How We Got the Bible

1. How We Got the Bible Based on the book by Neil R. Lightfoot

4. The Making of Ancient Books • The Bible did not just happen nor has it been preserved by mere chance • The story of the Bible is preceded by the making of ancient books • Writing was well established in some countries before the establishment of the Hebrew nation in Palestine • The Bible is not the oldest book in the world

5. Ancient Books • Clay tablets uncovered reveal writing in Mesopotamia by at least 3000BC • Counting Egyptian hieroglyphs on monuments, temples and tombs it goes further back • Somewhere between Egypt and Mesopotamia about 1750BC some Semetic persons developed the alphabet • The Proto-Sinaitic Inscriptions are rock carvings dated 1500BC and located about 50 miles from Mt. Sinai • Bible critics have said that Moses could not have written any of the Bible because writing was unknown in that area and time. Until the finding of the Proto-Sinaitic carvings.

6. Writing Materials • Stone – Siloam Inscription • 700 BC told of in 2Kings 20:20 and 2 Chronicles 32:30 • Moabite Stone • Found in the area of the Dead Sea • Thirty-four lines of Cannanite script • Only inscription outside of Palestine that mentions YHWH • The earliest writing material mentioned in the Old Testament is stone

7. Writing Material • Clay • Most common in Mesopotamia • 500,000 clay tablets have survived to modern times • Official correspondence between pharaohs of Egypt and rulers in Palestine, Syria and Mesopotamia from 1350BC have been preserved • Nebuchadnezzar put on clay his rebuilding of Babylon • Belshazzar from the Book of Daniel left clay cylinders and of prayers and tablets on various subjects

8. Writing Material • Wood and Wax • Num 17:2-3; Ezek 37:16-17 make reference to writing on wooden rods and sticks • In Greek and Roman times a whitened wood board was used for public notices and was called an “Album”. • Metal • Exodus 28:36 refers to Gold as writing material • In Greece and Rome government records, treaties etc.. Were done on bronze • Roman soldiers at the time of their discharge were given a small bronze tablet called a “Diploma”. These granted them special privileges and citizenship based on their service

9. Writing Material • Ostraca • Basically broken pottery called potsherds • Two have been found with the name of Narmer the first Pharaoh of Egypt on them (3100BC) • Others have been found with the Hebrew alphabet • When the little kingdom of Judah was under attack potsherds have been found with “May YHWH cause my lord to hear tidings of peace” • Twenty-five Ostraca have been found with short passages from the New Testament on them

10. Writing Material • Papyrus • Book of Job 8:11 “Can papyrus grow where there is no marsh?” • All of the other materials had limitations • Papyrus is flexible and was used by Egyptians as early as 3000BC • Universally used for books • Papyrus is the root word for paper • The word biblos was a Greek term for papyrus, Biblion meant papyrus roll, Biblia is plural for papyrus rolls and meant “the Books”, later it came to mean “the Book” of Sacred Scripture • The word “Bible” goes back to the origins of the Papyrus plant

12. Writing Material • Leather and Parchment • Animal skins were in use in Egypt as far back as 2500BC • The word Parchment is derived from the area where its use was perfected Peragamum (king Eumenes II) • “Vellum” is another type of skin: related to the English word veal • The Dead Sea Scrolls were mostly written on leather • Jewish Talmud (code of traditional laws) requires the Torah to be copied on prepared skins • We can assume that when Paul in 2 Tim 4:13 requests that “parchments” be sent to him that he is speaking of portions of the Old Testament • Leather and Parchment are similar but differ in how the skin is prepared. Parchment gained ground over Papyrus as it became less available: Through the Middle Ages parchment was the primary means of writing the word of God

14. Summary of Writing Material • Practiced hundreds of years before the time of Moses • The material used depended on the time and the place • Leather was most important for the Old Testament • The early New Testament was written on Papyrus and then later Parchment in about the fourth century • Most surviving New Testament manuscripts are of parchment or vellum

15. Discussion • What information is available to show that writing was practiced before the time of Moses? • Clay tablets, stones, hieroglyphics • What material is most important for the Old Testament? • Parchment/Leather • What is the significance of Papyrus as a writing material and for the early New Testament? • The Greek meaning for papyrus is where we got the name the bible and the availability and prevalence of the material made it easy to spread the word

