US Air Force Academy (Colorado)
Found in Poland (1989), hidden from the Nazis
Part 1: The Old Covenant to The New
Who authored the first written words of Scripture? Technically, God did (Exodus 31:18, 32:15-16; Deuteronomy 9:15-17). Twice. Moses got mad and smashed the original stone tablets, so God wrote them again (Exodus 32:19, 34:1; Deuteronomy 10:1-2). Have you ever wondered how we got from those stone tablets to the multitude of translations available today? The written word of God has a fascinating history spanning thousands of years. It has survived wars, destruction, and persecution. First communicated orally, it has since been written on everything from stone, papyrus, and vellum (animal skin) to tiny computer chips. In fact, the world’s smallest Bible is a translation of the Old Testament engraved on a silicon chip no bigger than a grain of sugar.*
This post will focus on a progressive timeline (dates are approximate) beginning with the Hebrew Exodus from Egypt (1450BC) to the writing of The Latin Vulgate (405AD). Next week will pick up there and conclude with the development of modern English translations. Buckle up as we head back in time and start our journey with Moses and God meeting on Mount Sinai….
1450BC The Wilderness; exact location unknown
God called Moses to Mt. Sinai to receive the laws for His Chosen People. Moses, having been educated in the house of Pharaoh, would have been able to read the words written by the hand of God. We refer to these as the “10 Commandments,” but the Bible refers to them as “the two tablets of the covenant law” (Exodus 31:18).
1450-1400BC Israel’s exile
Moses recorded the first five books of Hebrew Scripture (called the Pentateuch). For centuries, the Old Testament was mainly heard orally though also written on scrolls of animal skin. If the entire Pentateuch was written on one scroll it was referred to as “Torah.” These were meticulously copied by scribes who followed strict guidelines. If one mistake was found, the entire scroll had to be destroyed. These scribes, known as soferim, are still trained today.
500-200BC Tanakh (complete Hebrew Scripture)
The 24 books of the Tanakh include all writings found in the 39 books of the Old Testament. The name comes from an acronym of the sections the books are divided into: TaNaKh.
Ta Torah “Teaching” (Genesis-Deuteronomy)
Na Nevi’im “Prophets”
Kh Ketuvim “Writings”
Also by this time, a group of 70 scribes in Alexandria (Egypt) translated the Hebrew Scripture into the “common language” of Greek. This translation was called the Septuagint (from the Greek word for “seventy”). The books were divided into four sections (Law, History, Poetry, Prophets) and also included the Apocrypha. The Septuagint was widely used during the time of Jesus and would have been very familiar to the Early Greek-speaking Church.
0-33AD Israel
By the time Jesus was born, there was much division and dissension among religious Jews. Those in leadership and authority, often fell into one of four categories:
1. Pharisees: educated; book-centered; accepted all Scripture as well as tradition; survived after Temple destroyed (70AD); furthered rifts between Jews and Christians because of their strict observance of Jewish Law; became foundation for modern Rabbinic Judaism.
2. Sadducees: aristocratic; favored status at the Temple; priests; centrally focused on Mosaic Law; tolerant of Hellenism (Greek influence); controlled the Sanhedrin (Jewish Council); lost power when Temple destroyed
3. Zealots: opposed all Roman authority; ready to battle; army of resistance
4. Essenes: lived as monastics in the wilderness; not interested in resistance; authored Dead Sea Scrolls; desired to be separate from both politics and resistance; believed the Temple had been corrupted
33-95AD “Apostolic Age”
It is easy to forget the Early Church only knew Old Testament Scripture. Much of the New Testament was written as response to criticism, rumor, confusion, and cultural influence. Early Hellenistic Missionaries likely used the Septuagint as they began to fulfill the Great Commission. Additionally, Greek culture would have influenced early teaching and tradition.
Saul (later became Paul) was a Pharisee. The Apostle who authored 25% of the New Testament was a Jewish educated-Greek speaking-Roman citizen. The influence of Paul’s travel and teaching had profound impact on the rise of Christianity. Peter and Paul were both executed in Rome and by the turn of the century (96AD), with the death of John, the Age of the Apostles had ended. How would Christianity survive without them?
70-312AD “Catholic Age”
After the Romans destroyed the Temple, Jewish Christians continued to be unwelcome in synagogues. Early Church Councils met to adopt/affirm standards of orthodoxy (“Right Belief”) because the churches were growing so fast and becoming disjointed and influenced by ungodly customs. By 64AD, persecution was already so prolific Nero blamed the burning of Rome on Christians. During this era, the Church (Big C) was universal and orthodox. The focus of this universal (“catholic”) Church was on expanding the Great Commission by spreading the Gospel and making disciples of all nations (Matthew 28:19).
312AD Constantine (first “Christian Emperor”)
After many years of horrendous persecution, Constantine legalized Christianity with the Edict of Milan (313AD). Then, in 325, he summoned the Council of Nicaea to work out an affirmation regarding the divinity of Christ (Nicene Creed).
Churches already had local assemblies, without a Temple or synagogues, and were meeting on Sundays. They also adopted an internal structure, similar to Judaism, centralized in Rome because of the ties to both Peter and Paul. Many of the earliest copies of Scripture had been burned during the persecution, and in 315AD the Bishop of Alexandria assigned a set of 27 New Testament writings as canon of Scripture.
405 AD
In 373 AD, a young man known as Jerome converted to Christianity. He lived and studied among Jewish-Christians in the Middle East before moving back to Rome to continue his work. He is best known for translating the Bible from Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek to Latin. It came to be known as the “Latin Vulgate” because it was written in the common (vulgate) language of the time. This version of the Bible was the standard worldwide until the 1500s and continued to be the source of the Catholic canon.
Stay tuned to learn what happened next….
*The Nano Bible was created in Israel and first displayed at the Israel Museum (beside the 2000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls). The entire Hebrew Scriptures is engraved on one tiny, gold-plated, silicon chip! Of course, you can only read it with an electron microscope…for now.