When Was The New Testament Written
Since the New Testament books of the Bible are younger than the Old Testament collection, we naturally have more understanding about how the New Testament was written. The astounding feature of this knowledge actually helps us to understand how the Old Testament was collected and compiled. There is little difference in method. The books of the New Testament were recognized in time as the divine Word of God moving through His Apostles and disciples. From A.D. 33 until approximately A.D. 80, the Holy Spirit breathed out His Word in twenty-seven books and nine authors. Among the authors used by God were those who actually walked with Jesus and had seen Jesus in His post-resurrection form . The New Testament may be simply divided into Gospels and Epistles. Paul wrote most of the Epistles. These letters to churches were primarily concerned with clarifying doctrinal truths about Jesus and the way to be saved and ethical goals for the life of believers in the Church. Misunderstanding, contextualization problems, persecution, and false teachers became the forces that caused the writings and led to clarity, faithfulness, and further revelation about the mission of God in the world through Jesus Christ.
Hebrew Died And Was Revived
By the time the writers of what would come to be called the Old Testament began putting pen to paper, the dominant language was Hebrew. As Bible Gateway explains, the language is an ancient Semitic tongue believed to have originated before 1500 B.C. For centuries, the authors who would write, edit, and compile the documents that were eventually grouped into the Old Testament wrote and spoke Hebrew, and that’s the language they used to write their scripture.
Due to a series of historical events that won’t be rehashed here, by the fourth century, Hebrew was completely dead as a language, existing only as words on scrolls. However, as Lang Focus explains, a concerted effort was made in the 19th century to revive the language, and to this day, it’s spoken by millions of people around the world . However, the outlet also notes that Modern Hebrew and Ancient Hebrew aren’t exactly the same and compares this contrast to the divide between the English of the King James Bible and the English spoken every day by modern speakers it’s possible to get the gist, but word usage, syntax, and grammar are often different and confusing.
What Language Was The Bible Written In
Several languages, actually.
The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, with a few of its later books written partly in Aramaic, an old trade language of the Middle East. Jesus and his disciples spoke Aramaic, but the New Testament was written in a common form of Greek known as koine.
Many words are not translatable one-for-one from language to language, so it can be helpful to explore different translations as you dive deeper into the Bible.
To get started, Look Inside.
Don’t Miss: Which Amendment Is The Freedom Of Speech
Hebrew: Language Of The Old Testament
Hebrew belongs to the Semitic language group, a family of ancient tongues in the Fertile Crescent that included Akkadian, the dialect of Nimrod in Genesis 10 Ugaritic, the language of the Canaanites and Aramaic, commonly used in the Persian empire.
Hebrew was written from right to left and consisted of 22 consonants. In its earliest form, all the letters ran together. Later, dots and pronunciation marks were added to make it easier to read. As the language progressed, vowels were included to clarify words that had become obscure.
Sentence construction in Hebrew might place the verb first, followed by the noun or pronoun and objects. Because this word order is so different, a Hebrew sentence cannot be translated word-for-word into English. Another complication is that a Hebrew word might substitute for a commonly used phrase, which had to be known to the reader.
Different Hebrew dialects introduced foreign words into the text. For example, Genesis contains some Egyptian expressions while Joshua, Judges, and Ruth include Canaanite terms. Some of the prophetic books use Babylonian words, influenced by the Exile.
Does The Bible Talk About Homosexuality
This is one of the most controversial and personal topics people are exploring right now.
And we know many people have used the Bible to demonize and exclude others. To those whove felt excluded, we invite you to watch this apology.
Of the more than 31,000 verses in the Bible, fewer than 10 specifically reference homosexuality. We invite you to check them out in the links below. But instead of just reading individual verses and forming your ideas in isolation, we also suggest getting a bigger picture.
As you do this, youre likely to find a wider sexual ethic running through the Bible: that God is a fan of sex and all that it brings. Because of this, we find protections and prescriptions for sexual expression in the Bible. In fact, the New Testament offers several lists of barred behaviors that can hurt our relationship with both God and othersand two of these lists include references to certain homosexual activities. But even these descriptions are accompanied by a deep awareness of the gracious invitation of God.
You can find the prohibitions against specific homosexual acts in Leviticus 18 and Leviticus 20, among the many laws given to the ancient Jewish people. And in the New Testament, Romans 1 paints a big picture of broken relationships running amok, with certain acts again singled out. Yet Romans 2 offers a larger picturewith a clear caution to people who judge others negatively.