16. The Birth of the Bible • The books of the Bible came together separately and under varying conditions so it is not possible to pinpoint the exact origin • Codex • In the days of papyrus and leather the form of a book was in a roll or scroll and in the case of papyrus they glued the sheets end-to-end and usually the writing was on one side only • The writing was arranged in columns about three or four inches wide, the rolls limited to thirty-five feet • This is important for the New Testament because a roll of thirty-two to thirty-five feet would be needed for a lengthy book like Matthew or Luke or Acts • If follows then that Luke and Acts must have been written separately because of this limitation and that the Gospels and some of the longer letters would have to circulate individually as long as the papyrus rolls were in use

18. The Birth of the Bible • The roll form gave way to the Codex which is a roman term for writing tablet and also a term for a book with leaves (a book in the modern sense) • The Codex was much easier to use, could be bound and the papyrus could be written on both sides • The book could be carried about and several books could be combined • Christians found this handy because they could bind the Gospels together, then the letters, and eventually the whole Bible • Codex was first papyrus and then parchment • The earliest extant texts of the NT are in Codex form (must have existed before A.D. 90)

19. Early form of the Bible • When it came time for God’s divine communications to become a permanent record he inspired Moses who is the first person mentioned as writing anything and it was as early as 1500B.C. • Moses wrote: (1) the memorial concerning Amalek (2) the covenant made at Sinai (3) the Ten Commandments (4) the journeys of the children of Israel in the wilderness, Num 33:2 (5) the Book of the Law to be kept with the Ark of the Covenant, Deut 31:9, 24 (6) the Song found in Deuteronomy 32 1-43 and Deut 31:22 • The first five books of the Bible (Pentateuch). Also held by Jewish law as true • Confirmed by: Josh 8:31, 2 Kings 14:6, Ezra 6:18, Mark 12:26, Luke 2:22, John 7:19

21. Early form of the Bible • When divine revelation was written down it became natural for other revelations and events to be written down • Joshua refers to “in the book of the law of God” • This became the practice of other men who wrote history and prophecy • Later generations are found consulting the writings of their predecessors Dan 9:2, Neh 8:1 • In this way the Old Testament grew and became assembled and accepted collection about the time of Ezra (400 B.C.) • The Jewish authority Josephus said that no book was added to the Hebrew Scripture after the time of Malachai

23. Early form of the Bible • The NT came into being gradually although it was written in a short period of time (A.D. 50-100) generally because Paul wrote about 80% of it during his lifetime • The books were mostly letters by inspired men to different churches and people • They were considered authoritative writings and read in public assemblies (1 Thes 5:27) • Soon afterward the Churches began exchanging the letters (Col 4:16)

24. Early form of the Bible • The central events of the life of Jesus were first told orally but eventually a written record was needed • Matthew, Mark, Luke, John and Luke with Acts which told the story of the infant church and then as a climax came John with Revelation • The result was that a new community of people was developed and they had cherished writings of their own just like the Old Covenant

25. The Form of our Bible Today • Divided in two major sections: Old Testament and New • A more accurate translation from the Greek would be “covenant” not testament • The basic structure of the Bible hinges on the idea that God has made two significant covenants with his people and that the New Covenant has displaced the Old • Old in English Bibles: (1) five books of Law, Pentateuch; Genesis-Deut (2) twelve books of history; Joshua-Esther (3) five books of Poetry; Job to Song of Solomon (4) seventeen books of Prophets; Isaiah to Malachai sometimes divided into five book of Major Prophets and twelve books of Minor Prophets • This arrangement is derived from the Latin Vulgate which is derived from the Septuagint or Greek version

26. The Form of our Bible Today • The Hebrew Bible grouped differently: • Law: Gen, Ex, Lev, Num, Deut • Prophets: Former; Josh, Jud, 1/2 Sam, 1/2 Kings • Latter Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the Book of the Twelve – minor prophets • Writings: Ps, Prov, Job, Song of Sol, Ruth, Lam, Ecc, Esther, Dan, Ezra, Neh, and 1 and 2 Chron • If we compare this arrangement we see that there are three division: Law, Prophets, Writings and the Twelve minor prophets are put in one book • Also Joshua, Judges, and the Books of the Samuel and Kings as Former Prophets • We regard these books as historical but they are known to be prophetic because written with a prophetic outlook by men who were likely prophets • Irrespective of arrangement it is important to note that in the English Bible the books are precisely the same as those found in the Hebrew Bible

