Who wrote the Bible? Objective opinion. Who and when wrote the Bible

– Often, we Orthodox are reproached for not reading the Bible as often as, for example, Protestants do. To what extent are such accusations justified?

- The Orthodox Church recognizes two sources of knowledge of God - Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition. And the first is an integral part of the second. After all, initially the sermons of the holy apostles were delivered and transmitted orally. Holy Tradition includes not only Holy Scripture, but also liturgical texts, decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, iconography, and a number of other sources that occupy an important place in the life of the Church. And everything that is said in Holy Scripture is also in the Tradition of the Church.

Since ancient times, the life of a Christian has been inextricably linked with biblical texts. But in the 16th century, when the so-called “Reformation” arose, the situation changed. The Protestants abandoned the Holy Tradition of the Church and limited themselves to the study of the Holy Scriptures. And therefore, a special kind of piety appeared among them - reading and studying biblical texts. I want to emphasize once again: from the point of view of the Orthodox Church, Holy Tradition includes the entire volume of church life, including Holy Scripture. Moreover, even if someone does not read the Word of God, but regularly visits the temple, he hears that the entire worship service is permeated with biblical quotations. Thus, if a person lives the church life, then he is in the atmosphere of the Bible.

How many books are included in Holy Scripture? What is the difference between the Orthodox Bible and the Protestant Bible?

- Holy Scripture is a collection of books, different books and by the time of their writing, and by authorship, and by content, and by style. They are divided into two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Orthodox Bible has 77 books, while the Protestant Bible has 66.

- What is the reason for this discrepancy?

- The fact is that in the Orthodox Bible, more precisely in the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament, in addition to 39 canonical books, there are 11 more non-canonical ones: Tobit, Judith, Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Jesus, the son of Sirach, the Epistle of Jeremiah, Baruch, the second and third books of Ezra, three Maccabees. In the "Large Christian Catechism" of St. Philaret of Moscow, it is said that the division of books into canonical and non-canonical is caused by the absence of the latter (11 books) in the Jewish primary sources and their presence only in the Greek ones, that is, in the Septuagint (translation of 70 interpreters). In turn, the Protestants, starting with M. Luther, abandoned non-canonical books, erroneously assigning them the status of "apocryphal". As for the 27 books of the New Testament, they are recognized by both Orthodox and Protestants. We are talking about the Christian part of the Bible, written after the birth of Christ: the New Testament books testify to the earthly life of the Lord Jesus Christ and the first decades of the existence of the Church. These include the four Gospels, the book of the Acts of the Apostles, the epistles of the apostles (seven of the catholic and 14 of the apostle Paul), as well as the Revelation of John the Theologian (Apocalypse).

How to study the Bible correctly? Is it worth starting knowledge from the first pages of Genesis?

— The main thing is to have a sincere desire to learn the Word of God. It is better to start with the New Testament. Experienced shepherds recommend getting acquainted with the Bible through the Gospel of Mark (that is, not in the order in which they are presented). It is the shortest, written in simple and accessible language. After reading the Gospels of Matthew, Luke and John, we move on to the book of Acts, the apostolic letters and the Apocalypse (the most complex and most mysterious book in the entire Bible). And only after that you can proceed to the Old Testament books. Only after reading the New Testament, it is easier to understand the meaning of the Old. After all, the Apostle Paul did not say in vain that the Old Testament legislation was a schoolmaster to Christ (see: Gal. 3: 24): it leads a person, as if a child by the hand, to let him understand for real what happened during the Incarnation, what is the incarnation of God in principle for a person ...

— And if the reader does not understand some episodes of the Bible? What to do in this case? Who to contact?

- It is advisable to have books on hand that explain the Holy Scriptures. We can recommend the creations of the blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria. His explanations are short, but very accessible and deeply ecclesiastical, reflecting the Tradition of the Church. The conversations of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospels and the Apostolic Epistles are also classic. If you have any questions, it would be nice to consult with an experienced priest. It must be understood that reading the Holy Scriptures is part of a spiritual achievement. And it is very important to pray, to purify your soul. After all, even in the Old Testament it was said: wisdom will not enter into an evil soul and will not dwell in a body enslaved to sin, for the Holy Spirit of wisdom will move away from wickedness and evade foolish thinking, and will be ashamed of the approaching unrighteousness (Wisdom 1: 4-5) .

“So, it is necessary to prepare for the reading of the Holy Scripture in a special way?”

– Experienced elders in monasteries gave the novice a rule: before studying the Holy Scriptures, you first need to familiarize yourself with the works of the holy fathers. Bible reading is not just the study of the Word of God, it is like prayer. In general, I would recommend reading the Bible in the morning, after the prayer rule. I think it's easy to set aside 15-20 minutes to read one or two chapters from the Gospel, the apostolic epistles. So you can get a spiritual charge for the whole day. Very often, in this way, answers appear to serious questions that life poses to a person.

- Sometimes there is such a situation: I read it, understood what it was about, but it doesn’t suit you, because you don’t agree with what is written ...

- According to Tertullian (one of the church writers of antiquity), our soul is a Christian by nature. Thus, biblical truths are given to man from the very beginning, they are embedded in his nature, his consciousness. We sometimes call it conscience, that is, it is not something new that is not characteristic of human nature. The main postulates of the Holy Scriptures are the voice of God that resounds in the nature of each of us. Therefore, first of all, you need to pay attention to your life: does everything in it agree with the commandments of God? If a person does not want to listen to the voice of God, what other voice does he need? Who will he listen to?

- Once they asked St. Philaret: they say, how can you believe that the prophet Jonah was swallowed by a whale, which has a very narrow throat? In response, he said: “If it had been written in the Holy Scriptures that it was not a whale that swallowed Jonah, but Jonah swallowed a whale, I would have believed it.” Of course, today such statements can be perceived with sarcasm. In this regard, the question arises: why does the Church trust the Holy Scriptures so much? After all, the Bible books are written by people...

