UNIT 1: BACKGROUNDS
TO THE BIBLE
Unit 1 of CST100 surveys the significance and backgrounds of the Bible. The main sections for Unit 1 are:
The Bible has had a major impact on the history and culture of the world in general, and western civilization in specific. Consider the following areas in which the Bible has had significance.
Religion
The Bible is the basis for faith and practice of Christians around the world. Second Timothy 3:16-17 describes scripture as being "inspired" or "God-breathed" (Greek, theopneustos): "All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work." Technically, these verses refer only to the Old Testament writings because the New Testament had not been completed when these words were penned. Most Christians, however, find a general principle of inspiration for all the scriptures given in these verses.
The Bible never describes or explains the process of inspiration. Christians have different theories about what it means for the Bible or biblical authors to be inspired. Generally, Christians believe that there is both a divine side to scripture as well as a human side. In one way or another, the biblical writers who put ink to paper revealed God's message in their writings.
Besides being the sacred writings of Christians, the Bible has connections to other religions as well. Scripture for Judaism is the Tanakh, which Christians call the Old Testament. Since Jesus was Jewish and Christianity emerged out of Judaism, the "Old Testament" was the original scriptures of the earliest Christians.
Islam emerged under the influence of Mohammed in the AD 600s in
Thus, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam to some extent have their religious roots in the Bible. Roughly two billion people on the face of the earth are adherents of one of these three major world religions.
The Arts
The Bible has often been a source of inspiration for the visual and musical arts. Famous episodes from the Bible have been the subject of paintings and sculpture through the various time periods of art history. Italian Renaissance artists such as Leonardo da Vinci (e.g., The Annunciation, Adoration of the Magi, The Baptism of Christ, St. John the Baptist, and the Last Supper, among others), Michaelangelo (e.g., David, the Pietà, The Last Judgment, and the Creation of Adam and other biblical scenes on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel) and Raphael (e.g., The Prophet Isaiah, The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple, Christ Falling on the Way to Calvary, The Entombment, among others) had large repertoires of biblical scenes. Baroque painters from the seventeenth century such as Peter Paul Rubens (e.g., The Adoration of the Magi, The Elevation of the Cross, and The Descent from the Cross), Rembrandt van Rijn (e.g., Abraham and Isaac, Jacob Wrestling with the Angel, David and Jonathan, The Feast of Belshazzar, Angel Leaving the Family of Tobias, Christ in the Storm on the Lake of Galilee, The Raising of Lazarus), and Caravaggio (e.g., The Calling of Saint Matthew and The Denial of Saint Peter) also painted biblical scenes.
Musical composers from the classical and baroque periods also drew
inspiration from the text of the Bible. In 1741, George Frederick Handel
composed his famous oratorio The Messiah
(including the famous Hallelujah Chorus
which is entirely based on quotations from the New Testament book of
Revelation) directly from quotations from the Old and New Testaments. He
composed numerous other oratorios on biblical themes such as Esther,
The Bible is frequently the source of characters, titles, and themes for theatrical arts as well. Many famous operas are based on the biblical episodes (Arnold Schoenburg’s Moses and Aaron, Camille Saint-Saëns’s Samson and Delilah, Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah, or Richard Strauss’s Salome). Broadway has had big hits by offering modernized versions of biblical stories in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Jesus Christ Superstar. The film industry has used biblical characters, titles, and themes in such movies as The Ten Commandments, The Robe, Apocalypse Now, and The Passion of the Christ.
Literature
The Bible has greatly impacted the world of literature. Italian writers such as Dante (The Divine Comedy) and English writers such as John Milton (Paradise Lost) and John Bunyan (The Pilgrim’s Progress) elaborated on biblical themes. William Shakespeare used biblical quotations and imagery in his many plays. Many major works of American literature are developments of biblical characters, themes, and imagery. Sometimes titles reflect some of these biblical connections such as John Steinbeck’s East of Eden and Grapes of Wrath, William Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom!, William Golding’s Lord of the Flies, O. Henry’s Gift of the Magi, Leon Uris’s Exodus, and Archibald MacLeish’s play J. B. (based on the book of Job). Other literary works employ significant biblical imagery such as Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin, Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, and Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea.
