Sit Anywhere You Like, But
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How We Got the
David Tarbet
2014
ible
The Birth of the
David Tarbet
2014
ible
The Bible is:
Made up of 66 different
books.
Written over a span of
1,600 years (approximately
1500 BC to AD 100).
Written by more than 40
kings, prophets, leaders,
and followers of Jesus.
BIBLE
“The Books”
Ezekiel 4:1
How Ancient
Writings
Were
Preserved
Clay
Stone
Parchment
EARLIEST KNOWN WRITING
Egypt – 4000-5000 B.C.
Babylonia – 3750 BC
Palestine – 1500 B.C.
Exodus 31:18
Deuteronomy 27:2-8
Dead Sea
Scrolls
How Ancient
Writings
Were
Preserved
Jeremiah 36:1-32
(December 604 BC)
papyrus
• From the papyrus plants that grew along the Nile River
in Egypt
• Dates to 3500 BC
• First made as scrolls; later as single pages formed into
a codex (book)
• Most important medium for copying documents until
3rd Century AD
How The
Bible Was
Written &
Preserved
papyrus
The oldest New Testament fragment
(from John 18) that we have today was
copied in Greek on a papyrus codex
(folded book) around AD 125.
How Ancient
Writings
Were
Preserved
RAG PAPER
• Invented by the Chinese – 2nd century BC
• Taught to Arabs - 8th century A.D.
• Came to Europe in 15th Century
• 15th –– 17th Century Bibles printed on rag paper
• Modern Bibles printed on wood pulp paper
INVENTION OF THE PRINTING PRESS
• Johannes Gutenberg invented
the moveable type printing
press , and printed the first (Latin)
Bible (1455) in Mainz, Germany.
Assisted by Johann Fust, Peter
Schoffer
• Within 25 years, 100 presses in
Europe (Italy – 50; Germany – 80;
England – 4).
• 10 Latin Bibles/Psalters, 8
German
Bibles/Psalters; 5 Dutch New
Testaments/Psalters printed
before a single Bible printed in
English! (Tyndale, 1526).
How The
Bible Was
Written &
Preserved
vellum
Codex Sinaiticus
2 Timothy 4:13
Discovery of the Codex Sinaiticus
(4th Century Bible) by Constantin von
Tischendorf at St. Catherine’s Convent
on Mount Sinai (1844-69)
How The
Bible Was
Written &
Preserved
vellum
2 Timothy 4:13
Codex Sinaiticus
Codex Vaticanus
Written in Three Languages
The Old Testament was
written mainly in Hebrew,
with some Aramaic.
A sample of
Aramaic letters.
Daniel 2:4–7:28
Ezra 4:8 – 6:18
The letter “aleph”
in Hebrew script.
The New Testament
was written in Greek.
A sample of
Greek letters.
The letter “alpha” in
Koine Greek dialect.
ARAMAIC WORDS: Talitha cumi (Mark 5:41), Eli, Eli, Lama Sabachthani
(Matthew 27:46), Maranatha (1 Corinthians 16:22), Abba (Galatians 4:6)
Interesting Facts About the Bible ….
• The Chapters were inserted by Hugo (1240 AD)
• New Testament divided into Verses (1151 AD)
• Old Testament divided into Verses (1445 AD)
• Takes 52 hours 20 minutes to read Old Testament
• Takes 18 hours 20 minutes to read New Testament
• Shortest OT book is Obadiah; New Testament book: 2 John
• Shortest OT verse is 1 Chronicles 1:25; NT verse John
11:35
• Longest OT chapter: Psalm 119 (176 verses); NT: Luke 1
(80 verses)
• Currently the largest selling English translation: NIV
• British Foreign Bible Society publishes a copy of the Bible
The Best Use of the Bible Is
Made When We ….
Read it through
Pray it in
Work it out
Note it down, and
Pass it on!
COMING NEXT
CANON OF THE HOLY SCRIPTURES