܐ}} ''or'' {{lang|syc|ܦܫܝܼܛܬܵܐ}} ''{{transl|syc|pšīṭtā}}'') is the standard version of the Bible for churches in the [[Syriac Christianity|Syriac tradition]]. The consensus within biblical scholarship, although not universal, is that the [[Old Testament]] of the Peshitta was translated into [[Syriac language|Syriac]] from [[biblical Hebrew]], probably in the 2nd century AD, and that the [[New Testament]] of the Peshitta was translated from the Greek.<ref>Sebastian P. Brock [https://archive.org/stream/TheBibleInTheSyriacTradition/BrockTheBibleInTheSyriacTradition#page/n7/mode/2up The Bible in the Syriac Tradition] St. Ephrem Ecumenical Research Institute, 1988. Quote Page 13: "The Peshitta Old Testament was translated directly from the original Hebrew text, and the Peshitta New Testament directly from the original Greek"</ref> This New Testament, originally excluding certain [[Antilegomena|disputed books]] ([[2 Peter]], [[2 John]], [[3 John]], [[Epistle of Jude|Jude]], [[Book of Revelation|Revelation]]), had become a standard by the early 5th century. The five excluded books were added in the [[Harklean Version]] (616 AD) of [[Thomas of Harqel]].<ref name="Bromiley1995">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Bromiley |first=Geoffrey W. |author-link=Geoffrey W. Bromiley |title=The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia: Q–Z |year=1995 |page=976 |quote=Printed editions of the Peshitta frequently contain these books in order to fill the gaps. D. Harklean Version. The Harklean version is connected with the labors of Thomas of Harqel. When thousands were fleeing Khosrou's invading armies, ... |isbn=0-8028-3784-0}}</ref><ref name="Kiraz1996">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Kiraz |first=George Anton |author-link=George Kiraz |orig-year=1996 |title=Comparative Edition of the Syriac Gospels: Aligning the Old Syriac Sinaiticus, Curetonianus, Peshitta and Harklean Versions |location=[[Piscataway, New Jersey]] |publisher=[[Gorgias Press]] |year=2002 |edition=2nd}}</ref><ref name="Kiraz2004">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Kiraz |first=George Anton |author-link=George Kiraz |orig-year=1996 |title=Comparative Edition of the Syriac Gospels: Aligning the Old Syriac Sinaiticus, Curetonianus, Peshitta and Harklean Versions  |location=[[Piscataway, New Jersey]] |publisher=[[Gorgias Press]] |year=2004 |edition=3rd}}</ref>
 
== Divine inspiration ==
{{Main|Biblical inspiration|Biblical literalism|Biblical infallibility|Biblical inerrancy}}
[[File:Altar and bible st Johns Lutheran.jpg|thumb|A Bible is placed centrally on a [[Lutheran]] altar, highlighting its importance]]The Second Epistle to Timothy says that "all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness". ({{bibleref2|2 Timothy|3:16|KJV}})<ref>{{cite book|last= Grudem|first= Wayne|title= Systematic Theology|year= 1994|publisher= Inter-Varsity Press|location= Leicester, England|pages= 49–50}}</ref> Various related but distinguishable views on divine inspiration include:
* the view of the Bible as the inspired word of God: the belief that God, through the [[Holy Spirit]], intervened and influenced the words, message, and collation of the Bible<ref>Rice, John R. – ''Our God-Breathed Book: The Bible'' – {{ISBN|0-87398-628-8}}, Sword of the Lord Publishers, 1969, pp 68–88.</ref>
* the view that the Bible is also [[Biblical infallibility|infallible]], and incapable of error in matters of faith and practice, but not necessarily in historic or scientific matters
* the view that the Bible represents the [[biblical inerrancy|inerrant word of God]], without error in any aspect, spoken by God and written down in its perfect form by humans
 
Within these broad beliefs many schools of [[hermeneutics]] operate. "Bible scholars claim that discussions about the Bible must be put into its context within church history and then into the context of contemporary culture."<ref name="Wright" /> [[Christian fundamentalism|Fundamentalist Christians]] are associated{{by whom|date=July 2016}} with the doctrine of biblical literalism, where the Bible is not only inerrant, but the meaning of the text is clear to the average reader.<ref>"Beyond Biblical Literalism and Inerrancy: Conservative Protestants and the Hermeneutic Interpretation of Scripture", John Bartkowski, ''Sociology of Religion'', 57, 1996.</ref>
 
Jewish antiquity attests to belief in sacred texts,<ref>Philo of Alexandria, ''De vita Moysis'' 3.23.</ref><ref name="Josephus">Josephus, ''Contra Apion'' 1.8.</ref> and a similar belief emerges in the earliest of Christian writings. Various texts of the Bible mention divine agency in relation to its writings.<ref name="Original Source">{{cite web |url= http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Sam%2023:2,2%20Tim%203:16,Luke%201:70,Heb%203:7,10:15-16,1%20Peter%201:11,Mark%2012:36,2%20Peter%201:20-21,Acts%201:16,Acts%203:18,Acts%2028:25;&version=50 |title= Basis for belief of Inspiration Biblegateway |publisher= Biblegateway.com |access-date= 23 April 2010 |archive-date= 13 January 2009 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090113220608/http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Sam%2023:2,2%20Tim%203:16,Luke%201:70,Heb%203:7,10:15-16,1%20Peter%201:11,Mark%2012:36,2%20Peter%201:20-21,Acts%201:16,Acts%203:18,Acts%2028:25;&version=50 |url-status= live }}</ref> In their book ''A General Introduction to the Bible'', [[Norman Geisler]] and William Nix write: "The process of inspiration is a mystery of the providence of God, but the result of this process is a verbal, plenary, inerrant, and authoritative record."<ref>Norman L. Geisler, William E. Nix. ''A General Introduction to the Bible.'' Moody Publishers, 1986, p. 86. {{ISBN|0-8024-2916-5}}</ref> Most evangelical biblical scholars<ref>For example, see Leroy Zuck, Roy B. Zuck. ''Basic Bible Interpretation.'' Chariot Victor Pub, 1991, p. 68. {{ISBN|0-89693-819-0}}</ref><ref>Roy B. Zuck, Donald Campbell. ''Basic Bible Interpretation.'' Victor, 2002. {{ISBN|0-7814-3877-2}}</ref><ref>Norman L. Geisler. ''Inerrancy.'' Zondervan, 1980, p. 294. {{ISBN|0-310-39281-0}}</ref> associate inspiration with only the original text; for example some American Protestants adhere to the 1978 [[Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy]] which asserted that inspiration applied only to the [[autograph]]ic text of Scripture.<ref>{{cite journal|author=International Council on Biblical Inerrancy |title=The Chicago Statement on Biblical Inerrancy |publisher=International Council on Biblical Inerrancy |year=1978 |url=http://www.churchcouncil.org/ccpdfdocs/01_Biblical_Inerrancy_A&D.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080413180222/http://www.churchcouncil.org/ccpdfdocs/01_Biblical_Inerrancy_A%26D.pdf |archive-date=13 April 2008 }}</ref> Among adherents of Biblical literalism, a minority, such as followers of the [[King-James-Only Movement]], extend the claim of inerrancy only to a particular version.<ref>{{cite web
|url= http://www.ruckmanism.org/advancedrevelation
|access-date= 27 February 2014
|title= Ruckman's belief in advanced revelations in the KJV
|archive-date= 27 October 2013
|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20131027102255/http://www.ruckmanism.org/advancedrevelation
|url-status= live
}}</ref>
 
