SOME INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT THE HOLY BIBLE
A VERY BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH BIBLE
{From the Beginning of the Reformation up to 1611 A.D.}
Between 1525-1611 A.D. six English Bibles (Tyndale, Coverdale,
Matthews, The Great, Geneva, and the Bishops) were produced - all of which
were based on the Greek Text known as the Byzantine Text (now known as the
Received Text or Textus Receptus) in the New Testament, and the Hebrew Text
(known as the Massoretic Text).
William Tyndale
completed translating the New Testament and most of the Old Testament before he
was murdered by the government (strangled to death and then burned). The Coverdale
Bible was the first complete Bible in
English based on a ‘Greek Text’ in the New Testament, and a Hebrew Text in the
Old Testament. John Wycliffe’s earlier English Translation (1382 A.D.)
was based on some of the Old Latin manuscripts and the Latin Vulgate, and was ‘revised’ by John Purvey to bring it more
in line with Jerome’s Latin Vulgate. Matthew’s
Bible was a combination of the best from Tyndale
and Coverdale. The Great Bible was a Revision of Matthew’s. The
Six English Bibles produced in approximately 85 years,
and then the crowning achievement: The AUTHORIZED
VERSION (1611 A.D.), The Seventh! What did God say in Psalms 12:6-7?
Psalms
12:6 The words of the
LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times.
7 Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt
preserve them from this generation for ever.
The King James Bible was
the seventh English Bible, and it was translated in seven years. Do you
think that’s just a coincidence? Think about that for a while!
From 1611 through the
1930’s the Bible that is now called the King James Bible was simply
known as “The Holy Bible”. In the 1700’s a few of its critics (scholars) began
to call it the “Authorized Version” (hence the name “AV 1611”), and by the 1800’s most Bible scholars and critics referred to “The Holy Bible” as the “Authorized Version”.
The only changes that that
have taken place within the AV1611 [the King James Bible] from 1611 up to the
1940’s were:
1. Corrections of
typographical errors (1629)
2. Standardization of the language (i.e. changes in spelling and punctuation:
Final - 1769)
3. Regularization (e.g. consistent use of italics, etc. - 1769)
There
were NO CHANGES (or ADDITIONS, or SUBTRACTIONS) TO THE TEXT {i.e.
words}!
Up until the middle of the
20th century no Publisher ever dared
to change THE TEXT of “The
Holy Bible”, although they started to produce multiple versions in English from
a handful of inferior (corrupt) Greek & Hebrew manuscripts, very different
from the Greek & Hebrew manuscripts from which the King James Bible was
translated.
The Holy Bible (now known
as the AV1611 or The King James Bible) was THE STANDARD BIBLE of the
English speaking people of the world from the early 1600’s up until the early
1900’s. It was the FINAL AUTHORITY in all matters of faith and practice amongst
nearly all English speaking Christians for over 300 years. During that entire
period of time no other “bible” even came close to challenging its
authoritative position.
Sometime after the
introduction of “new” English
Translations (“The “Revised Version” of 1881 in England, and “The American Standard Version” of 1901 in America – both of which failed miserably) the Publishers of the “new” Translations began to call the Holy
Bible (AV1611) - “The King James Version”. And since the 1950’s these Publishers have
gradually (under the cover of “helps”
and “clarification”) been introducing
more and more CHANGES, either
to the actual TEXT (the words) of the King James Bible, or by the subtle introduction of suggestions
(always from “bible scholars”) implying that there are errors in the TEXT of the King James Bible, and supplying different
words other than those in the text, or stating that certain words or verses do not belong in the text.
Since the introduction of
the failed Revised Version (1881 - 1885) and the failed American Standard Version
(1901), there have been over 120 “versions” of the “bible” (in
English) that have come out on the market ($$$ - An unenviable “record” - unmatched
in any ten (10) other languages in the world! It is now to the point, that with
very few exceptions, most people have no idea WHERE the words of God
are, or WHAT the words of God say. The confusion is nearly complete, and
that is why when I buy a King James Bible I make every effort to insure that it
is indeed a KING JAMES BIBLE, and NOT some “KNOCK-OFF”, pretending to be a King
James Bible – like the NEW Scofield Bible; or
the NEW King James Bible; or the numerous “Study” King James Bibles with “corrections”
on every page.
