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Bible refers to the vary according to different Histories , Traditions and Myths . The is traditionally considered by believers to be God 's direct words and thus thought to be the most sacred part. Much of the Jewish Religious Law is derived from the Torah. The section for the books not considered canonical by the publisher. Additional versions exist, such as the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Old Testament canons which contain books not found in the Tanakh, but that are found in the Greek Septuagint , the oldest of several ancient translations of the Hebrew Bible into Greek. ETYMOLOGY .]]According to the Online Etymology Dictionary , the word bible Online Etymology Dictionary entry for word "Bible" is from Anglo-Latin ''biblia'', traced from the same word through Medieval Latin and Late Latin, as used in the phrase ''biblia sacra'' ("holy books"). This stemmed from the term (''"), which was originally a diminutive of ''byblos'' ("Egyptian papyrus"), possibly so called from the name of the Phoenicia n port from which Egyptian Papyrus was exported to Greece. Biblical scholar Mark Hamilton states that the Greek phrase ''Ta biblia'' ("the books") was "an expression Hellenistic Jews used to describe their sacred books several centuries before the time of Jesus," "From Hebrew Bible to Christian Bible" by Mark Hamilton on PBS's site From Jesus to Christ: The First Christians and would have referred to the as ''Ta Biblia'' as early as c.223." HEBREW BIBLE See Also: Hebrew Bible Tanakh Old Testament The " may refer to either the Hebrew Language or to the Hebrew People who historically used Hebrew as a spoken language, and have continuously used the language in prayer and study, or both. Tanakh is an acronym for the three parts of the Hebrew Bible: the Torah ("Teaching/Law" also known as the Pentateuch ), Nevi'im ("Prophets"), and Ketuvim ("Writings," or Hagiographa ), and is used commonly by Jews but unfamiliar to many English speakers and others . (See Table Of Books Of Judeo-Christian Scripture ). Torah See Also: Torah The Torah , or "Instruction," is also known as the "Five Books" of Moses , thus Chumash from Hebrew meaning "fivesome," and Pentateuch from Greek meaning "five scroll-cases." The Torah comprises the following five books:
The Hebrew book titles come from the first words in the respective texts. The Hebrew title for Numbers, however, comes from the fifth word of that text. The Torah focuses on three moments in the changing relationship between God and people. The first eleven chapters of Genesis provide accounts of the 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 covenant with the Hebrew Patriarch s, Abraham , Isaac and Jacob (also called Israel ), and Jacob's children (the " Children Of Israel "), especially Joseph . It tells of how God commanded Abraham to leave his family and home in the city of 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. His story coincides with the story of the liberation of the Children of Israel from slavery in Ancient Egypt , to the renewal of their covenant with God at Mount Sinai , and their wanderings in the desert until a new generation would be ready to enter the land of Canaan. The Torah ends with the death of Moses. Traditionally, the Torah contains the 613 Mitzvot , or commandments, of God, revealed during the passage from slavery in the land of Egypt to freedom in the land of Canaan. These commandments provide the basis for Halakha (Jewish religious law). The Torah is divided into fifty-four portions which are read in turn in Jewish liturgy, from the beginning of Genesis to the end of Deuteronomy, each Sabbath . The cycle ends and recommences at the end of Sukkot , which is called Simchat Torah . Nevi'im See Also: Nevi'im The Nevi'im , or "Prophets," tell the story of the rise of the Hebrew monarchy, its division into two kingdoms, and the prophets who, in God's name, judged the kings and the Children of Israel. It ends with the conquest of the Kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians and the conquest of the Kingdom of Judah by the Babylonians, and the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. Portions of the prophetic books are read by Jews on the Sabbath ( Shabbat ). The Book Of Jonah is read on Yom Kippur . According to Jewish tradition, Nevi'im is divided into eight books. Contemporary translations subdivide these into seventeen books. The Nevi'im comprise the following eight books:
Ketuvim See Also: Ketuvim The ; the Book Of Ruth on Shavuot ; Lamentations on the Ninth Of Av ; Ecclesiastes on Sukkot ; and the Book Of Esther on Purim . Collectively, the Ketuvim contain lyrical poetry, philosophical reflections on life, and the stories of the prophets and other Jewish leaders during the Babylonian exile. It ends with the Persian decree allowing Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple. The Ketuvim comprise the following eleven books:
Hebrew Bible translations and editions See Also: Bible translations The Tanakh was mainly written in Biblical Hebrew , with some portions (notably in Daniel and Ezra ) in Aramaic . Some time in the 2nd or 3rd Century BCE , the Torah was translated into Koine Greek , and over the next century, other books were translated (or composed) as well. This translation became known as the Septuagint and was widely used by Greek-speaking Jews, and later by Christians. It differs somewhat from the later standardized Hebrew ( Masoretic Text ). This translation was promoted by way of a legend that seventy separate translators all produced identical texts. From the 800s to the 1400s , Jewish scholars today known as Masoretes compared the text of all known Biblical Manuscript s in an effort to create a unified, standardized text. A series of highly similar texts eventually emerged, and any of these texts are known as Masoretic Texts (MT). The Masoretes also added Vowel points (called Niqqud ) to the text, since the original