Bible: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Collection of religious texts}}

{{Redirect-several|Biblical|The Holy Bible}}

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The religious texts were compiled by different religious communities into various official collections. The earliest contained the first five books of the Bible, called the [[Torah]] in [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] and the Pentateuch (meaning ''five books'') in Greek. The second-oldest part was a collection of narrative histories and prophecies (the [[Nevi'im]]). The third collection (the [[Ketuvim]]) contains psalms, proverbs, and narrative histories. "[[Hebrew Bible|Tanakh]]" is an alternate term for the Hebrew Bible composed of the first letters of those three parts of the Hebrew scriptures: the Torah ("Teaching"), the Nevi'im ("Prophets"), and the Ketuvim ("Writings"). The [[Masoretic Text]] is the medieval version of the Tanakh, in Hebrew and Aramaic, that is considered the authoritative text of the Hebrew Bible by modern [[Rabbinic Judaism]]. The [[Septuagint]] is a Koine Greek translation of the Tanakh from the third and second centuries BC; it largely overlaps with the Hebrew Bible.

 

 

 

== Etymology ==

The term "Bible" can refer to the [[Hebrew Bible]] or the Christian Bible, which contains both the [[Old Testament|Old]] and [[New Testament]]s.<ref>{{cite web |title=Definition of Bible {{!}} Dictionary.com |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=Bible |website=www.dictionary.com |language=en |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061015205119/http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=bible |archive-date=15 October 2006}}</ref>

 

The word {{lang|grc|βιβλίον}} itself had the literal meaning of "[[scroll]]" and came to be used as the ordinary word for "book".{{sfn|Beekes|2009|pp=246–247}} It is the diminutive of {{lang|grc|βύβλος}} ''byblos'', "Egyptian papyrus", possibly so called from the name of the [[Phoenicia]]n seaport [[Byblos]] (also known as Gebal) from whence Egyptian [[papyrus]] was exported to Greece.{{sfn|Brake|2008|p=[https://archive.org/details/visualhistoryofe00brak/page/29 29]}}

 

{{Further|Ethics in the Bible|Jewish ethics|Christian ethics}}

[[File:Creation of Light.png|thumb|''Creation of Light'' by [[Gustave Doré]].]]

 

However, discerning the themes of some biblical texts can be problematic.{{sfn|Mittleman|2012|pp=1, 2}} Much of the Bible is in narrative form and in general, biblical narrative refrains from any kind of direct instruction, and in some texts the author's intent is not easy to decipher.{{sfn|Barton|2007|pp=1–3}} It is left to the reader to determine good and bad, right and wrong, and the path to understanding and practice is rarely straightforward.{{sfn|Barton|2019| p=14}} God is sometimes portrayed as having a role in the plot, but more often there is little about God's reaction to events, and no mention at all of approval or disapproval of what the characters have done or failed to do.{{sfn|Barton|2019| p=40}} The writer makes no comment, and the reader is left to infer what they will.{{sfn|Barton|2019| p=40}} Jewish philosophers Shalom Carmy and David Schatz explain that the Bible "often juxtaposes contradictory ideas, without explanation or apology".{{sfn|Carmy|Schatz|2003|pp=13–14}}

 

The Hebrew names of the books are derived from the [[Incipit|first words]] in the respective texts. The Torah consists of the following five books:

* [[Book of Exodus|Exodus]], ''Shemot'' (שמות)

* [[Book of Leviticus|Leviticus]], ''Vayikra'' (ויקרא)

==== Nevi'im ====

{{Main|Nevi'im}}

 