The Holy Bible is
unlike any other book on earth. According to its own testimony it contains “the
words of eternal life” [John 6:63, 68]; it makes the astounding claim to have been “given by inspiration of
God” [2 Timothy
#1. THE BIBLE = SCRIPTURES =
WRITINGS
There
are well over 12,000 manuscripts in at least a dozen languages (over 5,500
Greek mss in the New Testament alone) to prove the existence of the Bible. No
other book in existence has near that amount of existing manuscripts extending
over such a long period of time.
#2. THE BIBLE IS THE OLDEST BOOK
IN THE WORLD
The
Bible has been in continuous use (approximately 3,500 years) since books were
first written.
#3. THE BIBLE IS BY
FAR THE MOST POPULAR BOOK IN THE WORLD
The Bible is the most widely read book ever
published.
#4. THE BIBLE IS THE
ONLY BOOK:
The
Bible is the only book with a clear, understandable, and truthful record of the
creation; the great flood; history; and end of the world.
#5. THE BIBLE IS THE ONLY BOOK:
That gives mankind a reason for living. [1 Corinthians 6:20; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 Peter 2:5]
#6. THE BIBLE IS THE ONLY BOOK:
That can solve the riddle of the crazy days we are living in
today. [2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 2 Timothy 3: 1-13, 4:3-4, 2 Peter 2:1-22, 3:1-7, Jude 17-19]
#7. THE BIBLE IS THE ONLY BOOK:
To
accurately foretell the future in detail and never have a single prophecy fail.
Christ’s 1st. Coming: [Isaiah 7:14, 40:3-5; Micah 5:2; Jeremiah; 31:15; Malachi 3:1]
Christ’s 2nd. Coming: [Matthew 24:1-51; Mark 13:1-37; Luke 21:1-38,; Acts 1:9 -11, 3:18-21; 1 Corinthians 15:51-58; 1Thessalonians 4:13-18, 5:1-10, 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12]
{Over 1,000 prophecies in The Book – Most still to
come}
#8. THE BIBLE - WRITTEN ENTIRELY BE
JEWS
(Luke, the
physician being the only possible exception.) [Deuteronomy 8:3, 30:10-14, 32:1-4; Isaiah 45:23, 55:10-11; Ezekiel 3:10; Romans 3:1-2]
The Bible has 66 Books. {39 Books – Old Testament
& 27 Books – New Testament}
THE OLD TESTAMENT CANON
{Canon
= a measuring rod or rule.}
The Old Testament Canon
is the Jewish Standard for the Scriptures and simply means that
these are all the Books of Scripture that the Jews recognized and
accepted as being The Holy Word of God at the time of Christ’s first coming.
The Jews divided their Scriptures (Christian’s “Old
Testament”) into 3 Sections:
THE LAW,
THE PROPHETS, & THE WRITINGS
The Law was given to Moses [Exodus 24: 3-4; 12]
After Moses wrote The Law, what happened to
these writings?
THE LAW WAS ENTRUSTED TO THE
PRIESTS
[Deuteronomy 31:1-13; Deuteronomy 31: 24-26]
{The Priests (from the tribe of Levi) were given
the responsibility for Copying and Preserving the “Oracles of God, i.e. The
Scriptures}
A Prophet was a man from
the Nation of Israel, called by God to serve Him, who worked in the Jewish
Nation {preaching, prophesizing, warning, admonishing, reproving, and rebuking}.
Either he or his scribe wrote a record of his ministry to
The Books called The
Prophets were divided into two sections:
THE FORMER PROPHETS
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah,
Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
THE WRITINGS
The Books of the Writings were
written by men who were inspired by God, but did not hold the position or Office
of Prophet. David and Solomon were inspired, but they were Kings. Job, though
inspired, was not a prophet. Even Daniel, who prophesized, and whom we
(Christians) hold to be a Prophet, did not labor among the Nation of Israel as
the Prophets did before and after him.
Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song Of
Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, 1 Chronicles, 2
Chronicles
THE LAW, THE PROPHETS, & THE WRITINGS make up
what we (Christians) call:
THE OLD TESTAMENT CANON
{Canon = a measuring rod or rule}
“The New is in the
Old contained, while the Old is by the New explained.”
And again:
“The New is in the
Old concealed, while the Old is by the New revealed.”
