"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path"
[Psalm 119:105].
 

INTRODUCTION TO THE BIBLE
Copyright © 2008 Kay Murdy

RETURN TO MAIN DIRECTORY

BEGINNING TO READ SCRIPTURE St. Isidore of Seville, bishop and doctor of the Church, was one of the most learned men of his day. He is being considered as patron saint of computer users and the Internet. He writes: "All spiritual growth comes from reading and reflection. By reading we learn what we did not know; by reflection we retain what we have learned. Reading the holy Scriptures confers two benefits. It trains the mind to understand them; it turns our attention from the follies of the world and leads us to the love of God." 

REFERENCE TOOLS YOU WILL NEED

Study Bible - A modern version of the Bible such as: The New American Bible or The New Revised Standard Version that prints not only the biblical text itself (as in a "Reader’s Bible"), but also extensive "editorial material," including introductions, footnotes, cross-references,  with maps, charts, time-lines, etc. 

Bible Atlas - a book containing maps and diagrams, and often pictures and helpful discussions of biblical geography. Good ones include the Harpers Bible Atlas and the Macmillan Atlas of the Bible.

Bible Commentary - a book of modern scholars’ explanations of biblical texts, arranged in biblical order (book-by-book, chapter-by-chapter, verse-by-verse); it usually includes notes on items necessary for understanding the text (historical, geographical, linguistic, etc.), and a scholar’s interpretation of its meaning. Good one-volume commentaries covering the whole OT and NT include the New Jerome Biblical Commentary and the Harpers Bible Commentary; multi-volume commentary series go into much more depth on each biblical book.

Bible Dictionary - contains articles on most biblical names, places, images, themes, and other words in alphabetical order; the best ones currently available are the Anchor Bible Dictionary (6 vols. 1992), the Interpreters Dictionary of the Bible (4 vols. 1962; and a "Supplement" vol. 1969), and the HarperCollins Bible Dictionary (1996).

Lexicon - a dictionary explaining the meaning of ancient Hebrew or Greek words, and usually also providing some references for where and how they are used in ancient literature.

Concordance - a book listing all the passages in the Bible (OT and NT) in which a particular word is used; be careful when using English concordances, since a particular Hebrew or Greek word might be translated with various different English words; so always also look up related words and synonyms!

Parallel Bible - an edition which prints several English translations (sometimes also the original Greek or Hebrew text) in parallel columns on the same pages so you can compare them easily. 

What does the word "Bible" mean?
The word "Bible comes from the Egyptian word for parchment, byblos. The Greek word biblios means books or scrolls. Later, it was translated into Latin, biblia, meaning "book." The Bible is more than a single book. It is a library--ta biblia, which means "the books." In this Bible library, as in any library, you will find a variety of books--prose, poetry, songs, prayers, history, folklore, sagas, wisdom, letters, parables, proverbs, prophecy, etc. The library of the Bible is divided into two large groups of books:

The Old Testament (The Hebrew Scriptures)

The New Testament (The Christian Scriptures)

What does the word "Testament" mean?
The word "testament," as used here, does not mean "last will and testament," a legal document whereby a person disposes of earthly goods. The word "testament" is from the Latin word testamentum. which translates the Hebrew word for "covenant," berith. A covenant is a pact or agreement between two parties, God and the people of God. "Covenant" is one of the major themes in both the Old and New Testaments. It tells of the pact which God made through Moses with the people of Israel (the "old" covenant), and that which was fulfilled in Jesus (the "new" covenant). The word "old," in regard to Testament, does not mean that it is no longer useful. For Christians, it simply means the First Testament, or the Hebrew Scriptures.

What does the word "canon" mean?
The Canon is an official list of books that a particular religious group considers as its "core scriptures." The group uses these "authorized books" as the basis of its communal life, teachings, and actions. The Greek word originally meant "measuring rod; rule; criterion."

How many books are there in the Old Testament?
That depends which bible you are using. There are 39 books for Jews and Protestants and 46 for Catholics. Jews recognize only the 39 books of the Old Testament written in Hebrew (a few passages are written in Aramaic, the language Jesus and his contemporaries spoke). While Jews count them as 24 books ( considering the "Twelve Minor Prophets" as one book), Christians subdivide some of these to make a total of 39 books (not including the Septuagint, seven other books recognized by.Catholics, which belong to the Greek translation of the Bible made in Alexandra about 250 to 150 years before the time of Christ BCE). This translation is called the Septuagint, meaning "70," often abbreviated LXX. 

