Where Did Our Bible Come From?

 

            Just how did we get the Bible we have today? Many have a very good idea of how, others for one reason or another do not have much insight into how we got the Bible.

            Did God dispatch one of His archangels to Fed Ex the King James Version (Red letter edition) to the King of England in 1611? For the king at that time was King James.

            No, no, no, of course not. We all know it did not happened that way. Well how did it really happen? One comment before we begin the short history - The Bible is God’s word, the inspired word of the Holy Spirit. The mind of God expressed to us (man kind) in a most wondrous and mysterious way. We need to keep this in mind.

            Keep in mind God used men and events to effect His purpose, His design,, His way of getting to us HIS WORLD and His purpose for US.

 

200 BC                         SEPTUAGINT (name commonly given to the Jewish Greek version of the Old Testament. The name comes from the Latin word for seventy.)

           

                        Tradition speaks of a man named Aristeas, a Jewish scholar of the second century B.C., who states that Ptolemy II (283-246 B.C.) wished to have a translation of the Jewish sacred books put in the great library which he established at Alexandria, Egypt.

 

                        At his request, 72 men, 6 from each of the 12 tribes, were sent from Jerusalem to make the translation from Hebrew into Greek. The Septuagint becomes referred to as LXX (the Roman numeral that represents 70). Some scholars disagreed with this version of the 72 and assert. Translations of the first five books of the Bible were put into Greek at an earlier date. In the translation from Hebrew to Greek The divine name YAWHEH(God) is replaced with the Greek word Kyrios (meaning LORD).

 

                        The Septuagint is held in great esteem among Jews of the Diaspora into the 1st Century A.D. It was also the Greek Bible that the Christians used. It became the Bible of the Christian Church. Case in point, 300 of 350 citations from the Old Testament in the New Testament are quoted according to the LXX.  

 

C45 AD             James writes his epistle(first New Testament book)

 

C49                   Paul writes his letter to Galatians.

 

C51                   Paul writes his first and second Thessalonians.

 

C56                   Paul writes his first and second Corinthians and Romans.

 

C58                   Mark writes his gospel.

 

C60                   Matthew writes his gospel; Luke writes his gospel; Paul writes his Ephesians, Colossians and Philemon.

 

C62                   Paul writes first Timothy and Philippians; Luke writes Acts of Apostles; Paul writes Colossians in Rome.

 

C63                   Hebrew writer, Peter, writes his first Epistle.

 

C64                   Peter writes his second Epistle.

 

C67                   Paul writes second letter to Timothy.

 

C70- 90             Acts of Apostles- Written by Luke (a Gentile) who travels with Paul.

 

C90                   John writes the Book of Revelation.

 

C95                   John writes his gospel.

 

 

Note: “C” means approximate date.

 

 

367                   Athanasius, Bishop Alexandria makes a list of books he considers worthy of being regarded as inspired.

 

382                   Jerome (probably the greatest Christian scholar in the world at that time) begins to write the first translation of the entire Bible from Hebrew and Greek into Latin. It takes him 23 years. Christians use this translation for the next 1000 years. Latin in large part due to Jerome’s work now became the main language of Western Europe. Jerome finished his work in 405 AD.

 

397                   Third Synod of Carthage approves the present New Testament books.

 

405                   Jerome…

 

600                   “Dark Ages” - Hardly any written record, very few people writing or reading. Only Bible available is Jerome’s Vulgate - Read only by priests and clergy.

 

800                   Irish Monks produce the extraordinary Book of Kells, an elaborately illustrated Latin manuscript of the four gospels - considered the finest specimen (example) of Irish writing and craftsmanship ever written.

 

1205                Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury begins and oversees the production of an edition of the VULGATE which divides the books of the Bible into Chapters and verses. Amazingly, it is followed in all subsequent Bibles without variation. Stephen…Thank you very much! It makes finding important passages…so much easier. So thanks again!

 

1380                 John Wycliffe, Oxford professor and philosopher translates the VULGATE into ENGLISH. Dozens of hand written copies are produced and are distributed to common people. Church leaders vigorously disapprove and set out to destroy every Wycliffe Bible. Note: A hand written copy of a Wycliffe Bible you can buy today on www.greatsite.com for $2.75 million dollars (if you are interested, that is).