== Versions and translations ==
{{Further|Bible translations|List of Bible translations by language}}
[[File:1588 First Welsh Bible.jpg|thumb|Title page from the first [[Welsh language|Welsh]] translation of the Bible, 1588. [[William Morgan (Bible translator)|William Morgan]] (1545–1604)]]
The original texts of the Tanakh were almost entirely written in Hebrew; about one per cent is written in Aramaic. In addition to the authoritative Masoretic Text, Jews still refer to the Septuagint, the translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, and the [[Targum Onkelos]], an Aramaic version of the Bible. There are several different ancient versions of the Tanakh in Hebrew, mostly differing by spelling, and the traditional Jewish version is based on the version known as Aleppo Codex. Even in this version there are words which are traditionally read differently from written, because the oral tradition is considered more fundamental than the written one, and presumably mistakes had been made in copying the text over the generations.{{citation needed|date=June 2012}}
 
The primary biblical text for early Christians was the Septuagint. In addition, they translated the Hebrew Bible into several other languages. Translations were made into Syriac, [[Coptic language|Coptic]], [[Ge'ez language|Ethiopic]], and Latin, among other languages. The Latin translations were historically the most important for the Church in the West, while the Greek-speaking East continued to use the Septuagint translations of the Old Testament and had no need to translate the New Testament.
 
The earliest Latin translation was the [[Old Latin]] text, or ''[[Vetus Latina]]'', which, from internal evidence, seems to have been made by several authors over a period of time. It was based on the Septuagint, and thus included books not in the Hebrew Bible.
 
According to the Latin [[Decretum Gelasianum]] (also known as the Gelasian Decree), thought to be of a 6th-century document<ref>{{cite book|last1=Clark|first1=Francis|title=The Pseudo-Gregorian dialogues|date=1987|publisher=E.J. Brill|location=Leiden|isbn=978-9004077737|pages=601–602|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oJg3AAAAIAAJ&q=Decretum+Gelasianum&pg=PA601|access-date=13 January 2017|archive-date=1 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401001426/https://books.google.com/books?id=oJg3AAAAIAAJ&q=Decretum+Gelasianum&pg=PA601|url-status=live}}</ref>{{sfn|Bruce|1988|p=234}} of uncertain authorship and of pseudepigraphal papal authority (variously ascribed to [[Pope Gelasius I]], [[Pope Damasus I]], or [[Pope Hormisdas]])<ref>{{cite book|last1=Frazier|first1=Alison|title=Essays in Renaissance Thought and Letters: In Honor of John Monfasani|date=2015|publisher=Brill|location=Leiden, Netherlands|isbn=978-9004294479|page=465|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Iw15CgAAQBAJ&q=Decretum+Gelasianum&pg=PA465|access-date=13 January 2017|archive-date=1 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401001454/https://books.google.com/books?id=Iw15CgAAQBAJ&q=Decretum+Gelasianum&pg=PA465|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Burkitt|title=The Decretum Geladianum|journal=Journal of Theological Studies|date=1913|volume=14|pages=469–471|url=http://www.tertullian.org/articles/burkitt_gelasianum.htm|access-date=13 January 2017|archive-date=21 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190521202800/http://www.tertullian.org/articles/burkitt_gelasianum.htm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Ellis|first1=E. Earle|title=The Old Testament in early Christianity : canon and interpretation in the light of modern research|date=2003|publisher=Wipf & Stock|location=Eugene, Oregon|isbn=978-1-59244-256-0|page=26|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-XKvCwAAQBAJ&q=Decretum+Gelasianum&pg=PA26|access-date=13 January 2017|archive-date=1 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401001450/https://books.google.com/books?id=-XKvCwAAQBAJ&q=Decretum+Gelasianum&pg=PA26|url-status=live}}</ref> but reflecting the views of the Roman Church by that period,<ref>{{cite web|title=The Christian canon|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/biblical-literature/The-Christian-canon#ref597321|website=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.|publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.|access-date=13 January 2017|archive-date=18 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118114741/https://www.britannica.com/topic/biblical-literature/The-Christian-canon#ref597321|url-status=live}}</ref> the [[Council of Rome]] in 382 CE under Pope Damasus I (366–383) assembled a list of books of the Bible. Damasus commissioned Saint [[Jerome]] to produce a reliable and consistent text by translating the original Greek and Hebrew texts into Latin. This translation became known as the [[Vulgate|Latin Vulgate Bible]], in the fourth century CE (although Jerome expressed in his prologues to most [[Biblical apocrypha|''deuterocanonical'']] books that they were non-[[Biblical canon|canonical]]).<ref>{{cite book|last1=Kelly|first1=J. N. D.|title=Early Christian Doctrines|date=1960|publisher=Harper|location=San Francisco|page=55}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/bible/prologi.shtml|title=The Bible|website=www.thelatinlibrary.com|access-date=13 January 2017|archive-date=13 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160113204339/http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/bible/prologi.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1546, at the [[Council of Trent]], Jerome's Vulgate translation was declared by the Roman Catholic Church to be the only authentic and official Bible in the [[Latin Church]].
 
Since the [[Protestant Reformation]], [[Bible translations]] for many languages have been made. The Bible continues to be translated to new languages, largely by Christian organizations such as [[Wycliffe Bible Translators]], [[New Tribes Mission]] and [[Bible society|Bible societies]].
 
