Bible History, Answers & Definitions

by Elizabeth Howe

Below is my attempt to answer some of the typical questions about Bible translations. I’m not a scholar nor do I pretend to be.  I’m just a friend in Christ who is curious and usually asks a lot of questions…:)

              The source texts used in Bible translations, the original language, the method of translating and the faith tradition of the translators all affect the outcome of the Biblical text and the number of books in the Old Testament. (We won’t address any doctrinal differences here; those are left for the theologians to answer.)

 Why do some Bibles have different books? 

             The original languages of the Bible were Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.  There are no actual original documents that exist today, only ancient, meticulous copies, scrolls, collections of writings called a codex or fragments of texts. The Old Testament as Christians know it was written mostly in Hebrew with a few sections in Greek and Aramaic. In the Century before Jesus came onto the scene, there was a large population of Greek speaking Jews outside of Jerusalem. The Hebrew language had begun to fade, and they wanted their Scriptures translated into Greek, the common language of their region. In @250 B.C. a Greek translation was completed, and it is known as the Septuagint.  The list of “books” or “canon” of the Septuagint is also known as the Alexandrian canon.   The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Old Testament the early Christian churches used.

            After the temple of Jerusalem was destroyed, Jewish leadership went through some changes. In @A.D. 90 Jewish leaders removed several books of their scriptures for a variety of reasons, differentiating their canon from that of the new Christian “Way”.  The new Hebrew scriptures became known as the Masoretic Text. The list of “books” or “canon” in the Masoretic Text is known as the Palestinian canon and is still the basis for Jewish scripture today.  The early Christian church continued with their existing Alexandrian canon for the Old Testament found in the Greek Septuagint.  The Palestinian canon and the Alexandrian canon also numbered their Psalms differently.

            The changes made in A. D. 90 resurfaced during the Reformation and became a major factor in the different number of Old Testament books we see in Bibles today.  The books that are different are collectively known as the deuterocanonical books in Catholic scholarly circles and as the apocryphal books +/- in Protestant circles.  Furthering the confusion, Protestant and Catholic scholars use the same word for very different collections of ancient writings. (See definitions below for more detail)

           Between A.D. 50- A.D. 125 scholars believe the New Testament was written down, primarily in Greek as a collection of writings and letters.  The Gospel of Matthew was originally written in Aramaic. The canon of books in the New Testament are the same for Protestants and Catholics. 

            As the early Church continued to grow and cross borders, the need arose for yet another translation into the scholarly language of the day: Latin.  Latin had become the language of the universal Church – giving continuity in church matters across borders and throughout the Roman Empire.  The translation into Latin of the four gospels was completed in A. D. 384 by St. Jerome at the request of Pope Damasus. He translated the remaining books by A. D. 406. This translation became known as the Latin Vulgate and was the primary translation of the Bible used for over 1000 years in the early Christian church.  The first book printed in Europe, the Gutenberg Bible was the Latin Vulgate in 1452 in Mainz, Germany. The canon of Scripture was not disputed until the Protestant Reformation in 1517.  Martin Luther rejected the Alexandrian canon of Scripture and thus a major divergence in Bible versions began.

 My RSV Bible’s introduction says:

  “For four hundred years, following upon the great upheaval of the Reformation, Catholics and Protestants have gone their separate ways and suspected each other’s translations of the Bible of having been in some way manipulated in the interests of doctrinal presuppositions. It must be admitted that these suppositions were not always without foundation.  At the present time, however, the sciences of textual criticism and philology, not to mention others, have made such great advances that the Bible text used by translators is substantially the same for all – Protestants and Catholics alike.” 2. 

 The differences between Bible translations are narrowing as scholarship advances.     

               In England, the need arose for the Holy Scriptures to be translated out of Latin, the language of the Roman Catholic Church and into English, the language of the Anglican Church of England.  Some versions were translated from the Latin Vulgate and some from the original Greek sources and the Septuagint and some went to the Hebrew Masoretic Text.  Saints, Kings, reformers, and theologians all had a hand in the history of Bible Translations.  As Biblical and language scholarship evolved, and advanced and more ancient discoveries were made Bible versions today originate from the original language sources rather than from prior translations. Most versions are under continual revision as scholarship improves. The definitive English language Bible of the time was the King James Version published in 1611.  (See the definition and list of dates for further understanding.)  