Language
The Bible has had much impact on the English language. Many phrases have come into the English language directly from the Bible. Consider the following examples:
Many words have come into the English language directly from the Bible. Some English words, such as amen, apostle, baptism, cherub/cherubim, deacon, evangelism, hallelujah, hypocrite, and Messiah/Christ, are merely transliterations of words into English from the Greek and Hebrew text of the Bible. Other English words such as “philistine” (a rough, uncultured person), “shibboleth” (a codeword used to distinguish spies from trusted insiders), “jeremiad” (a bitter lament), or “scapegoat” (someone/something that takes the blame and punishment for a larger guilty group) originate directly from the Bible itself.
The Bible has even impacted the meaning of some English words. For example, the word "talent" originally referred to a weight that was used to measure things such as precious metals as money (about 70 pounds). In Matthew 25:14-30, Jesus tells a “Parable of the Talents” in which three different individuals are entrusted with 5, 2, and 1, talents each and held accountable for how they used those. Traditionally, this parable was interpreted to teach that God entrusts individuals with skills, gifts, or abilities which are then supposed to be used responsibly and productively. Because of the interpretation of this parable, the word "talent" today is used to refer to a special skill or ability even though this word had no such meaning.
The Bible has often been a source for names for children. Common English names, such as Thomas, Mary, Andrew, Elizabeth, Caleb, Ruth, Michael, Rachel, Tobias, and Judith, among others, have their roots in the Bible. On the other hand, parents usually avoid naming their children Judas or Jezebel because of the description of those characters in the Bible.
The names of some American towns and cities have their roots in the Bible, such as Bethlehem, Pennsylvania or Shiloh, Tennessee. Sometimes churches, schools, and hospitals use names such as Bethel, Berea, Antioch, or Sinai because of their significance in the Bible.
The
Formation of the Bible
The term, "the Bible," comes from a plural Greek phrase, ta biblia,
which means "the little books" or "the little scrolls."
Thus, the very title, "the Bible," itself indicates that it is not
one book but a collection of many. Originally, these books existed separately.
For example, when Jesus was in the synagogue of
The Christian Bible is divided up into two major sections, the Old and New Testaments. These two sections are not equal in size since the Old Testament is roughly three times the length of the New Testament. Each of these testaments is comprised of separate books of various lengths. In the 1200s, these books were divided up into chapters to facilitate referencing specific passages. In the 1500s, the Bible was further subdivided into verses. Thus, the Bible is typically referenced by naming a specific book, chapter, and verse.
The "Old Testament" gets its name from the covenant (Latin, testamentum) between Yahweh ("the Lord") and the Israelites that serves as the cohesive theme for the books of the Old Testament. "Old Testament" is an unfortunate designation for this section of the Bible. "Old" makes this section seem archaic or obsolete. "Testament" in modern usage implies a will read after death, not a relationship or covenant. Better names for this section include "the First Covenant" or "the Hebrew Bible" since these books were written in the Hebrew language for the Hebrew people.
The
Order and Arrangement of the Old Testament Books
The order and divisions of the Old Testament books is different in the Hebrew Bible than in English translations of the Old Testament. In the Hebrew Bible, the names of the books of the Torah are just the opening words of each book. In the Hebrew Bible, the books are arranged in three sections as follows:
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THE BOOKS OF THE HEBREW BIBLE |
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The Law |
The Prophets |
The Writings |
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· Joshua · Judges · Samuel · Kings · Isaiah · Jeremiah · Ezekiel · The Twelve (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi) |
· Psalms · Job · Proverbs · Ruth · Song of Solomon · Qoheleth (Ecclesiastes) · Lamentations · Esther · Daniel · Ezra-Nehemiah · Chronicles |
Thus, the Hebrew Bible contains twenty-four separate books. The Jewish title for these writings is the "Tanakh" which is an acronym from the three sections: Torah, Nevi'im, and Kethuvim. The historical context of Ruth, Daniel, and Chronicles among other books is more apparent in this arrangement than in the order of books in English translations.
