BHU 2103: INTRODUCTION TO THE BIBLE

The Bible is the sacred scriptures of Judaism and Christianity. It is also known as the scripture.The word
Bible is derived from the Greek word Biblia, Originally meaning the books (biblios).This was used by the
Hellenistic Jews, that is, Jews of Greek origin to denote their sacred writings. Later, the church used the
term to include those early Christian writings she recognized as inspired, hence canonical. Today many
Christians refer to it as the Bible, the holy Book, the scripture, the Word of God or just the Word. The
Bible is the inspired word of God.(2Timothy 3:16-17).

It worth noting that the, Bible is not to be used as just a great work of literature. It is not like a novel or a
charm to keep away evil, or even used at random to expel evil or telling the future

The Bible is not a single book but a collection of many books with diverse composition of poetry, law
narrative and prophecy. It is written by different writers at different times in history with diverse socio-
political background. It shows the history and experience of the peoples of Israel from 2000BC to date. It
is in fact the insistence on history that distinguishes the Bible from sacred writings of other great
religions.

Taxonomy of the Bible

The present Bible has two main parts, the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament has
39 books while the New has 27 books. The Christian Bible consists of the Old Testament and the New
Testament, with the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox versions of the Old Testament being slightly
larger because of their acceptance of certain books and parts of books considered apocryphal by
Protestants. The Jewish Bible includes only the books known to Christians as the Old Testament. The
arrangements of the Jewish and Christian canons differ considerably. The Protestant and Roman Catholic
arrangements more nearly match one another.

Traditionally, the Jews have divided their scriptures into three parts: the Torah (the “Law,” or the
Pentateuch), the Neviʾim (“Prophets”), and the Ketuvim (“Writings,” or Hagiographa). The Pentateuch,
together with the Book of Joshua (hence the name Hexateuch), can be seen as the account of how Israel
became a nation and of how it possessed the Promised Land. The division designated as the “Prophets”
continues the story of Israel in the Promised Land, describing the establishment and development of the
monarchy and presenting the messages of the prophets to the people. The “Writings” include speculation
on the place of evil and death in the scheme of things (Job and Ecclesiastes), the poetical works, and some
additional historical books.

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In the Apocrypha of the Old Testament, various types of literature are represented; the purpose of the
Apocrypha seems to have been to fill in some of the gaps left by the indisputably canonical books and to
carry the history of Israel to the 2nd century BCE.

The Apocrypha books are as follows;

 1 and 2 Esdras
 Tobit
 Judith
 The Rest of Esther
 The Wisdom of Solomon
 Ecclesiasticus
 Baruch including the Epistle of (Jeremiah)
 1 and 2 Maccabees
 The Song of the Three Holy Children
 Sussanna
 Bel and the Dragon
 The prayer of Manasseh

Jerome who translated the Old Testament into Latin (Vulgate) regarded them as mere “books of the
church”. He did not regard them as “Books of the Canon”

The New Testament

This is by far the shorter portion of the Christian Bible, but, through its associations with the spread of
Christianity, it has wielded an influence far out of proportion to its modest size.

Like the Old Testament, the New Testament is a collection of books, including a variety of early Christian
literature. The four Gospels deal with the life, the person, and the teachings of Jesus, as he was
remembered by the Christian community. The book of Acts carries the story of Christianity from the
Resurrection of Jesus to the end of the career of Paul. The Letters, or Epistles, are correspondence by
various leaders of the early Christian church, chief among them the Apostle Paul, applying the message of
the church to the sundry needs and problems of early Christian congregations. The Book of Revelation

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(the Apocalypse) is the only canonical representative of a large genre of apocalyptic literature that
appeared in the early Christian movement.

Literary forms used in the Bible

1. Religious epics e.g Exodus
2. Wise sayings e.g Proverbs
3. Letter /epistles e.g Corinthians
4. Prose/Narratives e.g Exodus
5. Gospels e.g Luke,Matthew
6. Philosophical essay or writings e.g Job
7. Prayers e.g Nehemiah
8. Legislative text e.g Leviticus
9. Prophetic speeches. e.g Jeremiah
10. Love songs e.g Songs of Solomon
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Importance of the Bible to the Jews

The Jews whose religion is Judaism consider the Old Testament as their Bible. Thus

1. It is regarded as the sacred scripture. They consider it as the authority book in matters of faith,
worship and conduct and found them a primary source of inspiration and comfort for their daily lives.

2. The Old Testament gives Jews their historical account and keeps memory of feasts in the Bible and
transmits them to the younger generation in order to consolidate their history.

3. Jews also believe that the salvation promised by God through patriarchs like Abraham, Isaac, Moses
and prophets has not been fulfilled yet.

4. Just like Christians, Jews believe that the Bible is a deposit of divine revelation.

5. Believe it is a word of God that guides them in their day to day lives

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Significance of the Bible to Christians

1. The Bible records the acts of God through and by which salvation came in Jesus Christ

2. The entire Bible is regarded as the word of God and sort in matters of faith and conduct. It is
considered to have the final standard of Christian truth written in it.

3. It is very important to understanding of Islam and Judaism and Christianity

4. Moreover, the reli9gioius background of most of the 20th and 21st century lies directly or indirectly
either in Christianity or Judaism. It is important to us if we have to understand and appreciate our own
religious heritage

5. The Bible is important because if its cultural influence for it contains some of the world’s greatest
literature, and constitutes an important part of the western literary tradition. Indeed many of our legal and
social traditions are heavily dependent on the Biblical ideas and practices.