Why is the wording different?

                   A primary influence on Bible wording is the translating philosophy used.  Some scholars attempt to translate the original languages as close as they can in a word for word strategy including the original word order.  This approach is called formal or complete equivalence. This philosophy can be tricky as most languages don’t translate word = word into others.  There are too many linguistic nuances. 

                   Dynamic or functional equivalence is a translating strategy that attempts to make the original text more “readable” in the target language while trying to preserve the meaning behind the words.  (See definitions below for more detail) The different philosophies affect the wording more so than which source documents were used in the translation but both approaches’ goal is to faithfully translate the original text into the target language.  There are still other translations which paraphrase Scripture and those are to be treated with caution.

Buy Revised Standard Version - Catholic Edition

     Buy Revised Standard Version -  Protestant Edition

 

Definitions:

Aramaic:  A branch of the Semitic languages. It was the language used in Palestine in the time of Christ and was the language Christ spoke.  Aramaic eventually supplanted Hebrew and was the main language of the Holy Land.  Portions of Daniel, Ezra, Jeremiah, Esther and all of Tobit, Judith and the Gospel of Matthew were written in Aramaic. 3

 Hebrew: A Semitic language which originated in Canaan, and which was passed on by Abraham and his descendants reaching its greatest glory in the reigns of David and Solomon. It was the language of the Holy Land until about the 3rd Century B. C. when it was supplanted by Aramaic. Most of the books of the Old Testament were originally written in Hebrew. 4

 Koine Greek : The Greek language used in the Bible is not the classical Greek, but a dialect spread throughout the known world by the time of the Conquests of Alexander the Great who died in B.C. 323.  All the New Testament was written in Greek except the Gospel of Matthew which was written in Aramaic.  The Book of Wisdom & 2 Maccabees were also written in Greek. 5

 Philology: The branch of knowledge that deals with the structure, historical development, and relationships of a language or languages. 6

 Canon of Scripture: Canon from a Greek word for rule or standard. Canon means a book approved for reading at the Divine Liturgy or the Catholic Mass.  The authentic list of inspired writings that are recognized and received by the Church and that make up the NT and the OT.   The idea of a "canon" as a defined collection came into use in the early church and remained in acceptance throughout subsequent history.  The canon is determined by the authoritative tradition of the Catholic Church who defined the canon of the Bible we have today.  The canon of Scripture of the Catholic Bible was set in 393 A. D. 7

 New Testament: The NT is a collection of 27 books which both Catholics and Protestants agree on, written entirely in Greek except for the Gospel of Matthew. It records the culmination of salvation history in Christ and the growth of the early Church in the first Christian century. 8

 Gospels: meaning "good news".  The collective name given to the four divinely inspired accounts of the life of Jesus Christ. Matthew, Mark, Luke & John

 Synoptic Gospels: The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. They tell the story of Jesus' life from a similar point of view. Most scholars think it likely the Evangelists relied on one another's work. 9

 Epistles: meaning a "letter".  Any of the 21 "letters" of the New Testament addressed to individuals or Churches. 10

 Pauline Epistles:    The Pauline letters (St. Paul) are Romans, 1&2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians*, Philippians*, Colossians*, 1&2 Thessalonians, 1&2 Timothy**, Titus**, Philemon* & Hebrews. * Considered "captivity" Epistles written while St. Paul was under House arrest. ** called Pastoral epistles because they deal chiefly with pastoral ministry. 11

 Old Testament: The word “testament” is from Latin and basically means "covenant".  The Old Testament is a collection of 46 books (Catholic Bible: originally based on the Alexandrian Jewish Canon) or 39 books (Protestant Bible: originally based on the Palestinian Jewish Canon).  Written mainly in Hebrew with a few portions in Aramaic and Greek, the OT covers a stretch of salvation history from creation to the threshold of Messianic times (the times of Jesus and the church). 12