The Nevi'im tell a story of the rise of the [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|Hebrew monarchy]] and its division into two kingdoms, the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdom of Israel]] and the [[Kingdom of Judah]], focusing on conflicts between the [[Israelites]] and other nations, and conflicts among Israelites, specifically, struggles between believers in "the {{LORD}} God"<ref>{{bibleverse|1 Kings.18:24; 1 Kings.18:37–39|multi=yes}}</ref> ([[Yahweh]]) and believers in foreign gods,{{efn|"Each king is judged either good or bad in black-and-white terms, according to whether or not he "did right" or "did evil" in the sight of the Lord. This evaluation is not reflective of the well-being of the nation, of the king's success or failure in war, or of the moral climate of the times, but rather the state of cultic worship during his reign. Those kings who shun idolatry and enact religious reforms are singled out for praise, and those who encourage pagan practices are denounced." {{harvnb|Savran|1987|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=O4hYlvzWui8C&pg=PA146 146]}}}}{{efn|"The fight against Baal was initiated by the prophets" {{harvnb|Kaufmann|1956a|p=54}}}} and the criticism of unethical and unjust behaviour of Israelite elites and rulers;{{efn|"The immediate occasion of the rise of the new prophecy was the political and social ruin caused by the wars with Israel's northerly neighbour, Aram, which continued for more than a century. They raged intensely during the reign of Ahab, and did not end until the time of Jeroboam II (784–744). While the nation as a whole was impoverished, a few&nbsp;– apparently of the royal officialdom&nbsp;– grew wealthy as a result of the national calamity. Many of the people were compelled to sell their houses and lands, with the result that a sharp social cleavage arose: on the one hand a mass of propertyless indigents, on the other a small circle of the rich. A series of disasters struck the nation&nbsp;– drought, famine, plagues, death and captivity (Amos 4: 6–11), but the greatest disaster of all was the social disintegration due to the cleavage between the poor masses and the wealthy, dissolute upper class. The decay affected both Judah and Israel ... High minded men were appalled at this development. Was this the people whom YHWH had brought out of Egypt, to whom He had given the land and a law of justice and right? it seemed as if the land was about to be inherited by the rich, who would squander its substance in drunken revelry. it was this dissolution that brought the prophetic denunciations to white heat." {{harvnb|Kaufmann|1956b|pp=57–58}}}}{{efn|"What manner of man is the prophet? A student of philosophy who runs from the discourses of the great metaphysicians to the orations of the prophets may feel as if he were going from the realm of the sublime to an area of trivialities. Instead of dealing with the timeless issues of being and becoming, of matter and form, of definitions and demonstrations, he is thrown into orations about widows and orphans, about the corruption of judges and affairs of the market place. Instead of showing us a way through the elegant mansions of the mind, the prophets take us to the slums. The world is a proud place, full of beauty, but the prophets are scandalized, and rave as if the whole world were a slum. They make much ado about paltry things, lavishing excessive language upon trifling subjects. What if somewhere in ancient Palestine poor people have not been treated properly by the rich? .... Indeed, the sorts of crimes and even the amount of delinquency that fill the prophets of Israel with dismay do not go beyond that which we regard as normal, as typical ingredients of social dynamics. To us a single act of injustice&nbsp;– cheating in business, exploitation of the poor – is slight; to the prophets, a disaster. To us an injustice is injurious to the welfare of the people; to the prophets it is a deathblow to existence; to us an episode; to them, a catastrophe, a threat to the world." {{harvnb|Heschel|2001|pp=3–4}}}}{{efn|"Samuel is thus a work of national self-criticism. It recognizes that Israel would not have survived, either politically or culturally, without the steadying presence of a dynastic royal house. But it makes both that house and its subjects answerable to firm standards of prophetic justice&nbsp;– not those of cult prophets or professional ecstatics, but of morally upright prophetic leaders in the tradition of Moses, Joshua, Deborah, Gideon, and others ..." {{harvnb|Rosenberg|1987|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=O4hYlvzWui8C&pg=PA141 141]}}}} in which prophets played a crucial and leading role. It ends with the conquest of the Kingdom of Israel by the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire]], followed by the conquest of the Kingdom of Judah by the [[neo-Babylonian Empire]] and the destruction of the [[Solomon's Temple|Temple in Jerusalem]].

The Latter Prophets are [[Book of Isaiah|Isaiah]], [[Book of Jeremiah|Jeremiah]], [[Book of Ezekiel|Ezekiel]] and the [[Twelve Minor Prophets]], counted as a single book.

* [[Book of Hosea|Hosea]], ''Hoshea'' (הושע) denounces the worship of gods other than Yehovah, comparing Israel to a woman being unfaithful to her husband.

* [[Book of Amos|Amos]], ''Amos'' (עמוס) speaks of social justice, providing a basis for natural law by applying it to unbelievers and believers alike.

* [[Book of Habakkuk|Habakkuk]], ''Havakuk'' (חבקוק) upholds trust in God over Babylon.

* [[Book of Haggai|Haggai]], ''Khagay'' (חגי) rebuild Second Temple.