In the 200s BC, Jewish scribes in Egypt began translating the Hebrew Bible into Greek. This Greek version of the Hebrew Bible became known as the Septuagint (Greek, "seventy") since many thought that about seventy scribes worked for about seventy days to produce the translation. The abbreviation "LXX" (the Roman numeral 70) is often used as a shorthand reference to the Septuagint.
The Septuagint played a major role in the development of the Christian Bible. The Septuagint included additional Jewish books which circulated in Greek. Since these books were known in Greek (not Hebrew) and they were more recent writings, they did not become part of the Hebrew Bible. These additional books in the Septuagint are known today as the Apocrypha (or "Deuterocanonical Books").
The Septuagint contained a different arrangement of the Old Testament books. Since Hebrew is a language based on consonants while Greek is a language based on both vowels and consonants, the length of the words, and therefore the length of the books, doubled when translated into Greek. Some books such as Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles were divided into two separate books to accommodate the extra length since scrolls could only be so long before becoming unmanageable. Also in the Septuagint, the order of the books was rearranged based chronologically on their setting rather than their genre or canonization. English translations of the Old Testament follow the order and arrangement of the books as found in the Septuagint. The order of the books in the Septuagint and English Bibles is as follows with the Apocrypha being italicized:
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THE BOOKS OF THE SEPTUAGINT |
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History Books: |
Poetry Books: |
Prophetic Books: |
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· Job · Psalms · Odes · Proverbs · Ecclesiastes · Song of
Songs · Wisdom of
Solomon · Wisdom of ben Sirach (also known as Ecclesiasticus) · Psalms of Solomon |
· Isaiah · Jeremiah · Baruch · Lamentations
· Letter of Jeremiah · Ezekiel · Daniel (with 3 additions: Song of the Three Jews; Susanna; and Bel and the Dragon) · Hosea · Joel · Amos · Obadiah · Jonah · Micah · Nahum · Habakkuk · Zephaniah · Haggai · Zechariah · Malachi |
Protestant churches recognize only the Jewish canon of scripture (the Hebrew Bible) as being the Old Testament and do not recognize the books of the Apocrypha as scripture. The Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches accept some or all of the books of the Apocrypha as scripture since these books were part of the Latin Vulgate and the Greek Bible. Protestant Christian Bibles therefore contain thirty-nine Old Testament books, which are identical to the twenty-four books in the Hebrew Bible.
The oldest parts of the Hebrew Bible are the songs that were passed down orally from one generation to the next. Some of the earliest Hebrew songs can be seen in passages such as the Song of Miriam (Exodus 15:21), the Song of Moses (Exodus 15:1-18), the Song of Deborah (Judges 5:1-31), and some of the Psalms. These ancient songs provide a window into the oral period of the transmission of the Hebrew Bible.
The Old Testament books were written predominantly in Hebrew. A few passages were written in Aramaic, which is a language similar to Hebrew. Most of the books of the Hebrew Bible are anonymous. The time, place, and identity of the authors are the subject of much debate among Old Testament specialists.
The original handwritten manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible no longer exist. Until the 1900s, the oldest Hebrew manuscripts known were Masoretic manuscripts such as the Leningrad Codex (ca. AD 1005) or the Aleppo Codex (ca. AD 915). In the 1940s, the Dead Sea Scrolls began to be discovered in caves in the hills near an ancient settlement known as Qumran. As of today, these are the earliest known manuscripts of the Hebrew Bible, some of which date to the 100s BC. At least a portion of every book of the Old Testament has been found at Qumran. Unfortunately, only fragments are all that survive of many of the scrolls. Substantial copies of books such as Isaiah, Deuteronomy, and the Psalms among others have been found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The Old Testament Canon
The term "canon" refers to a closed collection of books recognized as scripture. Canonization does not indicate when the books were written. Canonization refers to the time when books were recognized as scripture. The canonization of the Hebrew Bible seems to have occurred roughly in three stages.