{|class="wikitable"
|+Bible translations, worldwide ({{as of|2020|October|lc=y}})<ref>{{cite web |title=2020 Scripture Access Statistics |url=https://www.wycliffe.net/resources/statistics/ |access-date=14 October 2020 |archive-date=13 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201013191504/https://www.wycliffe.net/resources/statistics/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
! Number !! Statistic
|-
| 7,360 || Approximate number of languages spoken in the world today
|-
| 2,731 || Number of translations into new languages in progress
|-
| 1,551 || Number of languages with a translation of the New Testament
|-
| 704 || Number of languages with a translation of the Bible (Protestant Canon)
|}
 
== Views ==
John Riches, professor of Divinity and Biblical Criticism at the [[University of Glasgow]], provides the following view of the diverse historical influences of the Bible:
 
{{quote|It has inspired some of the great monuments of human thought, literature, and art; it has equally fuelled some of the worst excesses of human savagery, self-interest, and narrow-mindedness. It has inspired men and women to acts of great service and courage, to fight for liberation and human development; and it has provided the ideological fuel for societies which have enslaved their fellow human beings and reduced them to abject poverty. ... It has, perhaps above all, provided a source of religious and moral norms which have enabled communities to hold together, to care for, and to protect one another; yet precisely this strong sense of belonging has in turn fuelled ethnic, racial, and international tension and conflict.{{sfn|Riches|2000|p=134}}}}
 
=== Other religions ===
{{Main|Islamic view of the Christian Bible}}
In [[Islam]], the Bible is held to reflect true unfolding [[revelation]] from [[God in Islam|God]]; but revelation which had been corrupted or distorted (in Arabic: ''[[tahrif]]''); which necessitated the giving of the [[Qur'an]] to the [[Prophets of Islam|Islamic prophet]], [[Muhammad]], to correct this deviation.<ref>"…they [from the Children of Israel] pervert words from their meanings, and have forgotten a part of what they were reminded …" [[Quran]] [https://quran-archive.org/explorer/ali-quli-qarai/2005?page=180#top 5:18].</ref>
 
Members of other religions may also seek inspiration from the Bible. For example, [[Rastafari]]s view the Bible as essential to their religion<ref>Becoming Rasta: Origins of Rastafari Identity in Jamaica. p. 171, Charles Price. 2009</ref> and [[Unitarian Universalism|Unitarian Universalists]] view it as "one of many important religious texts".<ref>Unitarian Universalism. p. 42, Zondervan Publishing, 2009</ref>
 
=== Biblical studies ===
{{Main|Biblical studies|Biblical criticism}}
[[Biblical criticism]] refers to the investigation of the Bible as a text, and addresses questions such as authorship, dates of composition, and authorial intention. It is not the same as [[criticism of the Bible]], which is an assertion against the Bible being a source of information or ethical guidance, or observations that the Bible may have [[translation]] errors.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.baptistlink.com/creationists/expondoerrossbinvi.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021029221934/http://www.baptistlink.com/creationists/expondoerrossbinvi.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 October 2002|title=Expondo Os Erros Da Sociedade Bíblica Internacional|publisher=Baptistlink.com|year=2000|access-date=13 January 2012}}</ref>
 
=== Higher criticism ===
{{Main|Higher criticism|Lower criticism}}
In the 17th century, [[Thomas Hobbes]] collected the current evidence to conclude outright that Moses could not have written the bulk of the Torah. Shortly afterwards the philosopher [[Baruch Spinoza]] published a unified critical analysis, arguing that the problematic passages were not isolated cases that could be explained away one by one, but pervasive throughout the five books, concluding that it was "clearer than the sun at noon that the Pentateuch was not written by Moses ..."<ref name="Potter2005">{{cite book|first=George|last=Potter|title=Ten More Amazing Discoveries|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gvrcHyusPbMC&pg=PA121|year=2005|publisher=CFI|isbn=978-1-55517-805-5|page=121|access-date=14 August 2015|archive-date=26 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210126064824/https://books.google.com/books?id=gvrcHyusPbMC&pg=PA121|url-status=live}}</ref>
 
== Archaeological and historical research ==
{{Main|Biblical archaeology school|Historicity of the Bible|Religiously motivated pseudoarchaeology}}
 
[[Biblical archaeology]] is the [[archaeology]] that relates to and sheds light upon the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Greek Scriptures (or the New Testament). It is used to help determine the lifestyle and practices of people living in biblical times. There are a wide range of interpretations in the field of biblical archaeology. One broad division includes [[biblical maximalism]] which generally takes the view that most of the Old Testament or the [[Hebrew Bible]] is based on history although it is presented through the religious viewpoint of its time. It is considered to be the opposite of [[biblical minimalism]] which considers the Bible to be a purely [[post-exilic]] (5th century BCE and later) composition. Even among those scholars who adhere to biblical minimalism, the Bible is a historical document containing first-hand information on the [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] and [[Roman era]]s, and there is universal scholarly consensus that the events of the 6th century BCE [[Babylonian captivity]] have a basis in history.
 
The historicity of the biblical account of the [[history of ancient Israel and Judah]] of the 10th to 7th centuries BCE is disputed in scholarship. The biblical account of the 8th to 7th centuries BCE is widely, but not universally, accepted as historical, while the verdict on the earliest period of the [[United Monarchy]] (10th century BCE) and the [[historicity of David]] is unclear. Archaeological evidence providing information on this period, such as the [[Tel Dan Stele]], can potentially be decisive. The biblical account of events of the [[Exodus from Egypt]] in the Torah, and the migration to the [[Promised Land]] and the period of [[Biblical judges|Judges]] are not considered historical in scholarship.<ref>* {{cite book|last1=Finkelstein|first1=Israel|author-link=Israel Finkelstein|last2=Silberman|first2=Neil Asher|author-link2=Neil Asher Silberman|title=The Bible Unearthed: Archaeology's New Vision of Ancient Israel and the Origin of Its Sacred Texts|publisher=Simon & Schuster|location=New York|year=2001|isbn=978-0-7432-2338-6|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lu6ywyJr0CMC&q=unoccupied&pg=PA57|access-date=1 October 2020|archive-date=1 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210401001448/https://books.google.com/books?id=lu6ywyJr0CMC&q=unoccupied&pg=PA57|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Dever|first=William|author-link=William G. Dever|title=Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come from?|location=Grand Rapids, Michigan|publisher=William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company|date=2003|isbn=978-0-8028-0975-9|title-link=Who Were the Early Israelites and Where Did They Come from?}}</ref>
 