* [[Book of Malachi|Malachi]], ''Malakhi'' (מלאכי) corrects lax religious and social behaviour.

 

{{Main|Ketuvim|Poetic Books}}

[[File:Bhs psalm1.png|thumb|[[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] text of [[Psalms|Psalm]] 1:1–2]]

 

In Masoretic manuscripts (and some printed editions), Psalms, Proverbs and Job are presented in a special two-column form emphasizing their internal parallelism, which was found early in the study of Hebrew poetry. "Stichs" are the lines that make up a verse "the parts of which lie parallel as to form and content".{{sfn|Kraus|1993|p=33}} Collectively, these three books are known as ''Sifrei Emet'' (an acronym of the titles in Hebrew, איוב, משלי, תהלים yields ''Emet'' אמ"ת, which is also the Hebrew for "truth"). Hebrew cantillation is the manner of chanting ritual readings as they are written and notated in the Masoretic Text of the Bible. Psalms, Job and Proverbs form a group with a "special system" of accenting used only in these three books.{{sfn|Kraus|1993|p=12}}

* ''Tehillim'' ([[Psalms]]) תְהִלִּים is an anthology of individual Hebrew religious hymns.

* ''Mishlei'' ([[Book of Proverbs]]) מִשְלֵי is a "collection of collections" on values, moral behaviour, the meaning of life and right conduct, and its basis in faith.

* ''Divrei ha-Yamim'' ([[Books of Chronicles|Chronicles]]) דברי הימים contains genealogy.

 

{{Christianity}}

[[File:Gutenberg Bible scan.jpg|thumb|A page from the [[Gutenberg Bible]]]]

 

==== Old Testament ====

| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ῥούθ}} || Roúth || Ruth

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| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἔσδρας Αʹ}} || I Esdras || 1 Esdras

| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἔσδρας Βʹ}} || II Esdras || Ezra–Nehemiah

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| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἰουδίθ}} || Ioudith || Judith

| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἐσθήρ}} || Esther || Esther with additions

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!colspan=3|Wisdom

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| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἰώβ}} || Iōb || Job

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!colspan=3|Prophets

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|- style="text-indent:2em"

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| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἱερεμίας}} || Hieremias || Jeremiah

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| style="text-indent:1em"|{{lang|grc|Ἰεζεκιήλ}} || Iezekiêl || Ezekiel

!colspan=3|Appendix

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|}

 

It is generally accepted that the New Testament writers were Jews who took the inspiration of the Old Testament for granted. This is probably stated earliest in {{Bibleverse|2Tim|3:16|9|2 Timothy 3:16}}: "All scripture is given by inspiration of God". Scholarship on how and why ancient Jewish–Christians came to create and accept new texts as equal to the established Hebrew texts has taken three forms. First, [[John Barton (theologian)|John Barton]] writes that ancient Christians probably just continued the Jewish tradition of writing and incorporating what they believed were inspired, authoritative religious books.{{sfn|Barton|1998|p=2}} The second approach separates those various inspired writings based on a concept of "canon" which developed in the second century.{{sfn|Barton|1998|pp=3–8}} The third involves formalizing canon.{{sfn|Barton|1998|pp=8–11}} According to Barton, these differences are only differences in terminology; the ideas are reconciled if they are seen as three stages in the formation of the New Testament.{{sfn|Barton|1998|pp=11, 14–19}}

 

 

At the end of the second century, it is widely recognized that a Christian canon similar to its modern version was asserted by the church fathers in response to the plethora of writings claiming inspiration that contradicted [[orthodoxy]]: ([[Heresy in Christianity|heresy]]).{{sfn|Barton|1998|p=7}} The third stage of development as the final canon occurred in the fourth century with a series of [[synod]]s that produced a list of texts of the canon of the Old Testament and the New Testament that are still used today. Most notably the [[Synod of Hippo]] in 393 CE and that of ''c''. 400. Jerome produced a definitive Latin edition of the Bible (the [[Vulgate]]), the canon of which, at the insistence of the Pope, was in accord with the earlier Synods. This process effectively set the New Testament canon.

