Lord Or Yhvh Jesus Or Yeshua Sunday Or Sabbath Church Or Synagogue Gentile Or Israel Clean Or Unclean Law Or Grace 2000 Years After The Messiah Wherever We Live Whether It’s Sri Lanka Or Any Other Part Of The World All Of Us Require To Learn How To Do Bible Things In Bible Ways
A common fact that is taught to all Christians is that the Old Testament was written in Hebrew while the New Testament was written in Greek. There is consensus among all Biblical Scholars that the Old Testament was indeed written in Hebrew. But not all scholars agree on the point that the New Testament was written in Greek. Even though most of the remaining Manuscripts of the New Testament are all in Greek, there is evidence that parts of the New Testament would have indeed been written in Hebrew and subsequently translated to Aramaic, Greek and any other languages of the day.
Matthew wrote his account of the Gospel, in Hebrew
One of the best pieces of evidence that exists to prove that the New Testament may have originally been written in Hebrew, is The Gospel of Matthew. This Gospel account which is regarded as the earliest out of the 4 Gospels contained in our Bibles, come from Matthew who was surnamed Levi and who was a Tax Collector previously. He was a Hebrew speaking man just like all of the other Disciples of Christ. There are quite a few historical witnesses who have spoken how Matthew wrote his account of the Gospel in Hebrew.
Furthermore, Martin Luther, the Protestant Reformer from the 16th Century had this to say about Hebrew and the New Testament
_________UPDATEFollowing is an important piece of information which was missing from this post, but was added because of Brother Hubert Krause who posted an important question.
Is King James The Most Accurate Bible
That venerable old standard the King James Version also shows up very high on the list of most accurate Bibles. The KJV was made before some of the best texts were found like the Textus Siniaticus. But in spite of the outdated language- the KJV remains the most popular Bible in the English-speaking world.
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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.
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The Language Of The Old Testament
Professor of Ancient ScriptureBrigham Young University
Have you ever had trouble with a biblical phrase, wishing you knew exactly what it meant? Or have you wished there were some keys to unlock the significance you felt must be hiding in the imagery of an Old Testament expression?
Well, there are some keys! The most important ones, of course, are scriptural. As Paul, Nephi, and other scripture writers have indicated, things of the spirit are known through the Spirit, and matters of prophecy are made plain to those who are filled with the spirit of prophecy.
There are other keys to interpretation that are intellectual, involving the intricate arts of languages. In the case of the Old Testament, the need is to know something of Hebrew, for the Lord gave revelations to the prophets of old âafter the manner of their language,â just as he has given them to his servants in this dispensation.
However, it is not necessary to be fully conversant in Hebrew to become aware of some of the features, or keys, of the language. Once we recognize these keys, we are on the way to a greater appreciation of the Hebraic imagery and therefore a better understanding of the scriptures.
The writers of the Hebrew Old Testament employed all the arts of their language. Hebrew prophets prophesied in their own special symbolic manner. The recorders penned their chronicles using picturesque idioms, and the poets wrote heartfelt phrases in their special types of balanced parallelism.
What Is The Right Way To Read The Bible
The right way to read Sacred Scripture is to read it prayerfully, in other words, with the help of the Holy Spirit, under whose influence it came into being. It is Gods word and contains Gods essential communication to us.
The Bible is like a long letter written by God to each one of us. For this reason I should accept the Sacred Scriptures with great love and reverence. First of all, it is important really to read Gods letter, in other words, not to pick out details while paying no attention to the whole message. Then I must interpret the whole message with a view to its heart and mystery: Jesus Christ, of whom the whole Bible speaks, even the Old Testament. Therefore I should read the Sacred Scriptures in the faith that gave rise to them, the same living faith of the Church.
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The Purpose Of Scripture
Scripture is not intended as a moral guide book or a collection of propositions to believe. Its purpose is to reveal Gods plan and purposes throughout human history. According to the Apostle Paul, All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work . Among the most important objectives, Scripture is able to instruct you for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus .
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Here Are The Languages First Used To Write The Bible
As Wycliffe Bible Translators reports, the Bible has been translated into the worlds major first languages English, Mandarin, Spanish, etc. and so many of the worlds minor ones that, for four in five of the worlds people, the sacred text is available to them in their mother tongue. Of course, this excludes issues such as persecution and the illegality of possessing certain religious texts in select parts of the world a matter that wont be discussed here.
For centuries, however, being able to read and understand the Bible was a privilege reserved only for a select few: those who had spent years, if not decades, learning ancient languages. Bible translation into the local language didnt really begin in earnest until the middle of the second millennium, and even so, it was often done at great cost to the translator.
Meanwhile, the languages in which the Bible was originally written occupy a unique place in the study of linguistics. One of them died out, was revived, and is today spoken by millions of people one survived the centuries and is spoken by a small community and one remains an academic discipline that, centuries later, is still studied to this day.
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Was The Nt Originally Written In Hebrew Or Greek
Those within the Hebrew Roots movement and a small contingent outside, contend that the New Testament was originally penned in Hebrew/Aramaic and then translated into Greek. If they are correct, this means that we have merely Greek translations not copies of original Canon documents.
Hebrew Roots adherents have a vested interest in this conclusion , but those who hold a classical Christian view of the deity of Christ, the trinity and salvation by grace alone, appear, in my view, to not realize the dangers inherent in this position. Not that a consensus is foolproof from falsity, but it should be noted that the overwhelming majority of conservative scholars almost universally contend that the New Testament books were originally written in Koine Greek, the common language of the day. The manuscript and internal biblical evidence is so compelling that there isnt an overwhelming volume of material supporting this belief.
Cyrus And The Persian Era
In 538 BC, Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon and established the Achaemenid Empire , which at the time was the largest empire the world had ever seen. However, this had no effect on the language of the Hebrews. Cyrus quickly issued the Edict of Restoration , which allowed the repatriation of various peoples conquered by the Babylonians to return home .
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Early Translations Into Other Languages
Despite the churchs rejection of Bible translations, there are some very old translations of particular books of smaller parts of the Bible in old English, German and Slavonic, for example. These were translated as early as +/- 800 AD. In 1199 AD, Pope Innocent III banned unauthorized Bible translations to suppress heresies. While some vernacular translations seem to have been accepted later on, the general tendency was to forbid them.
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Was The New Testament And Old Testament Written In Aramaic
No, A tiny portion of the Old Testament was written in Aramaic However, most of the text was composed in Hebrew. There are only a few Aramaic phrases mentioned throughout the New Testament, but the New Testament is a collection of Greek writings. And some scholars said that Aramaic was a spoken language and not a writing language.
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The Translations Of The Bible
The many translations are necessary for spreading the word of God without any obstacles in communication. However, this should not diminish the significance of the original languages of the Bible, the Hebrew of the Old Testament and the Greek of the New Testament, and the language of the era when the books of the Scriptures were written. The study of the original languages is imperative for the correct understanding of the meaning of the Bible. The knowledge of the original languages is also imperative in order to translate the Scriptures into the vernacular. The knowledge of the original language is especially necessary for the doctrinal teaching of the Bible.
The individual Christian is urged to read the Bible in his own language for his spiritual enrichment, but not to use the translation in arriving at personal conclusions. One should read the Bible against the background of the interpretation given it by the Church as a whole, not on ones own interpretation. It is profitable, however, for one who studies the Bible to use short commentaries of the Church and to leave the dogmatic and systematic teaching to the Church, which is the authoritative and infallible body. Taking a Biblical verse out of context often is misleading and is the basic cause of the Christian Church being separated into many parts, each interpreting according to their own opinions and thoughts.