— The main difference between the Bible and other books is the revelation of God. This is not just the work of some outstanding person. Through the prophets and apostles, the voice of God Himself is reproduced in an accessible language. If the Creator addresses us, how should we treat this? Hence such attention and such trust in the Holy Scriptures.

What language were the Bible books written in? How did their translation affect the modern perception of sacred texts?

Most of the Old Testament books are written in Hebrew (Hebrew). Some of them have survived only in Aramaic. The already mentioned non-canonical books have come down to us exclusively in Greek: for example, Judith, Tobit, Baruch and Maccabees. The third book of Ezra in its entirety is known to us only in Latin. As for the New Testament, it was mostly written in Greek, the Koine dialect. Some biblical scholars believe that the Gospel of Matthew was written in Hebrew, but no primary sources have come down to us (there are only translations). Of course, it would be better to read and study biblical books, relying on primary sources, originals. But this has been the case since ancient times: all the books of the Holy Scriptures were translated. And therefore, for the most part, people are familiar with the Holy Scriptures translated into their native language.

- It would be interesting to know: what language did Jesus Christ speak?

- Many believe that Christ used the Aramaic language. However, when talking about the original Gospel of Matthew, most biblical scholars point to Hebrew as the language of the Old Testament books. The debate on this topic continues to this day.

— According to Bible Societies, back in 2008 the Bible was fully or partially translated into 2,500 languages. Some scientists believe that there are 3 thousand languages ​​in the world, others point to 6 thousand. It is very difficult to define the criterion: what is a language and what is a dialect. But we can say with absolute certainty that all people living in different parts of the globe can read the Bible in whole or in part in their own language.

- Which language is preferable for us: Russian, Ukrainian or Church Slavonic?

- The main criterion - the Bible must be understandable. Traditionally, Church Slavonic is used for worship in the Church. Unfortunately, it is not taught in public schools. Therefore, many biblical expressions require clarification. By the way, this applies not only to our era. This problem also arose in the 19th century. At the same time, a translation of the Holy Scripture into Russian appeared - the Synodal Translation of the Bible. He passed the test of time, had a huge impact on the formation of the Russian language in particular and Russian culture in general. Therefore, for Russian-speaking parishioners, I would recommend using it for home reading. As for the Ukrainian-speaking parishioners, the situation here is a bit more complicated. The fact is that the attempt of the first complete translation of the Bible into Ukrainian was made by Panteleimon Kulish in the 60s of the 19th century. Ivan Nechuy-Levitsky joined him. The translation was completed by Ivan Pulyuy (already after Kulish's death). Their work was published in 1903 by the Bible Society. In the XX century. the translations of Ivan Ogienko and Ivan Khomenko became the most authoritative. Many people are now trying to translate all or part of the Bible. There are both positive experiences and difficult, controversial moments. So, it would probably be incorrect to recommend any specific text of the Ukrainian translation. Now the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is translating the Four Gospels. I hope that this will be a successful translation both for home reading and for liturgical reading (in those parishes where Ukrainian is used).

- In some parishes, during the divine service, a biblical passage is read in their native language (after reading in Church Slavonic) ...

— This tradition is typical not only for our parishes, but also for many foreign parishes, where there are believers from different countries. In such situations, liturgical passages from Holy Scripture are repeated in their native languages. After all, spiritual food should be given to a person in the form in which it can bring spiritual benefits.

— From time to time, information appears in the media about some new Bible book, which was supposedly previously lost or kept secret. It necessarily reveals some "sacred" moments that contradict Christianity. How to treat such sources?

- In the last two centuries, many ancient manuscripts (manuscripts) have been discovered, which made it possible to coordinate our view of the study of the biblical text. First of all, this concerns the Qumran manuscripts found in the Dead Sea region (in the Qumran caves). Many manuscripts have been found there, both Biblical and Gnostic (that is, texts that distort Christian teaching). It is possible that in the future many Gnostic manuscripts will be found. It should be recalled that even during the 2nd and 3rd centuries. The church fought against the heresy of Gnosticism. And in our time, when we are witnessing a craze for the occult, these texts appear under the guise of some kind of sensation.

- By what criteria can one determine a positive result from regular reading of the Holy Scriptures? By the number of memorized quotes?

— We read the Word of God not for memorization. Although there are situations, for example in seminaries, when such a task is set. Biblical texts are important for the spiritual life, to feel the breath of God Himself. Thus, we partake of those grace-filled gifts that are in the Church, learn about the commandments, thanks to which we become better, we draw closer to the Lord. Therefore, the study of the Bible is the most important part of our spiritual ascent, spiritual life. With regular reading, many passages are gradually memorized and without special memorization.

Traditional delusions

The Bible is a sacred book for a significant part of the world's population, and many of them blindly believe that it was written by the Lord himself, or at least from his words. Enough evidence can be found for this, especially for real historical events, one way or another veiled by sacred texts. This ancient book is just a storehouse of wisdom, with which it is not even possible to enter into an argument.

But all this is only at first glance. After all, if you approach this issue from the other side, it becomes clear who actually wrote the Bible, and also why he needed it. Let's try to figure this out.

Who wrote the Bible. The opinion of theologians

Who, if not individuals, "particularly close to the Lord", will be able to fully answer such a delicate question that worries the minds of some part of the parishioners? True, how truthful their answers will be, to be judged only by those who will hear them. So, according to pundits, the Bible itself, the New Testament and the Old Testament were written by the prophets, based on the received visions sent to them from above (read - by the Lord). Moreover, it is not possible to find the names of these prophets, except for John the Theologian ("Apocalypse"). You can, of course, believe this, or you can turn to another delicate question about how to call a person who believes that in a dream he talks with the Lord, and the rest of the time he broadcasts the received truth to the people.

