So you know a lot about the Bible? That’s good. Maybe you have been a Christian for many years and have attended Sunday School and Bible studies nearly all your life. So certainly you should know a lot about the Bible. I don’t mean just the content of what is in it (which is most important), but how it was written, collected, transmitted, and translated. I have found in my experience that most Christians have little or no understanding of how the Bible came down to us today. They regard it as the inspired Word of God, yet really don’t know why they should do so. They also don’t know how to study the Bible accurately.
In this article and the next, I challenge you take two multiple choice quizzes to see how much you truly know about the Bible and what you know about studying it. We start with the Bible itself. The correct answers are given below with an explanation of each.
Have fun, but remember your grade will go on your permanent record! You have to make at least 90% to get into heaven (just kidding).
Circle the correct answer.
1. In what language was the great majority of the Old Testament originally written?
a. Hebrew
b. Koine Greek
c. Latin
d. Pig Latin
2. In what language was the New Testament originally written?
a. Hebrew
b. Koine Greek
c. Latin
d. Wasn’t it King James English?
3. Which of the following languages, along with the above, is also one in which a small portion of the Old Testament was originally written?
a. Abrahamic
b. Aramaic
c. Arabic
d. Alabamic
4. The ancient books collected and authenticated by church leaders to be placed in the Bible are called what?
a. The Canon
b. The Cannon
c. The Cannonade
d. The Cantaloupe
5. How many total books are in the Old and New Testaments combined (Protestant Bible)?
a. 27
b. 39
c. 66
d. Hike!
6. The books and sections included in Roman Catholic Bibles, but not found in most Protestant versions, are called what?
a. The Apocalypse
b. The Apocrypha
c. The Vatican
d. The Book of Mormon
7. The Holy Spirit inspired texts of the biblical books handwritten by the authors themselves are called what?
a. The original autographs
b. The Textus Receptus
c. The Dead Sea Scrolls
d. The autograph hounds
8. The Old Testament portion of the Bible translated by 70 Jewish scholars from Hebrew into Koine Greek more than 200 years before Christ (and often quoted in the New Testament) was called what?
a. The Vulgate
b. The Aristotle Version
c. The Septuagint
d. The Revised Kosher Version
9. One of the first English Translations of the Bible, done in the 1300s, was called what?
a. The King James Version (KJV)
b. The Wycliffe Bible
c. The Revised Standard Version (RSV)
d. The Shakespearean Bible
10. Historically, the most widely circulated English translation of the Bible,
published in 1611, was what?
a. The King James Version (KJV)
b. The New American Standard Bible (NASB)
c. The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT)
d. The LeBron James Version (LJV)
So now you have completed the quiz. Let’s see how you did. We will look at the correct answer for each question and explain why it is true.
Question 1: The correct answer is “a.” The language in which the great majority of the Old Testament was originally written was Hebrew. Even today, Jews still prefer to read the Old Testament in that original tongue, so their children are encouraged, from a young age, to learn it. Also, Hebrew is the official language of the state of Israel, making it the only ancient language to be restored to common use in modern times.
Latin was the ancient language of the Roman Empire and was, until about 1964, the only language used in Roman Catholic worship services. It is still taught in many schools and is used in all official statements by the Pope and the Vatican.
I studied Latin in High School, which helped me later with English vocabulary. Many English words are derived from Latin. Un-the-less-nay, ig-pay atin-lay as-way y-may avorite-fay oreign-fay anguage-lay.
Question 2: The correct answer is “b.” The language in which the New Testament originally was written was Koine Greek. The Greek word koine means “common.” So the New Testament was written in the written language of common people in the eastern Mediterranean world. That makes sense in that God wanted His Word easily available to the masses. That being said, Koine Greek is a very precise language in which the words and grammar, in most cases, have precise meanings.
Question 3: The correct answer is “b.” Along with Hebrew, a small portion of the Old Testament was originally written in Aramaic, an ancient language that probably originated in Syria a thousand years before Christ. Like Koine Greek, it was widely used in the ancient Middle East and was probably the language most spoken in Palestine at the time of Jesus. The sections of the Old Testament written in that language include: Ezra 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26; Daniel 2:4b-7:28; and Jeremiah 10:11. Some Aramaic words are found in the New Testament such as Abba (“Father” – Mark 14:6); talitha qumi (“maiden arise” – Mark 5:41); and, lama sabachthani (“why have you forsaken me?” – Mark 15:34).
Arabic, of course is the language of the Arab peoples which originated in what is now Saudi Arabia and is not found in the Bible. It was spread throughout the Middle East by the spread of Islam in the 7th and 8th centuries after Christ. The Qur’an is written in Arabic, and, according to Muslims, can only be accurately understood in that language.