When a comparison is made between the two
Testaments we discover some amazing similarities
between the first three chapters of Genesis and the last three chapters of
Revelation.
OLD TESTAMENT NEW
TESTAMENT
(Begins)
(Ends)
In a Garden In a Garden
First
Creation
A “New” Creation
Promise of a Redeemer Redemption Perfected
Tree 0f
Life – Fruit NOT to be eaten Tree of Life – Fruit to be eaten
The
Devil Victorious The
Devil Vanquished
Sorrow,
Sin, Sickness, “No more death, neither
sorrow
Crying,
Pain,
nor
crying, neither shall there
and
Death
be
any pain: . . .” [Revelation21:4]
Man
& Woman
Men and Women
welcomed
Driven
Out by GOD as Children!
The
Bible clearly reveals that: GOD will
Restore All Things – NOT
Man!
Who
wrote the New Testament? – Only Eight Men:
Matthew [Matthew]
Mark [Mark]
Luke [Luke
& Acts - Possibly the only Gentile to write Scripture]
John [John,
1 John, 2 John, 3 John & Revelation]
James [James]
Peter [1
Peter & 2 Peter]
Jude [Jude]
Paul [Romans,
1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians,
Philippians, Colossians, 1Thessalonians,
2Thessalonians,
1Timothy,
2Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and possibly Hebrews]
THE NEW TESTAMENT CANON
The 4 Gospels reveal the 4-fold
earthly ministry of The Lord Jesus Christ as:
MATTHEW MARK LUKE JOHN
as as as as
The King The Servant The Man GOD
[Jeremiah 23:5-6]
[Zechariah 3:8] [Zechariah 6:12] [Isaiah 4:2]
Outside of the Gospels,
the rest of the New Testament is a commentary on the Lord Jesus
Christ’s Ministry here on earth (His Life; His Death; His Resurrection); His
Ministry since the Resurrection; His relationship to the church and to the
believer; and His promised return. The Books of Acts, The Epistles, and
Revelation were written to explain why
the Lord Jesus Christ came; why
He did what He did; and why He
is coming back to set up His Kingdom.
Not until God called the Apostle Paul and revealed His perfect will to him, did men know the full meaning of the Lord Jesus Christ’s Death; His Shed Blood; and His Resurrection (As a whole - known as “The Atonement”).
QUESTIONS ABOUT CHAPTERS & VERSES IN THE BIBLE
#1.
Was the Bible written with chapters and verses already?
#2.
Who divided the Bible into chapters and verses?
#3.
Why are some verses from the Old Testament quoted
slightly different in the New Testament?
Answer to #1. The books which compose our Bible were, when first
written, not broken up into chapters and verses, as they are today. Each book
was separate and the letters ran together continuously throughout the book. At
first the words were written without spaces between them. Then came a space to indicate a pause. Then came spaces between
words and a dot to indicate a pause; then came, in succession, commas, colons,
interrogation points, and systematic punctuation. Accents and breathing were
introduced in about the 7th or 8th century, and were
perfected gradually with the use of the minuscule text.
Answer to #2. Old Testament: The division into
verses is believed to be quite early and can be traced back to the early
centuries of church history. The standard division of the Old Testament into
verses which has
come down to our own day was fixed by the Massoretic
family of Ben Ashur about 900 A.D. This Hebrew text is known as the
"Massoretic" text and is the Hebrew text that was the basis of the
Authorized Version, now known as the King James Bible.
Answer to #2. New Testament:
Very early in church history New Testament manuscripts were divided into
sections, or paragraphs. These sections were usually much smaller than our
chapters and larger than our verses. Sometime before 1228 Stephen Langdon, at
one time - archbishop of
It should be noted that
the chapter and verse divisions are convenient for reference and quotation
purposes, but I do not believe that they are "inspired" as the words
of the Bible are.
(This information and much more can be found
in: "General Biblical Introduction" by H. S. Miller and "The
Books and the Parchments" by F. F. Bruce.)
Answer to #3. This is the most difficult question to answer, but
I will try: Since God is the author of all of the Holy Scriptures:
2Timothy
I believe that He has
the right, as any author does, to quote His words in any way that He so chooses.