6. The bible is an important collection of source material for historians that gives us knowledge of the
ancient near East

Important Tools for the Study of the Bible

i. Various versions of the bible. Eg. Septuaginta, Latin Vulgata

ii. Bible dictionaries eg Catholic dictionary

iii. Access to encyclopedia eg. Britanica, Americana

iv. Knowledge of biblical Hermeneutics

v. Knowledge of the Near East languages eg. Latin, Hebrew,Aramaic

vi. Biblical atlases

vii. Biblical archaeology

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Difficulties Encountered In the Study of the Bible

The sheer bulk and diversity of Biblical materials. The Bible reflects the faith and life of two distinct
communities; the ancient and primitive Christianity. The Bible is divided into two main collections that
were written over a long span of time of more than one thousand years in three different languages
(Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.

The geographical and historical remoteness of the Biblical world compounded by harsh environmental
conditions makes it difficult to study the Bible. Many Biblical writings place so much emphasis on
persons, places and events. And, the time span encompassed by the Biblical materials is separated from
the present by 2-3millinea.

The Bible is in many respects quite foreign to the contemporary people. The Biblical view of the origin
and structure of the universe, for example differs radically from the modern scientific views and many
Biblical presupposition and concepts are unfamiliar and even inaccessible to modern minds.

Many people have pre-conceived ideas about the Bible making a realistic and objective study exceedingly
difficult

Biblical translation – most people do not understand the language of the original scripture.

Unity of the Bible

Christians believe that there is a single divine author with a single unifying theme.

The Bible comprises of books written by different authors but all are believed to have done to under
God’s inspiration.

The Bible addresses issues concerning humanity.

Though authors lived in different times and addressed issues it is relevant to us today.

Both testaments are concerned with the same God.

The God of Jesus is the same God of Abraham, Isaac, and Moses.

Both Testaments are concerned with the same people.

Events of the OT are the same found in the NT – eg. Old Israel, New Israel.

Books of the Bible

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The Bible is divided into two

1. Old Testament comprising of 29 books and

2. New Testament comprising of 39 books

The Roman Catholic faithful, Eastern Orthodox, Catholic and some Protestants includes in the Old
Testament an addition books. They are referred to as Deuterocanonical books implying that their
materials were accepted as being authoritative later than the others books. They including

Tobit, Judith, Esther, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach/ The wisdom of Jesus son of Sirach/ also called
Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, Letter of Jeremiah, Manasseh, Susana, Bel and the Dragon, 1Maccabees,
2Maccabees, 1Esdras, 2Esdras

Most Protestants relegate these books to the Apocrypha; a term which refers to the books that are not part
of the Hebrew Bible and whose authority is rejected by many Christians. The deuterocanonical books are
generally collection of sacred writings dating after the canonical books about 200 B.C to 100A.D.

In the Roman Catholic Church circle, the council of Trent of 1546 officially declared these books to be
sacred and canonical, to be accepted with equal devotion and reverence with the other 39 Old Testament
canons. This decision was ratified by the Vatican Council of 1870. There are other books called
Pseudepigrapha. They were also written at similar time with the apocrypha and so were considered as
apocrypha. However, they are considered to be of suspicious authorship and so they are rarely referred.
Examples of pseudepigrapha books include;

The Secrets of Enoch (quoted in Jude 14-16)

The Apocrypha of Baruch

The Assumption of Moses

The Ascension of Isaiah

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THE CANONICITY

How and why were particular books selected to form Bible or the canon of the scripture?

Meaning of Canon.

The word canon is derived from the Greek word kanon which means rule, standard or measuring rod.
Following its multiple function, as a plant for measuring and ruling, the word developed to acquire
several other meaning, for instance; a ruler, the line read, the column bounded by the line and the list
written within the column.

Since the 4th, Century the term canon has been used by Christians to refer to a collection of authoritative
books of the Old and New Testament. Thus the Bible contains the rule of Faith which is normative for
life. It is the list of books that the church considers to be inspired and contain a rule of faith and morals.
The process through which the books were determined to be normative is referred to as canonization. The
books of the Bible were not canonized at the same time because some achieved canonicity status earlier
than others. Those which achieved earlier were known as Protocanonical while those which took some
time and debate about their canonicity are referred to as deuterocanonical. They are also referred to as
apocrypha implying secrets or hidden and were read or discussed by initiates.

In ecclesia/ church circle, the word refers to some authoritative decision of the church council. In
Biblical context, the word could imply first, an authoritative list of books used by the church in the
liturgy, public worship; Secondly, it is some rule or standard hence a list of books recognized by the
church as inspired scripture and as normative for faith and practice.

REASON FOR CANONICITY

The Christian church inherited from Judaism a corpus/amount of scripture which was not well defined
collection. In fact, their number was not determined exactly. Different Christian communities had various
collections. For example,

The earliest Christian community followed the longer Alexandrian canon –the Septuagint. After the work
of Origen, the Greek speaking church tended to follow the shorter Hebrew canon, the Jerome who
translated the Bible into Latin tended to recommend its tenancy

In Latin speaking churches, the authority of Augustine drew the church to the longer canon. This
continued to be the practice in the western church until the Protestant Reformation. With the reformation,

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Protestants groups accepted the Hebrew canon. The process of canonicity begun in the Jews community
which could be conserved preserved and observed.

