As has been mentioned, there were no chapters or verses in the first Bibles. Chapter divisions seem to have been added in the 13th century. The first Hebrew Scriptures to be in verse form was in the 9th century. The first Latin Scriptures that were in verse form was 1528 and the English was in 1557 (N.T.)—complete Bible in verses in 1560.
The canon of the Bible needs to be explained. Canon means “straight rod or rule.” With scriptures it is “that by which anything is tested as a rule. To us it means books having divine authority and accepted as inspired words of God. After captivity, the Word of God was given in its final form by Ezra. Nehemiah founded a library in which were gathered together the “acts of the kings and the prophets, and those of David.” In 131 B.C. we have a distinct compilation of the O.T. Josephus, a Jewish historian, states that since the death of Artaxerxes (424 B.C.) no one had dared add anything or take anything away from the scriptures. This indicates that the canon of the O.T. was settled during the time of Ezra and Nehemiah such as we have it today. It is logically separated into 5 books of the law, 12 books of history, 5 poetic books, 5 major prophets, and 12 minor prophets. Part of the time some of the books that are separated today were considered one book. It should be noted that the major prophets are not so named because of importance but for the fact that they are longer books. The minor prophet books are very short in comparison.
The list or catalogue of N.T. books of Origen (A.D.185-254 ), an early Christian writer, listed all of the N.T. books as did Eusebius (A.D. 260-340), another early Christian writer. In the 4th century 10 lists or catalogues were identical to the N.T. books as we have them today. Many of the early authors are few because of the perishable nature of the writing material and because persecution was trying to destroy them. Those we do have contain many quotation and references to the N.T. canonical books.
Legendary books called Apocrypha sprung up in the 2nd century. They were attempts to fill in the life of Jesus and add stories of the apostles. They were mostly forgeries and were so recognized from the beginning. It is said the Mohammed got his ideas largely from these books. It is also the origin of many of the dogmas of the Catholic church. Fourteen of the Apocrypha are included in the Catholic Bible. These books are not recognized as an authentic part of the N.T. canon.
The New Testament did not have the professional scribes to copy as the O.T. did. Two of the Gospels and Acts were written as letters. Lk. 1:1-3; Acts 1:1; Jhn. 21:24,25 We know the epistles, both those of Paul and the General Epistles, were letters. Copies were made for other churches and then copies were made from copies and began to be gathered together.
The writing material was mostly Papyrus, made of the water plant that grew in Egypt
In the 4th c. A.D. Vellum was used which was parchment made from skins. This was much more durable than the Papyrus which deteriorated quickly. What a blessing when the printing press was invented by Gutenberg in 1456 in Germany
Before we go further into this study, it is important to understand what a translation is. The O.T. was written in Hebrew. The N.T. was written in Greek. None of us could understand the Bible in either Hebrew or Greek. Consequently, translations have been made into our language and into 1000 languages at least. Translating is saying in one language what was said or written in another language. It is not changing the meaning. In translating there are 2 goals: accuracy and readability. The translator wants to accurately say in English for us exactly what was said in Hebrew or Greek. This is difficult at times because our language may not have a word that means exactly the same thing. Also in that day a word might have more than one meaning just as some of our words do today. It is up to the translator(s) to determine exactly what was meant. It is also important for the translation to be readable. For instance, King James is written in the English that was spoken in 1611 in England
The Greek Septuagint is the oldest version. It is the O.T. Hebrew translated into Greek. Jesus used this translation when He quoted the O.T. more than the Hebrew. It is said to be translated by about 70 Jews of Alexandria, Egypt. It took a period of years to complete but was thought to be completed in 285 B.C. It enabled the people of Jesus’ day to read the prophecies concerning Him in the O.T. in preparation for His coming.
The Latin Vulgate was a Latin translation from Hebrew (O.T.) and Greek (N.T.) by Jerome. The entire Bible had been completed by A.D. 404. This has become the basis of the Catholic Bible. Except for the Apocrypha, it is not all that different. The Latin Vulgate was the 1st Bible to come off the printing press mentioned earlier.
We will now skip many years to the Bible translations in English. John Wycliff was a strong advocate of the Bible being for the people. Previously, the bible was in Latin and could not be read by anyone but scholars. Wycliff did not do all of the work himself but was the force behind what is called the Wycliff Bible which was translated into the vernacular of the common man. The church authorities were completely against him. After he died, his Bible was ordered to be burned and his bones were exhumed and scattered into the River Swift. His Bible lived on in the hearts and minds of men for 150 years. The Wycliff Bible is dated 1380-84 A.D. It was translated from Latin Vulgate.
