Background to the Bible

See also: What do we know about the Bible? ; Languages of the Bible; Putting the Bible together; Transmitting the Bible; the Book of the Christians

THE DATE OF THE BIBLE

The list below shows the approximate dates of the books of the Bible.

BOOK	FINAL FORM WRITTEN (some of contents earlier)	APPARENT DATE OF EVENTS
Genesis	6th century B.C.	Up to 1400 B.C.
Exodus	6th century B.C.	c 1250 B.C.
Leviticus	6th-5th century B.C.	1200 B.C.
Numbers	6th century B.C.	1200 B.C. onwards
Deuteronomy	6th century B.C.	1200 B.C. onwards
Joshua	6th century B.C.	13th-12th century B.C.
Judges	6th century B.C.	1200-1000 B.C.
Ruth	8th century B.C.	1100s B.C.
I Samuel	6th century B.C.	11th century B.C.
II Samuel	6th century B.C.	11th century B.C.
I Kings	6th century B.C.	960-850 B.C.
II Kings	6th century B.C.	850-587 B.C.
I Chronicles	4th century B.C.	1050-960 B.C.
II Chronicles	4th century B.C.	960-850 B.C.
Ezra	4th century B.C.	530 B.C. onwards
Nehemiah	4th century B.C.	445 B.C. onwards
Esther	4th century B.C.	15th century B.C.
Job	6th century B.C.	11th century B.C.
Psalms	4th century B.C. or later	1000-300 B.C.
Proverbs	6th century B.C.	1000-500 B.C.
Ecclesiastes	4th century B.C.	930-400 B.C.
Song of songs	6th century B.C.	10th century B.C.
Isaiah	4th century B.C.	740-400 B.C.
Jeremiah	6th century B.C.	620-580 B.C.
Lamentations	6th century B.C.	587 B.C.
Ezekiel	6th century B.C.	593-571 B.C.
Daniel	c.166 B.C.	570-530 B.C.
Hosea	7th century B.C.	745-720 B.C.
Joel	late 6th century B.C.	late 6th century
Amos	late 8th century B.C.	750 B.C.
Obadiah	6th-5th century B.C.	580s B.C.
Jonah	late 6th century B.C.	785-745 B.C.
Micah	late 8th century B.C.	750-720 B.C.
Nahum	late 7th century B.C.	633-612 B.C.
Habakkuk	6th century B.C.	620-600 B.C.
Zephaniah	6th century B.C.	640-609 B.C.
Haggai	4th century B.C.	520s B.C.
Zechariah	5th-4th centuries B.C.	5th-4th centuries B.C.
Malachi	5th-4th centuries B.C.	5th-4th centuries B.C
Matthew	AD. 85 (approx) A.D.	4 B.C. - A.D. 33
Mark	66 (approx) A.D.	A.D. - early 30s
Luke	85 (approx) A.D.	4 B.C.-A.D. 33
John	95 (approx) A.D.	A.D. early 30s
Acts	62 (approx) A.D.	A.D. 34-62
Romans	A.D. 55-58	A.D.55-58
I Corinthians	A.D. 54	A.D. 54
II Corinthians	A.D. 55-56	A.D. 55-56
Galatians	A.D. 54	A.D. 54
Ephesians	A.D. 86-96?	A.D. 80-90?
Philippians	A.D. 60	A.D. 60
Colossians	A.D. 65-70	A.D. 65-70?
I Thessalonians	A.D. 50	A.D. 50
II Thessalonians	A.D. 54?	A.D. 54
I Timothy	A.D. 80s?	A.D. 80s?
II Timothy	A.D. 80s?	A.D. 80s?
Titus	A.D. 80s?	A.D. 80s?
Philemon	A.D. 60	A.D. 60
Hebrews	A.D. 70	A.D. 70
James	A.D. 80s	A.D. 80
I Peter	late 1st century A.D.	late 1st century A.D
II Peter	late 1st century A.D.	late 1st century A.D.
I John	A.D. 90s	A.D. 90s
II John	A.D. 90s	A.D. 90s
III John	A.D. 90s	A.D. 90s
Jude	c A.D. 66	c A.D. 66
Revelation	A.D. 95-96	A.D. 95-96

Note: Paul was executed in A.D. 64, several of the traditional Pauline letters have been dated later than this in the list above and a question mark added - this question mark indicates there is considerable debate about the authorship of these epistles.

WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT THE BIBLE?

The Bible is made up of two sections - the Old and New Testaments or Covenants. The purpose of the Book is to tell of God's dealings with. the world, and how mankind has come into contact with Him.

In the Old Testament we have a selection of the literature of the Israelite people over 1000 years of their history.

In the New Testament we have a selection of the writings of a new religion - Christianity, in the first 100 years of its existence.

What is included depends largely on 2 factors:

1        what escaped destruction

2        the needs of the community which produced them

Neither section is a cohesive work. There is a variety of authors and dates, and on occasions we can see several authors at work within one book.

Modem Scholarship

Modern scholarship has deduced much about the making of the Bible. This is usually referred to as Biblical Criticism, but this is criticism in its positive sense. Some find the methods of the critical scholars disturbing in that they appear to destroy our traditional ideas, but this may in fact help us to understand. More clearly what the Bible really stands for, and in some instances actually help to defend it in the face of hostility. We each bring our own preconceptions to such a book, and must recognise that fact. We must also realise that scholars are not always right. Much of what they suggest is theory and hypotheses, and there is often an opposite view. If we are to come to our own conclusions we may need to weigh all the evidence carefully, and this is the task of detailed study. What we can do here on this websiteis very limited and is intended as a basic introduction to some of the ideas of Biblical scholars.

THE LANGUAGES OF THE BIBLE

The Old Testament

The language of the Old Testament is Hebrew. This is one of the Semitic languages of the near East and is related to the others, a modern example of which would be Arabic. The Hebrew of the Old Testament is referred to as classical Hebrew and died out as a spoken language around the time of the Babylonian Exile 6th Century BC. It remained the language of the Old Testament and so knowledge of it was passed on. Today orthodox Jewish children learn Hebrew so that the Scriptures can still be read in Synagogue in the original language. Modem Hebrew is the language of the modern state of Israel, and is an adaptation of classical Hebrew to meet today's needs. It was revived when the State of Israel was set up earlier this century.

Classical Hebrew is written and read from right to left. It is made up of 23 letters which are all consonants, and words were written at first without any vowels. A system of dots and dashes were later added to represent the vowels. Adding in the vowels like this is known as "pointing" and without them the text is referred to as "unpainted". As the vowels used can alter meanings, this provides a challenge for translators. The name for God has always remained unpointed which has meant that no-one knows how it should be pronounced. When the text was read in the synagogues the Name was never spoken as it was too holy for man to say. and the word "Lord" (Adonai) was substituted. Hence in many of our English bibles you will find the word "Lord" used whenever the letters "yhwh" appear. For the rest, as it continued to be spoken when read and meanings remembered, how words were said meant that vowels could be added quite accurately.

The New Testament

The language of the New Testament is Greek. Greek was the most common language in the Eastern Roman Empire at the time of the New Testament. New Testament Greek is not classical Greek, but known as Koine Greek, a colloquial version, and to some classical Greek scholars, a particularly poor form of the language. Some of our New Testament authors were not scholars; but wrote as they spoke.

The Gospels of Luke and John and related books (Acts and John's letters) are the best Greek style in the New Testament.

Unlike Hebrew, Greek continued to be spoken and develop, so that modern Greek closely resembles ancient Greek, and is itself related to other European languages. It has had its influence on our own English language too, and many of our words have origins in Greek - even "television"!

PUTTING THE BIBLE TOGETHER

Most of the Bible went through a period of oral transmission, being passed on by word of mouth, before it was written down. Stories of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and the Judges would have been remembered and passed down through the generations. Very little would have been written down as the use of writing was not well developed, or in common use, and neither were the materials. The first reference is probably the Ten Commandments, carved into stone. Written documents were usually legal or concerned with matters of state.

However, stories were remembered remarkably accurately, and eventually recorded in writing - sometimes two versions occur and later editors weave them together (Noah), or they may stand side by side (Genesis 1 & 2, are two creation stories). Later we have the documents of the period of the monarchy used as source material for the books of Samuel and Kings as well as oral tradition.

The books of the prophets were probably mainly written down by their followers who remembered their teaching, although there are some references to writing in them.