This was important because there were many traditions which were springing up hence the danger of
these tradition obscuring or submerging Gods revelation. There was need to preserving the revelation so
that it did get changed or corrupt. Hence both the Jewish and Christian communities recognize the
importance of keeping pure Gods revelation.

In the Jewish community prophecy had stood for the voice of the people. However, between 5 th and 1ST.
century the voice of prophecy was silent. Instead there was a rise of apocalyptic writing. Hence the
Jewish religious leaders feared that these writings could infiltrate into peoples minds and Make them
forget the past events which create their religion and history. So in order to combat the rise of these
writings, sopherim or Jewish religious scholars put forward a theory of inspiration. They regarded the
inspiration theory to belong to the prophetic office which began with Moses and ended around the time of
Alexander the Great.

The Critera

 Thus, all books which were supposed to have been written before Moses or those written after the
period of the prophets were excluded from the inspired books. So, the canonized books were
supposed to have been written during the time of prophecy when prophecy was still alive.

The rise of Christianity was another reason why the Jewish decided to fix their canon. Christian literature
was considered as being dangerous to Jew because of the fascination that it crated. Therefore in deciding
canonicity Christian writings were definitely excluded as were those which were in Greek canon and
which Christians considered inspired deuterocanonical.

Indeed, from the second century BCE, only those books known today as Hebrew canon were accepted by
the Jews community as being canonical. The Christian church continued to accept the longer Alexandrian
versions as being authoritative until the time of the reformation.

THE OLD TESTAMENT CANON

The Old Testament is also referred to as the Hebrew canon. It contains 39 books. It is the Hebrew Bible
which in the Christians usage is termed as the Old Testament.

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The Hebrew Canon

The Hebrew Bible is often known among Jews as TaNaKh, an acronym derived from the names of its
three divisions: Torah (Instruction, or Law, also called the Pentateuch), Neviʾim (Prophets), and Ketuvim
(Writings).

The Torah contains five books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The Neviʾim
comprise eight books subdivided into the Former Prophets, containing the four historical works, Joshua,
Judges, Samuel, and Kings, and the Latter Prophets, the oracular discourses of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel,
and the Twelve (Minor—i.e., smaller) Prophets—Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum,
Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. The Twelve were all formerly written on a single
scroll and thus reckoned as one book. The Ketuvim consist of religious poetry and wisdom literature—
Psalms, Proverbs, and Job, a collection known as the “Five Megillot” (“scrolls”; i.e., Song of Songs,
Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther, which have been grouped together according to the annual
cycle of their public reading in the synagogue)—and the books of Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah, and
Chronicles.

The Number of Books

The number of books in the Hebrew canon is thus 24, referring to the sum of the separate scrolls on which
these works were traditionally written in ancient times. This figure is first cited in II Esdras in a passage
usually dated c. 100 CE and is frequently mentioned in rabbinic (postbiblical) literature, but no authentic
tradition exists to explain it. Josephus, a 1st century CE Jewish historian, and some of the Church Fathers,
such as Origen (the great 3rd-century Alexandrian theologian), appear to have had a 22-book canon.

English Bibles list 39 books for the Old Testament because of the practice of bisecting Samuel, Kings,
and Chronicles, and of counting Ezra, Nehemiah, and the 12 Minor Prophets as separate books.

It is divided into three parts namely:

1. The Law/ Pentateuch

2. 2. The Prophets
3. Kethubim/writings also called Haggiographa
NB. These parts are not, however periods of canonization but rather based on the types.

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1.The Pentateuch is put together at the beginning of the Old Testament Bible due to the Mposaic
authorship.

2. The prophets are believed to have been written by the prophets in office. Hence, for instance Daniel
though with gifts of a prophet was excluded in the second category and put in the third.

3. Kethubim is farther sub-divided according to the content/purpose in usage.

a. Poetic books: psalms, proverbs, and Job due to literary character.

b. Megolith, Songs of Solomon, Lamentation, Ecclesiastes and Esther respectively read at the

Jewish feasts of Pentecost, feast on the 9th of Ab, feast of Tabernacle and feast of Purim.

c. Non-Prophetic historical books; Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah Chronicles. These are authors who were not
prophets in office.

The three fold make the Old Testament canon. David Kimchi(1160-1232) and Elias Levita(1465-1549)
both Jews scholars hold that the Old Testament was completed by Ezra and members of the Great
Synagogue in the 5th century before Christ. Josephas, a renowned Jewish historian writing close to the end
of the 1st century A.D agrees that the Old Testament canon was completed in the reign of Artarxerxes.
This time corresponds with Ezra’s life time. Ezra is represented in the Bible as the scribes, skilled in the
Law of Moses (Ezra 7:6-11, Nehemiah 8:1, 12:36).

THE BOOKS OF THE HEBREW CANON (Old Testament)

1. The Law also called Pentateuch.

Probably completed by 4oo B.C and occupied first place among the Jewish writings.

