Introduction to Biblical Survey
Why Read the Bible
Sacred to two global religions, Judaism and Christianity, the Bible continues to shape the
lives of 2 billion people (a third of the world’s population). In Western society, biblical
teachings about the nature of God and the purpose of human life profoundly influence
standards of behavior and assumptions about ultimate reality.
Even in Islam, biblical characters such as Abraham, Moses, and Jesus are presented as
God’s prophets, predecessors of the ultimate prophet, Mohammed.
Almost every English poet – from Shakespeare and Milton to Eliot and Auden – could
count on educated readers recognizing their numerous allusions to biblical phrases or
characters.
Because Western society, to an incalculable extent, is shaped by ancient Judeo-Christian
religious traditions preserved in the Bible, a knowledge of the historical, social, and
religious forces that prompted biblical authors to express their particular views helps us
to understand better our way of life.
What Is the Bible?
The Bible (the Good Book) is actually a collection of many individual books written over
a period of 1,100 years. Derived from the Greek biblia, the word bible means “little
books,” denoting its nature as an anthology or library of diverse compositions, ranging
from poetry and narrative to law and prophecy.
Divided into two main sections, the OT and the NT, the Bible’s two distinct parts
represent its origins in two different religious communities during different historical
periods. The larger, older section – the OT – was written by and for the Jewish
community of faith and contains material composed between about the 12th and 2nd
centuries BC. Composed in Hebrew, it is also known as the Hebrew Bible.
Between about 50 and 100 AD, the early Christian movement produced a series fo
documents – Gospels, letters, and sermons – that were eventually collected to form the
NT.
The Christian church regards both the Hebrew Bible and the NT as Scripture, a term
designating writings that a religious group considers to be sacred and authoritative in
determining the group’s belief and practice. In Judaism, only the Hebrew Bible has the
authority of Scripture.
Arrangement of the Old Testament (The Tanakh)
Both Catholic and Protestant Bibles divide the OT into four major sections, grouping
books together according to their literary category regardless of their original function or
date of composition.
Pentateuch (“five scrolls”) – first five books of the OT
Historical Books – Joshua to Ezra and Nehemiah
Wisdom/Poetry Books – Psalms, Proverbs and Job as well as Song of Songs and
Ecclesiastes
Prophets – Major Prophets and Minor Prophets
Hebrew Division (the Tanakh)
Follows a three part division that more accurately reflects the chronological order in
which the books were written and subsequently added to the canon.
T - Torah – the first five books of the OT
N – Nevi’im – the prophets
*The Former Prophets – Joshua through Kings (excluding Ruth)
*The Latter Prophets – the classical prophets (Major and Minor Prophets
excluding Daniel)
K – Kethuvim (the Writings) – Psalms; Job and Proverbs (Wisdom books); Festival
Scrolls: Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, Esther; Daniel (an
apocalypse); Ezra-Nehemiah, Chronicles (historical narratives)
Original Biblical Languages
As its title implies, most of the Hebrew Bible was written in classical Hebrew, the
Semitic tongue spoken in ancient Israel (although there is some Aramaic in the OT;
Aramaic is a dialect closely related to Hebrew, probably language spoken by Jesus and
disciples).
The New Testament was written entirely in koine Greek, the international language of
common person in the first century world (due to the influence of Hellenism).
The Septuagint
The Greek language and culture had become so pervasive in the ancient Mediterranean
world in the last centuries BC that the large Jewish colony living in Alexander, Egypt,
resolved to translate their Scriptures from Hebrew and Aramaic into Greek.
According to Aristeas’ legendary account of the production of the Septuagint, the
Septuagint was the work of seventy-two scholars who labored 72 days to create a set of
identical translations, signifying the divine guidance in their work.
Abbreviated in informal usage to “the work of the seventy”, the Septuagint (LXX)
became the standard biblical text for Jews throughout the Greco-Roman world and is the
version quoted most frequently in the NT.