== Bible museums ==
* The Dunham Bible Museum is located in [[Houston, Texas|Houston]], Texas. It is known for its collection of rare Bibles from around the world and for having many different Bibles of various languages.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Turner |first1=Allan |title=Historic Bibles ?' even a naughty one ?' featured at Houston's Dunham Museum |url=https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Historic-Bibles-even-a-naughty-one-6471869.php |access-date=10 February 2020 |work=[[Houston Chronicle]] |date=31 August 2015 |archive-date=30 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030054304/https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Historic-Bibles-even-a-naughty-one-6471869.php |url-status=live }}</ref>
* The [[Museum of the Bible]] opened in [[Washington, D.C.]] in November 2017.<ref>{{cite web |title=About Us |url=https://www.museumofthebible.org/museum/about-us |website=www.museumofthebible.org |publisher=[[Museum of the Bible]] |access-date=11 February 2020 |language=en |archive-date=25 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125152928/https://www.museumofthebible.org/museum/about-us |url-status=live }}</ref> The museum states that its intent is to "share the historical relevance and significance of the sacred scriptures in a nonsectarian way", but this has been questioned.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/religion/museum-bible-opens-washington-d-c-celebration-amid-cynicism-n821996|title=Museum of the Bible opens in Washington, D.C., with celebration amid cynicism|work=NBC News|access-date=3 December 2017|archive-date=21 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201121212355/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/religion/museum-bible-opens-washington-d-c-celebration-amid-cynicism-n821996|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Questions swirl around Museum of the Bible before grand opening |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/religion/museum-bible-gears-opening-washington-amid-propriety-questions-n821336 |access-date=11 February 2020 |work=NBC News |language=en |archive-date=9 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201209004027/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/religion/museum-bible-gears-opening-washington-amid-propriety-questions-n821336 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* The Bible Museum in [[St Arnaud, Victoria]], Australia opened in 2009.<ref>{{cite news |title=St Arnaud gets it own holy grail |url=https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/machine/st-arnaud-bible-museum-a-tourist-drawcard/story-fnkerd99-1227312496904 |access-date=11 February 2020 |work=[[The Herald and Weekly Times]] |date=21 April 2015 |language=en |archive-date=12 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201212001831/https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/machine/st-arnaud-bible-museum-a-tourist-drawcard/story-fnkerd99-1227312496904?nk=3af1540762bbd96976a6b0e639c2437c-1607732310 |url-status=live }}</ref> As of 2020, it is closed for relocation.<ref>{{cite web |title=Bible Museum Homepage {{!}} Features |url=https://www.thebiblemuseum.com.au/ |website=www.thebiblemuseum.com.au |access-date=11 February 2020 |quote=Australia's only Bible Museum has temporarily closed and is preparing to relocate. Our exciting new location will be announced on this website. |archive-date=27 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027084833/https://www.thebiblemuseum.com.au/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
* There is a Bible Museum at ''[[Passion Play#United States|The Great Passion Play]]'' in [[Eureka Springs, Arkansas]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Great Passion Play has some interesting new sights that don't cost anything to see  |url=https://www.fourstateshomepage.com/marketplace/business-showcase/great-passion-play-has-some-interesting-new-sights-that-dont-cost-anything-to-see-051519/ |access-date=11 February 2020 |work=[[KSNF]]/KODE – FourStatesHomepage.com |date=17 May 2019 |archive-date=18 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200818000209/https://www.fourstateshomepage.com/marketplace/business-showcase/great-passion-play-has-some-interesting-new-sights-that-dont-cost-anything-to-see-051519/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Christian travel planner |year=2008 |publisher=Thomas Nelson |isbn=978-1401603748 |page=327 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=onBZhX0H9YkC&q=the+great+passion+play+arkansas+eureka+springs&pg=PA327 |access-date=11 February 2020 |archive-date=11 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211134937/https://books.google.com/books?id=onBZhX0H9YkC&q=the+great+passion+play+arkansas+eureka+springs&pg=PA327 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* The Bible Museum on the Square in [[Collierville, Tennessee]] opened in 1997.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jordan |first1=Leah |title=Shelby County awards $15,000 grant for Bible Museum in Collierville |url=https://www.fox13memphis.com/top-stories/shelby-county-grants-15-000-grant-for-bible-museum-in-collierville/990016887/ |access-date=11 February 2020 |work=[[WHBQ-TV]] |archive-date=1 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101021131/https://www.fox13memphis.com/top-stories/shelby-county-grants-15-000-grant-for-bible-museum-in-collierville/990016887/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=About|url=https://www.biblemuseumonthesquare.org/about/ |website=Bible Museum On The Square |access-date=11 February 2020 |language=en |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213234317/https://www.biblemuseumonthesquare.org/about/ |archive-date=13 February 2020 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Biedenharn Museum and Gardens]] in [[Monroe, Louisiana]] includes a Bible Museum.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mary |first1=Fonseca |title=Weekend Getaways in Louisiana |publisher=Pelican Publishing |isbn=978-1-4556-1398-4 |page=249 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DGfg8QoWY_EC&q=%22Bible+Museum%22+Biedenharn&pg=PA249 |access-date=11 February 2020 |language=en |archive-date=11 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201211135118/https://books.google.com/books?id=DGfg8QoWY_EC&q=%22Bible+Museum%22+Biedenharn&pg=PA249 |url-status=live }}</ref>
 
== Gallery ==
<gallery widths="200" heights="200" perrow="5" caption="Bibles">
File:Bibel Kloster Paleokastritsa.jpg|Old Bible from a Greek monastery
File:Imperial Bible.jpg|Imperial Bible, or [[Vienna Coronation Gospels]] from Wien (Austria), c 1500.
File:Kennicott Bible.jpg|The [[Benjamin Kennicott|Kennicott]] Bible, 1476
File:A religious Baroque Bible - 7558.jpg|A [[Baroque]] Bible
File:Lincoln inaugural bible.jpg|The [[Lincoln Bible|Bible used by Abraham Lincoln]] for his oath of office during his first inauguration in 1861
File:Holy Bible The Improved Domestic Bible London Schuyler Smith & Co 1880 Maps.jpg|American Civil War Era Illustrated Bible
File:Bible and Key Divination.jpg|A miniature Bible
File:Bibel-1.jpg|1866 [[Victorian era|Victorian]] Bible
File:Bizzell Bible Collection.jpg|Shelves of the Bizzell Bible Collection at [[Bizzell Memorial Library]]
File:Leonardo da Vinci - Annunciazione (dettaglio).jpg|Detail of [[Da Vinci|Leonardo da Vinci's]] ''[[Annunciation (Leonardo)|Annunciation]]'' (c. 1472–1475) shows the [[Virgin Mary]] reading the Bible.
</gallery>
 