Who wrote the Bible. The opinion of the mystics

Mystics are capable of endowing any, even the most insignificant thing, with supernatural abilities and hidden meaning. Such "costs of the profession." But their opinion, oddly enough, is more like the truth. They believe that the Bible is a kind of collection of the age-old wisdom of peoples, covered with a veil of everyday life, so that only those who are imbued with Divine light could find it. We will have to agree with this, because only those who acquire fanaticism can blindly believe every spoken word, arguing that every spoken phrase is endowed with meaning and is the Truth.

Who wrote the Bible. Historians' opinion

Various researchers who are inclined to compare historical monuments believe that most of the events described in the Bible have already been described in other books or legends of ancient peoples. Indeed, it is impossible not to see the obvious similarity of the New Testament with the most common legends of different nationalities: Odin, Hercules, Hercules, Osiris. All these characters were the children of some deity, sent to our world in various ways, carried the Divine truth and died (died not by their own death). But even historians are inclined to penetrate into the Divine light, they often begin to look for some kind of code that allows them to understand the truth of the universe. It is still too early to judge its existence, as well as the expediency of its search. Time will show everything.

Who Really Wrote the Bible

Ready for a truly objective answer? But in order to fully answer this question, we will first have to pay attention to what the Bible consists of: these are, first of all, the numerous stories of the misadventures of the Jewish people, which end well thanks to the intervention from above. An approximate structure of each of them: a description of the problem, a description of the difficulties, getting rid of the difficulties. And some stories are completely instructive and contain morality ("Expulsion from Paradise", parables), which can be safely applied to today's life without fear of making a mistake. It turns out that the Bible is a historical work, a description of the history of one people, based on real events and flavored with the legends of the area in which it happened to be. This is with regard to the Old Testament (by the way, a small part of another sacred book - the Torah). The New Testament is a description of the life of a real-life person engaged in the promotion of new views, written down by one of his followers. You can also find instructive stories and clever thoughts in it, but it remains a work of art.

Not all people can answer the question: what is the Bible, although it is the most famous and widespread book on the planet. For some, this is a spiritual landmark, for others - a story that describes several thousand years of the existence and development of mankind.

This article provides answers to frequently asked questions: who invented the Holy Scripture, how many books are in the Bible, how old is it, where did it come from, and at the end will be given a link to the text itself.

What is the Bible

The Bible is a collection of writings compiled by various authors. The Holy Scriptures are written in different literary styles, and the interpretation proceeds from these styles. The purpose of the Bible is to bring the words of the Lord to the people.

The main topics are:

• creation of the world and man;
• the fall into sin and the expulsion of people from paradise;
• the life and faith of the ancient Jewish peoples;
• the coming of the Messiah to earth;
• life and suffering of the Son of God Jesus Christ.

Who Wrote the Bible

The Word of God was written by different people and at different times. Its creation was carried out by holy people close to God - the apostles and prophets.

Through their hands and minds, the Holy Spirit conveyed to people the truth and righteousness of God.

How many books are in the bible

The composition of the Holy Scripture of the Russian Orthodox Church includes 77 books. The Old Testament is based on 39 canonical writings and 11 non-canonical ones.

The Word of God, written after the birth of Christ, contains 27 sacred books.

What language is the Bible written in?

The first chapters were written in the language of the ancient Jews - Hebrew. The texts, compiled during the life of Jesus Christ, were written in Aramaic.

For the next few centuries, the Word of God was written in Greek. Seventy interpreters were involved in translating into Greek from Aramaic. Servants of the Orthodox Church use texts translated by interpreters.

The first Slavic Holy Scripture was translated from the Greek language and is the first book to appear in Russia. The translation of the sacred assemblies was entrusted to the brothers Cyril and Methodius.

During the reign of Alexander I, the Bible texts were translated from Slavonic into Russian. It was then that the Synodal Translation appeared, which is also popular in the modern Russian Church.

Why is it the Holy Book of Christians

The Bible is not just a holy book. This is a handwritten source of human spirituality. From the pages of Scripture, people draw the wisdom sent by God. The Word of God is a guide for Christians in their worldly life.

Through the Bible texts, the Lord communicates with people. Helps to find answers to the most difficult questions. The books of Holy Scripture reveal the meaning of being, the secrets of the origin of the world and the definition of a person's place in this world.

By reading the Word of God, a person comes to know himself and his actions. Getting closer to God.

Gospel vs Bible - What's the Difference?

Holy Scripture is a collection of books divided into the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament describes the time from the creation of the world until the coming of Jesus Christ.

The gospel is the part that makes up the Bible texts. Included in the New Testament portion of Scripture. In the Gospel, the description begins from the birth of the Savior to the Revelation that he gave to His Apostles.

The gospel consists of several works written by different authors and tells the story of the life of Jesus Christ and His deeds.

What are the parts of the Bible?

Biblical texts are divided into canonical and non-canonical parts. Non-canonical include those that appeared after the creation of the New Testament.

The structure of the canonical portion of Scripture includes:

• legislative: Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, Numbers and Leviticus;
• historical content: those that describe the events of holy history;
• poetic content: Psalms, Proverbs, Songs of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Job;
• prophetic: writings of great prophets and small ones.

Non-canonical texts are also divided into prophetic, historical, poetic and legislative texts.

Orthodox Bible in Russian - the text of the Old and New Testaments

Reading Bible texts begins with a desire to know God's Word. The clergy advise the laity to start reading from the pages of the New Testament. After reading the New Testament books, a person will be able to understand the essence of the events described in the Old Testament.