 

                        Tradition credits Wycliffe with leading the church out of the Dark Ages by getting the word of God into the hands of the people. Despite all the church’s effects to destroy his Bible, it becomes widely distributed throughout England, then Europe.

 

1411                 Reformer Jim Hus is burned at the stake for supporting Wycliffe’s Bible.

 

1456                Johann Gutenburg designs a printing system with movable type and starts mass-producing the VULGATE translation. He makes 180 copies. This is monumental event. Now no longer are there handwritten copies, but copies can be quickly produced on his printing machine called a printing press.

 

1516                 ERASMUS, a brilliant Hebrew, Greek and Latin scholar regards Jerome’s VULGATE as inaccurate in many ways and begins to produce his own translation of the Bible. Erasmus writes a Greek and a new Latin version of the Bible. The New Latin version is side by side with the original Greek translation. This extremely significant work becomes the major underlining basis for the King James Bible to be written almost 100 years later.

 

1526                WILLIAM TYNDALE, fluent in eight languages, brilliant linguist, makes a outstanding  translation of the Bible into English. Church authorities are outraged that Tyndale did such a thing and bans the translation in England. He flees the country and continues mass-producing his Bible. Many of his Bibles are smuggled back into England. Any copies discovered by the Church of  England are torched. He works in hiding in foreign countries for 10 years. He is betrayed, captured, brought back to England, imprisoned, tried for his offenses, found guilty and executed. As he is about to die, he prays “Lord, open the eyes of the King.”

 

1534                Martin Luther comes on the scene. He is German theologian and monk who inspires the Protestant Reformation. Hiding out in Germany, from Papal authorities he goes to work on a German Translation.

 

1536                 John Rogers assembles the first complete English Bible from Tyndales’s and Miles Coverdale’ s Old  Testament translations and the Peutateuch to form what’s now called MATTHEW’S Bible. Rogers gets the King to license a few copies and legally sells them in England. Rogers makes the mistake of speaking out against the church, so he too is executed.

 

1539                King Henry VIII gets Edward Whitchurch to write the so called “Great Bible” because its print and pages were so huge - is the first ‘pulpit’ Bible - a Bible designed to be read in Churches.

 

1546                 Council of Trent: convened by the Catholic Church to combat Protestantism, affirmed Jerome’s Vulgate translation of the Bible. The council of Trent then states that scripture and tradition are equally valid in spiritual matters.                                                       

 

1560                 GENEVA Bible, written and published by exiled Protestant scholars hiding out in John Calvin’s Geneva, Switzerland. It is a complete Bible translated from original languages. Puritans in England become this Bible’s biggest fans. And it’s the bible Puritans bring with them to the New World of America in the 1600’s.

 

1568                 BISHOP’S BIBLE. The Bishops of England are so opposed to the Geneva Bible, they authorize a version of their own. It ends up being called the Bishop’s Bible. It is not accurate in many ways. It favors the Church authorities big time. It is not widely read and falls into disuse over a short period of time.

 

1524-

1590                 An explosion of Bible translations ensues. 1524 a new German Bible, 1526 a Dutch Bible, 1530 a French translation of the Vulgate and Italy gets an Italian version, 1541 Iceland and Sweden get Bibles in their own languages, then in 1548 Finland, Denmark in 1550, Poland in 1561 and Spain in 1569 gets a church approved Spanish translation of Vulgate. The common people in great numbers were finally getting access to God’s word.

 

1582                 Catholic church sets aside the Vulgate and authorizes the Rheims- Douay Bible, which is used for the next 300 years. Very few changes are made in the new version.

 

1605                KING JAMES of England recruits a team to produce an authorized translation of the Bible due to pressure from the people and clergy. Experts in Greek and Hebrew and Bible scholars are assembled.  54 scholars in all are chosen and divided into six groups. Two teams go to Oxford, two go to Cambridge and two go to Westminster. King James directs them to produce a Bible that is true to the original Hebrew and Greek translations. The various drafts are rotated around for criticism and  clarification until there is a consensus on the meaning of the passages. By 1611 AD the scholars finally complete their task. It is referred to as the AV (Authorized Version). Now it is commonly called the King James Bible. It comes available to the English nation first. Then the King James                     Bible becomes popular all over Europe and eventually becomes the most respected and widely read Bible ever produced. Almost 400 years after its introduction it is still the most popular and most widely used Bible ever written. Interesting to note, the year 2011 marks the 400th anniversary of the completion of the King James Bible.