First, the Law (Torah) seems to have become a closed collection of books by the 400s BC during the times of Ezra and Nehemiah. Ezra was the first of the Jewish scribes to interpret the Torah, which indicates that the Torah had reached its final form. In the 400s BC, there is also a shift from the creative, dynamic word of the prophets who declared, “Thus says the Lord” to the authority of the scribes based on written texts (“Thus it is written”).
Second, the Prophets (Nevi'im) seem to have become a closed collection of books by the 100s BC. The prologue of the Wisdom of Jesus ben Sirach (also known as Ecclesiasticus) contains the earliest known reference to “the Prophets” as a group of books along with “the Law.”
Third, the Writings (Kethuvim) seem to have become a closed collection of books by AD 90. The Academy of Jamnia (or Javneh) was a group of Jewish rabbis living in southwest Palestine after the destruction of Jerusalem. These rabbis recognized the Law, the Prophets, and the Writings as scripture. Most, if not all, of the books of the Writings (especially books like Psalms) were already used regularly in worship and recognized as scripture before the Academy of Jamnia (see Luke 24:44).
Only the books known in Hebrew were considered to be scripture. Thus, later Jewish books known in Greek such as the Apocrypha or the pseudepigrapha were not included as part of the canon of the Hebrew Bible. Only books that conformed to the covenant and the teachings of the Law were considered part of the canon. Most of the books of the Hebrew Bible were used regularly in the synagogues and therefore were accepted as scripture without much debate. Only a few books such as Esther, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs, were questioned by some rabbis. But each of these made important contributions to Jewish thinking, which led to their recognition and acceptance.
The New Testament
The "New Testament" gets its name from the relationship that people have with God through Jesus, which is referred to as a "new covenant" (Latin, novum testamentum) in passages such as in 1 Corinthians 11:25; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Hebrews 8:8, 13; 9:15. Thus, the books of the New Testament focus on the significance of Jesus.
The
Order and Arrangement of the New Testament
The New Testament books were written in Greek by early Christians. There are twenty-seven books in the New Testament. The books of the New Testament are typically arranged as follows:
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THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT |
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Gospels: |
History: |
Paul's Letters: |
General Letters: |
Apocalypse: |
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· The Acts of the Apostles |
· Romans · 1 Corinthians · 2 Corinthians · Galatians · Ephesians · Philippians · Colossians · 1 Thessalonians · 2 Thessalonians · 1 Timothy · 2 Timothy · Titus · Philemon |
· Hebrews · James · 1 Peter · 2 Peter · 1 John · 2 John · 3 John · Jude |
· The Revelation of John |
The New Testament Manuscripts
Since early on Christianity took root among Greek-speaking Jews, the Bible of the earliest Christians was the Septuagint. For several decades, information about Jesus and Christian teachings circulated only in an oral format (for example, see 1 Corinthians 11:23-27; 15:3-8). The earliest written documents that are now in the New Testament are the letters of Paul. These would have been written in the 50s and 60s of the first Christian century. Between AD 60-100, written accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus were compiled known as Gospels.
The earliest New Testament manuscripts were written on papyrus, which was an inexpensive form of paper that was not too durable. Today, only about a hundred papyrus manuscripts are in existence, most of which are mere fragments. A few substantial papyrus manuscripts have been discovered, such as the Beatty Papyri (P45, P46, and P47) and the Bodmer Papyri (P72 and P75), all of which date from the second and third centuries.
After Christianity was legalized in the 300s, manuscripts began to be produced on dried animal skins called parchment. Some of the most famous parchment manuscripts are Codex Sinaiticus (a), Codex Vaticanus (B), Codex Alexandrinus (A), Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus (C), and Codex Bezae (D), all of which date to the fourth and fifth centuries.