1.Genesis

2.Exodus
3.Leviticus
4.Numbers
5..Deuteronomy

2.The Prophets

A The earlier prophets

6. Joshua

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 7. Judges
8. Samuel
9. Kings(1and2)

b. Later Prophets
10. Isaiah
11. Jeremiah
12. Ezekiel
13. The twelve prophets in the order; Hosea, Joel, Amos,jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk,
Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi

3. The writings also called Haggiagrapha

This is the miscellaneous collections that are post exilic

14. Psalms

15. Job.

16. Proverbs

17. Ruth

18. The Songs of Songs

19. Ecclesiastes-Cohereth

20. Lamentation

21. Esther

22. Daniel

23. Ezra-Nehemiah

24. Chronicles

THE GREEK CANON

The Greek Old Testament or Septuagint seventy was the first translation of the scripture of Israel into
another language other than Hebrews. This was necessitated by the fact the Jews in diaspora could no

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longer read their original language (Hebrew).The translation was done with variations, omissions, and
additions particularly in Esther and Daniel.

THE BOOKS OF THE GREEK BIBLE

1.Law and History

1. Genesis

2. Exodus

3. Leviticus

4. Numbers

5. Deuteronomy

6. Joshua

7. Judges

8. Ruth

The four books of kingdom 1and 2 Samuel;1and2Kings

The Paralipomena:1and2 Chronicles

1.Esdras*

2. Esdras chapter 1-10(Ezra)

2. Esdras chapter (11-23)( Nehemiah)

2. Esdras*

3. Esdras*

4. Esdras*

Greekl Esther

Judith

Tobit

1and 2 Maccabees

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 3and4 Maccabees*

NB.* is Apocrypha

Poetic and Prophetic Books

Psalms

Odes*

The Proverbs of Solomon

Ecclesiastes

Songs of Songs

Job

Books of wisdom (wisdom of Solomon0

Ecclesiasticus(wisdom of Sirach)

Psalms of Solomon*

The twelve minor prophets in the order; Hosea, Amos, Micah, Joel, Obadiah, Jonah,

Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zachariah, Milachi

Isaiah

Jeremiah

Baruch chap.1-5

Lamentation

Baruch chapt.6 (Letter to Jeremiah)

Daniel chapt1-12(3:24-90 is peculiar to Greeks)

Daniel chapt13. The story of Susan

Daniel chapt 14(Bel and the Dragon).

The formation of The Old Testament canon took a period of over 1000 year.

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THE CANON OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

Objective: At the end of the unit the learner should be able to;

Discuss factors which led to the need to consolidate traditional in the written form

Identify the criteria that was used in establishing the canonicity of a book

The New Testament was initially preserved in oral sources. With time it became necessary to commit
Christian teachings and Christian tradition into writing.

Factors Underlying Need To Consolidate Christian Tradition in Written Form

1. The practice of reading in the church apostolic epistle.

2. To be in conformity with the Old Testament which was read as a scripture.
3. Unique significance of the original witness of the events regarding the Christian faith and
practices
4. The danger that the oral tradition (in which most of the materials was preserved and transmitted
or passed over) might be forgotten or facts tampered with or distorted.
5. Rapid expansion of Christianity into the gentle Roman Hellenistic world thus the oral tradition
which was heavily Jewish Palestinian would be difficult to maintain.
6. Emergency of Hellenistic sects, some of them with their own ‘sacred books’ hence the
need for the church to establish scope of canonicity to guide believers
7. Persecution of Christians. Christianity was reduced to catacomb – (secrets way of
communication). St. Mark wrote to tell Christians about experience of Jesus in the desert which
gave them courage to face Nero’s persecution.

What Criteria Did They Use To Qualify a Book as Canonical?

1. Authorship especially with the explicit apostolicity. There was need to ascertain that the author
was an apostle of Jesus Christ or closely associated to an apostle as to elevate him/his book to the
level of apostolicity .
2. However, there was a challenge of widespread pseudenymity/false authors. Numerous books were
rejected though they bore the names eg Peter, James, Paul etc.
3. Suitability for public reading.
4. Authority in opinion of a renowned / respected personality in the church circles especially church
fathers or patriarchs such as Irenaeus, Clement, Ignatius of Antioch, Eusebius, Athanasius.

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 5. Theological content: Christ honouring doctrinal content, in line with the known teaching of other
apostles. They needed to have spiritual content or character to warrant them canonical rank. A
book’s conformity within the faith of the church as important.
6. Universality, which is acceptability of the book throughout the Christian community. It needed to
demonstrate continuous acceptability or acknowledgement and spirituality besides being of
fruitful size within the church from the apostolic age onwards.
7. Evidence of having been inspired of the Holy Spirit.

MAIN STAGES TOWARDS THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON

1. The Old Testament was primarily the earliest Christian Bible

2. Jesus Christ, the risen Lord rather than the aforementioned Old Testament Jewish scripture
gradually took centre stage in the theological content of the early Christian community. The
church’s gathering, preaching, teachings and other activities with time became more Christ
centered; departing in the way from Judaism.Jesus’ word became the word of god elevated to
divine ordination. His preaching were treasured, taught, recited in apostolic preaching and
teaching, fellowships prayers and Eucharist.
3. In the 1st. and 2nd. Century B.C, the four gospels had been put together and accepted in the church
canonical. Secondly, the 13 letters of Paul and acts of Apostles had received the same
recognition.
4. By the end of 2nd.century, all except 7 books of Hebrew, 2 John, 3JOHN, 2Peter, James Jude and
Revelation had passed the test of canonicity.
5. By the end 4th, century A.D, all the present 27 books of the New Testament had been declared as
canonical, especially the church in the West. The East still had some problems or reservations.
6. By 500 A.D, the Greek, Eastern Church had virtually accepted all the 27 New Testament books.