How many books are there in the Septuagint?
The Septuagint (shorthand LXX) is a collection of 46 books of ancient Jewish Scriptures in Greek, including translations of all 39 books of the Hebrew Bible, as well as the seven additional books not found in the Hebrew Bible. The LXX, which groups the books into four categories (Law, Historical Books, Wisdom Writings, and Prophets), was translated and compiled around 250 BCE, probably in or near Alexandria, Egypt. The name "Septuagint" (meaning "seventy") is connected with an ancient Jewish tradition which claims that 70 scholars translated the whole thing in 70 days. The entire LXX was considered scripture by most Greek-speaking Jews and by early Christians. The seven additional books of the Septuagint (many written in Greek) include Judith, Tobit, 1 and 2 Maccabees, Wisdom, Sirach (also called Ecclesiasticus) and Baruch, and also parts of the books of Esther and Daniel. Catholics call these seven books Deutero-Canonical, meaning "second canon." The word "canon" means "rule of faith," the authoritative list of books approved by the Catholic Church.  Protestants call these books  Apocryphal, meaning "hidden." During the Reformation, Protestants rejected these later writings and accepted only the 39 books of the Hebrew Old Testament.

What does the word "pseudepigrapha" mean?
Pseudepigrapha (literally "false writings") refers broadly to other ancient Jewish writings which are not part of the Hebrew Bible nor of the LXX, but are often attributed to a biblical figure (e.g. Jubilees, 1 Enoch, the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs, etc.). They were popular among ancient Jews, and thus are very valuable for historical purposes, even if they were never considered biblical.

How many books are there in the New Testament?
The New Testament, written entirely in Greek, the common, or koine, language spoken at the time, is identical for all Christians. It consists of 27 books. There are four gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), one book of history (Acts of the Apostles), 21 letters, also called "Epistles" (written by Paul and other authors), and one prophetic book (the Book of Revelation).

How are the books divided in the Bible?
The books of the Jewish Old Testament are divided into three categories (Torah, Prophets, Writings), while Christians rearrange them into four categories (Law, Historical Books, Wisdom Books, Prophetic Books). 

• Law - usually called the "Torah" (Hebrew for "Teaching" or "Instruction"), or the "Pentateuch" (Greek for "five scrolls"), or "The Five Books of Moses" (since it was traditionally thought that Moses himself wrote all of them). These first five books of the HB (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) are considered the "core" of the Bible by Jews.
  

• Prophets - called the "Nevi'im" in Hebrew; subdivided in Jewish Bibles into the "Former Prophets" (Joshua, Judges, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings - considered "Historical Books" by Christians; also contain stories of early "prophets" like Elijah, Elishah, Samuel, Nathan, etc.), and the "Latter Prophets" (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the "Twelve Minor Prophets"; note that Christians also count Daniel as one of the major Prophets, but Jews put Daniel in the following group).
  

• Writings - called the "Ketuvim" in Hebrew; includes the books of Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Solomon, Lamentations & Ecclesiastes (called "Wisdom Literature" by Christians today), and the books of Ruth, Esther, Ezra, Nehemiah, and 1 & 2 Chronicles (considered part of the "Historical Books" by Christians), as well as Daniel. 

How do you find your way around the Bible?
Most Christian Bibles have adopted the order of the Greek Bible, which arranges the books of the Old Testament in four parts: The Pentateuch, the Historical books, the Prophetic books, and the Wisdom books. There are 66 books in Protestant Bibles and 73 in Catholic Bibles.

Originally, there were no chapters or verses in the Bible as parchment or papyrus were difficult to come by. There were not even spaces between words or sentences. In the 13th Century, the Books of the Bible were divided into chapters for the first time by Stephen Langton, a professor in Paris (who later became Archbishop of Canterbury). In 1551 a Parisian book printer, Robert Stephanus (French "Estienne"), is credited with dividing those chapters into verses while riding on horseback from Paris; therefore, we have our modern division of verses. 

When searching for a reference in the Bible, first locate the book, then turn to the chapter, then search for the verse(s). The names of the books of the Bible are usually abbreviated in a reference. For instance, Genesis may be abbreviated Gn., or Gen., depending on your version of the Bible. The first figure following the title of the book is the chapter: Gn.3. The second figure(s) separated by a colon, indicates the verse. For example, chapter 3, verses 14 to 16 of the Book of Genesis would be written like this: Gn.3:14-16.

A hyphen is used to indicate several chapters of verses. For example, Gn.2-5 denotes Genesis, chapters 2 through 5. Gn.3:14-16 indicates chapter 3, verses 14-16.

A semicolon separates two different references. Gn.2;5 denotes Genesis chapter 2 and 5. A comma separates different verses in the same chapter. Gn.2:4,8,11 indicates Genesis chapter 2, verses 4, 8 and 11.

The lower case "f" added to a figure indicates "the following verse." Thus Gn.2:4f denotes Genesis chapter 2, verses 4 and 5. A double "ff," Gn.2:4ff, indicates an indeterminate number of subsequent verses.