== Illustrations ==
The grandest medieval Bibles were [[illuminated manuscript]]s in which the text is supplemented by the addition of decoration, such as decorated [[initial]]s, borders ([[marginalia]]) and [[Miniature (illuminated manuscript)|miniature illustrations]]. Up to the twelfth century, most manuscripts were produced in monasteries in order to add to the library or after receiving a [[Commission (art)|commission]] from a wealthy patron. Larger monasteries often contained separate areas for the [[monks]] who specialized in the production of manuscripts called a [[scriptorium]], where "separate little rooms were assigned to book copying; they were situated in such a way that each scribe had to himself a window open to the cloister walk."<ref name="autogenerated1962">Putnam A.M., Geo. Haven. Books and Their Makers During The Middle Ages. Vol. 1. New York: Hillary House, 1962. Print.</ref> By the fourteenth century, the [[cloisters]] of monks writing in the scriptorium started to employ laybrothers from the urban scriptoria, especially in Paris, Rome and the Netherlands.{{sfn|De Hamel|1992|p=45}}
Demand for manuscripts grew to an extent that the Monastic libraries were unable to meet with the demand, and began employing secular scribes and illuminators.{{sfn|De Hamel|1992|p=57}} These individuals often lived close to the monastery and, in certain instances, dressed as monks whenever they entered the monastery, but were allowed to leave at the end of the day.{{sfn|De Hamel|1992|p=65}}
 
The manuscript was "sent to the [[rubricator]], who added (in red or other colours) the titles, [[headlines]], the initials of chapters and sections, the notes and so on; and then – if the book was to be illustrated – it was sent to the illuminator."<ref name="autogenerated1962" /> In the case of manuscripts that were sold commercially, the writing would "undoubtedly have been discussed initially between the patron and the scribe (or the scribe's agent,) but by the time that the written gathering were sent off to the illuminator there was no longer any scope for innovation."{{sfn|De Hamel|1992|p=60}}
 
<gallery widths="200" heights="200" perrow="5" caption="Bible illustrations">
File:Bible chartraine - BNF Lat116 f193.jpg|Bible from 1150, from Scriptorium de Chartres, Christ with angels
File:Blanche of Castile and King Louis IX of France.jpg|Blanche of Castile and Louis IX of France Bible, 13th century
File:Maciejowski Bible Leaf 37 3.jpg| Maciejowski Bible, Leaf 37, the 3rd image, [[Abner]] (in the centre in green) sends [[Michal]] back to David.
File:Jephthah's daughter laments - Maciejowski Bible.JPG|Jephthah's daughter laments – Maciejowski Bible (France, ca. 1250)
File:Whore-babylon-luther-bible-1534.jpg|Coloured version of the [[Whore of Babylon]] illustration from Martin Luther's 1534 translation of the Bible
File:Malnazar - Bible - Google Art Project.jpg|An Armenian Bible, [[Illuminated manuscript|illuminated]] by Malnazar
File:Foster Bible Pictures 0031-1.jpg|Fleeing Sodom and Gomorrah, Foster Bible
File:Kennicott Bible 305r.l.jpg|Jonah being swallowed by the fish, [[Benjamin Kennicott|Kennicott]] Bible, 1476
</gallery>
 
== See also ==
* {{Portal inline|size=tiny|Bible}}
* [[Bible box]]
* [[Bible case]]
* [[Bible paper]]
* [[Biblical software]]
* [[Code of Hammurabi]]
* [[Family Bible (book)]]
* [[International Bible Contest]]
* [[List of major biblical figures]]
* [[List of nations mentioned in the Bible]]
* [[Outline of Bible-related topics]]
* [[Theodicy and the Bible]]
* [[Typology (theology)|Typology]] – incorporating approaches to Biblical symbolism
 