Process of Canonization of the Hebrew Bible
Canon
Scholars emphasize that the formation of the biblical canon – the list of books officially
recognized as Scripture – was a slow and gradual process. At no time during the Bible’s
formation did a religious council, either Jewish or Christian, explicitly determine its
contents. The Hebrew Bible grew by degrees, adding new documents as Israel’s writers,
over many generations, recorded and interpreted the covenant community’s political and
spiritual experiences. The end result of a long period of literary development,
canonization took place as Judean (explain) priests, scribes and other religious leaders
gradually accepted the religious authority of a particular book or set of books.
Jamnia – According to ancient tradition, a major step in the formation of the Hebrew
Bible canon took place at the coastal town of Jamnia about 90 AD, two decades after the
Roman destruction of Jerusalem. Known as the Academy of Jamnia (Yavneh) the event
supposedly brought together a group of distinguished rabbis (teachers) for the purpose of
restructuring postwar Judaism. This council of Jewish scholars was once thought to have
formally closed the Hebrew Bible canon.
The Development of the Bible in English
The Hebrew Bible had long been available in Greek translation when the Christian
church first adopted the LXX as its preferred version of Scripture. The LXX and the NT
commonly circulated together throughout the eastern half of the Roman Empire (the
Byzantine Empire). In the West, however, where Latin was the dominant language, Latin
translation of the Scriptures began to appear during the early centuries AD. This
movement culminated in Jerome’s landmark translation, the famous Vulgate, a
monumental work of biblical scholarship produced between about 385 and 405 AD.
Commissioned by the Bishop of Rome to make the Scriptures accessible to the Latinspeaking public, Jerome worked directly from Hebrew and Greek manuscripts, creating a
Latin edition that became the official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church. While Latin
continued to be used in church services and by an international body of church scholars,
for almost 1000 years no major new translation of the Bible appeard.
At times, various people produced translations of parts of the Bible into more native
European tongues, but they were, for the most part, translations of the Vulgate. Not until
the fourteenth century, however, did the entire Bible become available in English.
John Wycliffe produced the first complete English translation of the Bible (about 1383))
The national church of England, however, fearing the consequences of the Bible’s being
read and interpreted by ordinary people, condemned Wycliffe’s version in 1408 and
forbid any further translations.
Two historical events ensured that the Bible would find a large reading in English. First
was Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of movable type in 1455 (making copies relatively
easy versus hand copying). Second was the Protestant Reformation begun in Germany in
1517 by Martin Luther. Luther’s German translation of the Bibel (1522-1534) was the
first version in a modern European language based not on the Vulgate but on the original
Hebrew and Greek.
William Tyndale was the first English translator to work directly from Hebrew and Greek
manuscripts. Under threat of persecution, he fled to Germany where his translation of the
NT was published in 1525. Official hostility of his work prevented him from completing
his translation of the OT, and in 1536, he was btrayed, tried for heresy, and burned at the
stake.
Eventually, several English Bibles appeared culminating in the King James
commissioned Bible in 1611 (also known as the Authorized Version).
The KJV and Beyond
By far the most popular English Bible of all time, the KJV was authorized by James I,
son of Mary, Queen of Scots, who appointed 54 scholars to make a new version of the
Bishop’s Bible (a previous English translation) for official use in the Anglican
(Episcopal) Church. The final product (after seven years of labor), also known as the
Authorized Version, debuted in 1611. It remains one of the masterpieces of English
literature.
Despite its wonderful poetic qualities, it is not a great choice as a text for studying the
Bible. Since it was composed so long ago, students are often faced with many obsolete
terms. Also, its translators lacked access to ancient manuscripts that have since been
discovered.
The Problems of Translations
Even the best-equipped modern translators can experience frustration when trying to
render a Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek text into contemporary English. In general, most of
today’s translators adopt one of two contrasting approaches to the problem.
One, try to give the most literal translation possible (known as formal equivalence).
Two, Try to produce an English approximation of the original languages (known as
dynamic equivalence). In dynamic equivalence, translators usually make little effort to
reproduce the exact wording or sentence structure of the original, but only to convey the
meaning of the text in a phrasing that is natural to English usage.
Formal Equivalent translations: KJV; NKJV; NASB; HCSB; RSV; NRSV
Dynamic Equivalent translations: NIV; CEV