 Pentateuch: The collective name of the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers & Deuteronomy. The translated Hebrew name is Torah. 13

 Torah: The Pentateuch, the first 5 books of the Bible.  The translated Hebrew word meaning "instruction". Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers & Deuteronomy. 14

 Wisdom Literature: 7 books of the OT in the Catholic tradition commonly called Wisdom Literature: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom & Sirach. 15

 Alexandrian Canon: Canon of books in the Septuagint (Greek translated OT). Including the Deuterocanonical books. The version of the OT not seriously challenged until the Protestant Reformation. 16

 Septuagint:   The earliest and most important translation of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament) into Greek. It also became known as The Alexandrian Canon of Jewish Scripture. It was produced between the 3rd and 1st centuries B.C.  The Apostles of Christ used this translation for their teachings. 17

 Deuterocanonical Books: The deuterocanonical books were accepted by the Catholic Church from the earliest times and their inclusion in the Canon of Scripture began at the Council of Hippo in A.D. 393. The Canon was reconfirmed at the Council of Trent in 1546 in response to the Protestant Reformation.  The Latin Vulgate was also declared the authentic Latin Version of the Bible.  The Bible included 46 books of the OT and 27 books of the NT.  The Deuterocanonical books are Judith, Tobit, Sirach, Wisdom, 1&2 Maccabees, Baruch, and portions of Daniel (3:24-90, Chapters 13&14 and portions of Esther (10:4-16 and Chapter 24).  The Catholic Church refers to these books as deuterocanonical and the Protestant Religions refer to these books as OT Apocrypha and sometimes print them at the end of their Bibles. Up until the 16th century, most Christians accepted the older Alexandrian canon.  When he translated the Bible into German, Martin Luther decided to follow the newer Palestinian canon, which includes only books originally composed in Hebrew or for which a Hebrew text was available in the late first century A.D. 18

 Palestinian Canon: The Masoretic Text. Jews living a few centuries before Christ were divided into two groups: Jews dwelling in Palestine and speaking Hebrew and the large number of Jews scattered throughout the Roman Empire speaking the Greek language, a consequence of the conquests of Alexander the Great of Greece.   At the Council of Jemnia the Palestinian Jews rejected Judith, Wisdom, 1&2 Maccabees, Tobit, parts of Daniel and Esther, Baruch & Sirach.  By the first century after Christ, this revised Jewish canon was generally accepted by all Jews.  The early Christian Churches continued to use the Alexandrian canon. 19

 Masoretic Text: The standard text of the modern Hebrew Bible. The Hebrew text most Protestant OT Translations are based on. Also called the Palestinian Canon of Jewish Scriptures. 20

 Apocrypha: From a Greek word meaning "hidden things".   Catholic and Protestants use the term apocrypha differently.  Protestants use the word the same way Catholics use the term deuterocanonical (see def above), except Protestants include the additional books Esdras and Manasseh.  When Catholic scholars use the term apocryphal, Protestants use the term pseudepigrapha. Confused yet?  The apocryphal books (Catholic use of the word) are a term used for various ancient Jewish and Christian writings that are like the inspired works of the Bible but that were judged by the Catholic Church not to possess canonical authority. These writings are of considerable value as works of religious literature and religious history but are not included in the Bible. 21

 Pseudepigraphal Books: A Protestant term used to describe what Catholics call the Apocrypha.  Books that were rejected by the Council of Hippo in 393A.D. as being non-Biblical. 22

 Dead Sea Scrolls: A collection of some 800 Biblical and religious manuscripts found between 1947 and 1956 in the cave’s northwest of the Dead Sea, near the remains of an ancient settlement called Khirbet Qumran.  Most of the scrolls were written in Hebrew, some Aramaic and a few in Greek.  Of the 800 manuscripts, 200 were copies of Biblical books.  The manuscripts were 1000 years older than any surviving Hebrew manuscripts, including a complete scroll of the book of Isaiah which contained only the slightest variations. 23