William Tyndale completed his translation in A.D. 1525. He was a scholar of 7 languages so his translations are straight from the Hebrew and Greek rather than from the Latin. He was forced to move from city to city to save his work from angry authorities. He found safety for awhile near Martin Luther who was translating the Bible into German. When he finally went back, he was safe in Antwerp England
Myles Coverdale gave us the first complete Bible in print in 1535. He aided in the publishing of Matthew’s Bible (1537) and the Great Bible (1539). A lot of conflict in history came about during this time. Geneva , Switzerland
King James had a dilemma. The Great Bible and the Bishops’ Bible were being used in the churches but the common people were using the Geneva Oxford , Cambridge , and Westminster
Around 250 years passed and again the need to revise was important for several reasons: early manuscripts had been found since King James Bible; better scholarship with the knowledge of Biblical languages; many words of the King James had become obsolete or had changed meaning altogether. Again many scholars were gathered and in 1881-1885 the Revised Version was published. It never did replace the King James Version.
In 1901 the American Standard Version was published which was the American version of the Revised Version of England. There have been many translations since.
Now there are many types of versions. Paraphrases are usually written by one person and would be like putting the Bible in your own words. My suggestion would be to not use these as your main study Bible. It may aid in understanding of a word or phrase. We used a few in “Purpose Driven Life.” Some translations are made word by word from the Hebrew or Greek. Other translations translate other versions. Some are made by a single person and others by a group of scholars which usually provides greater accuracy. Other Bibles are from a certain religious group and liberties are taken with accuracy that will substantiate their doctrine.
The NIV or New International Version is the only one that has outsold the King James. For the most part it is accurate. A few times rather than letting the words speak for themselves, it interprets it rather than leaving it open in cases where we just don’t really know and there are differences of opinion. An example would be when Jesus told Peter, “The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” Flesh could be physical or could be the lower nature that strives against the spirit. That prevailed as he denied Christ. The NIV renders that passage, “The body is weak.”
Here is a list of the major Bible translations.
v Amplified – 1965 – literal or word for word. “Amplified” adds additional words and phrases within brackets to clarify meaning.
v ESV – English Standard Version – 2001 – word for word accuracy with readability.
v KJV – 1611 – Elizabethan English
v The Message – 1994 – Free paraphrase. Converts words and ideas into everyday English language.
v NASB – New American Standard Bible – 1995 – Modern language version of the 1901 American Standard
v NIV – New International Reader’s Version – 1984 – Modern English translation
v NKJV – New King James Version – 1982 – Modern language update of King James
v NRSV – New Revised Standard Version – 1990 – Word for word English translation
v NLT – New Living Translation – 1996 – Modern English translation – “the closest cultural equivalent of the message expressed by the original language text.”
Many of the popular authors of today have published one of the above versions with their own study notes. A person must realize that the notes at the bottom of any study Bible are not the inspired words of God. They are the ideas of a man. They may be accurate but they may involve false teaching or false interpretation. We must verify with Scripture and not be taken in.
In this day of age, we have many religious publishing companies. Many of these have assigned groups of scholars to write study notes for one of the versions above. The NIV Study Bible is published by Zondervan. Nelson has published Nelson’s Study Bible. The Kirkbride Bible Company publishes the Thompson Chain Reference Bible in various versions.
Other than study notes, several attributes that are helpful in Bibles: Concordance (which gives you other Scriptures which are associated with a particular word.), Cross-Reference (usually in the center of each page or under each verse) These are other Scriptures which might give other information to help understand or interpret. Some Bibles have Dictionaries which are very helpful as well. None of these would be unabridged but they have enough to be of great usefulness and are worth the effort of using in your Bible study.
As Christians, we want to take the Bible and the Bible only for our rule book. We may use other books to help us but we always come back to the Bible to see if these books are following God’s way. We don’t want to follow “cunningly devised fables.” 2 Pet. 1:16 We must follow God—not man. Acts 5:29 Neither do we want to follow our “own righteousness.” Rom. 10:3 There are serious consequences if we do not follow the Truth. Gal. 1:8 It is sometimes easy with so many beliefs surrounding us to “be blown about by every wind of doctrine.” Eph. 4:14 We find the scriptures may be used which sound good but they may be distorted. 2 Pet. 3:16 These “private interpretations” are not to be followed. 1 Pet. 1:20 God’s Word alone is Truth. We will be called into account some day if we follow or teach that which is not absolutely God’s Word.
Rom. 14:12
The Word of Truth was given by revelation of God. Every word is truth. Prov. 30:5; Ps. 119:140; Ps. 12:6; Jhn. 17:17; 1 Thess. 2:13; 2 Tim. 3:16; Rev. 2:7;
Rev. 22:18,19
When we know that we have followed Christ in the Truth of His Word—and we can know (1 Jhn. 5:13), then we can say with the Apostle John—“Come, Lord Jesus.”
Rev. 22:20
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