All of these early papyri and parchment manuscripts have been discovered since the 1800s. These early manuscripts of the Greek New Testament rarely had punctuation or even spacing between words. They also were written entirely in capital letters.
No original copy of any New Testament book survives. Around 5,500 Greek New Testament manuscripts are in existence today. Around 150 of these date from the second to fifth centuries, but the vast majority of New Testament manuscripts come from a much later time period, mostly from the eleventh to fourteenth centuries. Despite the large number of manuscripts available, no two of these completely agree as to the exact wording of the New Testament text. Most of the disagreements are minor, but several are sizable, such as Matthew 6:13b; Mark 16:9-20; Luke 22:43-44; 23:34; John 5:3b-4; 7:53-8:11; and 1 John 5:7-8.
When the wording of the text differs among manuscripts, textual specialists determine the most likely original wording based on the available manuscripts. Preference is given to the earliest manuscripts since they would be closer to the time of the writing and therefore have less chance of a change to occur. Most modern translations indicate differences between manuscripts in the margins or footnotes of the translation.
When the documents that now comprise the New Testament were originally written, only one community, the intended audience, would have known them. For example, in the AD 50s, only Christians in Rome would have known Paul's letter to the Romans. Eventually, churches began copying, circulating, and trading their copies of Paul's letters and the four Gospels. Because of this, these books were often used in worship and became accepted as scripture from the earliest stages of Christianity.
Besides the four Gospels and the letters of Paul, various church leaders for different reasons wrote other Christian documents between AD 70-150. These circulated and were used to different extents by various Christian communities. Some of these, such as 1 John, 1 Peter, and Acts, were used and accepted as scripture without much debate. Other writings were categorically rejected, usually because they were written by groups that had been excluded as heretics. Still other documents were disputed (that is, being accepted by some and rejected by others). The books listed in italics below eventually were excluded from the New Testament canon.
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RECOGNITION OF EARLY CHRISTIAN WRITINGS |
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Books that were used and accepted widely: |
Books that were disputed (accepted by some and rejected by others): |
Books that were rejected widely: |
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Gospel According to Matthew |
Hebrews |
Gospel of Peter |
Around AD 367, Athanasius, bishop of Alexandria, Egypt, became the earliest known Christian to list the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. Athanasius was not decreeing which books would comprise the New Testament. He was writing a letter about the date of Easter and offhandedly mentioned the twenty-seven books being used as the New Testament in Alexandria. This collection of twenty-seven books was later confirmed by other church leaders and eventually reached a consensus.
Many factors caused the acceptance of these twenty-seven books as the New Testament canon of scripture and the exclusion of all other books. The books of the New Testament were considered to contain orthodox or mainstream teachings while all heretical books were rejected. Church leaders also gave preference to the earlier books. As a result, some books such as the Shepherd of Hermas were excluded because they came from too late of a time period. Church leaders gave preference to books connected to a first-generation church leader. For example with the Gospels, Matthew and John were two of Jesus' twelve apostles. Mark was not, but he was a close friend of Peter who was. Luke also was not an apostle, but he often traveled with the Apostle Paul. As a result of this, some books, such as 1 and 2 Clement, were excluded from the New Testament canon because they were not as closely connected to an apostle.
Some books that eventually were included in the New Testament canon were originally disputed simply because they did not circulate widely. This was often due to shortness, such as with 2 John, 3 John, and Jude, or uncertainty about its authorship, such as Hebrews and 2 Peter. Eventually, twenty-seven books were considered to be the New Testament. This was not decreed through a church council. Probably more than any other single factor, the simple process of mass producing New Testament manuscripts after Christianity was legalized in the 300s led to these books being established as the final form of the New Testament canon.
English
Translations of the Bible
The Old Testament was written predominantly in Hebrew since the language of its original readers and writers was Hebrew. The New Testament was written in Greek since the language of its original readers and writers was Greek. All English translations are merely windows into the Greek and Hebrew texts since few people today speak or read those languages.