To learn even more about Gods compassion, grace, and love, Look Inside.
You May Like: Does Blue Cross Blue Shield Cover Speech Therapy
What Parts Of The Bible Were Written In Aramaic
Ancient Aramaic originated among the Arameans in northern Syria and became widely used under the Assyrians. A few passages in the Old Testament were written in Aramaic .
Some have compared the relationship between Hebrew and Aramaic to that between modern Spanish and Portuguese: theyre distinct languages, but sufficiently closely related that a reader of one can understand much of the other. Aramaic was very popular in the ancient world and was commonly spoken in Jesus time.
When Was The Bible Written
The Bible books are collected in two Testaments. The Old Testament covers human history from creation until about 400 BC, which is a period of thousands of years . For some books, we know when they were written because the books themselves tell us. The book of Amos, for example, is introduced as follows:The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake . The book of Jeremiah describes how the words of this prophet were written down, destroyed by the king, and written down again during his lifetime. When this was, becomes clear in the introduction of the final book: The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month .
Recommended Reading: Doctor Of Speech Language Pathology
When It Comes To The Original Languages Of The Bible
it seems that people
- think they know
Our knowledge is basically a sum total of what we have learned and experienced in life.
Whatever your sum total includesthe mating practices of oysters, whether or not going to Wal-Mart on Saturday afternoon is a good idea, or some knowledge of the original languages of the Biblesthe valuable info in this post will be useful at some time or another.
Dont Miss: What Does The Bible Say About Loneliness
Who Wrote The Bible
The Bible exists of 66 books that were written over the course of centuries, by many different authors, as is explained in more detail in our articles Who wrote the Bible? and Who decided which books to include in the Bible?. Jesus Himself did not write anything. His words and life story were recorded by His followers. However, these human authors were inspired by Gods Spirit to write their books. Therefore, the Lord God is the ultimate, real author of all the Bible books. For more information on this topic, read our article Is the Bible the word of God?
Don’t Miss: Activities For English Language Learners
New Testament: Who Wrote The Gospels
Just as the Old Testament chronicles the story of the Israelites in the millennium or so leading up to the birth of Jesus Christ, the New Testament records Jesuss life, from his birth and teachings to his death and later resurrection, a narrative that forms the fundamental basis of Christianity. Beginning around 70 A.D., about four decades after Jesuss crucifixion , four anonymously written chronicles of his life emerged that would become central documents in the Christian faith. Named for Jesuss most devoted earthly disciples, or apostlesMatthew, Mark, Luke and Johnthe four canonical Gospels were traditionally thought to be eyewitness accounts of Jesuss life, death and resurrection.
12th-13th century depiction of evangelists Luke and Matthew writing the Gospels.
DeAgostini/Getty Images
But for more than a century, scholars have generally agreed that the Gospels, like many of the books of the New Testament, were not actually written by the people to whom they are attributed. In fact, it seems clear that the stories that form the basis of Christianity were first communicated orally, and passed down from generation to generation, before they were collected and written down.
What About Modern Versions
According to 1995 statistics published by the American Bible Society, theBible or portions of it are now printed in 2,123 languages or dialects. Althoughthey estimate 6,528 languages and dialects exist, many of them are used byvery few people. Therefore, they estimate that 90 percent of the world populationhas access to the Bible in their spoken language. The current number oftranslations and versions is constantly increasing.
The following comment and exercise have to do with an antiquated Englishversion of the Bible. This may not be useful to our non-English readers,but they may wish to use a similar exercise relating to an old Bible versionin their own language.
Many who use the English version believe the King James Version is the mostauthentic and has the greatest authority. Yet, the King James Version containsmany words no longer currently used. As evidence, determine what the followingwords mean in the King James Version-passages indicated:
8.Ezek.35:6Sith
In the fight of what Paul says in2Timothy 2:15, how is his admonition helpful to us when we use the variousversions?
Don’t Miss: Examples Of Speech Of Introduction
The Bible Is The Source Of Christian Faith
One of my first bible classes in college was a course called Old Testament Introduction. From that class I realized for the first time that the Old Testament was not written in English and, as a matter of fact, was written in an ancient language, Hebrew. As I began to study the various theories about the Bible and the many great thinkers who contradicted its authenticity, I had great difficulty sorting out the truth from error. A wise and competent teacher guided us in the course, however, and it soon became clear to me that the Bible is a wonderful, supernatural book, which is the source of our Christian faith.
Because the Bible is the source of Christian faith, it is very important how we regard the Bible, how we can discover the truths revealed in the Bible, and to what extent we can understand what the Bible teaches.