BIBLICAL DOCTRINE OF INSPIRATION

The word inspiration comes from the Latin word “inspirare” which means to breathe upon, in or into. It
is the chief mode, the process of verbal communication, the method by which God’s revelation has been
recorded in the bible. The word later came to imply that God is the source of sacred books. And the
adjective of the word is used to refer to the inspired books Theopncustos which is evident in 2 Timothy 3;
14and states that the:”All scripture is inspired of God “. This implies that all scripture is God breathed and
therefore useful in teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. However, this was not

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done through automatic writing. Inspiration means the active participation of both divine and human
agencies.

1.Inspiration may be viewed in three folds. First, there is Superintendence. In this case, the Holy Spirit
guided the chosen authors not to make mistakes.

2. Second, there is elevation. In this case, enlargement of understanding and refinement of thought were
given to the human minds to whom the revelation was made.

3. Thirdly, is suggestion under which a direct communication of thoughts and even words is believed to
have been received from the divine spirit. Inspiration is strictly confined to the authors of the scripture,
not any other writing , not even the versions or interpretations.

Main Ideas about Biblical Inspiration

1. Inspiration is inexplicable. It is the operation of the Holy Spirit. We cannot fully describe exactly
how it has worked.
2. Inspiration, in this strict sense is confined to the authors of the scripture.
3. Inspiration is essentially guidance, that is, the Holy Spirit supervised the selection of the materials
to be used and the words to be employed in writing.
4. The Holy Spirit preserved the authors from all errors and omissions / error free.
5. Inspiration extends to the words and not merely to the thought and concepts. All parts and words
of the scripture is inspired.
6. Inspiration is affirmed only of the original autographs of the scripture, not of any other versions
whether ancient or modern nor any Hebrew or Greek manuscripts in existence, nor of any critical
text known.

Some key words

1. Authority: The binding effect of the Biblical has on all based on its divine sources God.
2. Illumination:Divine enablement provided to readers to grasp the scriptures.
3. Inerrancy: the scripture in its original version has no errors. The original autograph is free from
all errors
4. Inspiration: the method by which God’s revelation has been recorded in the Bible by human
authors.
5. Revelation: All ways God may has made or may make himself known to human beings derived
from Latin word meaning ‘uncovering’

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HERMENEUTICS
The word hermeneutics is derived from the Greek word hermeneutic which means to interpret. It also
refers to the discipline which is covered with interpretation of human expression. The word in Greek
is related to the Greek god who was a messenger of God. He was the mediator between man and God
of horizon.

BIBLICAL HERMENEUTICS
Biblical hermeneutics is the study of the general principles of the biblical interpretation for both Jews
and Christians.
IMPORTANCE OF HERMENEUTICS IN BIBKICAL STUDIES
1.There is need to discover the truth and value of Bible literature
2. There are views held by various schools of thought
a. Interpretation of the Bible must always be literal because the word of God is always
explicit and complete.
b. Biblical words must have a deeper meaning
c. Others argue that some parts of the Bible must be taken literally while others should be taken
figuratively.

Hermeneutics- is the science of interpretation of literary text but more so applied in the study of the
Bible. According to Porter and Stovell (2012), the issue of interpreting the Bible has long history and
complexity even if the term hermeneutics which is which used in conjunction with biblical
interpretations of more recent vintage.
It is believed that the Bible was formed from some earlier sources which with time could not be
traced. In order to develop an appeal which recognizes and attempts to deal with both difficulties
inherent in biblical study and the nature of the materials? Various approaches have been used by both
Jews and Christian scholars as well as those whose interest has been originally historical or literary
rather than religious.

Until the modern times, it was believed that whatever may have written the actual words, the real
author of the Bible was the Spirit of God who had spoken through various authors. The Bible was
thus infallible and literally regarded as a word of God. But, beginning with the Renaissance and
especially with the period of enlightenment, men begun to question many things. This included the
idea of divinely dictated sacred book. And many scholars paid attention to two significant facts about
the bible.

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 a. They pointed out that there are differing and often conflicting perspective and view point
which the Bible itself and that these differences extends, not only to literary and historical
matters but also to point of theology.
b. As knowledge of ancient history in general and of other ancient Near East cultures in
particular increased , striking parallels and similarities were noted between Biblical
materials and other writings from antiquity. This led to the Biblical criticism of the 18 th.
Century. The main aim is to understand the Biblical writings within the context of the
original community that preserved and used them within the broader social cultural and
religious context of the Near Eastern life and history.
c. The term criticism does not fault finding or disapproving judgments but rather imply
careful systematic, open minded examination of the document in an attempt to learn all
that can be learned about and from them. Critical scholars noted that ancient literatures
development from oral account or from combination of number of sources that have been
combined to from the Bible. For, example some account in Tora differ e.g the creation
story.

Achtemeir (1983), observes that Gen. 17:25 attest that Ishmael was 13year when Isaac was
born but Gen.21:14-15 assumes that Ishmael was a babe in Haggar’s(mother) arms when she
was drive into the wilderness. This occurrence could be a clear indicator that this narrative
has been recast from traditions that independently existed of one another.

