When we think about the Word of God today, probably very little thought goes in to what it took to bring us the Bible, or even what events led up to the completion of God's Word. If you were to ask today's Christian what they know about God's Word, you would more than likely get answers about where they bought it, the color of the cover, and the translation or version they have. I have even known Christians who didn't think that the history of the church was even important, and that we shouldn't worry about it, but we should just concentrate upon reading of God's Word. I believe that this type of thinking has helped to lead today's believers into a spiritual darkness where they blindly wait in spiritual ignorance. This is why there are so many different Christian groups all interpreting the Scriptures very loosely. If believers would take the time to gain an understanding of what it took for us to have God's completed Word today, it would bring added value to their faith, and strengthen their understanding of the Scriptures. God's book would once again take its position in the hearts of the believer, and not just tossed on the coffee table after the Sunday Morning service.

Since I have begun to study the Scriptures and the history behind them, I have a new appreciation for the Scriptures. I no longer see the gold on the edges of my Bible, but I see pages of great value, preserved through the ages with the blood and sweat of man so that I may have the privilege to freely have them to read and study. I hope this paper will help others to see the Scriptures in a new way, with a new life in them.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not." John 1:1-5 (KJV)

"And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient. And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words." Exodus 24:7-8 (KJV)

What is meant by Revelation? Geisler and Nix define Revelation as "an objective disclosure of truth by God."²   So through God's Revelation He has made known to mankind His nature, His holiness, His Justice, His demands of righteousness, His goodness, His mercy, His love, and His salvation. We need to keep in mind that the Bible is not a accumulated result of the thoughts of man, nor is it something that man has discovered by themselves in their search for God. Revelation simply means that God has chosen to make Himself known and any lesser definition of revelation is not revelation at all.³

Now when we speak of revelation, we find that it is commonly spoken of in two terms: general and special. General revelation is something that is given to all men like what is proclaimed in the following Scriptures,

"To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth his handiwork." Psalms 19:1 (KJV)

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen." Romans 1:18-25 (KJV)

"God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;" Hebrews 1:1-2 (KJV)

So as we view the Old or New Testament we must admit that it is a collection of books inspired by God, with a remarkable singleness of purpose and program, singleness in mind, and that it comes from the divine Author. The only way God could reliably impart His knowledge to us, is through a reliable written record.⁵    F. F. Bruce defines inspiration as,

"That operation of the Holy Spirit by which the prophets of Israel were enabled to utter the word of God. The vocabulary was theirs; the message was his. Only to certain individuals, and only occasionally to them, was this enablement granted."⁶

The Bible is written in the words of men, and is not some supernatural language, but the everyday language of mankind. The styles of the writers differ according to their personal nature and the circumstances under which they wrote, its human side has long been recognized by those who have read and studied the Bible.⁸  The Old Testament was written by men who spoke and wrote Hebrew, which is the original language of all the Old Testament Scriptures except about six chapters in Daniel (2:4-7:28), about three chapters in Ezra (4:8 to 6:18; 7:12-26), and one verse in Jeremiah (10:11). These chapters are in the Aramaic tongue, which is related to Hebrew.⁹   Hebrew is called "the Jews language" or "the language of Canaan" in Nehemiah 13:24, and Isaiah 19:18. It contains twenty-two letters which are all consonants (there were no letters that were vowels because they not considered to be necessary, after all anyone who knew the language could supply the proper vowels for pronunciation). Hebrew may seem strange but it is not difficult to understand, it is easier to supply the missing vowels because the formation of words following definite vowel patterns and some consonants have a preference for certain vowels. When the Jewish people began speaking Aramaic and Greek, there was a fear that they might forget the proper reading. At this point they invented a system of vowel "points" with small symbols to indicate the proper vowels. Hebrew is written from the right to the left, and is just as easy to learn to read and write in this manner as in any other language. Another characteristic of Hebrew is the fact that all words, with a few exceptions, have three letters in the base word or root word. With the addition of various vowels, prefixes, suffixes, and the doubling of letters it gives various signification's to the word. Because of prefixes and suffixes and vowel combinations have the same general significance no matter with what root they are used. Once a person has learned the meaning of a root word, they have a clue to the significance of dozens of words. The Biblical Hebrew has a relatively small vocabulary and there are only about 5000 different words, besides proper names in the Old Testament. About five hundred of these are used over and over again.¹⁰

Since the Old Testament is primarily the biography of a people chosen by God, and God's dealing with them. Hebrew was the primary language in which the Old Testament was written. It is particularly suited for this kind of biographical expression because it is a pictorial language and it is a personal language. Hebrew possesses a ability to present "pictures" of events, and it addresses itself to the heart and emotions rather than merely to the mind or reason.¹¹  This is a point worth noting, that we tend to remember things better and longer if they become fixed in our minds by a picture, and the same is true about emotional events that take place in our lives.