The Need to Know the Original Languages
The Translation of the Bible into English
Lord Or Yhvh Jesus Or Yeshua Sunday Or Sabbath Church Or Synagogue Gentile Or Israel Clean Or Unclean Law Or Grace 2000 Years After The Messiah Wherever We Live Whether Its Sri Lanka Or Any Other Part Of The World All Of Us Require To Learn How To Do Bible Things In Bible Ways
A common fact that is taught to all Christians is that the Old Testament was written in Hebrew while the New Testament was written in Greek. There is consensus among all Biblical Scholars that the Old Testament was indeed written in Hebrew. But not all scholars agree on the point that the New Testament was written in Greek. Even though most of the remaining Manuscripts of the New Testament are all in Greek, there is evidence that parts of the New Testament would have indeed been written in Hebrew and subsequently translated to Aramaic, Greek and any other languages of the day.
Matthew wrote his account of the Gospel, in Hebrew
One of the best pieces of evidence that exists to prove that the New Testament may have originally been written in Hebrew, is The Gospel of Matthew. This Gospel account which is regarded as the earliest out of the 4 Gospels contained in our Bibles, come from Matthew who was surnamed Levi and who was a Tax Collector previously. He was a Hebrew speaking man just like all of the other Disciples of Christ. There are quite a few historical witnesses who have spoken how Matthew wrote his account of the Gospel in Hebrew.
Furthermore, Martin Luther, the Protestant Reformer from the 16th Century had this to say about Hebrew and the New Testament
_________UPDATEFollowing is an important piece of information which was missing from this post, but was added because of Brother Hubert Krause who posted an important question.
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Is The Bible Today What Was Originally Written
The Bible was originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic , and Greek . The Bibles we use today are translations from the original languages into English . Jesus most likely taught in Aramaic , so that the Greek NT itself represents a translation of Jesus teaching from the Aramaic into Greek.
The question, Is the Bible today what was originally written? involves two important questions: Are the available manuscripts of the Bible accurate representations of the original mss. of the respective books of the Bible ? This is an issue of textual transmission. Are the available translations faithful renderings of the Bible in the original languages? This is an issue of translation.
With regard to the first question, no original autographs exist of any biblical text only copies are available. The word manuscript is used to denote anything written by hand, rather than copies produced from the printing press. Textual evidence constitutes anything written on clay tablets, stone, bone, wood, various metals, potsherds , but most notably papyrus and parchment .
Most ancient books were compiled and then rolled into a scroll. Since a papyrus roll rarely exceeded 35 feet in length, ancient authors divided a long literary work into several books .
The minuscules compose the largest group of Greek mss., but they are dated considerably later.
Who Originally Wrote The Bible
Moses is the initial author as the first five books of the Bible were ascribed to him. However, hes not the only person who was inspired by God to write parts of the Bible.
In fact, the Bible consists of 66 different books, most of which were written by different authors.
You could say that the Bible was written in one book-at-a-time manner.
Heres a list of all known and unknown human Bible authors who were inspired by the Lord Himself:
Moses Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
Unknown Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings
Ezra 1 and 2 Chronicles, Ezra
Nehemiah Nehemiah
Unknown Esther, Job
David , Asaph , Sons of Korah , Solomon , Moses , Ethan , Heman , unknown Psalms
Solomon , Agur , Lemuel Proverbs
Solomon Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon
Isaiah Isaiah
Its worth pointing out that some books like the Psalms have multiple authors.
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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?
The Bible Was Written In Hebrew Aramaic And Greek
The Bible was not written down all at once by one person. It was written and according to some accounts, copied and edited and compiled over centuries by different people living in different places and in different cultures. The majority of the words of the Bible were written in Hebrew. In fact, according to Word Counter, the King James Bible contains just over 3 million letters, or about 73% of the Bibles text. In other words, according to this over-simplified mathematical thought experiment, nearly three-fourths of the Bible was written in Hebrew.
However, a few passages in the Old Testament were written in a companion language to Hebrew: Aramaic. A linguistic cousin of Hebrew, this language accounts for a few passages in Daniel, Ezra, and Jeremiah. According to TruthOnlyBible, these passages were possibly added by later editors decades after the rest of those books were written. Further, a few Aramaic words and phrases also pop up here and there in the New Testament, according to Baker Publishing Group.
Finally, the overwhelming majority of the New Testament save for the aforementioned Aramaic bits was written in Ancient Greek, according to the International Bible Society.
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