The History of the
Bible into English
As Latin was replacing Greek as the main language in the Mediterranean world, Christians began translating the Bible into Latin. Around AD 400, the church made an official translation of the Bible into Latin known as the "Latin Vulgate." Jerome was primarily responsible for this translation. The Latin Vulgate included fourteen books of the Apocrypha. The Latin Vulgate eventually became the official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church.
In medieval times as the use of Latin declined, Christians began translating the Bible into various European languages. In the 1380s, John Wycliffe made the first translation of the entire Bible into English. Wycliffe translated from Latin into English, not from Hebrew or Greek. Nevertheless, due to the work of Wycliffe, the entire Bible could now be read in English. Church officials sternly rejected English translations such as Wycliffe's.
After Wycliffe, two major historical events served as catalysts for more English translations of the Bible. First, the invention of the printing press in the 1400s provided the means for new translations to be mass produced. Second, the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s provided the motivation for new translations to be made. The battle cry of Reformers such as Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin was sola scriptura (Latin, "scripture alone"). Since the Reformers considered scripture, not church authority, to be the basis for belief and practice, the Bible needed to be available in the language of the people.
In the 1520s, William Tyndale produced the first complete translation of the Bible into English from Hebrew and Greek, not Latin. Church leaders opposed Tyndale so much that he was eventually executed for his role in translating the Bible into English. After Tyndale, other English translations were produced throughout the 1500s. The Geneva Bible (1557-60) became a favorite among common people such as the Pilgrims that came to America in 1620.
In an effort to standardize the English Bible, King James of England enlisted fifty-four scholars to produce a new translation. In 1611 after seven years of work, they presented the "King James Version" (KJV) or "Authorized Version." The translators used the best Greek and Hebrew manuscripts available at the time. The KJV caught the English language in one of its most beautiful stages.
Nevertheless, there will always be a need for newer translations of the Bible for several reasons. First, language continually changes. The seventeenth-century language of the KJV can seem confusing today:
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Psalm 22:21 |
KJV |
". . . the horns of the unicorns" |
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NRSV |
". . . the horns of the wild oxen" |
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Psalm 150:4 |
KJV |
"praise him with stringed instruments and organs" |
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NRSV |
"praise him with strings and pipe" |
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Song of Songs 2:12 |
KJV |
". . . and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land" |
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NRSV |
". . . and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land" |
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Acts 21:15 |
KJV |
"we took up our carriages, and went up to Jerusalem" |
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NRSV |
"we got ready and started to go up to Jerusalem" |
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2 Thessalonians 2:7 |
KJV |
". . . only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way" |
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NRSV |
". . . but only until the one who now restrains it is removed" |
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Philemon 7 |
KJV |
"the bowels of the saints are refreshed by thee" |
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NRSV |
"the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you" |
Even since the 1940-50s when the Revised Standard Version (RSV) was produced, improvements in language have become necessary:
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John 12:32 |
RSV |
"...I will draw all men to myself" |
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NRSV |
"...I will draw all people to myself" |
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Matthew 4:4 |
RSV |
"Man does not live by bread alone..." |
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NRSV |
"One does not live by bread alone..." |
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Psalm 39:8 |
RSV |
"I am dumb..." |
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NRSV |
"I am silent..." |
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2 Corinthians 11:25 |
RSV |
"Once I was stoned" |
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NRSV |
"Once I received a stoning" |
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Psalm 50:9 |
RSV |
"I will accept no bull from your house" |
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NRSV |
"I will not accept a bull from your house" |
Second, better manuscript evidence continues to be found and reevaluated. The early papyrus and parchment manuscripts of the Greek New Testament did not begin to be discovered until the 1800s. The Dead Sea Scrolls were not discovered until the 1940s. Unlike the KJV and the NKJV, modern English translations such as the NRSV, NIV, NJB, and NASB are based on these earlier and better manuscripts.