This stands to show that discrepancies in the text possibly due to of various combination of
source which had further theological development.

It shows that our Bible is composed of varieties of traditions which have received differing
formulations and interpretations.

Steps to Biblical Criticism

1.Lower or textual criticism

The main aim of this form of criticism is to recover the actual words written by various scholars

This is necessary because the original copies of the biblical books have all been lost. There is also
appeared many variations in the text.

Text criticism attempt to determine what the author originally wrote. This is a difficult criticism to
students especially where the student can not read Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Syrian Coptic or Latin.

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2. Higher/Historical or Literary criticism

This form deals with the original and historical Biblical materials /.Some questions raised here in this
approach includes:

Who wrote a given document, when, where and in what language, why and for whom did the writer write.
Did the original author write the book as we have it today or were there some additions, deletions,
alterations made later? This kind of criticism led to the development of form criticism.

3. Form Criticism

This approach seeks to trace the history and development of Biblical traditions before they were reduced
to writing. Form criticism analysis is usually based on source-critical analysis, thus this evolutionally
model begins with the existence and relationship of source part of their evolution.

MAJOR TRANSLATIONS AND VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE

Objectives: By the end of the lesson the learner should be able to:

i. Define the term Bible translation,

ii. Define what a version of the Bible is,

iii. Identify the difference between an ancient and modern version in translation,

iv. Cite some of the key components in translation exercise.

Bible Version
A version of the Bible is a translation into some language other than the original Hebrew and Greek in
which the Bible was first rendered. Since the Bible is meant for humanity at all times, it is the most
translated literary volume in human possession either in whole or in parts into more than 1000 languages.
In some of the languages, it is further translated into many versions or it exists in different translations.
Being essentially a human exercise, translations even at its best has its shortfalls.

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The integrity of the any version or translation depends on a number of facts:

1. Integrity of the original version from which the translation was made. If the original was faulty,
the translation is prone to faulty as well.
2. Complete fluency or intimate knowledge of the language involved by the translators, that is, the
language of original and the language into which the text is being translated into.
3. Competence of the translator themselves. This involves their conversance with and authority in
other related areas, eg, archaeology and history, linguistics, literary studies folklore, biblical
studies, anthropological studies and translation studies as a profession.
4. Understanding of the scripture possessed by the translator. Every translation involves some
degree of interpretation hence a translator brings in his or her own biases of interpretation based
on his/her scholarly and denominational formation, orientation or inclination. Translations require
a diverse team or group of experts in translation so as to minimize the danger of purely personal
and private interpretation.

Ancient Translation and Version of the Bible

An ancient version of the Bible is one that came prior to the discovery of printing while a modern version
is one which came after the discovery of printing. There are versions and translations of the Bible. Bible
versions are generally categorized under ancient or modern version depending on whether it came prior or
after the discovery of printing.

Objectives:

By the end of the lesson the learner should be able to:

i. Name the major ancient translation and version of the Bible

ii .Provide information on the people behind the translation exercise of the said version/ translation.

The following questions are worth asking so as to understand the content. Eg. What were ancient versions
and translations of the Bible? In what language were they rendered who were involved/ how did they do
it? What challenges did they confront in understanding the exercise/

1.The Septuagint

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This was the first known translation ever made of any portion of scripture. It was the rendering of the
entire Bible into Greek. It is usually abbreviated LXX, the Latin figure for 70, and the supposed number
of the translators involved in the exercise. It is also called the Alexandrian Version, from Alexandria in
Egypt, the place of its completion or Greek Version from Greek, the language into which it was
translated.

Reasons that facilitated translation of the Hebrew canon into Greek

The Jews who were living in Egypt and elsewhere throughout Near East in the centuries immediately
before Christian era were no longer able to read or properly understand Hebrew. Greek had become the
lingua franca and culture of the Mediterranean world.

The translation work was done in the second and third century BC by a number of translators. Judging by
their command of Hebrew, some of them were probably Palestinian Jews. The translators were of varying
abilities. They seem to differ in their underlying objectives in the marking of the translations. Therefore,
the difference portions differ in value. The Torah which includes the Pentateuch is conceded to be the
most excellent and was probably the work of scholars from Palestine.
Why did the Septuagint become of great significant to the Jews?
Septuagint became the generally used scripture of the Jews of Jesus’ time, freely quoted by Jesus and his
disciples. It was the Bible of the early Christian church. As the New Testament was written, its books
were added were added to the Septuagint Old Testament (2Peter3:15-16).
Except in the Jerusalem scroll of Isaiah, existing copies of Septuagint are more than 700 years older than
the Hebrew manuscript of the Old Testament.( The oldest and most prizedBible manuscript in existence ,
the Vatican codex, the Codex Alexandrinus, the Codex Sinaiticus and the Ephraim Rescript, all contain
the Septuagint Version of the Old Testament portion)
2.The Aramaic Targums
The tem Targum is derived from an Aramaic word meaning ‘to translate’ or ‘to interpret’. Tagum are a
collection of different writing. Aramaic gradually replaced Hebrew as the popular language. Targums
were first oral paraphrases of the Hebrew scripture, given in the synagogues and finally committed to
writing. Given their character, the Targum lacks the value of an exact translation. They contain many
additions, interpretation and free paraphrases. However, they clarify points of difficult in the original text
used by scribes with whom the Targums originated. Closely related to the Targums are the Talmuds and
the Midrash.
The Talmud
This is a collection of scholars’ explanations‘ opinion and interpretationgatheed through the 800 years
friom the third century BC to 500 AD.They constitute the “tradition”/ teachings of which Jesus spoke
(Matthew 15:3).
The Midrash
This is made up of commentaries on the written law. They probably originated in the teachings of the
scribes in the synagogue in the period just before and after the life of Christ.

