The Bible: Understanding its Composition and History

The Meaning of the Word "Bible"

• The Bible is a collection of 66 books written over a period of 1,600 years, covering 4,000 years of human history.
• The 39 books of the Old Testament took about 1,000 years to appear (roughly from 1400-400 B.C.).
• The 27 books of the New Testament were written in a much shorter span of time, about 50 years (A.D. 45-95).

Origin of the Word "Bible"

• The English word "Bible" came from the Greek plural "ta biblia", meaning 'the books'.
• The word "Bible" originated from the name of the papyrus or Byblos reed used in Egypt as early as 1100 BC for making scrolls and unbound leafed pages.
• The singular translation came into English via Latin and Old French as "Bible".

The Testaments

• The Bible is divided into two parts called Testaments, with the Old Testament written and preserved by the Jewish community before the time of Christ.
• The New Testament was composed by the followers of Christ during the first century A.D.
• The term "Testament" (berith in Hebrew and diatheke in Greek) means "covenant" in the Hebrew Old Testament.
• The Old Testament is associated with the "old covenant", and the New Testament is associated with the "new covenant" ushered in by the work of Christ.
• The New Testament writers see the fulfillment of the Jeremiah prophecy concerning the new covenant in the new Kingdom order.

Correlation between the Two Covenants

• The Old Testament books are associated with the history of the "old covenant", and the New Testament books are the foundational documents of the "new covenant".
• The terms "Old Testament" and "New Testament" for the two collections of books came into general Christian use in the later part of the second century.
• The correlation between the two covenants is described by St. Augustine as "... the Old Testament revealed in the New, the New concealed in the Old."
• The New Testament is the fulfillment of the prophecies in the Old Testament, and Christ is the theme of both covenants.