== Notes ==
{{notelist|30em}}


== References ==
== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
 
* ''Entre Galilée et l'Église : la Bible.'', Une mise au point. Étude. Joël COL. {{ISBN|978-2-9520299-0-2}}, AutoEdition Méguila, 2003.
=== Works cited ===
{{Refbegin}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bandstra |first=Barry L. |date=2009 |orig-date=2004 |title=Reading the Old Testament: an introduction to the Hebrew Bible |edition=4th |publisher=[[Wadsworth Cengage Learning]] |isbn=978-0-495-39105-0 |oclc=244017850 |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Raymond E. |author-link=Raymond E. Brown |date=2010 |orig-date=1997 |title=An Introduction to the New Testament |series=[[Anchor Bible Series|The Anchor Yale Bible Reference Library]] |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0-300-14016-3 |oclc=762279536 |language=en}}
* {{cite book|last=Bruce|first=Frederick|author-link=F. F. Bruce|title=The Canon of Scripture|publisher=IVP Academic|location=Downers Grove, Illinois|year=1988|page=214|isbn=978-0-8308-1258-5}}
* {{Cite book |last=Carr |first=David McLain |author-link=David M. Carr |title=An introduction to the Old Testament: sacred texts and imperial contexts of the Hebrew Bible |date=2010 |publisher=[[Wiley-Blackwell]] |isbn=978-1-4443-1995-8 |oclc=593295689 |language=en}}
* {{cite book|last=De Hamel|first=Christopher|title=Medieval Craftsmen: Scribes and Illuminations|location=Buffalo|publisher=University of Toronto|date=1992}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Gravett |first1=Sandra L. |last2=Bohmbach |first2=Karla G. |last3=Greifenhagen |first3=F. V. |last4=Polaski |first4=Donald C. |title=An introduction to the Hebrew Bible: a thematic approach |date=2008 |publisher=[[Westminster John Knox Press]] |isbn=978-0-664-23030-2  |oclc=196303211 |language=en  |ref= {{harvid|Gravett et al.|2008}}}}
* {{Cite book |last1=Harris |first1=Stephen L. |author-link1=Stephen L. Harris |first2=Robert Leonard |last2=Platzner |title=The Old Testament: an introduction to the Hebrew Bible |date=2008 |orig-date=2003 |publisher=[[McGraw-Hill Higher Education]] |isbn=978-0-07-299051-5 |edition=2nd |oclc=166317501 |language=en |ref= {{harvid|Harris & Platzner|2008}}}}
* {{Cite book |first=Christine Elizabeth |last=Hayes |author-link=Christine Hayes |title=Introduction to the Bible |date=2012 |series=Open Yale Courses |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-1-283-65655-9 |oclc=817828470 |language=en}}
* {{cite book|last=Henshaw|first=T.|title=The Writings: The Third Division of the Old Testament Canon|publisher=George Allen & Unwin Ltd.|date=1963}}
* {{Cite book |last=Lim |first=Timothy H. |title=The Dead Sea Scrolls: a very short introduction |date=2017 |orig-date=2005 |edition=2nd |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-877952-0 |oclc=978451657 |lccn=2016953719 |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |author1-first=David C. |author1-last=Parker |author1-link=David C. Parker |date=2013 |chapter=The New Testament text and versions |pages=412–454 |editor-first1=James Carleton |editor1-last=Paget |editor1-link=James Carleton Paget |editor2-first=Joachim |editor2-last=Schaper |title=Volume 1: From the Beginnings to 600 |series=The New Cambridge History of the Bible |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-85938-7 |oclc=774213683 |language=en}}
* {{cite book |title= The Bible: A Very Short Introduction|last=Riches|first=John|year= 2000|publisher= Oxford University Press|location= Oxford|isbn= 978-0-19-285343-1}}
* {{Cite book |first1=Eugene |last1=Ulrich |author1-link=Eugene Ulrich |date=2013 |chapter=The Old Testament text and its transmission |pages=83–104 |editor1-first=James Carleton |editor1-last=Paget |editor1-link=James Carleton Paget |editor2-first=Joachim |editor2-last=Schaper |title=Volume 1: From the Beginnings to 600 |series=The New Cambridge History of the Bible |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |isbn=978-0-521-85938-7 |oclc=774213683 |language=en}}
* {{Cite book |first1=James C. |last1=VanderKam |first2=Peter W. |last2=Flint |author-link2=Peter Flint (religious scholar) |title=The meaning of the Dead Sea scrolls: their significance for understanding the Bible, Judaism, Jesus, and Christianity |date=2013 |orig-date=2002 |publisher=[[HarperCollins]]  |isbn=978-0-06-224330-0 |edition=E-book |oclc=856526599 |language=en |ref= {{harvid|VanderKam & Flint|2013}}}}
* {{cite book|last=Wright|first=N.T.|title=The Last Word: Scripture and the Authority of God – Getting Beyond the Bible Wars|publisher=HarperCollins|date=2005|isbn=978-0-06-087261-8}}
{{Refend}}
 
== Further reading ==
<!-- ===========================({{NoMoreLinks}})=============================== -->
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{{Refbegin}}
* [[Bernhard Anderson|Anderson, Bernhard W.]] ''Understanding the Old Testament''. {{ISBN|0-13-948399-3}}.
* [[Isaac Asimov|Asimov, Isaac]]. ''[[Asimov's Guide to the Bible]]''. New York: Avenel Books, 1981. {{ISBN|0-517-34582-X}}.
* [[Adele Berlin|Berlin, Adele]], [[Marc Zvi Brettler]] and [[Michael Fishbane]]. [https://books.google.com/books?id=aDuy3p5QvEYC ''The Jewish Study Bible''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903210534/https://books.google.com/books?id=aDuy3p5QvEYC |date=3 September 2015 }}. Oxford University Press, 2003. {{ISBN|0-19-529751-2}}.
* Bible, Authorized Version. ''The New Cambridge Paragraph Bible, with the Apocrypha, King James Version'', ed. by David Norton. Cambridge, Eng.: Cambridge University Press, 2005. ''N.B''.: This is a critically reconstructed text of the Authorized "King James" Bible with its entire contents (including all of its ''marginalia'', fore-matter, the Apocrypha, etc.), as close to the original translators' intentions and wording as possible at the time of this edition, with spelling modernized according to current Commonwealth usage. {{ISBN|978-0-521-84386-7}}
* [[Raymond E. Brown|Brown, Raymond E.]], [[Joseph Fitzmyer|Joseph A. Fitzmyer]], and [[Roland E. Murphy]], eds. (1990). ''The New Jerome Biblical Commentary''. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. {{ISBN|0-13-614934-0}}.
* [[James D. G. Dunn|Dunn, James D. G.]] and [[John W. Rogerson]], eds. (2021). ''Eerdmans Commentary on the Bible''. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans. {{ISBN|978-0-8028-7978-3}}.
* {{cite journal| last1=Finkelstein|first1=Israel|last2=Silberman|first2=Neil Asher|title=Review: "The Bible Unearthed": A Rejoinder|journal=Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research|volume=327|issue=1|date=August 2002|pages=63–73|jstor=1357859|doi=10.2307/1357859|s2cid=161668327 |ref=none}}
* {{cite news |last=Herzog |first=Ze'ev |author-link=Ze'ev Herzog |title=Deconstructing the walls of Jericho |newspaper=[[Ha'aretz]] |date=29 October 1999 |url=http://mideastfacts.org/facts/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=34 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081221231334/http://mideastfacts.org/facts/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=32&Itemid=34 |archive-date=21 December 2008 |ref=none }}
* {{cite journal|last=Dever|first=William G.|author-link=William G. Dever|title=Losing Faith: Who Did and Who Didn't, How Scholarship Affects Scholars|journal=Biblical Archaeology Review|date=March–April 2007|volume=33|issue=2|page=54|url=http://creationontheweb.com/images/pdfs/other/5106losingfaith.pdf|ref=none|access-date=25 July 2008|archive-date=6 October 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006053207/http://creationontheweb.com/images/pdfs/other/5106losingfaith.pdf|url-status=live}}
* [[Bart D. Ehrman|Ehrman, Bart D.]] ''Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why'' New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 2005. {{ISBN|0-06-073817-0}}.
* Head, Tom. ''The Absolute Beginner's Guide to the Bible''. Indianapolis: Que Publishing, 2005. {{ISBN|0-7897-3419-2}}
* [[Joel Manuel Hoffman|Hoffman, Joel M.]] [https://books.google.com/books?id=gpnWAAAAMAAJ ''In the Beginning: A Short History of the Hebrew Language''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903210534/https://books.google.com/books?id=gpnWAAAAMAAJ |date= 2015 }}. New York University Press, 2004. {{ISBN|0-8147-3690-4}}
* Hotchkiss, Gregory K. ''The Middle Way: Reflections on Scripture and Tradition'', in series, ''Reformed Episcopal Pamphlets'', no. 3. Philadelphia, Penn.: Reformed Episcopal Publication Society, 1985. 27 p. ''N.B'',  the approach to the issue is from an evangelical Anglican (Reformed Episcopal Church) orientation. {{OCLC|19737224}}<!-- WorldCat does not list an ISBN -->
* Kingstone Media. ''The Epic Bible: God's Story from Eden to Eternity''. Wander (2020). 840p.  {{ISBN|978-1414396675}}
* Lienhard, Joseph T. ''The Bible, The Church, and Authority''. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1995.
* [[Harold Lindsell|Lindsell, Harold]]. ''The Battle for the Bible''. Zondervan Publishing House, 1978. {{ISBN|0-310-27681-0}}
* [[Nur-eldeen Masalha|Masalha, Nur]], ''The Bible and Zionism: Invented Traditions, Archaeology and Post-Colonialism in Palestine-Israel''. London, Zed Books, 2007.
* McDonald, Lee M. and [[James A. Sanders|Sanders, James A.]], eds. ''The Canon Debate''. Hendrickson Publishers (2002). 662p. {{ISBN|978-1565635173}}
* Miller, John W. ''The Origins of the Bible: Rethinking Canon History'' Mahwah, New Jersey: Paulist Press, 1994. {{ISBN|0-8091-3522-1}}.
* {{Cite book |editor1-last=Newsom |editor1-first=Carol A. |editor2-last=Ringe |editor2-first=Sharon H. |editor3-last=Lapsley |editor3-first=Jacqueline E. |title=Women's Bible Commentary |publisher=[[Westminster John Knox Press]] |edition=Revised and updated |date=2012 |orig-date=1992 |isbn=978-0-664-23707-3 |ref=none}}
* Roper, J.C., ''Bp''., '''''et al.'''''. ''The Bible''. Toronto: Musson Book Co., 1924. ''In series'', "The Layman's Library of Practical Religion, Church of England in Canada", vol. 4. ''N.B''.: Series statement given here in the more extended form of it on the book's front cover.
* [[Siku (comics)|Siku]]. ''The Manga Bible: From Genesis to Revelation''. Galilee Trade (2008). 224p. {{ISBN|978-0385524315}}
* Taylor, Hawley O. "Mathematics and Prophecy." ''Modern Science and Christian Faith''. Wheaton: Van Kampen, 1948, pp.&nbsp;175–83.
* ''Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia'', [[wikt:sv#English|s.vv.]] "Book of Ezekiel", p.&nbsp;580 and "prophecy", p.&nbsp;1410. Chicago: Moody Bible Press, 1986.
{{Refend}}