===== Peshitta =====

{{Main|Peshitta}}

 

===== Catholic Church canon =====

 

===Politics and law===

 

The roots of many modern laws can be found in the Bible's teachings on due process, fairness in criminal procedures, and equity in the application of the law.<ref>Unterman, Jeremiah. ''Justice for All: How the Jewish Bible Revolutionized Ethics. U of Nebraska Press'', 2017. pp. 23–25</ref> Judges are told not to accept bribes (Deuteronomy 16:19), are required to be impartial to native and stranger alike (Leviticus 24:22; Deuteronomy 27:19), to the needy and the powerful alike (Leviticus 19:15), and to rich and poor alike (Deuteronomy 1:16, 17; Exodus 23:2–6). The right to a fair trial, and fair punishment, are also found in the Bible (Deuteronomy 19:15; Exodus 21:23–25). Those most vulnerable in a patriarchal society{{snd}}children, women, and strangers{{snd}}are singled out in the Bible for special protection (Psalm 72:2, 4).<ref name="Christopher Marshall">{{cite book |last1=Marshall |first1=Christopher |editor1-last=Atkin |editor1-first=Bill |editor2-last=Evans |editor2-first=Katrine |title=Human Rights and the Common Good: Christian Perspectives |date=1999 |publisher=Victoria University Press |location=Wellington, New Zealand |isbn=978-0-86473-362-7 |chapter="A Little lower than the Angels" Human rights in the biblical tradition}}</ref>{{rp|47–48}}

 

===Social responsibility===

The Christian religion and its sacred book are connected and influence one another, but the significance of the written text has varied throughout history. For Christianity, holiness did not reside in the written text, or in any particular language, it resided in the Christ the text witnessed to. [[David M. Carr]] writes that this gave early Christianity a more 'flexible' view of the written texts.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Carr |first1=David M. |title=Writing on the Tablet of the Heart: Origins of Scripture and Literature |date=2005 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-534669-5}}</ref>{{rp|279}} Wilfred Cantwell Smith points out that "in the Islamic system, the Quran fulfills a function comparable to the role... played by the person of Jesus Christ, while a closer counterpart to Christian scriptures are the Islamic [[Hadith]] 'Traditions'."<ref name="Smith 71">{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Wilfred Cantwell |title=The Study of Religion and the Study of the Bible |journal=Journal of the American Academy of Religion |date=1971 |volume=39 |issue=2 |pages=131–140 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1461797 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/jaarel/XXXIX.2.131 |jstor=1461797 |access-date=30 June 2022 |archive-date=30 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630053134/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1461797 |url-status=live |issn=0002-7189}}</ref>{{rp|133}} For centuries the written text had less significance than the will of the church as represented by the Pope, since the church saw the text as having been created by the church. One cause of the [[Reformation]] was the perceived need to reorient Christianity around its early text as authoritative.<ref>Barrett, Matthew. God's Word Alone – The Authority of Scripture: What the Reformers Taught... and Why It Still Matters. Zondervan Academic, 2016.</ref>{{rp|13}} Some [[Protestantism|Protestant]] churches still focus on the idea of ''[[sola scriptura]]'', which sees scripture as the only legitimate religious authority. Some denominations today support the use of the Bible as the only [[Biblical infallibility|infallible]] source of Christian teaching. Others, though, advance the concept of ''[[prima scriptura]]'' in contrast, meaning scripture primarily or scripture mainly.{{efn|name="WELS"|"The United Methodists see Scripture as the primary source and criterion for Christian doctrine. They emphasize the importance of tradition, experience, and reason for Christian doctrine. Lutherans teach that the Bible is the sole source for Christian doctrine. The truths of Scripture do not need to be authenticated by tradition, human experience, or reason. Scripture is self authenticating and is true in and of itself."<ref name="wels.net">{{cite web |url=http://www.wels.net/what-we-believe/questions-answers/christian/methodist-beliefs |title=Methodist Beliefs: In what ways are Lutherans different from United Methodists?|year=2014 |publisher=Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod |access-date=22 May 2014 |archive-date=22 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140522105449/http://www.wels.net/what-we-believe/questions-answers/christian/methodist-beliefs |url-status=live}}</ref>}}{{efn|name="Humphrey2013"|"historically Anglicans have adopted what could be called a prima Scriptura position." {{harvnb|Humphrey|2013|p=16}}}}

 

 

== Versions and translations ==

 

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* [[Family Bible (book)]]

* [[International Bible Contest]]

* [[List of major biblical figures]]

* [[List of nations mentioned in the Bible]]