By the time of Jesus all of the Old Testament books were known and accepted as divinely inspired, and at a meeting of Jewish leaders in 90 AD at a place called Jamnia they were formally agreed on as the official scriptures.

Some of the New Testament started life in written form - Paul's letters were written documents from the beginning, for instance. The stories about Jesus himself, however, were from people's memories and passed on by word of mouth initially, as the teachers spread His message. These stories were eventually collected together into the Gospels to help the next generation who no longer had access to eyewitnesses of the events of Jesus' life

Many other documents were written, including other gospels and books of teaching. The Church Fathers eventually got together to decide which should be accepted, and by the end of the 4th Century the books of the New Testament as we know it were declared to be the Christian scriptures.

TRANSMITTING THE BIBLE

The biblical text was passed on through the work of scribes until the beginning of printing in the Fifteenth Century. Scribes were very important people, and their work was very precious and treated with great care. On their accuracy depended the people's knowledge of the Word of God.

The books of the Old Testament were copied on to scrolls. These are long sheets of paper/papyrus, which are then rolled for storage. These are still used in synagogues today, and they are still written by hand. The writing is arranged in .columns and the paper is rolled until the appropriate part of the text can be seen.

In about the Second Century AD the idea of smaller sheets which could be folded and fastened together at one side was introduced. This was called a "codex", and while the writing was still done in columns, it proved to be much easier to use and to carry about and gradually replaced the scroll. From about the same time, vellum, made from animal skin, began to take over from papyrus as a writing surface as it proved to be a better surface and more durable, particularly in the codex form.  This remained the case until the invention of paper and printing at the close of the Middle Ages.

In the early manuscripts, there were no commas or full stops or any other form of punctuation and no gaps between the words. The pen was a reed cut to the required shape and the ink was made from soot, gum and water.

Discoveries of ancient manuscripts show us how carefully and accurately the scribes did their copying. The oldest know manuscripts of the Old Testament are among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The oldest known manuscripts of the New Testament are papyrus fragments, the earliest of which is part of John's Gospel dating from about 130 AD. The earliest complete manuscript of the New Testament is the Codex Sinaiticus, dating from the 4th Century AD.

The care of the scribes and the value given to the books is shown in the decorated versions, known as illuminated manuscripts which were done mainly by the monks of the Middle Ages. Two well-known examples are the Book of Kells and the Lindisfarne Gospels.

The Printed Bible

While printing had been invented in Asia some time. before, it did not appear in Europe until the middle of the 15th Century. Johann Gutenberg set up a printing press in Mainz, Germany, and the very. first complete book to be printed in the western world was the Bible in 1456. The first English printing press was set 'up by William Caxton in London in 1476 and the Bible was then printed in England. This now meant that Bibles could be printed more cheaply than before and in greater numbers so that more people could have access to them, and even own them. It coincided with an increase in learning, and the Reformation which encouraged translation into the languages of the people, so that people could hear and read the Word of God for themselves and not have to rely on the clergy or scholars to tell them what it was about.

Today, everyone who wants to do so, can read a Bible. and most can own one. The tradition of care over the text has continued and there should be no printing errors in a Bible text. Illustrated texts are still produced, using photographs or drawings, and many are beautifully produced, with the finest paper and expensive bindings and covers. On the other hand it is possible to buy a cheaper paperback edition -.although the care over the text will remain the same.

Translating the Bible

If people were to be able to understand the words of the. Bible they needed to have them in their own language. The first translation was of the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek, when that became the language of many Jews. This translation was undertaken in Alexandria and the story says that 70 scholars each translated the text independently to discover that when they compared what they had done, their translations were identical. This Greek Old Testament is known as the Septuagint from the Greek word for 70.

Originally written in Greek, the common language of the people, the New Testament was soon translated into Latin, the official language of the Roman Empire. There were many versions of this until Pope Damascus commissioned his secretary, Jerome, to make an official version. This he did, going back to the original Greek, and Hebrew of the Old Testament, and his translation, known as the Vulgate (meaning "common" or "popular") and completed around 400 AD, became the standard Bible of the Roman Catholic Church.

Other translations were made at an early date into Syriac (Turkey) Coptic (Egypt) Armenian and Georgian Germanic and Old Slavonic, but the most influential remained Jerome's Latin Vulgate where the Roman Church dominated, and most of the later translations were from the Latin and not the original languages.

