12) Who has translated Bible into English language?
At that time a great man of God, John Wycliffe, who had a great desire that, “Every Christian ought to study this book because it is the whole truth!” made a revolution by completely translating the Bible into English. He also lashed out against the power and riches of the church establishment, and became a very popular leader at Oxford. He was condemned by the archbishop and was fired from Oxford. Eventually he was martyred as a heretic.
Today we have this great treasure, which is readily available to us. We must understand and realize that we hold in our hands the precious revelation of God Himself. It costs us less than a 100/- rupees which is very cheap, rather than a year’s salary, as it once was. The temptation now is to treat the ancient word of God casually as well. But from this ink and paper springs the ageless gospel of hope for this life and the life to come. It is our priceless heritage.
13). Who divided the Bible into chapters and verses? Why and when was it done?
The chapter divisions commonly used today were developed by Arch bishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton and Cardinal Hugo De Santo Caro in AD 1227. The Wycliffe English Bible of 1382 was the first Bible to use this chapter pattern. Since the Wycliffe Bible, nearly all Bible translations have followed Langton’s chapter divisions.
The verses for O.T Hebrew bible was developed by a Jewish rabbi Nathan in A.D. 1448. The NT verses are developed by Robert Estienne, who was also known as Stephanus, in 1555. Stephanus essentially used Nathan’s verse divisions for the Old Testament.
God spoke to people through:
- General Revelation: 1:19,20, Ps.19:1,2
- Special Revelation : I AM WHO I AM3:1-17
- Ten Commandments , through his Son Jesus Christ (Heb. 1:1 )
- God breathed -2 Tim.3:16,17, 2-Pet.2:21, Deu. 6:4-8, Ps.119.
Uniqueness of the Bible
Written over a period of more than 3000 yrs.
Written by people of different cross sections of the society: Eg
i) Moses – a political leader.
ii) Joshua – a Military general.
iii) Nehemiah – a cup bearer.
iv) Peter -a fisher man.
v) Amos – a herd’s man etc….
Bible is written at various locations:
- Moses in wilderness
- Jeremiah in the jail dungeon
- Daniel in a palace
- Paul inside the Prison.
- Luke while
- John on the island of Patmos.
- David during the times of war
- Solomon during the peace period. Etc…
Bible in written form:
written in 3-different languages: Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek.
Latin Vulgates: is a late 4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. It was largely the work of St. Jerome, who was commissioned by Pope Damasus-1 in 382 to make a revision of the old Latin translations and brought out translation in AD 405.
The Dead Sea Scrolls: They are a collection of 972 texts from the Hebrew Bible and extra-biblical documents found between 1947 and 1956 on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea. They were specifically located at Khirbet Qumran in what now the West Bank.
Background Summary:
- God has chosen one single family Abraham and took him from the city of ‘Ur’ to ‘Canaan’ a land flowing with milk.
- With one single family God made a community of 12
- With 12 tribes God made a nation Israel.
The Fertile Crescent: (the land of Canaan)
- God wanted to place Israelites in this fertile crescent.
- It was a “bridge” between Africa and Eurasia.
- It was a region of civilization.
- It had the rivers of Jordan, Tigris, Euphrates and Nile to some extent.
- All the world’s fauna and flora were existing in this small nation.
- The location became a trade route.
- God planted Israel at the crossroads of the world so that the whole world could see the blessings that come to the people living under God’s rule and they could be a model of the Kingdom of heaven on earth. It was like an international airport where many people of many countries could see each other.
- The whole world seemed to be squeezed into a tiny nation.
The history of Israel and Holy Bible writings.
- In the First period the Patriarchs led Israel. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph. (Gen.12-50). Job also seem to be in this period.
- There was a gap of 400 years in between Genesis and Exodus i.e. God was silent during this period.
During this period, Indian, Egyptian and Chinese civilization grew up.
- In the Second Period the Prophets led Israel: Moses to Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges and Ruth.
- The Third period was led by Princes and Kings from Saul, David to Zedekiah. The books covered are: 1 & 2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, 1&2 Chronicles, Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, Ecclesiastes.
- The end of United Kingdom dividing into 10 tribes of North and 2 tribes of south. The prophets are Elijah, Elisha.
- The Fourth Period of Exile where a large number of Prophetic books associated with it. The Northern kingdom fell to Assyrians and then the Southern Kingdom fell to Babylonians.