To understand the meaning of what is written, you need to have at hand the works that give the transcript of the Holy Scriptures. An experienced priest or confessor can answer the questions that have arisen.

The Word of God can provide answers to many questions. The study of Bible texts is an important part of the life of every Christian. Through them, people come to know the grace of the Lord, become better and spiritually draw closer to God.

How the Bible was written

The oldest writing material was stone, and the tool for writing was a chisel. The first mention of writing in the Bible is associated with the story of the Ten Commandments carved in stone.

Tablets for writing were made of wood or ivory and covered with a layer of wax. They were used by the Assyrians, Greeks and Romans. Sometimes two boards were connected with hinges. A pointed stick served as a writing tool.

The Babylonians used clay thin rectangular plates for writing. The words were imprinted on the surface of soft clay with a triangular style, and then the tablet was dried in the sun. Archaeologists have found entire "libraries" of such clay tablets. Often they used fragments of broken dishes, “shards”, on which they made notes for memory, made up bills and even lists of necessary purchases. The ink was prepared from soot diluted in vegetable oil or gum.

Even before the era of the construction of the pyramids, the Egyptians learned how to make papyrus from the core of the Nile reed that grew in marshy places. Wet thick stems were laid in rows, one on top of the other, and beaten with a mallet until a thin sheet was obtained. Then the sheet was dried, and it was possible to write on it. Papyrus was expensive, but they learned to use it more than once, washing away or scraping off previous records. The Egyptians wrote with reed brushes, and the ink was obtained from plant sap, infused with certain types of insects.

The skins of sheep, goats, calves and antelopes were dried, scraped and cleaned, and then stretched and beaten with a mallet to obtain a smooth, even surface for writing. This is how a material called parchment was made. Writing implements were made from reeds by sharpening and splitting one end of the reed stick.

Languages ​​of the Bible

Alphabet

About 1500 B.C. in Canaan someone had the wonderful idea of ​​inventing a symbol - a letter - for every sound in the language. It took only about 25 letters. Now it was not necessary to memorize hundreds of different icons to convey hundreds of different words. Any word could be written down simply by listening to its sounds and selecting the appropriate letters. This brilliant idea was quickly adopted by speakers of other languages.

Hebrew

Most of the Old Testament is written in Hebrew. The Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters for consonants (the reader had to substitute the vowels himself). The text is read from right to left, so the book is turned from left to right and the beginning is where we are used to seeing the last page.

Aramaic

The Aramaic language was widely spoken in the Persian Monarchy - the leading power of the Near and Middle East for two hundred years (starting from about 550 BC). Aramaic became the language of merchants throughout this region. Some parts of the Old Testament books of Daniel, Ezra, and Jeremiah were written in Aramaic.
However, Hebrew remained the language of prayer and worship. Educated people still understood Hebrew, although when the Hebrew Bible was read aloud in the synagogues, it was not uncommon for the translator to explain the meaning in Aramaic. Manuscripts of portions of the Old Testament written in Aramaic have survived; they are called "targums".

Greek language

In 331 B.C. Alexander the Great conquered Persia. He ruled almost all of the known ancient world, and "everyday" Greek became the language most people understood. The followers of Jesus wanted the whole world to hear the Good News; so the Aramaic spoken by Jesus was translated into Greek. Only a few places have preserved the original Aramaic words (for example, the word "abba", meaning "father"). Addressing the daughter of Jairus, Jesus said: “Talitha kumi,” was the Aramaic phrase spoken by Him. The Gospel writers also gave us a Greek translation: “Girl, I say to you, get up” (Mk 5:41). The Greek alphabet has 24 letters and was the first to include letters for vowels. Greek was written from left to right. In the Revelation of John the Theologian (Rev. 1:8) God says: “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end...” (alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet).

Who Wrote the Bible

The modern Bible is usually a very thick book with over a thousand pages. Different parts of the Bible were written by different people over a long period of time, probably up to 1500-2000 years. Only later were these numerous parts collected in one book. Famous stories with ancient Jewish characters - Moses and the Ten Commandments, Joseph and his colorful clothes, David and Goliath - happened about 3,500 years ago and were recorded around the same time. oral tradition The first stories in the Bible date back to prehistoric times, long before writing was invented. They were transmitted in exactly the same way as children's play songs are transmitted today - by constant repetition. This transmission of stories is called oral tradition. In the evenings around the fires, during worship, at work and at war, people sang songs and told stories they had learned in childhood. These stories were treated with the greatest reverence because they were about God. Every word was important, and it had to be repeated correctly. book tradition Scholars cannot say exactly when the books of the Old Testament appeared: their writing continued for several centuries. By the 3rd century BC, the Jews recognized some of their books as “sacred,” written under the direct inspiration of God. They were formally recognized as such by the Council at Yavne (Jamnia) in A.D. 90, and became the books of the Old Testament as we know it now; however, we arrange them in a slightly different order. New Testament Jesus of Nazareth was born much later than the writing of the Old Testament books, exactly two thousand years ago. But stories about him at first were also transmitted orally. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John wrote four gospels based on eyewitness accounts of the life of Jesus. All the accounts of Jesus' birth in Bethlehem, of His life, and of the miracles He performed that we learn from the Gospels, were recorded prior to A.D. 100. The books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke are commonly referred to as the Synoptic Gospels; they seem to be based on the same oral traditions about the life of Jesus and His teachings.