== External links ==
== External links ==
{{Sister project links|v=Portal:Biblical studies}}
* [http://www.biblegateway.com/ The Bible Gateway: the complete Bible online]
{{Commons category|Bible}}
* [http://www.easyenglish.info/ The Bible in Simple English]
{{Wikiquote|The Bible}}
{{Wikiquote|Bible quotes about love}}
{{Wikisource|Bible}}
* [http://digitalcollections.tcd.ie/home/index.php?DRIS_ID=MS58_003v Trinity College Digital Collections] images of complete manuscript of the [[Book of Kells]].
* [https://www.nytimes.com/topic/subject/the-bible "The ''Bible'' collected news and commentary"] ''The New York Times''.
* [https://www.theguardian.com/books/the-bible "The ''Bible'' collected news and commentary"] ''The Guardian''.
* [https://www.bl.uk/sacred-texts/themes/christianity The British Library: Discovering Sacred Texts – Christianity]
* [https://web.nli.org.il/sites/nlis/en/manuscript/pages/results.aspx#query=lsr01,contains,openforall&query=any,contains,bible The National Library of Israel – Over 15,000 scanned manuscripts of the Old Testament]
 


{{Authority control}}
{{Christianityfooter}}
{{Books of the Bible}}


[[Category:Bible| ]]
[[Category:Bible| ]]
[[Category:Judeo-Christian topics]]

Latest revision as of 05:53, 12 September 2022

This article is about the Christian Bible. For the Hebrew one, see Hebrew Bible.
The Holy Bible.
Hebrew Bible from 1300. Genesis

The Bible, also known as the Holy Bible, is a group of religious texts of Judaism and Christianity, it contains both The Old Testament and The New Testament. The word Bible comes from the Greek word τὰ βιβλία (biblía) which means "books" in English, because it is many books in one book. It includes laws, stories, prayers, songs, and wise words. A number of texts are both in the Hebrew Bible, used by Jews, and this Christian one.

In considering the source and inspiration for the Bible one must see what the Bible says of itself. Several verses of scripture define the source, intent, and Author. 2 Peter 1:21 says this - "No prophecy was ever made by the act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God." Isaiah 55:11 tells us that His is a word of power - "So shall My sword be that goes forth from My mouth; It shall not return to Me void, But it shall accomplish what I please, And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it." Hebrews 4:12 says this - "For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

When talking about the Bible, a book is used to speak about a number of texts. All the texts that make a book are believed to belong together. Most of the time, people believe they were written or collected by the same person. The Bible contains different kinds of such books. Some are history, telling the stories of the Jews, Jesus, or Jesus' followers. Some are collections of wise sayings. Some are God's commands to his people, which he expects them to obey. Some are songs of praise to God. Some are books of prophecy, messages from God that he gave through chosen people called prophets.

Different groups of Christians do not agree which texts should be included in the Bible. Christian Bibles range from the 66 books of the Protestant canon to 81 books in the Ethiopian Orthodox Bible.[1] The oldest surviving Christian Bible is the Codex Sinaiticus, a Greek manuscript from the fourth century AD.[2] The oldest complete Hebrew manuscripts date from the Middle Ages.[3]

How it was written[edit | edit source]

For a long time the texts were passed on by word of mouth from generation to generation. The Bible was written long ago in Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek. Translations were made later into Latin and some other languages. Now there are translations in English and many other languages. The books of the Hebrew Bible—what Christians call the Old Testament—were not all written at the same time. It took hundreds of years (about 1200 years). The process of putting it all together began around 400 B.C. The books of the New Testament, which was originally written in Greek, began to be collected together in about 100 A.D. It tells about events that happened between 4 B.C. and 70 A.D. These events included the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus. It also tells how his followers went around spreading his message. It ends with a description of how the world will end when Jesus returns to earth. Most of the writers of the New Testament were apostles of Jesus. These were people who said they had seen Jesus alive after his crucifixion.