After the break up of the Roman Empire in the 5th Century Latin ceased to be a language spoken or understood by ordinary people. Through the Dark Ages and the Middle Ages in Western Europe (about 900 years), only church leaders and monks could read and understand the Bible and the people relied on them to tell them the stories. This was often done through art and drama. Wall paintings, stained glass and sculpture were used in the churches to pass on the Bible stories and truths. Mystery plays were dramatised episodes from the Bible, telling the story from the Garden of Eden to the day of Judgement. Some cycles of mystery plays have been preserved and are still performed today - eg in Chester and York.

English Translations

There were early attempts to put the Bible into English, but this was discouraged by the Church. The first of these translations was on the orders of John Wycliffe, an Oxford Theologian, and was based on the Latin Vulgate. His followers, known as Lollards; were considered heretics by the church, and persecuted. Any translations found were destroyed, and Wycliffe and the Lollards executed.

The Reformation in the 15th and 16th Centuries encouraged the translation of the Latin Bible into the language of the people. Printing, developing at the same time, also contributed to the Bible's availability.

In 1539 Coverdale's translation, known as the Great Bible, was authorised by Henry NM to be used in churches. In 1560 the Geneva Bible was produced by a group of English scholars in Geneva. This is also known as the "Breeches Bible" as their translation of Genesis 3:7 says that Adam and Eve made themselves breeches to wear King James I commissioned fifty translators, working in groups, to revise and refine previous versions of the Bible, and they produced what became the main English version up to the twentieth century. It was completed in 1611 and is known as the Authorised Version or the King James Bible.

Modern Translations

Living languages are continually changing so that if the Bible is to remain close to the people its language must be updated too. Also we have gathered more knowledge about ancient languages and discoveries of hitherto unknown manuscripts have made us revise some of the translations.

The Authorised Version was revised into the English Revised Version in 1881-5 and this was again updated in 1952 to be known as the Revised Standard Version. It was felt, however, that a completely new translation from the original language was needed. The New English Bible, as it is known, was sponsored by the main British Churches and Bible Societies. The New Testament was published in 1961 and the Old Testament in 1970. The Jerusalem Bible, produced in 1966 was the work of the Roman Catholic School of Biblical Studies in Jerusalem, as the new version for the Catholics.

The Good News Bible and the New International Version have appeared in the 1960's and 70's, and a Revised Authorised Version in 1982, updating the original Authorised King James Version. The most recent at the time of writing is the Revised English Bible. As well as these there are numerous versions, some of which are translations, some paraphrases, where the sense of the original is given rather than its exact translation.

Bible Story Books

There are also numerous story bibles intended for children; these are a re-telling of the original narrative, but it can be very difficult for these to remain true. to the original. Translators are constantly faced with the problem of translating accurately and impartially, avoiding putting any interpretation of their own onto the text they are working on. This becomes even more difficult for those re-telling stories, and while some of them are much easier to use than the original text when talking to children, it is always advisable to look at the original as well. One example of what can happen is in the parable Jesus told known as the Prodigal Son (Luke 15). There are versions in story books which conclude the story about whether the elder son joined in the party or not. Jesus himself did not do so - He left it open, and as such it is a valuable point of discussion. We can draw our own conclusions but should not put words into His mouth.

THE BIBLE – THE CHRISTIANS’ BOOK

The Bible has already been translated, at least in part, into over 800 different languages, and translation work is in progress on a similar number more; the Bible Society will be able to provide you with up-to-date materials on this. It is said that the Bible is obtainable (although it may be with difficulty) in every country of the world. The Guiness Book of Records informs us that the Bible is the world's best-selling book. Yet the most recent of the books contained within the Bible dates from the end of the first century AD. - how does the Bible retain its power today?

Purpose

We do not know why many of the books of the Bible were written (although c.f. Jeremiah 36, Luke 1:1-4). However, there are several themes running through the scriptures. The chief of these is that God has acted, and will act, in human history. The records, in many different styles and pens, show the development of the relationship of God and man through the eyes of its human participants. The Old Testament speaks of God's love for all Mankind, but concentrates on a special relationship with a Chosen People, the Jews.