"Why were Christ's words remembered fifty years later, when Gospel writers collecting material for the New Testament talked to those illiterate farmers and fishermen who had heard Christ's sermons? Because his preaching carried parables or pictures...When you recount some personal experience in a talk, you come alive because you're talking about something that happened to you. And you tell it well because you've already told it many times before." James C. Humes¹²

The Old and New Testament form a canon because of the fact that they are the authoritative revelation from God. By the term authoritative it is implied that the Bible in all its parts is the communication from God to men. Its authority is inherent, for the Scriptures speak forth, "Thus saith the Lord." Scriptures are deemed authoritative in that they go so far as to declare God's will to ecclesiastical councils and human governments. Similarly, as worthy authority presupposes the ability to execute decrees, and God's Word proclaims His assured purposes, but also it sets forth the penalty which must follow whenever and wherever men are not amenable to it. The Old Testament writings were produced mainly by the men who were in authority over the religious and to some extent, civil life of the people. Moses was recognized as Jehovah's representative and lawgiver. Few ever resisted the message of Jehovah's recognized messengers.¹⁴   Jesus Christ verified the Old Testament as authoritative.

"Jesus saith unto them, Did ye never read in the scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes?" Matthew 21:42 (KJV)

"Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God." Matthew 22:29 (KJV)

"That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar." Matthew 23:35 (KJV)

It is held by some that the canonization of the Old Testament Pentateuch (first five books) occurred somewhere around 400 B.C., the Prophets, about 200 B.C., and the writings about 90 A.D. However, whatever recognition the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament Scriptures may have received at these specified times, it is almost certain that they had been accepted on the part of the people years before. When the Law was given to Moses at Mount Sinai, it was recognized as God given. When men of God spoke in the Old Testament, their utterances were recognized as being inspired. In the years that followed, if man violated the Word of God, they were considered to be rebellious against the Word of God. When the prophets spoke, their word, too, was recognized as being from God and authoritative. From these facts, it would indicated that much of the Old Testament was recognized from the very first to be holy Scripture. Hilkiah the priest found the book of the Law in the temple at Jerusalem in 621 B.C. (2 Kings 22:8), and when King Josiah heard the Law read, he called all the elders of Judah together and in their presence asked them to make a covenant before God to keep His commandments (2 Kings 23:1-3). Some scholars consider this to have been the first act of canonization, the first "official" recognition of writings as authoritative Scripture. However official this may have been, Josiah was only recognizing the fact that many before had done, recognize that it was the written Word of God. There was also a tradition that a great synagogue of one hundred and twenty members was presided over by Ezra so they could edit and set the canon of the Old Testament Scriptures. It is true that Ezra was a scribe of the Law of Moses (Ezra 7:6), but this would be indicative of the fact that the Law was already held in high esteem as the authoritative Word of God. King Artaxerxes did sent Ezra to Jerusalem so that his subjects from Judah, could observe diligently the Law of God, or else he might fear there be some wrath against his kingdom and family (Ezra 7:23). There is nothing in the records that would indicate the idea that Ezra was trying to "canonize" the already existing writings. It is true that Ezra and his associates did play an important part in the assembling of the Old Testament books which had already been recognized as Scripture. Even in the book of Nehemiah (chapters 8-10) we have a record of the reading of the Law in Jerusalem to the Jews who had returned from their Babylonian captivity. The reading was done by Ezra and his associates, and all the people cried when they heard the words of the Law (Nehemiah 8:9). It was after the second reading that the people made a covenant and pledged themselves to obey God's Law (Nehemiah 10:29). Again, we see a recognition, and not something new, but of something that already existed. These people were declaring that those words that God spoke to Moses, years ago, had authority and needed to be heeded.¹⁶   In the case of the canonicity of the New Testament, there were at least four tests to determine if a book was accepted into the canon. The first test was, did it have the authority of the apostles (did they write it or quote from it; 1 Thess. 5:27; Col.4:16). The second consideration was, did it contain sufficient spiritual character. The third consideration was, was it widely read or accepted by other churches. And the last test was, did it give internal evidence of inspiration. During the post apostolic period, all the books of the New Testament were recognized except for the books of Hebrews, 2 Peter, 2 John and 3 John. Finally at the Council of Carthage in 397 A.D., the twenty-seven books of our present New Testament were listed as the canonical books of the New Testament.¹⁷

"Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." (Mat 24:35 KJV).