Translations and versions[edit | edit source]

A translation is when a scribe takes the source in one language and writes it in another language. Most texts of the Bible were written in Ancient Greek or in Aramaic or Hebrew.

The first to provide a translation into Latin was Jerome, in the 5th century. He started what is known as the Vulgate today. Wufila translated the Bible into the Gothic language. In the early Middle Ages, people such as Petrus Valdes, and Jan Hus provided translations.

The New Testament was first translated into English in 1382 by John Wycliffe, and his associates translated the Old Testament. The translation was made from the Vulgate Latin bible. Wycliffe did this so that people could see for themselves what the Bible said. The translation was completed in 1382. There were some later editions by other people to the Wycliffe bible, as it is called. It was translated into Middle English, the language of his day. Wycliffe did not have Church permission to do this, but he was protected by John of Gaunt, one of the most powerful men in the kingdom. After both Wycliffe and his protector were dead, the Church declared Wycliffe a heretic in 1415, and banned his writings. The Council of Constance decreed Wycliffe's works should be burned and his remains exhumed (dug up). Why was the Church so opposed? The translations challenged the Church's authority over the people. In church, explaining the Bible was the priest's work. Whatever he said could not be challenged. Once the ordinary people could read the Bible, they might have other opinions.

The next step in translation was done in 1525 by William Tyndale. His translation was into Early Modern English, which we can just about understand today. Tyndale also did it without Church permission. His was the first translation to be printed, and several thousand copies were made. He had no protector, and his fate was terrible. He fled to Europe, but the agents of Thomas More (Chancellor of England at the time) eventually found him. Both Tyndale and his printer were executed by burning at the stake.

Another well known translation is the 1611 King James translation (commonly known as the Authorized King James Version of the Bible).

Some texts were written by historians who tried to show what Ancient Israel was like. Other texts are poems about God and his work. And others were used to make laws. Followers of Judaism and Christianity consider the Bible sacred but they do not all agree about what belongs in the Bible. What is considered part of the Bible changed with history. Different denominations include certain parts or leave out other parts. There is not one single version of the Bible; both the content of the books and their order may change.

Languages do not match. When a translation is done, the translator has to decide between translation word for word, or capturing the sense of the text. When he decides to capture the sense, he will choose other words in the target language. This is called paraphrasing.

Today there are dozens of versions of the Bible. Some are translations and some are paraphrases. A paraphrased version is where people take a translation and put it in their own words. As the Bible has been translated into modern languages, it is also possible that there are different translations of the same texts. The Bible is the best selling book of all time. 2.5 billion to more than 6 billion copies of the Bible have been sold to date.[4][5] A complete version of the Bible exists in 471 languages. Parts have been translated in 2225 languages.[6] Most Bibles can be found in the British Museum in London.

Old Testament[edit | edit source]

Main article: Old Testament

The Christian Bible is a collection of 66 books. The first 39 books are the Old Testament. It is the first part of the God's story of salvation. "Salvation" is God's long work of saving us from our sins. "Sin" is what happened when people decided to live their own way instead of God's way in the world that God created. That was when God began His great work of saving us from our sins. To prepare the way, God had to destroy the whole world by a great flood, except for the family of Noah. Then God raised up a new people for Himself. They were the ancient Hebrews. God promised the Hebrews they would bring His salvation to the whole world. The first five books of the Old Testament are mostly the story of how God chose the ancient Hebrews and taught them his laws. Following these are the twelve books that tell the history of the Hebrews. The next five are books of poetry and wisdom. One of these five books, the "Psalms", is a book of songs showing mainly how God wants to be worshiped. The last seventeen books of the Old Testament were written by Hebrew prophets. These books tell about God's disappointment with the ancient Hebrews and His promise to bring them back to friendship with Him. The prophets also foretell a great surprise God was planning for the world-He was going to send His very own Son, the Messiah (the "Anointed One"), the Saviour, to save us from our sins. You can read about this Messiah in the New Testament. In the Old Testament, Tanakh was mostly written in Hebrew; a few parts were written in Aramaic. This part of the Bible is considered to be holy by Jews as well as Christians.

There are also a few books of the Old Testament's time called Deuterocanonical by those Churches that accept them as part of the Bible, and Apocrypha by those that do not.

New Testament[edit | edit source]

Main article: New Testament

The second part is called the New Testament. The main part of this book is the story of the life of Jesus Christ. The four different versions of this story in the New Testament are called the Gospels. After the Gospels, there is also the story of what happened to the Church after Jesus's death and resurrection. Part of this is told through letters by early Christian leaders, especially Saint Paul. The final book of the Bible tells about a vision that St. John, one of the disciples of Jesus, had. In the vision John saw what would happen at the end of the world. This included judgement for evil and happiness for the people who had followed Jesus. One of the most quoted verses in the Bible is John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish [die] but have eternal life." NIV

Views about the Bible[edit | edit source]

People have different ideas about the Bible. Christians believe it is God's Word to people. The Jews believe that only the Old Testament is from God. Protestants and Catholics believe that the Old and New Testaments are God's Word. Catholics also believe that the books called Apocrypha or Deuterocanonical are part of the Bible. Sometimes different denominations disagree over exactly what the Bible means.

According to Islam, the Injil itself is to be followed but it is believed to have been corrupted with time. The Qur'an is believed to be the successor.

Atheists do not believe that gods exist, so the Bible is only an ancient book.

Deists believe in God, but they believe that the Bible was written by people, so they don't see it as important.

Some people in the Bible[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ↑ "The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church".
  2. ↑ Codex Sinaiticus: http://codexsinaiticus.org/en/codex/
  3. ↑ Davies, Philip R. (2008). Memories of Ancient Israel: An Introduction to Biblical History - Ancient and Modern. Westminster John Knox Press. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-664-23288-7.
  4. ↑ Ash, Russell (2001). Top 10 of Everything 2002. Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 0789480433.
  5. ↑ Businessweek on The Bible: "The Bible (2.5 billion copies sold)" (18 July 2005)
  6. ↑ Wycliffe translators' homepage, (Sept 2009)
  • Entre Galilée et l'Église : la Bible., Une mise au point. Étude. Joël COL. ISBN 978-2-9520299-0-2, AutoEdition Méguila, 2003.

External links[edit | edit source]

Template:Books of the Bible

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