If you want to indicate only a part of a long verse, you add lower case letters to the numbers. Thus Gn.2a indicates Genesis chapter 2 and the first part of verse 4. Gen.2:4b indicates Genesis chapter 2 and the last part of verse 4.

ca.: This is short for circa, and means about or approximately. It is usually used in regard to dates.

cf.: This little abbreviation stands for confer, which means “compare” in Latin. It is used in academic works to ask a reader to continue forward and look at another reference that confirms a statement.

sic: This means “intentionally so written;” in other words, the editor or author knew they were misspelling something or using a bit of slang or bad grammar in an otherwise formal document. It’s also used to indicate that it is printed as it was in the original.

This may seem very complicated, but just like learning your telephone or social security number, you will soon get the hang of it.

OTHER IMPORTANT TERMS

Codex - written on both sides, then bound in book form (could be made of papyrus or vellum) 

Criticisms - various methods of doing biblical exegesis, each having a specific goal and a specific set of questions; biblical "criticism" does not mean "criticizing" the text (i.e. what you don't like or don't agree with), but asking "critical" questions (based on "criteria" that are as clear, careful, and objective as possible). 

Dead Sea Scrolls - several collections of ancient writings (2nd century BCE to 2nd century CE) discovered between 1947 and 1956 in various caves near the NW shores of the Dead Sea; most famous are the large scrolls and numerous small fragments found in eleven caves near the ruins at Khirbet Qumran, associated by most scholars with the Essenes (a monastic group in Ancient Judaism); although copies of most books of the Hebrew Bible were also found there, more important are the original writings of the Essene/Qumran group itself.

Exegesis - the careful investigation of the original meaning of a text in its historical and literary contexts; the word comes from a Greek verb meaning "to lead out of." The opposite is Eisegesis, which means "reading your own opinions into" the text (not a good idea in biblical studies!)

Genre - the literary "form" or "category" of a text. Larger genres in the NT include Gospels, Letters, Acts, Apocalypses, Novels, Biographies, etc. Smaller genres within the Gospels include parables, sayings, controversy dialogues, healing miracles, exorcisms, nature miracles, etc.

Inter-Testamental Literature - another collective term for a broad range of Jewish literature written "between" the Old Testament and the New Testament.

Josephus - the most important Jewish historian from the late 1st century CE. He was a general at the beginning of the First Jewish War against Rome, but surrendered early and then wrote a history of the "Jewish War."

Majuscule - early manuscripts written in ALLCAPITALLETTERSUSUALLYWITHOUTPUNCTUATIONORSPACES 

Manuscripts - ancient (or modern) texts "written by hand"; often copies of copies of copies, with significant differences. 

Minuscule - later manuscripts written with small letters, with punctuation and spaces.

Papyrus - a paper-like writing material made from an Egyptian plant; cheaper, but not as durable.

Parable - a metaphorical story featuring common images and vivid comparisons, but usually with a twist. Many (but not all) of Jesus' parables are about the Reign of God. Caution: "parables" are only stories told by Jesus. The Gospels' descriptions about Jesus' actions are better called "passages," "paragraphs," "stories," or "pericopes" (See Below).

Parchment (Vellum) - animal skins used for writing; more durable, but also more expensive.

Pericope (pronounced "pur-IH-cuh-pee") - an individual "passage" within the Gospels, with a distinct beginning and ending, so that it forms an independent literary "unit." Similar pericopes are often found in different places and different orders in the Gospels. Pericopes can include various genres (parables, miracle stories, evangelists' summaries, etc.)

Philo - an important Jewish writer who lived in Alexandria in the early 1st century CE (roughly contemporary with Jesus). He used Greek philosophical language and images to interpret Jewish biblical traditions.

Print Editions - printed copies made after the invention of printing by Johannes Gutenberg in 1456

Rabbinic Literature - various collections of Jewish writings from the 3rd through 7th centuries CE, although they contain some traditions attributed to earlier rabbis, including some famous contemporaries of Jesus.

Scroll (Roll) - long sheets written on one side only, then rolled-up (could be made of papyrus or vellum)

TANAK - The Hebrew Bible is traditionally called the "Tanak" by Jews (from Torah + Nevi'im + Ketuvim) or the "Old Testament" (OT) by Christians; also called the "First Testament" by some modern scholars. It is a large collection of different books considered "canonical scriptures" by all Jews and Christians. Most are written in Hebrew (a few parts are in Aramaic), mostly between the 9th and 6th centuries BCE.