The Bible is our source of information about Godwho He is and what He has done for us. The Bible is a revelation of manhis character, history, and spiritual needs. The Bible also tells us about Gods plan of salvation, which provides forgiveness and renewal for man in his sinful situation. The Bible reveals what Gods standards of right and wrong are and what His will is for His creatures. Christian faith is one of hope for the future, and the Bible alone can chart the course of our future into eternity. It would be difficult to overemphasize the importance of the Bible and what it reveals.
First Translation Of The Bible The Septuagint Was In Greek
The Bible is the biggest-selling and most read book in human history originally written in Hebrew and Aramaic, the first translation of the Bible into another language, called the Septuagint, was in Greek.
The translation of the Old Testament into Koine Greek in the third century BC took place within a historical context that was important for the development of the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, and the growth of Judaism and Christianity.
Read Also: Is Freedom Of Speech In The Constitution
Read Also: Why Is Free Speech Important
Who Wrote The Bible God Or Man
The ultimate author of the Bible is God Himself, the Creator of all things, visible and invisible.
Through the process of inspiration, the Lord inspired human writers such as Moses to physically write the Living Word of God over the course of around 1,500 years.
The Bible itself tells us that all Scripture is God-breathed:
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 ESV
In essence, God superintended human authors so that each writers individual style was intact while at the same delivering exactly what the Lord intended.
We see this on full display across Scripture with the four gospels of the New Testament being a great example.
Trying to study the Bible without knowing the original languages is like trying to play Beethoven on a mouth organ. Its just not going to be huge You may get something of the tune, but it wont be what the guy actually had in mind.
Each gospel carries the specific vocabulary and style of the writer while delivering precisely what God intended.
Yet, the process of inspiration is quite difficult to understand for our puny human brains. And thats perfectly normal.
Thankfully, God sheds some light on how inspired writing works through His servant Peter:
Even though the human author of some Scripture books is unknown thats irrelevant.
Final Thoughts
What Significance Does The Old Testament Have For Christians
In the Old Testament God reveals himself as the Creator and preserver of the world and as the leader and instructor of mankind. The Old Testament books are also Gods Word and Sacred Scripture. Without the Old Testament, we cannot understand Jesus.
In the Old Testament a great history of learning the faith begins, which takes a decisive turn in the New Testament and arrives at its destination with the end of the world and Christs second coming. The Old Testament is far more than a mere prelude for the New. The commandments and prophecies for the people of the Old Covenant and the promises that are contained in it for all men were never revoked. In the books of the Old Covenant we find an irreplaceable treasure of prayers and wisdom in particular, the Psalms are part of the Churchs daily prayer.
Don’t Miss: Korean Language Translate In English
In Which Language Was The Bible First Written
Nowadays, the complete Bible is available in over 700 languages, and the New Testament in another 1500 languages around the world . All these versions are translations from the original Bible texts as they were written down centuries ago. So, in which language was the Bible first written? Was it written in English, Latin, Hebrew or Greek? The answer is more complicated and more interesting than one would expect. Let me first give a bit of background information.
Did King James Change The Bible
Not only was it the first peoples Bible, but its poetic cadences and vivid imagery have had an enduring influence on Western culture. In 1604, Englands King James I authorized a new translation of the Bible aimed at settling some thorny religious differences in his kingdomand solidifying his own power.
Don’t Miss: Apps To Learn Sign Language
In What Language Was The Bible First Written
The first human author to write down the biblical record was Moses. He was commanded by God to take on this task, for Exodus 34:27 records Gods words to Moses, Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel. And what language did he use? He wrote in his native language, called Hebrew.
Hebrew is one of a group of languages known as the Semitic languages which were spoken throughout that part of the world, then called Mesopotamia, located today mainly in Iraq. Their alphabet consisted of 22 letters, all consonants.
During the thousand years of its composition, almost the entire Old Testament was written in Hebrew. But a few chapters in the prophecies of Ezra and Daniel and one verse in Jeremiah were written in a language called Aramaic. This language became very popular in the ancient world and actually displaced many other languages. Aramaic even became the common language spoken in Israel in Jesus time, and it was likely the language He spoke day by day. Some Aramaic words were even used by the Gospel writers in the New Testament.
Yes, we do have what God wanted us to have! By way of translation, we now have His revelation in our own language and in 2300 other languages, too. Today we have the very Bible that comes to us from the three languages used in the original. Truly we can say, God speaks my language, too!