CHAPTER 2 HOW THE BIBLE WAS CREATED Transmission

CHAPTER 2 HOW THE BIBLE WAS CREATED Transmission, Canonization, and Translation

Key Themes/Topics No original texts by any biblical authors have survived Only copies remain – the Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered in 1947, are the oldest Before the Dead Sea Scrolls, scholars relied on the medieval Jewish manuscripts known as the Masoretic Text (MT) The Bible we know today has been translated through a series of languages – Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Latin, and English 2 © 2010 Mc. Graw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

Transmission of the Biblical Texts The Bible’s origins shrouded in mystery With most authors, compositional/historical context remain unknown Probably originated in oral form, then were written down by ancient Israelite scribes No two of the 5, 000 biblical manuscripts are identical 3 © 2010 Mc. Graw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

The Masoretic Text (MT) is the text on which most contemporary translations of the Old Testament are based Takes its name from Masorah (“transmission” in Hebrew) Refers to school of medieval Jewish scholars, Masoretes, who produced series of Hebrew Bible manuscripts during ninth and tenth centuries CE Examples include Aleppo Codex and Leningrad Codex 4 © 2010 Mc. Graw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

The Dead Sea Scrolls Discovered in a cave near the northwestern shore of the Dead Sea, known as Qumran, by a Bedouin shepherd boy in 1947 Date from 250 BCE to 68 CE – more than a thousand years older than the Masoretic Text Arguably the most important archaeological find of the twentieth century Revolutionized our understanding of the Bible 5 © 2010 Mc. Graw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

The Canon of the Hebrew Bible Grew by slow degrees rather than rapidly Coalesced over several centuries, between time of the return of the exiles from Babylon in 538 BCE and the destruction of Judea by the Romans in 70 CE The Pentateuch was canonized first, followed by other sections of the Tanakh 6 © 2010 Mc. Graw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

The Canon of the New Testament Like the Old Testament, canonization took place over extended period Books appear to have been composed between 50 CE and 130 -140 CE Canonization complete by 367 CE (Easter Letter of Athanasius) Key Aspect: Process of canonization designed not around inclusion, but exclusion – many texts, such as recently discovered Gospel of Judas, were excluded 7 © 2010 Mc. Graw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

Marcion and Gnosticism Both Marcion and Gnosticism’s actions helped encourage canonization Marcion (ca. 140 CE), a Greek shipbuilder living in Rome, urged Christians to reject the Hebrew Bible Gnosticism (from Greek gnosis, “knowledge”), argued Yahweh was a malignant power responsible for making the corrupt material world Early Christian leaders categorically rejected these arguments, used canonization as a form of defense against them 8 © 2010 Mc. Graw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

The Latin Vulgate Completed by Jerome 385 -405 CE, after Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire Known as the Vulgate because it renders Scripture into the “vulgar” (“common” in Latin) Latin of the western Roman Empire Became the standard translation in the Western world for one thousand years; still the official Bible of the Roman Catholic Church 9 © 2010 Mc. Graw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

English Translations The Venerable Bede (ca. 730 s CE) translated 10 part of the Vulgate into Old English; no surviving copy No complete versions of the Bible available in English until 1384, when John Wycliffe translated both Old and New Testaments Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press (1455) and the Protestant Reformation (1517 -1648) encouraged new translations – English versions of Luther’s German translation (1522 -1534) then appeared. Several new translations followed, including the King James Bible. © 2010 Mc. Graw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

The King James Bible Appeared in 1611 Commissioned by James I, son of Mary, Queen of Scots James appointed thirty-four scholars to compile new version of the Bishop’s Bible for official use by Anglican Church Full of rhythmic prose and colorful imagery Considered both a literary masterpiece and a problematic document for scholarly analysis 11 © 2010 Mc. Graw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

Modern English and American Translations Revised Version of King James Bible (1881 - 1885) Revised Standard Version (1946 -1952) New American Bible (1970) New International Version (1970 s) Revised English Bible (1989) New Revised Standard Version (1991) 12 © 2010 Mc. Graw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

Reading the Bible Analytically Recognize the immense literary and interpretive diversity of the Bible Let each individual biblical writer speak for himself Recognize the multiplicity of viewpoints within Scripture 13 © 2010 Mc. Graw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.

Reading the Bible Analytically (cont. ) Understand how the growth of scientific and rational knowledge has enhanced our understanding of the Bible Recognize the influence of biblical criticism in sharpening and expanding Scriptural studies Identify how these approaches have vastly increased our understanding of the means of transmission of the insights of faith 14 © 2010 Mc. Graw-Hill Higher Education. All rights reserved.