In the New Testament, through the death of Jesus, salvation and a new relationship with God becomes a possibility for all humanity, if individuals are prepared to accept God's promises in faith.

A Book of Faith

The authors of the Bible are not just recording historical facts, rather they are sharing the grounds of their own faith and trust in the promises of God with the communities for which they wrote. Some of the prophecies and promises contained in the Bible have already been fulfilled, others await fulfillment, and the hope that centres on these promises of God is part of the reason for the Bible’s longevity.

The Bible is accepted by believing communities as the timeless Word of God, its basic truths relevant to all generations and nations, even though they do not share the culture of its original writers.

Inspiration and Revelation

The concepts of Inspiration and Revelation are central to any discussion on the nature of the Bible.

Inspiration means literally being filled with the inbreathed Spirit of God. In ancient Israel it was understood that prophecy was uttered under the influence of the Spirit of God (Numbers 24:2) and by the New Testament period the concept of inspiration was extended to all the documents of scripture then written. (cf. 2 Timothy 3:16).

This should not be understood as claiming that God dictated the words of the Bible to an unthinking secretary, but that the writers were filled with this Spirit. In order to maintain a belief in the dictation, rather than the inspiration, of scripture one would need to explain away the confusions, conflicts and inconsistencies found within the Biblical texts.

Revelation means the disclosure of what was previously unknown or not understood. In other words, that there are truths contained within the Bible which would not have been known at all if God had not chosen to reveal them to the believer. It is normally 'argued that, without the witness of the Scriptures, God could be found through the realm of nature as the Creator God, but nothing would be known of the whole great plan of salvation. Revelation also depends upon the way it is received. An atheist and a believer would not necessarily interpret a particular event in the same way; one would perhaps speak of it as chance, the other, as an answer to prayer. This is also true of a person's attitude to the Scriptures - they take on meaning and worth as one is prepared to believe in God and His revelation.

The Bible in Church of England Public Worship

As the vehicle of God's revelation, the Bible naturally plays a central part in Christian Worship. This centrality is demonstrated by the physical positioning of the Bible during a service. It may be processed in, laid on a central table or altar, or read aloud from a prominent lectern. The lectern itself may be shaped like a great eagle, symbolising the power of the Word of God spreading throughout the world.

During a service the Bible is also commented on and explained in the sermon or address. The reading of the Bible is a feature in all Christian Sunday worship whilst at a cathedral such as Ely, for example, it will be read publically in services eight times every weekday and thirteen times on a Sunday, making a total of at least sixty-one such readings every week.

Cycle of Readings

The Church's annual cycle of worship follows an historical rhythm as it moves through Advent; 'Christmas, Lent, Easter and Pentecost,_ a pattern obviously based on the New Testament record and reinforced by readings following the lectionary. Alongside the historical themes runs a theological rhythm eg teaching on redemption and forgiveness on Good Friday,and on the mystery of the Godhead on Trinity Sunday. The Church's lectionary (see

example in the resources section) is simply a list of lessons to be read at services throughout the year. Followed on a daily basis it enables the reader to cover most of the Old Testament once a year and nearly all of the New Testament three times. The readings are not continuous, but pick up the main threads of meaning through each book of the Bible. All the great themes of Scripture are thereby covered regularly. In a very real sense, these proclamations of the acts of God encourage people to worship and "set the scene" for everything else which happens within a service.

Bible-based Worship

In very general terms, the shape of Christian worship is outlined in the New Testament (c.f. Ephesians 5:18 20, Colossians 3:16, I Corinthians 14:26, I Timothy 2:1-3,Acts 2:42 et al) and one service, the Eucharist, is clearly based upon the specific actions and words used by Jesus at the Last Supper and recorded in all four gospels. On closer investigation one can see that as well as the words from the Last Supper, the church also takes other parts of the Bible to use in its worship:

• the Psalms were the hymn book of the Jerusalem Temple and are still a regular part of both synagogue and church worship (sometimes in an updated version)
• there are also a series of canticles or songs for Morning and Evening Prayer most of which are taken directly from the New Testament e.g the Magnificat (Luke chp 1 vss 46-55) and the Nunc Dimittis (Luke chp 2 vss 29-32).
• The Lord's Prayer is, taken . from Matthew 6: 9-13
• appropriate Biblical sentences are used throughout the services to bind the themes of the worship together.