The Dead Sea Scrolls In 1947, a Bedouin shepherd tending a herd of sheep in a desert hilly area west of the Dead Sea noticed the entrance to a cave on one of the sheer cliffs. He threw a stone there and suddenly heard the sound of breaking pottery. Intrigued by this, he climbed into the cave and found many clay vessels there. Continuing his research, he discovered scrolls of parchment inside the vessels, covered with ancient Hebrew writing. His find did not arouse interest in anyone, but when archaeologists saw these scrolls, a real stir began. Over time, about 400 scrolls were discovered in the caves around the place called Qumran, which turned out to be the library of the Jewish religious sect of the Essenes. The scrolls contained parts of all the books of the Hebrew Old Testament, with the exception of the Book of Esther. At the time of Christ, an ascetic community of the Essenes lived near this place, who founded a settlement, which was excavated by scientists. A watchtower, a refectory, a scriptorium, where the Dead Sea scrolls were probably copied, as well as ritual pools, a pottery workshop and a cemetery, were opened here. Qumran Radiocarbon analysis has shown that the Dead Sea Scrolls were written between 200 B.C. and A.D. 70. The Isaiah Scroll is almost complete; it is 1,000 years older than the next most ancient list of Isaiah, but both texts are almost identical. This shows how accurate the scribes were, how seriously they took their work.

When the Bible was written, the usual books with pages for us had not yet been invented. People wrote on scrolls. They were made from sheets of papyrus, parchment, or even thin sheets of copper, stitched or glued together to form a long ribbon, up to ten meters long and thirty centimeters wide. The ends of the tape were wound on wooden rods: the reader unrolled the scroll with one hand, and wound it onto the second rod with the other. Having finished reading, the scrolls were wrapped in cloth and put away for safety in tall vessels.

Birth of the book

Carrying scrolls from place to place was inconvenient; it also took a long time to find any short biblical passage in a long scroll. In the II century. Christians put together the books of the New Testament. They were probably the first to abandon the scrolls. Instead, they came up with the idea of ​​combining several sheets of papyrus or parchment into a notebook, folding them in half and sewing along the fold, and then adding the same notebooks further. This early type of book is called a "code"

The earliest known complete copy of the New Testament was written shortly after A.D. 300. It is called the Codex Sinaiticus because it was found at the foot of Mount Sinai, in the monastery of St. Catherine. In 1844, the German scholar Konstantin Tischendorf, while visiting this secluded monastery, discovered several parchments with early Greek texts. It turned out that the manuscripts contained part of the Old Testament and dated back to the 4th century. according to R. Kh. Tischendorf, excited by his discovery, revisited the monastery and eventually found so many sheets in it that an almost complete Bible was collected. The Codex Sinaiticus is currently kept in the British Museum in London. Other important early manuscripts of the Greek Bible include the Codex Vaticanus, now in the Vatican Library, and the Codex Alexandrinus, in the British Museum.

How the Bible Came to Us

Jewish scribes

In ancient times, scribes were especially respected because they were often the only ones who could read, make wills, and keep accounts. When new scrolls of the Old Testament were required, each word had to be painstakingly copied, and it was the sacred duty of the scribes to preserve the text and explain it. In order for scribes to realize the importance of their work and not make mistakes, strict rules were developed. For example:

Every day the scribe had to begin his work with a prayer;
- instead of the name of God, a gap was left, which was filled by a person who wrote with more “clean” ink;
- having finished copying this or that section, the scribe counted the number of lines, words and letters in the original and compared with what he got in the copy. He found and checked the central word in each section.

Mistakes still happened. But it is estimated that on average there was one error per 1580 letters.

Septuagint

For the first time the Old Testament was translated from Hebrew into Greek in the III - II centuries. BC This translation is known as the Septuagint (from the Latin numeral "seventy" according to tradition, the translation was completed by seventy scholars). The Jews by this time had spread throughout the Mediterranean and often spoke Greek rather than Hebrew. The said translation was made in Alexandria in Egypt for the fabulously huge Alexandrian library.

monks

"Monk" in Greek means "a person who lives alone." The first Christian monk was Anthony, who lived in the deserts of Egypt from about 270 to 290 BC. according to R. H. His example was followed by others. More often, however, men (and separately women) lived in groups in monasteries, spending their days in prayer, Bible study and labor - doing agriculture or caring for the sick.

census takers

In the Dark Ages that came after the collapse of the Roman Empire, the texts of the Holy Scriptures were kept and protected by the monks. Each codex was copied by hand. This was a long and laborious undertaking. Sometimes mistakes occurred, perhaps due to the fatigue of the monk, or from the poor lighting in which they worked then. Sometimes the scribe even consciously made changes, desiring to state the Scripture in his own words or to bring the text into line with his own understanding. Often the monks worked in the scriptorium, i.e. a room where everyone sat at their desk in complete silence. In such rooms there were no stoves and lighting due to the risk of fire. The work of a scribe was tiresome. There was such a proverb: "The pen is held by two fingers, but the whole body works."

Bible translation

By AD 300, the New Testament had been translated into several languages, including Latin, Coptic, and Syriac. The Syriac Bible was called the Peshitta, or "plain" version. Syrian preachers brought the Gospel and the whole Bible to China, India, Armenia and Georgia.
The Armenian and Georgian alphabets were probably created specifically to translate the Bible into these languages. The Bible was also translated into Coptic (a late form of ancient Egyptian), the language of North African Christians.

bible for ready

Until the 4th century no one wrote down the language of the Germanic people of the Ostrogoths. But ok. 350 Bishop Ulfilas translated the Bible into the Ostrogoth language and thus fixed it. The best surviving copy of this translation is the Codex Argenteus (Silver Codex), now in Uppsala, Sweden, written in gold and silver on purple parchment.

A scientist named Jerome, born in northern Italy c. 345 A.D., the mistakes made by the scribes of the Bible were very disturbing. He traveled widely, learned many languages ​​and copied many parts of the Bible. OK. In AD 382, ​​Pope Damas asked Jerome to prepare a new complete translation of the Gospels, as well as the Psalter and other Old Testament books, in an attempt to get rid of the errors that had crept in.