27. Books of the New Covenant • (1) five books of history; Matthew – Acts (2) twenty-one books of Doctrine; Romans – Jude (3) one book of Prophecy; Revelation • The books of History may be divided into the Gospels and Acts • The first three Gospels are the “Synoptic Gospels” because of their similar content • John was probably written later and presupposes some knowledge of Jesus life; also edited. • Acts is a continuation of the Gospels detailing the early church • Thirteen of the twenty-one books of Doctrine were written by Paul: The Pauline letters are of two groups; before two-years imprisonment in Rome and after (1 and 2 Tim and Titus) these are called the Pastoral Epistles • The book of Hebrews is sometimes attributed to Paul but no one knows for sure • The one book of Prophecy or Apocalypse, Revelation is suitably at the end of the Bible since it summarizes in symbolic language the principles revealed in the preceding books while giving a prophetic look forward

30. Languages of the Bible • Understanding the languages of the Bible provides a link to its history • Three original languages: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek • Hebrew spoken in Israel, Aramaic spoken in Syria and others, Greek all over the Mediterranean • Almost all of the Old Covenant written in Hebrew which comes from a family of languages called “Semitic” • Hebrew is written right to left and has no vowels • Modernists had to add a system of vowel points • Not always a help: new Hebrew is printed without vowels • Aramaic is similar to Hebrew and became common after the exile (500 B.C.) Neh 8:8 is read in Aramaic because people did not know pure Hebrew • Aramaic was spoken by Jews several centuries before Christ so some of the Old Covenant is written in Aramaic • The longest Old Covenant section in Aramaic starts at Dan 2:4 where the first part is Hebrew and then it switches to Aramaic with the response of the Chaldeans “O king live forever” • The Dead Sea Scrolls produced a segment of Daniel and in the middle of Dan 2:4 the Hebrew stops and Aramaic begins just as in our Bibles two-thousand years later • The Hebrew writing begins again at the end of Dan chapter 7 and the Dead Sea Scrolls confirm this as well

32. Languages of the Bible • Jesus spoke Aramaic: “Abba” is Aramaic for father • Maran atha is Aramaic “our Lord come” (1 Cor 16:22) • Greek: Although Aramaic was the spoken language our books comprising the NC were written in Greek • Greek was known throughout the Mediterranean and was the universal tongue • The NC was not written in classic Greek but more literary yet common or “Hellenistic” and with a Semitic element because most of the writers were Jewish and wrote with Semitic idiom

33. Praise of Ancient Scribes • In Mesopotamia and Egypt the trained scribe was highly prized • Books were being dictated and sold all over the Greek and then Roman world • The earliest copies of Christian writings were probably done for local churches by congregation members • As Christianity grew it was necessary to have more copies in more languages • Scribes would work in Scriptoriums and listen to the reader read aloud from a text • We know that Origen had a scriptorium in Caesarea and had a team of stenographers • This is how the great Christian library at Caesarea came to be • Monasteries all had scriptoriums to preserve and foster the word • Scribes sometimes wrote notes in the margins or at the end to tell us of their work • Scribes would not sit at a desk: they likely sat on a bench or stool with something to hold up their legs. They used a stylus, a reed pen, a sponge, carbon ink, and a pen-knife to sharpen the reed, and a pumice stone to smooth the reed or the Codex

34. Summary • Our Bible is a collection of extraordinary books written over a period of fourteen or fifteen hundred years • The Bible gradually grew until its completion near the close of the first century A.D. • The order of books in our English Old Covenant basically goes back to the Greek which was widely used in the early church • Our NC writings are arranged logically not chronologically • The OC is predominantly Hebrew but by the first century Greek was a world-wide language which is why the NC was written in Greek

35. For Discussion • What is a Codex? • A bound book • Who is mentioned in the Bible as being the first author of anything? • Moses • At about time were the books of the NC written • A.D. 50-100 • Are the books of the English OC the same as the Hebrew? • Yes, although arranged differently • What are the three main divisions of the NC? • Five books of history, twenty-one books of Doctrine, one book of revelation • Which writer is responsible for the largest group of NC books? • Paul • Name the three original languages of the Bible • Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek • What language was normally spoken by Jesus? How do we know? • Aramaic, because of his use of Aramaic words to call out and describe things