With the spread of Greek influence after the conquests of Alexander the Great, the Greek language became the spoken tongue throughout the empire.  In some areas the Jews eventually forgot (or quit) the use of the Hebrew language, and it became necessary that they have a translation in Greek if they were to be able to read their own Scripture.  A Greek translation was made beginning in Alexandria Egypt, around 250 B.C., and was finished some time in the next hundred years.  This Old Testament translation was called the Septuagint (LXX) from the tradition that seventy Jewish translators were engaged in the work of translating or that seventy members of an Egyptian Jewish Sanhedrin sanctioned the translation.  This Greek Old Testament introduced the religion of the one true God to the Gentile world, and to that extent, helped to prepare or plant the seeds for the spread of the gospel after Jesus Christ came.  This was the first translation of the Old Testament into another language, and it also became the mother-text for several later translations.¹⁹

Other versions have been of great help to scholars in their study of the Old Testament.  The church began in Jerusalem with tree thousand member (Acts 2:1-47) and soon the number increased to more than five thousand (Acts 4:4).  Also around this time there began a persecution that cause the scattering of many of these members, so as these members fled Jerusalem they proclaimed the Word of God as went.  As new churches began elsewhere the desire to have the Word of God in one's own language brought about the early translations of which we now write.  One of the most ancient versions made from the Hebrew text, apart from the Septuagint,  was  the Syriac translation.  The Syriac church has continued in India even to our day, and still uses the standard Syriac version of the Scriptures.  This translation, according to an early historian Eusebius that Hegesippus, a Christian writer  was made around 150 A.D.  Another of the earliest versions was the Old Latin version, because in the city of Carthage and Roman provinces of Africa,  Latin was the principle language.  As time went on there were many attempts to copy the Old Latin Scriptures and many errors started to creep in, so the church in Rome asked Jerome to do a new translation and this translation became known as the "Vulgate" ('meaning popular' or 'common').  No other translation of the Scriptures has figured so extensively in the history as the Bible as the Vulgate (it was used for over a thousand years).  Many other translations of the Bible began to appear as the need arose.  Some of these were the, Coptic (Egyptian) version, Gothic version, Ethiopic version, Armenian version, and the Georgian version.  Somewhere around the ninth century the Arabic and Slavonic versions appeared.  Finally our English versions of the Bible began to appear with the works of such people as Wycliffe and Tyndale.²⁰

The first complete English bible was the Coverdale Bible.  Miles Coverdale was Tyndale's assistant and proofreader.  After the death of Tyndale, Coverdale published a bible based upon interpretation from the Vulgate, Pagnini's Latin Version, Luther's German, The Zurich Bible, Tyndale, and Erasmus's Latin version.  He introduced chapter summaries, separated the Apocrypha from the other Old Testament books.  Thomas Matthew followed with his bible which was combination of Tyndale and Coverdale Old Testaments.  He also borrowed from the French versions.  Richard Taverner used his talent to revise Matthew's bible in 1539, and  improved the translation.  The Great Bible was done under the direction of Coverdale, and it got it's name because of its size.  This was actually a revision of Roger's revision of Tyndale's Bible.  The Geneva Bible was produced during the reign of Mary Tudor.  When the persecution began in England, Geneva offered refuge so many (like Coverdale) took refuge there.  While there, John Knox was leading a group of Protestant exiles in writing a New English version of the Bible to meet their religious needs.  The Geneva Bible was in several respects an improvement on previous English versions.  It introduced italicized words into the text where English idiom required additional words.  The Old Testament and a revision of the New Testament were completed in 1550.  It went through at least 140 editions prior to 1644.  The Bishop's Bible was a revision of the Great Bible, and was called this because most of the translators were bishops.  It could not overcome its disadvantage of being introduced after the Geneva Bible, so while it could be found in churches from 1568 to 1611, the Geneva Bible was still in the homes.²¹

In 1604, a petition from the Puritans was given to King James containing grievances in the English Church.  James was obliged to hear their petitions and set out to have an authorized version of the English Bible that would be acceptable to all parties in the church.  He had six companies of men assigned (54 total) to work on this new revision (they used other English translation also).  The King James version text was based on little if any of the superior text of the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries.  The reasons for the gradual success of the King James version are: 1) the personal qualifications of the revisers (scholars and linguists); 2) the work was a national effort;  3) the availability and accessibility of the results of nearly a century of labor in the field of biblical study; 4) the religious climate of the day (predominant interest of their age was theology and religion); 5) the organized system of cooperative work that followed the Geneva bible resulted in a unity of tone in the King James version; and 6) the literary atmosphere of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries paralleled the sense of style and artistic touch of the translators.  Another factor that added to the success was that the publishers ceased the publication of the Bishops' Bible in 1606, and they used the same format as the Geneva Bible in the King James Version.²²