Vulgate

At that time, most Christians in the West spoke Latin and found it difficult to understand the Greek New Testament, but the numerous translations into Latin seemed clumsy and inaccurate. Jerome, who settled in a secluded monastery in Bethlehem in 386, began translating the original Hebrew and Greek texts of the entire Bible into Latin. A Jewish rabbi helped him learn Hebrew and translate the Old Testament from the original. This work took twenty-three years. Jerome's completed translation became more and more popular over time. Known as the Vulgate, the "folk" version, it is from the 8th century. until 1609 was the only Bible used by the Roman Catholic Church.

precious books

One of the early printed Bibles In 1450, an event occurred that could not but influence the history of the spread of the Bible in the most decisive way: printing was invented (it is better to say, printing was rediscovered, because the Chinese began to print their books from 868 AD). X.). Johannes Gutenberg from Mainz (Germany) guessed that the text could be imprinted on parchment paper using wooden letters smeared with paint. In this way, it is easy to make hundreds of printed books instead of copying each one by hand. Gutenberg then began experimenting with metal type. The first book that Gutenberg printed in full was the Latin Bible (1458).

In 1978, one of the few surviving Gutenberg Bibles was purchased for £1,265,000. Although Johannes Gutenberg and the people of Mainz tried to keep their invention secret, their secret soon became known throughout Europe, from Rome and Paris to Krakow and London. In England, the first printing press was started by William Caxton (London, 1476). Soon Bibles were being printed everywhere. The Old Testament in Hebrew was first published in 1488 in Italy by the Soncino brothers.

By translating the Bible into most European languages, the Christians of Europe set their sights on other parts of the world. Bible for Native Americans In the 17th century, some English Christians, called "Puritans," felt that the established Church no longer adhered to the teachings of the Bible. A group of Puritans, known as the Pilgrim Fathers, set sail for North America in 1620 to start a new life there. Eleven years later, the English priest John Eliot (1604-1690) arrives in the New World with another group of colonists. After learning the language of the local Indians of Massachusetts, Eliot began to preach the gospel to them. By 1663 he had translated the entire Bible into the language of the Indians of Massachusetts. This Native American translation was the first Bible produced in North America. South America The first printed Bible book for the natives of South America was the Gospel of Luke in the Aymara language, published in 1829. The translation was made by Dr. Vincente Pazos-Canchi, a Peruvian who lived in London. First Indian Bible At the beginning of the XVIII century. representatives of the Danish pietist mission went to the East Indies. The German missionary Bartholomew Siegenbalg (1628-1719) translated the New Testament into Tamil; it is the very first translation of a part of the Bible into any of the languages ​​of India. He also managed to translate the Old Testament up to the Book of Ruth. Siegenbalg's translation was completed by another German pietist missionary, Christian Friedrich Schwartz (1726-1760). By 1800 the Bible had been translated into at least 70 languages. By 1900, at least one Bible book had been translated into more than 500 languages. How to explain such rapid changes? During this period, explorers began to travel all over the world; Entrepreneurs set up offices of their companies in distant countries. Often they invited priests to accompany their salesmen; William Carey's example inspired Christian enthusiasm for preaching and translating the Bible. Africa Explorers and missionaries like David Livingstone began visiting Africa in the 19th century. The Scotsman Robert Moffat translated the Bible into the Bechuan language. The translation of the Yoruba Bible was overseen by Ajay Crowther, a freed slave from Nigeria who became the first African bishop. The translation was completed 1884. The Shoemaker Who Translated the Bible When the young Englishman William Carey (1761-1834) left school, he was sent as an apprentice to a shoemaker. After becoming a Baptist, he began to study the New Testament and became a Baptist preacher. He independently mastered Latin, Ancient Greek, Hebrew, French and Dutch. Carey believed that Jesus' words, "Go and make disciples of all nations," were addressed not only to the apostles, but to Christians of all ages. Carey urged his listeners, "Expect great things from God.... Go for great things for God's sake." Through his zeal, the Baptist Missionary Society was formed in 1792. Carey in India In 1793, William Carey traveled to India with his wife and four children. There he earned a living as a foreman in an indigo dye factory, and in his spare time he learned several Indian languages. He soon began translating the Bible into Bengali. Ultimately, under his supervision, translations of the complete Bible into six local languages ​​were completed, and individual Bible books were translated into 29 more languages, including Sanskrit, Bengali, Marathi and Sinhalese. Carey's colleague, Joshua Marshman, set about translating the Bible into Chinese, as another Englishman, Robert Morrison, had already done. The complete Bible in Chinese was published in 1823.

Excavated data are often subject to multiple interpretations, and their reliability remains relative. Absolute accuracy is rarely achieved. When did man appear? How old is the earth? When did Abraham live? When did the Exodus happen? How did the conquest of Canaan happen, by an invasion from outside or as a result of an internal social upheaval? Was Moses the author of the Pentateuch? Neither biblical criticism nor archaeological excavations can provide convincing answers to these questions. Sometimes it seems that archeology and biblical studies contradict each other. The problem is partly a failure to adequately understand the biblical text, partly a misinterpretation of the evidence from archeology. Some sites may have been misidentified, others unprofessional excavated, or the excavation data may have been erroneously assessed. Archeology can often help us understand things better, but it rarely clears up difficult passages in the Bible. To demand too much from her is to misunderstand her essence.