Third, better linguistic evidence continues to be discovered. Many Hebrew and Greek words occur only once in the entire Bible. Translators have difficulty determining the precise meaning of such words. Through archaeology and other fields of research, modern translators now have more resources to consult for the precise understanding of Hebrew and Greek words.
Evaluating
Modern Translations
New translations of the Bible into English continue to be made every year. In the United States, the most widely used English translations of the Bible are the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) and the New International Version (NIV). Dozens of other English translations have been made.
English translations can be evaluated according to several criteria. First, consideration should be given to the translation committee. Normally, the translating committee publishes a preface at the beginning of the translation explaining their method of translating. Sometimes, a translating committee, such as with the NIV and the NRSV, even publish a book explaining their process of translating. The translating committee should be a large committee to prevent any personal bias of particular individuals being translated into the text. The committee should be well trained and widely recognized in the field of biblical studies. Ideally, the committee should be diverse in its cultural and religious backgrounds to prevent any doctrinal bias being translated into the text. The Bible should be translated in a way that it speaks for itself, not the translators.
Second, a translation should be based on the earliest and best Greek and Hebrew manuscripts available. Virtually all English translations since 1900 are based on the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia and the Greek New Testament (currently in its fourth edition), both of which are published by the United Bible Societies. These editions of the Hebrew Bible and Greek New Testament are based on the best available manuscripts and are recognized around the world as the standard from which translations should be made. The only modern English translation that does not use these texts is the NKJV. The NKJV has updated the language of the KJV, but it is based on the same inferior manuscripts as the KJV.
Third, a translation should be considered in light of its stated purpose. Some translations such as the NRSV, NIV, NJB, and NASB were intended for widespread use by Christians for faith and practice. Other translations had specific purposes other than widespread use, such as for readability or use by children.
Fourth, a translation should be considered in light of the balance between formal and functional approaches to translating the Bible. A formal approach is an attempt to render a literal translation of the Greek or Hebrew that even attempts to preserve word order. Since English is a language in which the function of words such as subjects, verbs, and objects is primarily dependent upon word order, Greek and Hebrew can become gibberish if word order is not adjusted into English. Word order in Greek and Hebrew often was due to emphasis, not grammatical function. Since there is no one-to-one correspondence between words in one language to words in another language, often individual words have to be translated with phrases or even footnotes explaining important alternate meanings.
A functional approach to translation is an attempt to paraphrase groups of words in one language into groups of words in another language. Translating the Bible with too much of a functional approach does not allow the English reader to grasp the precise wording of the text in the original languages. Often biblical writers placed a significant amount of emphasis on the very wording of a passage.
Ideally, a good English translation has a good balance between the formal and functional approaches. The goal is to bring good Hebrew and Greek into good English. Some translations such as the American Standard Version (ASV in 1901) intentionally tried to be on the formal end of the spectrum. Other translations such as the New Living Translation (NLT in 1996) intentionally attempt to be on the functional end of the spectrum. Translations made for widespread use in church, such as the NRSV, NIV, NJB, and NASB, attempt to be a balance between the formal and functional approaches.
Geography
of Palestine
The geography of Palestine can be confusing because it has had different names, inhabitants, boundaries, cities, and towns over the centuries. The geographical boundaries of Palestine essentially are four bodies of water:
The land of Palestine has been known by many names. The "land of Canaan" was an early name for the land since the "Canaanites" were early inhabitants of the land. In the 900s BC after Solomon, the Israelites divided into two separate kingdoms. The Northern Kingdom was known by the names Israel (comprised of the ten northern tribes), Ephraim (the dominant tribe among the ten), or Samaria (the capital city from Omri onward). The Southern Kingdom was known as Judah. Its capital city was Jerusalem, also known as Zion.
Many nations and cities of the Ancient Near East play significant roles in the Bible. Some of the important nations and key cities mentioned in the Bible are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Syria (Damascus), Edom, Moab, Ammon, Philistia (Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, Gath), and Phoenicia (Tyre, Sidon, Zarephath). The land of Palestine is remarkably small compared to the United States. The distance from Jerusalem to Galilee is only about 60 miles. The distance from Jerusalem to the Mediterranean Sea is only about 30 miles.