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3 .The Peshitta
The Syrian Peshitta, was the work of Syrian chriustians in the eary part of the 5 th century of the Christian
era. Pesshitta means “simple’ or “literal”. It has the testimony or reputation of vunerabilityu in enabling
scholars to determine the original Hebrew text from which the translation was made.
4. The Latin Vulgate
Jerome is credited with the famous translation, the Latin Vulgata. By the end of the end the 4 th.century,
when Jerome lived and worked, Greek was unfamiliar to the majority of the Christian population as
Hebrew and been to the Jews of Jesus’ time. Need, therefore, arose for translating the Old Testament
Hebrew and the New Testament Greek into Latin of the common people.
Jerome carried out his work in a monastery near Jerusalem between AD (385-405(020 years).Criticism
and oppositions were leveled against his work until his death in 420 AD. But once accepted later, it
remained the Bible of the Roman church and Western world for close to 1000 years.
It was divided into chapters during the medieval period and became the first book to be printed in
memorable type (reputed) by Johann Gutenberg In1456. The first English version was translated of the
Vulgate rather than of the original Hebrew and Greek. It became the basis for earlier Italian, Spanish and
French version. It still is the official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church. Most modern catholic versions
are based on it.
Activity. Discuss what facilitated the writing of the Jerome’s Vulgate version.
MODERN TRANSLATION AND VERSION OF THE BIBLE
Objectives:
By the end of the lesson the learner should be able to:
i. Name the major modern translation and version of the Bible up to 1611
ii. Provide information on the people behind the translation exercise of the said
version/translation and how they did it.
1. Wycliffe’s Version
Though it was completed earlier than the perfection of the art of printing, it is rated as modern due to
its profound impact on later English versions. It was the result of the work of John Wycliffe (1320-
1384), an English scholar educated at Oxford and popularly called “Morning Star of the
Reformation.” Wycliffe was an activist against papal supremacy in European politics. He is chiefly
remembered for translating the Bible from Jerome’s Latin Vulgate into English of his time. Wycliffe
was convinced that corruption ad false teaching s in the existing church the considerably emanated
from the fact that only the learned elite had access to reading the word of God. Availing the Bible ton
the ordinary people could, therefore, counter corrupt the clergy. He was helped by other scholars of
equal competence. His organization of a religious order of evangelistic preacher, the Lollards helped
with the spread of the new version of the scriptures. He completed the work in 1382.
2. Tyndale’s Version

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William Tyndale (1482-1536) lived about 100 years after the death of John Wycliffe. Educated at both
Oxford and Cambridge, he came into direct and physical conflict with Catholicism. He desired to
translate the scripture into English directly from Hebrew and Greek, unlike Wycliffe who translated from
the Latin Vulgate. He began his work in London but due to persecution, he fled ton Europe continent. He
was with Martin Luther for a while at Wittenberg but finally settled at Worms the place from where he
completed the translation and printing of the New Testament.

Therefore, he proceeded with the translation of the Old Testament out of the original Hebrew. He
completed the Pentateuch and the book of Jonah before he was trapped through treachery and imprisoned
near Brussels. He is believed to have completed the translation of Joshua to 2Chronicles while in prison.
This was later published by John Rogers, his friend. Eventually, he was convicted of heresy hence
condemned to death, tied to a stake, strangled and burned to death praying ‘Lord, open the King of
England’s eyes”. His work influenced subsequent translations of they later AV/KJV retain close to 90%of
the Tyndale’s renderings. The uniqueness of Tyndale’s contributions may also be seen in the sense that
his work demonstrated mastery of simple but forceful English. And his breath of scholarship in than
original language was excellent. Both these unique aspects helped to set precedence on English and Bible
translation almost unequalled for some time (Viz. Tyndale’s Commentary today).

3. Intermediate English Version

Bedewed the monumental work of William Tyndale and the celebrated King James Version (KJV)/
Authorized Version (AV) of 1611, there were other translation including

a. Miles Coverdale
He distinguished himself for publishing the first complete Bible in English language appearing
ion England in 1535 while Tyndale was in prison. His translation was, however, not from the
originals, but rather from Luther’s German and the Latin Vulgate, also heavily relying on
Tyndale’s work. Ironically, after Tyndale’s martyrdom, Coverdale’s Bible was printed, bound
and distributed in England, with King Henry’s approval.

b. Bible Matthew

This also received royal approval. It was the work of John Roger, Tyndale’s early years. It was
a compilation of Tyndale and Coverdale’s version.

c. The Great Bible

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 It was published by Coverdale in 1539. It embodied the text of Matthew Bible with variations
suggested by comparison with the Latin

d. The Geneva Bible

This was the work of the exiled English scholars in Geneva, Switzerland. They had fled from
persecution of Protestants by Queen Mary Tudor. This was during the five bloody years 1553-
1558.The Bible was reversion of the “Great Bible”, becoming the best ever English translation in
England during the era of Queen Elizabeth. Though it did not displace the ‘Great Bible in church
use, it surpassed the earlier version in popular use.

e. The Bishops Bible

The Geneva Bible apparently did not garner maximum royal favour. Accordingly, another
reversion was made by the scholars of the church. A number of bishops had their input in it.

f. The Douai Version

Catholic scholars found themselves in a threatening situation under Protestant Queen Elizabeth,
like Protestant were under Catholic Queen Mary Tudor. Some fled to Flanders, at Douai. They
produced the English translation of the Latin Vulgate, seeing that the Bible was immensely
popular in the language of the common people. IT became the official Catholic Bible, though less
important in English scholarship due to its over reliance on Latin.