Acts of God

The Bible is a collection of books written over the centuries from the standpoint of Judaic monotheism. The biblical writers never set out to write history in the modern sense; their purpose was to demonstrate the deeds of God in Jewish history. The main contribution of archeology to the study of the Bible is that through it we can clarify and visualize the history in the context of which biblical faith arose. The Bible was not written in a vacuum, and the events it describes did not take place in a vacuum either. The ancient Jews were influenced by the cultures of other peoples with whom they came into contact, and the Bible records these influences, both good and bad. Biblical archeology penetrates deep into the area of ​​ancient history that gave birth to the Bible.

What is the meaning of these stones?

What is the value of archaeological discoveries to the reader of the Bible? Archeology's main contribution is not to apologetics. Undoubtedly, the results of archaeological work have clarified some of the difficulties. For example, in the Greek city of Thessaloniki, an inscription was found on a stone containing the word politarch, the term Luke uses in Acts 17:6 in relation to the Roman authorities. This has been considered a mistake by Bible critics, since prior to this discovery there was no evidence of the term being used. On the other hand, all attempts to find Joshua's Jericho or Solomon's Jerusalem have so far been mostly disappointing.

Exciting discoveries

Nevertheless, many exciting discoveries have been made that perfectly illustrate the Bible: the clay prism of Sennacherib (Sennacherib) mentioning King Hezekiah of Judah; the black obelisk of Shalmanassar with the image of the Jewish king Jehu bowing to him; the Babylonian chronicle, giving grounds to date the destruction of Jerusalem to 587 BC; cylinder of Cyrus, showing that the Persian monarch encouraged subject peoples, among whom were Jews, to return to their native lands and rebuild their cities and temples.

An inscription on the stone floor of the theater courtyard at Corinth containing the name of Erast, the city treasurer, possibly the same one mentioned in Rom. 16:23; winter palace of Herod the Great in Jericho and his burial place in Herodium. However, the famous archaeologist, the late Roland de Vaux, cautioned: “Archaeology cannot 'prove' the Bible. The truth of the Bible of a religious nature ... This spiritual truth can neither be proved nor refuted, it cannot be confirmed or discredited by the material finds of archaeologists. However, the Bible is written, to a large extent, as a historical narrative ... it is archeology that confirms this “historical” truth of the Bible.

The value of archeology

The greatest value of archeology to the student of the Bible lies in its ability to place our biblical faith in its historical context and to demonstrate the cultural context in which biblical events took place. For those who love the Bible, there is nothing more wonderful than to stand on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem and inspect the results of archaeological excavations in the Holy City: here is part of the walls restored by Nehemiah; these are the steps that in the time of Jesus led up to the Temple; Excavations at Masada near the Dead Sea (Israel) here Hezekiah's Tunnel leading to the Pool of Siloam where Jesus opened the eyes of a blind man; these are the beautiful stones of the Temple, which the disciples pointed out to Jesus. And what a thrill to stroll through the chariot city of Solomon and Ahab at Megiddo; wander among the ruins of Caesarea Maritima, a majestic city on the Mediterranean, or among the pools built by the Essenes at Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. The aqueducts of Caesarea, the baths of Masada and Jericho, the synagogues of Galilee, the water tunnels of Megiddo, Hazor, Gezer and Jerusalem, the fortifications of Lachish, the altars of Bethlehem and Mount Ebal, the forums and temples of Samaria and Gerasa, the theaters of Amman and Ephesus - all this creates an indelible impression of civilization, once existed in these places. In our imagination, we can reconstruct these cities as they were in the days of Abraham, Solomon, Jesus, and Paul.

Historical context

The story of Jesus does not begin with "Once in a distant land..." but "When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of King Herod..." (Mt 2:1). How wonderful it is to cross the hills of Judea, walk the streets of Bethlehem, wander around Nazareth, take a boat ride on the Sea of ​​Galilee or stroll through Jerusalem's Old City. What a thrill to follow every move of the archaeologist's shovel, realizing that it was here, in these very places, in historical and geographical reality, that the most precious heritage in history was handed down to mankind. That is the value of biblical archeology - that it allows you to place faith in the reality of ancient history.