Interpreting
the Bible
Interpretation is an inescapable part of reading. It is impossible to read any text without interpreting it. Students of the Bible should always be aware of the context of a passage from the Bible.
The
Historical-Cultural Context
Any written text must be understood within its historical-cultural context. For example, the Declaration of Independence should be understood in light of its historical context when the American colonists seeking freedom from British taxation and rule in the eighteenth century. The Gettysburg Address should be understood within its historical context when Abraham Lincoln mourned the casualties at Gettysburg during the American Civil War. When interpreting the Bible, one must be careful not to overlook the original situation for which the text of the Bible was written. Before one determines what the Bible means (present tense) today for its readers, one must determine what the Bible meant (past tense) to the original writer and the intended readers. For example, when Paul wrote his letters to the Corinthians and Philippians which are now part of the New Testament, the original intended audience would have been the Christians in those cities living in the 50s (for 1 Corinthians) and 60s (for Philippians) of the first century. The things written in those letters must be understood in light of that historical-cultural context. In the Old Testament for example, the book of Leviticus was originally written to regulate ancient Jewish worship which included sacrifices, priests, and religious festivals. This book must be understood in light of that context.
The culture of biblical times was far different than the culture of most readers today, especially those living in urban, westernized settings. These cultural differences include such things as political structures, economies, religious rituals and traditions, clothing, eating habits, marriage and family customs, language, and many other aspects of life. While these aspects of ancient life make the Bible seem obsolete or archaic to some readers today, nevertheless the Bible is still relevant because it reveals timeless principles that address issues important to modern readers today. For example, in 1 Corinthians, Paul spends three chapters explaining whether the Corinthians should eat meat from the marketplace. Jewish-Christians would have seen this food as being tainted and unclean since it had been used in the worship of Greek gods and goddesses. Since Gentile-Christians would have been raised eating this food from their childhood, they would have been less inclined to see anything wrong with eating it. This issue of "idol food" threatened the unity of the church in Corinth and so Paul addressed this issue in 1 Corinthians 8:1-11:1. Even though modern readers don't have to deal this issue today when buying meat at a grocery store, these passages are still relevant and meaningful today because Paul indicates many important principles about Christian freedom and church unity in his discussion.
Since the Bible is a written text, passages from the Bible must always be understood in light of its surrounding verses and chapters. The books of the Bible were written with the intention of being read as a whole unit, not being dissected into independent statements without a context. One of the important aspects of the literary context is to recognize the genre of a passage. Genre refers to the kind or class of literature. The Bible is made up of many different types of books that were written for different purposes, in different styles, and in different genres. Some of the main genres found in the Bible are:
The Basic
Timeline of the Bible
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Summary of the Historical Periods of Israel and Palestine |
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Hebrew Ancestors before the Exodus |
? to ca. 1290 BC |
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Exodus and the Tribal Confederacy |
ca. 1290 – 1020 BC |
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United Monarchy (Saul, David, Solomon) |
1020 – 922 BC |
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Divided Monarchy:
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922 – 587 BC |
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Babylonian Exile |
587 – 539 BC |
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Persian Period (Jewish People back in Palestine) |
539 – 331 BC |
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Greek Period (or the "Hellenistic Period")
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331-165 BC (331-323) (301-198) (198-165) (165-142) (142-63) |
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Roman Period |
63 BC – AD 325 |
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Unless otherwise noted, scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible [NRSV], copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS FOR REVIEW:
Unless otherwise noted, scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible [NRSV], copyright © 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2011 Jeff Cate. All Rights Reserved. No material from this web page may be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed in any way, except for personal, educational, non-commercial home use only, provided you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices. Modification of the materials or use of the materials for any other purpose is a violation of the copyright and other intellectual property rights.
