Worlds Oldest Christian Bible Digitized

The formation of the Bible is fascinating, to be sure.

It is important to keep a couple of things in mind about when considering how the Bible came to us in this familiar form.

While the Codex Sinaiticus is the oldest extant Bible, we must not assume, as some might, that there was no Bible before this copy. Even before the Biblical “canon” was established, various scrolls were written and copied and circulated to the people.

Books, as we know them, were a relatively late invention. Scrolls were regarded as the best way to transmit the written word–and would be so for centuries. Consider what it would have been like to have a complete Bible in such a format–you would likely have needed van to carry it around.

Because of the cost and care of these scrolls, a synagogue would likely not have a full set of the scriptures. The scripture they did have would be treasured. Scribes, like good librarians, would likely keep track of where Scriptures were and where various other scriptures could be found. Like good librarians, they would try to fill in their shelves as they had opportunity.

Manuscripts were made of papyrus (or parchment, if you could afford it), and because the material was subject to decay, care had to be taken to copy and transmit the document before it became illegible.

Scribes were carefully selected; from early on, children were noted for their skills in writing and their aptitude as careful copyists. Care was take in the transmission of texts, as supervisors checked and double-checked the copies from the master copy. Schools became known for their accuracy and reliability in this process; to this day, translators carefully consider the wording of a text and take into account the reputation of schools in certain areas (like Syria or Rome or Alexandria or Byzantium, etc) as they go about their work of translation.

Hebrew is an ancient language–and one that was almost extinct some three hundred years before Christ. In 285-245 BC, Emperor Ptolomy insisted that major literature be translated into Greek. The Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek, which was the universal language of the Empire. This was truly a blessing, because the various Hebrew books were then codified into what we call the Septuigent (the LXX), and the canon of the Hebrew Scripture was affirmed.

Hebrew had already began to fall out of favor, due to the prominence of the Greek language. After all, even the Book of Daniel was written in Aramaic, since that had been the language of the land at Daniel’s time. Therefore, even the literature of this time was not written in Hebrew; the Apocryphal writing of this time was of Hebrew/Jewish origin, most certainly, because it described the history of the Jewish people; but, again, it was written in Greek because that is what the Hebrew/Jewish people now spoke and read.

Hellenistic Jews were those who embraced the Greek language and culture. Some had no choice: knowing Greek was beneficial to commerce and survival. Other Jews willingly embraced it; the Herods, for instance, became influential because of their willingness to abandon Jewish ways. Many of the priests and scribes and Jewish leaders of the Saducee class became the cultural liberals of their times; these people clashed with the Pharisees, who desired to keep the teachings and commands, as found in Scripture. Interestingly, the Saducees only respected the books of Moses, considering only these to be inspired by God (perhaps because the priestly system was defined in these five books!). The Pharisees acknowledged and abided by the Torah (Moses’ books) and the books of Wisdom and the Prophets. While Jesus took issue with both the Pharisees and the Saducees, he agreed that the full council of God was contained in the TaNaK (Torah/ Writings/ Prophets) and that this was fully the Word of God which had its focus upon Jesus himself.

By Jesus’ time, Israel was largely bilingual (if not tri-lingual, knowing Latin). Recall that Pilate had the placard above Jesus’ head written in Latin, Greek and Hebrew.

And, yet, not everyone gave themselves over the the Greek language. A group of Jewish scholars, called the Essenes, separated themselves from the cultural change that was sweeping over the land. Living a simple life out in the desert, the Essenes continued gathering and copying the Scriptures and storing these in caves. This treasure trove was well protected over the centuries; discovered in the 1950s, the Dead Sea Scrolls continue to shed much light on history, Biblical literature, and the careful transmission of holy Scripture.

Interestingly, the Hebrew Bible actually came together FORMALLY, as we know it today, after the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD. At that time, the Jews realized the importance of keeping their Scriptures together in an orderly and uniform way–Christianity had already been on the rise and their own religious kingdom was shattered by the devastation inflicted by the Romans. This work was done at the Council of Jamnia (AD 87?).

The Christians not only valued the Jewish Scriptures, of course, but were gathering their own collections of Jesus’ life and teaching and passing around the letters that Paul and other Apostles were writing. The canon of the New Testament therefore was being arranged and codified around the same time that the Jewish Scriptures were being codified. Conservative scholars believe that the New Testament writings as we know it was complete before the end of the century; though, like the history of the Old Testament writing, the canon of the New Testament would not be officially endorsed and organized until Christians were able to go about their work openly and freely, without the threat of persecution.

FWIW–blessings in Christ

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I think it is a wonderful thing such a complete, ancient bible has been found and what a boon it would be to the claims put forth by Mormonism within and without the scholarship community if they had the original text from whence was derived the BOM.

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