 

 

A Word About Translations

 

            A word about how translations are done could be useful at this point. It is good to know that there are three translation methods that are followed by translators.

 

            First: Formal Equivalence - translators strive to follow the original document word for word staying as close to the same grammatical order as appears in the original. This form of translation tends to be more difficult to read but is more accurate, especially in keeping certain figures of speech or rhetorical patterns. The King James Version is a good example of formal equivalence.

 

            Second: Dynamic Equivalence (DE) - Instead of word for word translation, this method takes a thought for thought approach. The idea is to reproduce in English the same meaning as the original. Hebrew or Greek audience might have understood it. The result is a less accurate translation in terms of word usage and grammar but one that’s easier to read and understand. An example of this method is the New International Version.

 

            Third: Paraphrase - Goes beyond thought for thought and strives for meaning for meaning. Very loose translation, very easy reading. Biblical scholars and others very familiar with the other types of translations do not regard the paraphrase method to accurate saying, it departs too much from the original text and original meanings.

 

 

Fast Forward to…

 

1970                 New American Bible (NAB), published by Catholic Bible Association of America. This Bible is used  at all Catholic masses.

 

1971                 New American Standard bible (NASB), is faithful to original language, very literal, accurate and  not the easiest to read.

 

1971                 The Living Bible (TLB), published by Tyndale House is a very popular version from the very outset and has clear language and conversational.

 

1978                 The New International Version (NIV), published by the International Bible Society (Dynamic  Equivalence). By far, the NIV has become very quickly one of the most popular translation of the Bible in the world, selling more than 150 million copies. Translators seek the original meanings of  certain words than keeping word for word accuracy. A Bible very well received by Protestants and  main line Christians.

 

1982                 New King James Version (NKJV) published by Thomas Nelson (Formal Equivalence). A brand new translation made to keep the same phrasing and feel of the Old King James. By keeping the King James name on the cover, the publishers hoped to attract loyal KJV readers looking for a more modern version of their beloved Book. This version sticks very closely to the meaning in the original languages. For these reasons, the NKJV is very popular.

 

1985                 New Jerusalem Bible, NJB (Dynamic Equivalence), an update of Jerusalem’s Bible. This Bible is very literal, scholarly and eloquent Catholic Bible.

 

1989                 New Revised Standard Version, published by National Council of Churches (Formal Equivalence).  Very similar to the Revised Standard Version but this one it “thou” and “thee” free.

 

1996                 New Living Translation, published by Tyndale House (Dynamic Equivalence). This is a revision of the Living Bible to increase its accuracy while maintaining       readability, based on current biblical scholarship and produced by an interdenominational team of scholars. The result if a solid thought- for-thought translation.

 

2001                 English Standard Version (Formal Equivalence). This is another update of the Revised Standard Version. An excellent Bible, very popular.

 

2002                 The Message (MSG), originally written to recapture the informal “street language” of the New Testament. It results in a style and flavor completely different from any other Bible. The very modern idioms used might shock or dismay readers of traditional Bibles. Some regard it as an appalling distortion of God’s word, riddled with deletions, alterations and addition to the original text.

 

2005                 Today’s New International Version (TNIV), published by the International Bible Society (Dynamic Equivalence). A very controversial revision of the world renowned and much popular NIV. It uses gender neutral language. So phrases like “Son of God” became “Children of God” and any general references to “a man” became to “a person”. So now we have gifts carried to Jesus at his birth by “Three wise persons”. This and many other controversial changes makes this version very unpopular with pastors and churches.

 

            There are some other excellent Bibles yet not mentioned. They are, The New English Bible (1970), Good New Bible (1976), Revised English Bible (1989) and Holman Christian Standard Bible (2004). All of these are Dynamic Equivalent translations.

 

2010                Jim Fanning realizes that he can post his writings on the internet and stops going to Office Depot and the post office to mail them out to his friends and family.