BIBLE
a book containing the sacred writings of the Jewish and Christian religions. The Hebrew Bible, a collection of Hebrew sacred texts, is also included in the Christian Bible, forming its first part - the Old Testament. Both Christians and Jews consider it to be a record of an agreement (covenant) concluded by God with man and revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai. Christians believe that Jesus Christ announced a new covenant, which is the fulfillment of the Covenant given in Revelation to Moses, but at the same time replaces it. Therefore, the books that tell about the activities of Jesus and his disciples are called the New Testament. The New Testament is the second part of the Christian Bible.
Bible text. Most of the Old Testament books are written in Hebrew (Biblical Hebrew), but there are also passages in Aramaic, which Jews spoke after the 4th century. BC. Traditionally, the authorship of the Old Testament books is attributed to several leaders who became famous in Jewish history, including Moses, Samuel, David, Solomon. However, it is now established that many of the books are later compilations of ancient traditions and documents. The Book of Genesis, for example, contains fragments written in the 10th century. BC. and dating back to the oral tradition of 800 years ago, but the entire book was probably written down in its modern form no earlier than the 5th century. BC. The New Testament books appeared during the first century after the death of Jesus. They are written in Greek, although it is possible that one or two books were originally written in Aramaic and later translated into Greek. The authors of the New Testament books are considered to be the apostles and disciples of Jesus.
Bible canon. The list of books that in a particular religion are considered divinely inspired and recognized as sacred is called the canon. The canons of the Old and New Testaments were established much later than the books that compiled them were written. The canon of the Jewish Scriptures was probably completed in the 2nd century BC. BC, during the Hasmonean era. The biblical books were divided into three groups: "Law" or "Pentateuch" (Torah), constituting the quintessence of dogma; "Prophets" (Neviim) - a collection of historical and prophetic books; "Scriptures" (Ketuvim), containing narrative material, poetic works, prayers and aphorisms of worldly wisdom. The rabbis who gathered in Jamnia at the end of the 1st c. AD, tried to resolve the issue of exclusion from the canon of some books approved before, but still left them in the Bible. The history of the Christian canon of the Old Testament developed differently. In 3-2 centuries. BC. Among the Jews of the Diaspora, who spoke Greek, a translation into Greek of Jewish religious books was carried out, which was assigned the name of the Septuagint. The books of the Septuagint are arranged in a slightly different order: the Pentateuch, the Historical Books, the Poetic and Edifying Books, and the Prophetic Books. In addition, it contains some books excluded from the rabbinic canon. When Christianity began to spread among the Greeks, they used the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible, the Septuagint. Currently, the Old Testament, used by the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches, is a collection of Old Testament books arranged in Septuagint order. The Protestant Old Testament contains only those books that are recognized as canonical in Judaism, but the order of the books of the Septuagint is preserved here. Books not included in the Jewish canon are either omitted or placed in an additional section as "Apocrypha". Just as with the Old Testament, the list of Christian writings considered canonical has changed over the centuries. The modern list, including 27 canonical New Testament books, recognized at one time by most of the main Christian sects, was formed by 367. It was officially recognized as final in 405.
Hebrew Bible. The modern Hebrew Bible basically follows the canon adopted in Jamnia. In Hebrew, it is called Kitwe Kodesh ("Holy Scriptures") or Tanakh (an abbreviation of Torah, Neviim, Ketuvim). The Hebrew text is still considered official and is used in worship. Its standard text is based on the edition of the Jewish scholar of the 10th century. Moshe ben Asher, who corrected numerous scribal errors accumulated over the centuries. A widely circulated edition contains, in addition to the Hebrew original, its translation into Aramaic, as well as a commentary by Rashi, the great scholar of the 11th century. The entire Bible is revered by the Jews as sacred, but the Torah is especially revered. Every synagogue has handwritten Torah scrolls. Thanks to the rule that no scroll of the Torah can be destroyed, many of its ancient manuscripts have been preserved, which otherwise might have been lost. In the first centuries of our era, a code of oral law (Mishnah) and a commentary on it (Gemara) were formed in Judaism. They expanded the system of biblical commandments, turning it into a set of prescriptions covering all aspects of Jewish life. Mishnah and Gemara in the 6th c. were compiled into one book called the Talmud. The Talmud is a highly revered book in Judaism, the formal and ritual side of which is determined by Holy Scripture in the Talmudic interpretation. The Jewish tradition of biblical exegesis is exceptionally rich. Rabbinic texts use a sophisticated system of interpretive techniques ("middot") to explain and apply biblical texts to life. Interpretation ("derash") was carried out at various levels, and the literal meaning of the text ("peshat") retained significance on its own level. Philo of Alexandria (c. 20 BC - 40 AD) used an allegorical way of interpreting the Bible, thus influencing later Christian exegesis even more than Jewish. Medieval Jewish commentators on the Bible (Rashi, ibn Ezra, Kimchi, Nachmanides, etc.) were mainly engaged in identifying the literal meaning, relying on new philological methods, but along with this, the philosophical and mystical schools of interpretation flourished.

Catholic Bible. The Roman Catholic Church traditionally uses the Latin translation of the Bible. The early church in Rome used several Latin translations from the Septuagint and the Greek New Testament. In 382, ​​Pope Damasus commissioned Jerome, a prominent philologist and scholar, to make a new translation of the Bible. Jerome revised existing Latin versions based on the Greek original and edited the Old Testament based on Hebrew manuscripts. The translation was completed ca. 404. Subsequently, he supplanted other Latin translations, and he began to be called "generally accepted" (Vulgata versio). The first printed book (the famous Gutenberg Bible, 1456) was an edition of the Vulgate. The Catholic Bible contains 73 books: 46 books of the Old Testament and 27 books of the New Testament. Since the Old Testament here derives from the Septuagint and not from the Hebrew Bible approved by the Sanhedrin of Jamnia, there are seven books not included in the Jewish canon, as well as additions to the Books of Esther and Daniel. In addition, the Septuagint follows the order of the books in the Catholic Bible. The main canonical edition of the Vulgate was published in 1592 by order of Pope Clement VIII and was called the Clement edition (editio Clementina). It repeats the text of Jerome (404), with the exception of the Psalter, which is presented in Jerome's revision before it was revised to take into account the Hebrew originals. In 1979, the church approved a new edition of the Vulgate (Vulgata Nova), which takes into account the latest achievements of biblical studies. The first translations of the Catholic Bible into English were made directly from the Vulgate. The most famous and widely used translation was the Douay-Rheims Version, 1582-1610. However, in 1943, Pope Pius XII issued a strict order to biblical scholars in their translation activities to rely henceforth only on ancient Aramaic and Hebrew manuscripts. This resulted in new translations of the Bible. The position of the Roman Catholic Church regarding the authority of the Bible was formulated at the Council of Trent (1545-1563). In contrast to the Protestant reformers, who saw in the Bible the only foundation of their faith, the fourth session of the council (1546) decreed that Tradition - the part of Revelation not written in Holy Scripture, but transmitted in the teaching of the church - has equal authority with the Bible. Catholics were not allowed to read the Bible in translations that were not approved by the church and without comments consistent with church Tradition. For some time reading Bible translations required the permission of the pope or the Inquisition. At the end of the 18th century this restriction was lifted, and since 1900 the reading of the Bible by the laity was even officially encouraged by church authorities. At the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), the relationship between Scripture and Tradition was discussed: should they be considered as independent "sources of Revelation" (a more conservative point of view) or as sources that complement each other, "like two electric arcs in one searchlight."

Collier Encyclopedia. - Open Society. 2000 .