1. The English word “Bible” is derived from the Latin word Biblia and the Greek word Biblios. Bible means book, or books.
Other terms used for Bible are Scriptures, Holy Scriptures or Holy Writ.
2. The Bible is a compilation of 66 books written by more than 40 authors during a period of approximately 1,500-1600 years.
3. The first part of the Christian Bible is the Old Testament, which contains thirty-nine books and the second part is the New Testament, containing twenty-seven books.
There are 929 chapters in the Old Testament and 260 chapters in the New Testament.
There are 23,145 verses in the Old Testament and 7,957 verses in the New Testament.
4. Old Testament Divisions
Pentateuch-5- Books of the Law- Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
History-12- Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, 1&2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther
Poetry/Wisdom-5- Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song Of Solomon
Prophetic– Major-5- Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel
Minor-12- Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
5. New Testament Divisions
A.Gospels- 4- Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
B.History- Acts of the Apostles
C.Epistles- Pauline- 13- Romans, 1&2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1&2 Thessalonians, 1&2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon
– General-8- Hebrews, James, 1&2 Peter, 1, 2&3 John, Jude
D.Revelation
6. What is the meaning of “Biblical Canon”? Biblical Canon basically means that the books included are divinely inspired and thus justified as part of the Bible. Jewish Scholars, Rabbis and Leaders of the Early Christian Church all played a definitive role in this. It was finalized by the end of the 4th century.
7. The Bible was divided into chapters in the 13th century by Stephen Langton and into verses in the 16th century by French printer Robert Estienne.
8. The books of the Old Testament were written over a period of approximately 1,000 years, beginning with Moses (around 1450 B.C.) until the time when the Jewish people returned to Judah from exile (538-400 B.C.) during the Persian Empire. The English Bible follows the order of the Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint), and thus differs in order from the Hebrew Bible.
Books of the New Testament were written between 45-96 A.D. The only means of duplication until the fifteenth century was by manual handwriting. Johannes Gutenburg invented the printing press in A.D. 1454.
New Testament means New Covenant, Contract or Will
It was written in Greek, a few verses in Aramaic
27 Books, 9 Authors,
8 Authors- Jewish, 1 Author- Greek- Luke
260 Chapters
Luke wrote the most part of New Testament [volume wise] – 28%
Paul wrote 23%
27 books were written over a span of 50 years [45-96 AD]
9.The Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, contains twenty-four books divided into three parts; the five books of the Torah (“teaching” or “law”), the eight books of the Nevi’im (“prophets”), and the the eleven books of Ketuvim (“writings”).
10. Writing materials used from ancient times
a.Oldest- Stone- 10 commandments-Exodus 31:18
b.Stones coated with lime-Deuteronomy 27:2, 3
c.Clay-Ezekiel 4:1
d.Wood-Numbers 17:2, 3
e.Metal
f.Ostraca/Broken Pottery
g.Papyrus-The earliest manuscripts of the New Testament were on papyrus
Papyrus scrolls-35 feet long, 10 inches high
New Testament first written on papyrus scrolls; lasted for about 10 years. Then copies were made.
h.Vellum or Parchment-goat or lamb skins processed to be written upon with ink
Scrolls replaced with Codex as papyrus was replaced with parchment
From 4 AD though middle ages, parchment [vellum][calfskin]
i.Paper
10.The Old Testament was mostly written in Hebrew, but parts of Daniel in Aramaic[2:4b-7:28] Jeremiah 10:11, Ezra 4:8-6:18,7:12-26
The New Testament is written in Greek.
Aramaic in New Testament- Talitha Cumi-Little girl arise-Mark 5-41, Ephatha-be opened-Mark 7-34, Eloi, Eloi,Lama Sabachthani-My God, my God, why have you forsaken me-Mark 15-34, Abba-Father-Mark 14-36, Maranatha-Our Lord Come-1 Corinthians 16-22