4.The Authorized Version (AV) or King James Version (KJV)

Obviously the most celebrated as greatest and most historic of the translations of scripture in English is
the KJV. This was as a result of team work. Earlier in his life and training, King James was a student of
the Bible and had made personal initiative at biblical translation. In 1606, a year after assuming the reign
of power, King James I appointed a team of 54 scholars from various segments of the church,
representing the two great universities of Oxford and Cambridge. The number had reduced to 47 by the
time work actually began. The major task was to undertake the work of preparing a version of the entire
Bible. The team was sub-divided into six groups to further the task, agreeing to follow the Bishop’s Bible
in general. However, they had complete freedom to consult and substitute other readings from existing
versions or new readings where the originals warranted. After the completion of the book, it was
circulated among all group members for suggestions and criticisms. Cumulatively, the work took about
six years, the publication occurring in 1611.

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With full royal backing, KJV superseded the popularity of the Bishop’s Bible. But only after about fifty
years was it able to replace the popular Geneva Bible. It was followed by several editions in 1613, 1629,
1639, having minor changes in response to identified errors that needed re-correction. In 1762, another
version was produced at Cambridge. From1766-1769,

Dr. Benjamin Blayney at Oxford brought out the AV which is current today. His main input was
modernization of spelling, punctuations well as some corrections on expression. It should be noted that it
took about 158 years from its publication for the KJV to assume its present form

Modern Translations and Versions of the Bible 2.

Objectives: By the end of the lesson the learner should be able to :

i. Name the major modern translation and version of the bible after 1611
Ii .Provide information about the people behind the translation exercise of the said
version/translation and how they did it.
1. Individual Translation

God’s word is eternal and unchanging. But human language as part of culture is dynamic.

Biblical scholarship over centuries has shed more light over centuries on the Hebrew and Greek
originals. Consequently, these among many other factors have stirred interest and inevitably of future
initiatives at more English versions. Indeed, since the publication of the AV in 1611, very many
translations have emerged, many of them resulting from individual efforts.

2. The Revised Version (RV) and the American Standard Version (ASV)

In 1870,a committee was sent to Great Britain to revise the KVJ in view of language changes and
advances inn Biblical scholarship (viz.2,5 centuries since the AV) . Close to fifty scholars from major
protestant churches of the British Isle were involved, dividing themselves into Old Testament and New
Testament groups.

During the same time, an American committee comprising of thirty scholars was launched to work with
the English group. On completion of the work, some disagreements arose between the two groups through
with some input of the American group. Through a Memorandum of Agreement, the American group
deferred/ postponed/ delayed published its work until later. The Revised Version (British) published the
New Testament in 1881 and the Old Testament in 1885.

Following the expiry of the agreement with the RV (British), the American Standard Version (AVS)
published its deferred work in 1901. The RV represents the scholarship of the British group and added

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insight of the American scholars who continued their work after the English committee had wound up its
work. Many of the difference between the RV and the ASV revolved around usage. The ASV is viewed
by scholars as generally representing the best English translation for the purpose of the study. It also
benefit from greater fidelity to an improved text of the original. But it also lacks English grace and style
of the AV. These use of Jehovah as name of God instead of the hallowed and long-used designation (the
Lord) has been criticized. And the attempt of translators to use but the English equivalent for each
original term occasionally lends to stilted and unnatural expression or even poor translation.

Effects of Bible translation into African languages

1.Many people are able to read the word of God in their language which led better understanding

2. It has contributed to development of African language as people engage in translation and reading.

3.It led to development of African church. As many people can read the Bible in their languages many
churches have been established by different people even those who do no have good command of English
language.

4. There is development of African independence churches

5. The local language is clearly understood which made many Africans to be converted into Christianity.

6. European missionaries also learnt African languages

7. Africans were able to seek leadership position in the church

8. It created more room for further research into African religious heritage.

9. The bible does not appear a foreign material or scripture

10. Africans feel that the message in the bible was meant for them and not other races

11. Many people can relate the Bible material with their daily lives

Reference.
Brown,R.S.S editor (1970) The Jerome Biblical Commentary. London, Geoffrey. Chapman.

Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Ultimate Reference Suite. Chicago: Encyclopædia

Britannica, 2011.

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Gabel, JohnB, Charles,B, Wheeler and Anthony, D(1996). The Bible as Literature: An Introduction, 3 rd.
edition. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
Mojala, Aloo O(2002)Bible Translation in African Christianity. In AICMAR ,vol.1/2002) Bulletin.
Purkiser,w.t(ed) (1995). Exploring the Old Testament. Kansas, Beancon. Hill Press

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