{I do this with my writings all of the time.}
Please note that the
men who wrote the New Testament were "inspired" of God to write the words
(which continued to retain the original “inspiration”) and make quotations
under the Holy Spirit's guiding, and that it was God who led them to quote
passages out of the Old Testament as they did. Although there may be minor
differences between an Old Testament passage and the New Testament quote of
that passage, God never omits any words of import, unlike the modern English
translations that have numerous word changes, omissions, and additions, not to
mention various places where whole verses are missing.
IN REGARDS TO YE, YOU & THEE, THOU, THY, THINE
The use of the pronouns ye,
you [plural] and thee,
thou, thy, thine
[singular] in the King James Bible
greatly helps a believer in “rightly dividing the word of God”. For instance: The
King James Bible translators never
used the word ye in the singular case. Every time the word ye
show’s up in the King James Bible, it is always
used to denote a plural pronoun (in reference to - more than one person).
“YE, pronoun. The nominative plural of the second person, of which thou is the singular.
But the two words have no radical connection. Ye is now
used only in the sacred and
solemn style. In common discourse and writing, you is
exclusively used. But ye
are washed, but ye are sanctified. 1 Corinthians 6.”
YOU, pronoun Yu. You has been considered as in the plural only, and is so treated in the Saxon grammar. But from the Belgic dialect, it appears to be in the singular as well as
the plural, and our universal popular usage, in applying it to a single person
with a verb in the singular number, is correct. Yourself
is in the singular number. 1. The
pronoun of the second person, in the nominative or objective case. In familiar
language, it is applied to an individual, as thou is in the solemn style. In
the plural, it is used in the solemn style in the objective case. He that despiseth you, despiseth me. Luke
10. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary.
And again in reference to the
words thee, thou, thy, thine
[singular] – The King James Bible
translators always used these
words in the singular case (in reference to a single person or nation, etc.).
Knowing the distinction between thee, thou,
thy, thine [singular]
and ye,
you [plural] helps the Bible believer to distinguish who
is being addressed.
THOU, pron. in the obj. thee. The second personal pronoun, in the
singular number; the pronoun which is used in addressing persons in the solemn
style.
Art thou he that should come? Matthew 11.
I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. Psalms 23.
Thou is used only in the solemn style, unless in very familiar
language, and by the Quakers.
THOU, v.t. To treat with familiarity.
If thou thouest him some thrice,
it shall not be amiss.
THOU, v.i. To use thou
and thee in discourse.
THEE, pron. obj. case of thou.
THEE, v.i. To thrive; to
prosper.
THINE, pronominal adj. Thy; belonging to thee; relating to thee; being the property of thee. It was formerly used for thy, before a vowel.
Then thou mightest eat grapes
thy fill, at thine own pleasure. Deuteronomy
32.
But in common usage, thy is now used
before a vowel in all cases.
The principal use of thine now is when a verb is interposed
between this word and the noun to which it refers. I will not take any thing
that is thine. Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory.
In the following passage, thine is used as a substitute for thy
righteousness.
I will make mention of thy
righteousness, even of thine only. Psalms 71.
In some cases, it is preceded by the sign of the possessive case,
like nouns, and is then also to be considered as a substitute.
If any of thine be driven out to the utmost parts of heaven - Deuteronomy 30.
It is to be observed that thine, like thou, is used only in the
solemn style. In familiar and common language, your and yours are always used
in the singular number as well as the plural.
THY, a. contracted from
thine, or from some other derivative of thou. It is probable that the pronoun
was originally thig, thug or thuk,
and the adjective thigen. See Thou.
Thy is the adjective of thou, or a pronominal
adjective, signifying of thee, or belonging to thee, like tuus
in Latin. It is used in the solemn and grave style.
These are thy works,
parent of good. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary.
Just remember: If it
begins with "t" (thou, thy, thine) it's SINGULAR,
but if it begins with "y" (ye) it's PLURAL.
IN REGARDS TO EST & ETH ENDINGS
est: The personal ending, used
to form the second person singular indicative of English verbs (passest, gettest, carriest, goest), in modern usage usually –st except immediately following a sibilant or vowel sound
(didst; failedst). Archaic, except
in solemn or poetic language. *
eth: The Middle English ending of the present indicative third person
singular; as, knoweth, thinketh. Archaic.
*
* Source: 1950 Webster’s New International Dictionary