text only contained consonant letters. This sometimes required the selection of an interpretation, since some words differ only in their vowels—their meaning can vary in accordance with the vowels chosen. In antiquity, variant Hebrew readings existed, some of which have survived in the Samaritan Pentateuch , the Dead Sea Scrolls , and other ancient fragments, as well as being attested in ancient versions in other languages. Versions of the Septuagint contain several passages and whole books beyond what was included in the Masoretic texts of the Tanakh . In some cases these additions were originally composed in Greek, while in other cases they are translations of Hebrew books or variants not present in the Masoretic texts. Recent discoveries have shown that more of the Septuagint additions have a Hebrew origin than was once thought. While there are no complete surviving manuscripts of the Hebrew texts on which the Septuagint was based, many scholars believe that they represent a different textual tradition ("Vorlage") from the one that became the basis for the Masoretic texts. Jews also produced non-literal translations or paraphrases known as Targum s, primarily in Aramaic. They frequently expanded on the text with additional details taken from Rabbinic oral tradition. THE TWO TORAHS OF RABBINIC JUDAISM By the Hellenistic Period of Jewish history, Jews were divided over the nature of the Torah. Some (for example, the Sadducees ) believed that the Chumash contained the entire Torah, that is, the entire contents of what God revealed to Moses at Sinai and in the desert. Others, principally the Pharisees , believed that the Chumash represented only that portion of the revelation that had been written down (i.e., the Written Torah or the Written Law), but that the rest of God's revelation had been passed down orally (thus composing the Oral Law or Oral Torah ). Orthodox and Masorti and Conservative Judaism state that the Talmud contains some of the Oral Torah. Reform Judaism also gives credence to the Talmud containing the Oral Torah, but, as with the written Torah, asserts that both were inspired by, but not dictated by, God. THE OLD TESTAMENT See Also: Old Testament The Christian Old Testament , while having most or all books in common with the Jewish Tanakh , varies from Judaism in the emphasis it places and the interpretations it gives them. The books come in a slightly different order. In addition, some Christian groups recognize additional books as canonical members of the Old Testament, and they may use a different text as the canonical basis for translations. Differing Christian usages of the Old Testament See Also: Biblical Canon The Septuagint (Greek translation, from Alexandria in Egypt under the Ptolemies ) was generally abandoned in favour of the Masoretic text as the basis for translations of the Old Testament into Western languages from Martin Luther 's Protestant Bible to the present day; already Jerome's Vulgate was based on the Hebrew. In Eastern Christianity , translations based on the Septuagint still prevail. Some modern Western translations make use of the Septuagint to clarify passages in the Masoretic text, where the Septuagint may preserve a variant reading of the Hebrew text. They also sometimes adopt variants that appear in texts discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls . A number of books which are part of the Greek Septuagint but are not found in the Hebrew (Rabbinic) Bible are often referred to as Deuterocanonical Books by Catholics referring to a later secondary (i.e., deutero) canon. Most Protestants term these books as Apocrypha . Evangelicals and those of the Modern Protestant traditions do not accept the deuterocanonical books as canonical, although Protestant Bibles Included Them until around the 1820s. However, the Catholic , Eastern Orthodox , and Oriental Orthodox Churches include these books as part of their Old Testament. The Catholic Church recognizes seven such books ( Tobit , Judith , 1 Maccabees , 2 Maccabees , Wisdom Of Solomon , Ecclesiasticus , and Baruch ), as well as some passages in Esther and Daniel . Various Orthodox Churches include a few others, typically 3 Maccabees , Psalm 151 , 1 Esdras , Odes , Psalms Of Solomon , and the Prayer Of Manasseh . The Anglican Church uses the Apocryphal Books liturgically, but not to establish doctrine. Therefore, editions of the Bible intended for use in the Anglican Church include these books, plus 1 Esdras , 2 Esdras and the Prayer Of Manasseh . THE NEW TESTAMENT See Also: New Testament The Bible as used by the majority of Christians includes the Rabbinic Hebrew Scripture and the New Testament , which relates the life and teachings of Jesus , the Letters of the Apostle Paul and other disciples to the early church and the Book Of Revelation . The New Testament is a collection of 27 books, of 4 different Genres of Christian literature ( Gospels , one account of the Acts Of The Apostles , Epistles and an Apocalypse ). Jesus is its central figure. The New Testament was written primarily in Koine Greek in the early Christian period. Nearly all Christians recognize the New Testament (as stated below) as canonical Scripture . These books can be grouped into: Original language Probably, the books of the New Testament were written in Koine Greek , the language of the earliest extant manuscripts, even though some authors often included translations from Hebrew and Aramaic texts. Certainly the Pauline Epistles were written in Greek for Greek-speaking audiences. See Greek Primacy . Some scholars believe that some books of the Greek New Testament (in particular, the Gospel of Matthew) are actually translations of a Hebrew or Aramaic original. Of these, a small number accept the Syriac Peshitta as representative of the original. See Aramaic Primacy . Historic editions See Also: Biblical manuscript Bible translations ''' from the 13th century, held at the Royal Library in Sweden .]] When ancient scribes copied earlier books, they