Some churches provide Bibles in the pews so that the congregation can follow the readings and the arguments of the sermon. The two service books, the Book of Common Prayer (1662) and the Alternative Service Book (1980) also contain the readings for the Sunday Eucharist at the back.

The Bible as a basis for living

If the Bible is understood by a believer to be the inspired Word of God it cannot be ignored, but becomes a handbook for living. Of course, it is not laid out as a handbook, but needs interpretation and study.

Interpretation

There are specific, timeless laws for the organisation of life and society within the Bible, the most obvious example being the Ten Commandments (c.f. Deuteronomy 5:6-21). Some Old Testament laws maintain their importance for practising Jews, but are not regarded as significant by most Christians (eg kosher food - Leviticus 11). Jesus took some of the Old Testament laws and developed them to emphasise that right living is a matter of the heart as well as of actions eg in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5: 17-48). Some denominations or sects of the worldwide Christian Church will place a particular emphasis on a law or piece of guidance from the Bible which others do not regard with a similar significance. Here an example would be the Jehovah's Witnesses refusal to receive blood transfusions which is based on an interpretation of the prohibition against eating blood in Leviticus 17:10-14. Certain groups, inspired by Biblical prophecies about the end of the age, attempt to date the Second Coming of Christ. Stories about such' groups appear in the newspapers at regular intervals, but so far every calculation has been incorrect, as Jesus himself indicated they would be - Matthew 24: 36! At other times members of a church differ over the interpretation of Biblical texts, each side citing them in its cause. The debate in the Church of England on the subject of the ordination of women is a case in point. In every one of the instances mentioned above, the role of the Bible has been of paramount importance.

Personal Use

At a more personal level, for many Christians the times they set aside each day to read the Bible and pray are a major part of their own spiritual development. There are many study schemes in print which support people in devotional Bible reading, along with regular courses run by churches for group Bible study. At particular times of the Church's year, such as Lent, courses may also be broadcast on local radio, whilst the contribution of regular TV and radio broadcasting to personal worship cannot be ignored.

Bible and Society

It is obviously difficult to chart such a practice as personal Bible reading. What is more apparent is the enormous influence its teachings have exerted on human actions throughout the centuries. Some of the most famous supporters of the English Bible are indicated below;

• William Tyndale worked continuously to translate the scriptures into English, latterly in hiding on the continent. In 1536 he was betrayed to the English authorities, strangled and burnt to death. In 1538 Henry VIII decided that the Bible in English was to be placed in every parish church in his realm:
• The Bible, particularly the Old Testament and the Psalms, was a guide to groups such as Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans, the Scottish Covenanters, persecuted Huguenot Protestants from France who fled to England, and George Fox and the Quakers. All these groups drew strength from the Bible.
• The Pilgrim Fathers (1620) were especially devoted to the Old Testament and saw their crossing to America as a new crossing of the Red Sea by the children of Israel. All students at Harvard, the first American college, were expected to study the Bible in Hebrew.
• At the end of the eighteenth century John Wesley's revival movement of Methodism laid great stress on the regular study of the Bible.
• The battle for the abolition of slavery was inspired by Biblical principles, as men such as Granville Sharp, John Newton and William Wilberforce demonstrated. Slavery was abolished in the British colonies in 1808.
• The Victorian era saw a stirring of people against the sufferings of society in the Industrial Revolution. Lord Shaftesbury, founder of the "Ragged Schools" for abandoned children, was a devout man motivated by his faith, as was Thomas Barnado. Adults were helped by two clergymen, F. D. Maseria and Charles Kingsley who pioneered adult education and Working Men's Clubs.
• Christians continue to be active in the twentieth century; Chad Varah setting up the Samaritans, Mother Teresa in Calcutta etc. The Society of Friends (Quakers) have been notable in the assistance they have given to refugees in war torn countries.

These few examples demonstrate the effect that scripture-based living has had, and is having, upon English society.

That the Bible can still be. a powerful force is seen in South America and the Third World where study and discussion groups are the focus of a wave of liberation theology. This movement brings the theology of the Bible to grips with issues such as rural pastoral problems, discrimination against women and the suppression of ethnic minority groups and cultures.