 Translations/Versions: The OT was written mainly in Hebrew with some portions composed in Aramaic and Greek. The New Testament was written predominantly in Greek and the book of Matthew in Aramaic. Classical Hebrew gradually phased out a spoken language so even different communities of Jewish faithful needed a Greek translation.  Translations of the Hebrew Bible into Greek and eventually the Christian Bible into Latin took place. Various portions of the Bible were translated into English during the Middle Ages and entire versions of the Bible appeared in English between 1525-1611. See King James & Douay-Rheims. As you might imagine, some translations over the years were more accurate than others and the need for continual revision, unity and scholarship arose.  Various Biblical Commissions and scholarly efforts continually study and revise translations into different languages. 24

 Vulgate: A. D. 384-406 The translation of the Bible into Latin by St. Jerome. Commissioned by Pope Damasus around 383AD to standardize the various Latin texts being used.  St. Jerome translated mostly from the original Hebrew OT, the Septuagint, the Greek NT and some Aramaic manuscripts. 25 He is famously quoted as saying, “Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.”

 Gutenberg Bible: 1455. The first printed book in Europe was the Latin Vulgate Bible. It was completed by Johann Gutenberg in Mainz, Germany. 26

 Douay-Rheims Bible: 1582 & 1609. The first English translation of the complete Bible sanctioned by the Catholic Church published in two parts. It was translated from the Latin Vulgate. 27

 King James Bible: 1611. The English translation of the complete Bible published by the church of England. Sometimes called the Authorized Version since King James I made the decision to sponsor the new translation.  It became the standard version used by most English speaking Protestants.28

 Dynamic Equivalence: Dynamic equivalence, also called functional equivalence, is an approach to Bible translation that prioritizes natural readability and understanding in the target language rather than literal accuracy to the original text. It has been summarized as thought-for-thought translation. Its opposite, formal equivalence, emphasizes word-for-word translation and preserving grammatical structures, thus giving a more literal translation. Dynamic equivalence allows readers to understand the text in their own language by removing idioms and rearranging words for a more natural flow in the target language. Dynamic equivalence concerns itself with communicating the basic message of the passage by using modern language and expression. 29

 Formal/Complete Equivalence: "There are two general philosophies translators use when they do their work: formal (or complete) equivalence and dynamic equivalence. Formal equivalence translations try to give as literal a translation of the original text as possible. Translators using this philosophy try to stick close to the originals, even preserving much of the original word order.  Literal translations are an excellent resource for serious Bible study. Sometimes the meaning of a verse depends on subtle cues in the text; these cues are only preserved by literal translations. The disadvantage of literal translations is that they are harder to read because more Hebrew and Greek style intrudes into the English text. " 30

 Footnotes:
  1. The Ignatius Catholic Study Bible: New Testament. Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition. Ignatius Press, 2010, pp. xiv.
  2. The Holy Bible. Revised Standard Version Second Catholic Edition. Ignatius Press, 2006, pp. v.
  3. “Origin, Inspiration and History of the Bible.” The New American Bible (NAB). Fireside Bible Publishers, 2006, pp. xviii.
  4. , xix.
  6. https://www.google.com/search?q=philology&rlz=1C1VDKB_enUS934US934&oq=&aqs=chrome.2.35i39i362l8...8.567097014j0j15&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
  7. Hahn S. (Ed.). (2009). Catholic Bible Dictionary. Doubleday, pp. 136-138.
  8. , 900.
  9. , 881.
  10. , 882.
  11. , 883.
  12. , 900.
  13. , 690.
  14. , 922.
  15. , 957.
  16. “Origin, Inspiration and History of the Bible.” The New American Bible (NAB). Fireside Bible Publishers, 2006, pp. xviii.
  17. Hahn S. (Ed.). (2009). Catholic Bible Dictionary. Doubleday, pp. 825.
  18. , 213.
  19. ? Palestinian Canon?
  20. Hahn S. (Ed.). (2009). Catholic Bible Dictionary. Doubleday, pp. 589.
  21. , 54.
  23. , 203.
  24. , 939.
  25. , 944.
  26. , 945.
  27. , 941.
  29. https://www.compellingtruth.org/dynamic-equivalence.html
  30. https://www.catholic.com/tract/bible-translations-guide
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