wrote notes on the margins of the page (''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. See Textual Criticism . Over time, different regions evolved different versions, each with its own assemblage of omissions and additions. The ''autographs'', the Greek Manuscripts written by the original authors, have not survived. Scholars surmise the original Greek text from the versions that do survive. The three main textual traditions of the Greek New Testament are sometimes called the Alexandrian Text-type (generally minimalist), the Byzantine Text-type (generally maximalist), and the Western Text-type (occasionally wild). Together they comprise most of the ancient manuscripts. There are also several ancient translations, most important of which are in the Syriac dialect of Aramaic (including the Peshitta and the Diatessaron gospel harmony), in the Ethiopian language of Ge'ez , and in Latin (both the Vetus Latina and the Vulgate ). The earliest surviving complete manuscript of the entire Bible is the Codex Amiatinus , a Latin Vulgate edition produced in eighth century England at the double monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow. The earliest printed edition of the Greek New Testament appeared in 1516 from the Froben press, by Desiderius Erasmus , who reconstructed its Greek text from several recent manuscripts of the Byzantine text-type. He occasionally added a Greek translation of the Latin Vulgate for parts that did not exist in the Greek manuscripts. He produced four later editions of this text. Erasmus was Roman Catholic, but his preference for the Byzantine Greek manuscripts rather than the Latin Vulgate led some church authorities to view him with suspicion. The first printed edition with '' Critical Apparatus '' (noting variant readings among the manuscripts) was produced by the printer Robert Estienne of Paris in 1550. The Greek text of this edition and of those of Erasmus became known as the '' Textus Receptus '' (Latin for "received text"), a name given to it in the Elzevier edition of 1633 , which termed it as the text ''nunc ab omnibus receptum'' ("now received by all"). The churches of the Protestant Reformation translated the Greek of the Textus Receptus to produce Vernacular Bibles, such as the German Luther Bible and the English King James Bible . The discovery of older manuscripts, which belong to the Alexandrian text-type, including the 4th-century Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus , led scholars to revise their view about the original Greek text. Attempts to reconstruct the original text are called ''critical editions''. Karl Lachmann based his critical edition of 1831 on manuscripts dating from the 4th century and earlier, to demonstrate that the Textus Receptus must be corrected according to these earlier texts. Later critical editions incorporate ongoing scholarly research, including discoveries of Greek papyrus fragments from near Alexandria, Egypt, that date in some cases within a few decades of the original New Testament writings.Metzger, Bruce R. ''Manuscripts of the Greek Bible: An Introduction to Palaeography'' (Oxford University Press, 1981) cf. Papyrus 52 Today, most critical editions of the Greek New Testament, such as UBS4 and NA27 , consider the Alexandrian text-type corrected by papyrii, to be the Greek text that is closest to the original ''autographs''. Their ''apparatus'' includes the result of votes among scholars, ranging from certain {A} to doubtful {E}, on which variants best preserve the original Greek text of the New Testament. Most variants among the manuscripts are minor, such as alternate spelling, alternate word order, the presence or absence of an optional definite article ("the"), and so on. Occasionally, a major variant happens when a portion of a text was accidentally omitted (or perhaps even censored), or was added from a marginal gloss. Fortunately, major variants tend to be easier to correct. Critical editions that rely primarily on the Alexandrian text-type inform nearly all modern translations (and revisions of older translations). However for reasons of tradition, especially the doctrine of the inerrancy of the King James Bible, some modern scholars prefer to use the Textus Receptus for the Greek text, or use the '' Majority Text '' which is similar to it but is a critical edition that relies on earlier manuscripts of the Byzantine text-type. Among these scholars, some argue that the Byzantine tradition contains scribal additions, but these later interpolations preserve the orthodox interpretations of the biblical text—as part of the ongoing Christian experience—and in this sense are authoritative. CHRISTIAN THEOLOGY While individual books within the Christian Bible present narratives set in certain historical periods, most Christian Denomination s teach that the Bible itself has an overarching message. There are among Christians wide differences of opinion as to how particular incidents as described in the Bible are to be interpreted and as to what meaning should be attached to various prophecies. However, Christians in general are in agreement as to the Bible's basic message. A general outline, as described by C.S. Lewis , is as follows: A Summary of the Bible by Lewis, CS: Believer's Web. #At some point in the past, humanity learned to depart from God's will and began to Sin . #Because no one is free from sin, people cannot deal with God directly, so God revealed Himself in ways people could understand. #God called Abraham and his progeny to be the means for saving all of humanity. #To this end, He gave the Law to Moses . #The resulting nation of Israel went through cycles of sin and Repentance , yet the prophets show an increasing understanding of the Law as a moral, not just a ceremonial, force. #Jesus brought a perfect understanding of the Mosaic Law, that of love and salvation. #By His death and resurrection, all who believe are saved and reconciled to God.
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