NOTE: Traditionally, dates before Christ are written "BC," and dates from the time of Christ "AD" (Latin for Anno Domini, "in the year of the Lord"). These designations are specifically Christian. Jews, Muslims and members of other religions based on the Bible, may feel uncomfortable referring to the "Year of the Lord" when they do not share that belief. For that reason, modern Biblical scholars use the terms BCE (Before the Common Era), and CE (the Common Era) as a means of dating historical events.

Introduction: The Bible was NOT written in English -- not even "King James English"!  Most of the books of the Old Testament were originally composed in Hebrew (with a few portions in Aramaic), while the entire New Testament was originally written in Greek (although some books may also incorporate Aramaic sources).  Thus, what most people today read is not the original text, but other people's translations of the Bible.

But why are there so many different English translations of the Bible?  And why can't churches or scholars agree on just one translation?

• No original manuscript of any biblical book has survived!  All of the texts written by the biblical authors themselves have been lost or destroyed over the centuries.  All we have are copies of copies of copies, most of them copied hundreds of years after the original texts were written.
• The extant manuscripts contain numerous textual variations!  There are literally thousands of differences in the surviving biblical manuscripts, many of them minor (spelling variations, synonyms, different word orders), but some of them major (whole sections missing or added).
• Important old manuscripts were found in the last 200 years!  Recent discoveries of older manuscripts (esp. the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Codex Sinaiticus) have helped scholars get closer to the original text of the Bible, so that modern translations can be more accurate than medieval ones.
• The meanings of some biblical texts are unknown or uncertain!  Some Hebrew or Greek words occur only once in the Bible, but nowhere else in ancient literature, so their exact meanings are unknown; and some biblical phrases are ambiguous, with more than one possible meaning.
• Ancient languages are very different from modern languages!  Not only do Ancient Hebrew and Greek use completely different alphabets and vocabularies, but their grammatical rules and structures (word order, prepositions, conjugations of verbs, etc.) are very different from modern English.
• Every "translation" is already inevitably an "interpretation"!  Anyone who knows more than one modern language realizes that "translations" often have meanings that are slightly different from the original, and that different people inevitably translate the same texts in slightly different ways.
• All living languages continually change and develop over time!  Not only is "Modern English" very different from 16th century English, but the language used in Great Britain, America, Australia, and other countries are slightly different from each other (in spelling, grammar, idioms, word meanings, etc.).
• Cultural developments require new sensitivities in language!  Recent awareness of the evils of racism, sexism, anti-Semitism, and other forms of discrimination have shown have certain language is slanted or biased, with corresponding efforts to develop more "inclusive" language alternatives.

Thus, NO translation is "perfect" (none of them can be completely "literal" or 100% identical to the original texts) and there is NO "best" translation (all of them have some advantages and some drawbacks).  In general, however, the most recent translations (1980's or 1990's) are better than the older ones (esp. the KJV or the Douay-Rheims, both about 400 years old), not only since the English language has changed significantly over the centuries, but more importantly because of the ancient biblical manuscripts that have been discovered in the last 50 to 150 years that are much older (thus closer to the originals) than the manuscripts available to the translators of previous centuries.
 

Now try a little test on what you learned
What does the word "Bible" mean?
What does the word "Testament" mean?
How many books are there in the Jewish Bible and Protestant Old Testament?
How many books are there in the Catholic Bible?
Why is there a difference?
What are the divisions of the Jewish Old Testament called?
What are the divisions of the Greek (Septuagint) version of the Old Testament called?

If you had trouble answering any of these, go back and read the section above.

Look up the following references. Write the first word of each passage. Then read the complete sentence.

Tobit 8:6 ___________ Genesis 31:15  ___________  Proverbs 29:17 ___________ Hebrews 4:12 ___________

NOTE: In the ancient Hebrew manuscripts, the text was written without vowels. It wasn't until the 7th Century C.E. that the vowels were fixed. Sometimes this was educated guesswork on the part of scholars who determined the word from the meaning of the text. For instance, can you read this sentence: GODISNOWHERE

Did you read "God is now here" or "God is nowhere?" You might also read "Gad (one of the sons of Jacob) is now here (or no where)." In cases like this, Bible scholars have to trust their instincts and the context in which the passage is found to determine the meaning.

In addition, the text was written and read from right to left (not left to right as in our Bibles), and there were no spaces between the words. This might seem impossible to read, but see if you can decipher the following line by reading from right to left. HTLGDLLKDVDGNK 

Too hard? Try it from left to right: KNGDVDKILLDGLTH 

Did you read King David Killed Goliath? If so, you are correct indeed! 
(By the way, "You are correct indeed" is also the first word you looked up in the above scriptures). 

THE NEXT LESSON IS BIBLE RESOURCES. CONTINUE READING OR GO BACK TO TABLE OF CONTENTS AND CHOOSE ANOTHER TOPIC