The reason for the growing enthusiasm for Biblical archeology lies in the supreme importance of the message and meaning of the Bible itself.  Biblical archeology is shedding light upon the historical background and the contemporary life out of which the Scriptures came.  No field of research has offered greater challenge and promise than that of the archeology.  Up to the beginning of the nineteenth century exceedingly little was known of Biblical times except what appeared on the pages of the Scriptures or what had been preserved in the classical writings of antiquity.  Most of the notable discoveries affecting the Bible and particularly the Old Testament were not made until the twentieth-century.²³

It was assumed that writing was relatively unknown in Palestine during the Mosaic period, and that no part of the Pentateuch could have written until the tenth or ninth centuries B.C.  Archaeological discovery has confirmed the use of alphabetic writing in the Canaanite-speaking cultures before 1500 B.C., and has contributed large numbers of documents to demonstrate the existence and major importance of both the Hittites and Horites and have contained the names of belshazzar.  Thus it has come about that in case after case where alleged historical inaccuracy was pointed to as proof of late and spurious authorship of the biblical documents, the Hebrews have been vindicated by the results of recent excavation. Another example is found in the Genesis accounts of the career of Abraham and his descendants are untrustworthy and often unhistorical.  But once again in the twentieth century confirmation of the biblical record  has come about through archaeological discoveries.  The city of Ur in Southern Sumeria was thoroughly excavated in 1922-1934.  The name Abram has been discovered in tablets dating from the sixteenth century B.C.  The excavations at Shechem and Bethel show that they were inhabited in Abraham's day.  The list goes on and on.  So from these few examples we can see how important archaeology has been for validating the Scriptures.  Josh McDowell has rightly stated, "Whenever an archaeologist's trowel goes into the ground, another critic is buried."²⁴

So as you can see from this brief summary of the history of  God's Word that they just didn't appear in the local Christian book store.  There was a great deal of work, sweat and even blood that went into preserving the Bible as we know it today.  This study should help us to see the Sovereignty of God at work through mankind to put down into writing His divine will and guidance for our lives.  It should also help us to see how valuable our Bible truly is, because what it cost so many others to preserve and translate it so that we may see and read for ourselves, "Thus saith the Lord."

1.A General Introduction to the Bible, Geisler & Nix, p.37

2. Ibid, p.642

3. How We Got Our Bible, Tesh, p.19

4. Ibid, pp.20-21

5. A Survey Of Old Testament Introduction, Archer, pp.21-23

6. The Canon of Scripture, Bruce, p.264

7. An Introduction to the Bible, Johnson, p.26

8. Ibid, p.17

9. Ibid, p.25

10. How We Got Our Bible, Tesh, pp.42-43

11. A General Introduction to the Bible, Geisler & Nix, pp.328-329

12. The Sir Winston Method, The Five Secrets of Speaking the Language of Leadership, Humes, pp.64-66

13. How We Got Our Bible, Tesh, pp.44-45

14. Systematic Theology, Vol.1, Chafer, pp.89-91

15. How We Got Our Bible, Tesh, pp.47-48

16. Ibid, pp.48-49

17. The Ryrie Study Bible, Ryrie, p.1944

18. How We Got Our Bible, Tesh, pp.54-60

19. Ibid, pp.54-57

20. Ibid, pp.64-66

21. A General Introduction To The Bible. Geisler & Nix, pp.543-555

22. Ibid, pp.564-567

23. Archeology And The Old Testament. Unger, pp.9-10

24. A Survey of Old Testament Introduction. Archer, pp.173-177

^{Archer, Gleason L. A Survey Of Old Testament Introduction. Chicago: Moody Press. 1994}

^{Bruce, F. F. The Canon Of Scripture. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press. 1988}

^{Chafer, Lewis Sperry. Systematic Theology, Vol.I. Dallas: Dallas Seminary Press. 1974}

^{Francisco, Clyde T. Introducing the Old Testament. Nashville: Broadman. 1977}

^{Geisler, Norman L. & Nix, William E. A General Introduction To The Bible. Chicago: Moody Press. 1986}

^{Humes, James C. The Sir Winston Method, The Five Secrets of Speaking the Language of Leadership. New York: William Morrow. 1991}

^{Johnson, L. D. An Introduction to the Bible. Nashville: Convention Press. 1969}

^{Ryrie, Charles Caldwell , The Ryrie Study Bible, Moody Press, Chicago IL. 1978}

^{Tesh, S. Edward. How We Got Our Bible. Cincinnati: Standard Publishing. (no date)}

^{Unger, Merrill F. Archaeology And The Old Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. 1982}