Alabamic is the official ruling language of the NCAA. Or so Alabamians claim. Next year it will be Seminole.
Question 4: The correct answer is “a.” The ancient books collected and authenticated by church leaders to be placed in the Bible are called the “Canon.” The word canon comes from an ancient word meaning “reed.” That term was figuratively used for something that was a measuring device. Later it came to mean a “norm” or “standard” of authenticity. Thus, eventually ‘the canon” came to mean an official list of writings that were recognized by Christian churches as divinely inspired texts for doctrine and practice.
Though historically there were differences of opinion among believers, modern Jews and Protestant Christians agree that the 39 books of the present Old Testament are canonical. All Christians (Protestant, Catholic, and Eastern Orthodox) regard the 27 books of the New Testament that way.
A cannon is a weapon for firing artillery shells or balls at the enemy. A cannonade is the term for an attack using cannons. If you don’t know what a cantaloupe is, ask someone at your grocery store to show you.
Question 5: The correct answer is “c.” There are 66 total books in the Old and New Testaments combined. 39 are in the Old Testament and 27 are in the New Testament of what is usually called the Protestant Bible. The Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox churches include some other books in their Bible versions. See the next question.
Question 6: The correct answer is “b.” The books and sections included in Roman Catholic Bibles, but not found in most Protestant versions, are called the “Apocrypha.” This term (from Greek meaning “hidden away”) applies to eight additional books (and added portions of Esther and Daniel) that were written between the end of the Old Testament and the time of Christ (about 200 B.C. to 100 B.C.). Those other books include Tobit; Judith; The Wisdom of Solomon; Ecclesiasticus; Baruch; The Letter of Jeremiah; and 1 and 2 Maccabees. Though those books may have historical and spiritual value, neither Jews nor Protestant Christians regard them as inspired Scripture.
The Apocalypse (“revealed”) is an alternative name for the book of Revelation, and generally refers to divine revelations about the end times.
The Vatican is the section of Rome, Italy, that is the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church. It is officially an independent sovereign state.
If you don’t know what the Book of Mormon refers to, read this: http://www.marketfaith.org/the-book-of-mormon-is-it-another-testament-of-jesus-christ/
Question 7: The correct answer is “a.” The first Spirit inspired texts of the biblical books handwritten by the authors themselves are called the “original autographs.” That is an important concept in that they are the actual writings done by the actual writers of Scripture (or their secretaries – see 1 Peter 5:12). Historically, Christians have maintained that those original autographs (writings), in their original languages, were divinely inspired and infallible in their authority.
However, no such original autographs have survived from antiquity. Nonetheless, reliable copies of the various Scriptural books have been passed down through history, so that scholars are supremely confident that the texts we have today are almost perfectly preserved. One example of very ancient Old Testament texts which were discovered in recent times are the Dead Sea Scrolls. Those scrolls (books) were hidden in caves in clay jars, probably around AD 70, and found in 1947 in an area of Palestine called Qumran. Some of the scrolls date back as far as 200 B.C.
Various texts have been discovered that add credence to the accuracy of the modern New Testament’s preservation. Though some differences exist, most scholars are confident that we have the exact words from the book’s authors as they wrote them. The Textus Receptus (Received Text) is one Greek New Testament text dating from about AD 1500 that is the basis for many translations, including the King James Version (KJV). In the years since the those translations, much earlier Greek New Testament texts have been discovered with some noticeable variances with the Textus Receptus. That’s why many newer translations have some passages omitted or bracketed that were found in the KJV but were later determined to be scribal additions not in the original (e.g.s: John 7:53 – 8:11 and 1 John 5:8).
Question 8: The correct answer is “c.” The Old Testament portion of the Bible translated by 70 Jewish scholars from Hebrew into Koine Greek more than 200 years before Christ was the Septuagint (“the 70″).
This is important because this oldest Greek translation was widely disseminated throughout the New Testament world. It was the Bible studied by most Greek speaking Jews outside of Palestine. Most of the Old Testament passages quoted in the New Testament were from the Septuagint. That’s why many of them are slightly different from what is found in the Old Testament passages themselves.
The Vulgate (“commonly used”) was a Latin translation of the Bible and the Apocrypha, done in Italy about A.D. 400 by Jerome. It eventually became the official translation of the Roman Catholic Church, which is why the Apocrypha, though rejected by the Jews, is included in the Catholic canon of Scripture.
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher who lived from 384 – 322 B.C. He probably knew nothing of the Bible, but his philosophy was influential in how the Bible was interpreted, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church.
Question 9: The correct answer is “b.” One of the first English Translations of the Bible, done in the 1300s, was the Wycliffe Bible. That translation was done by John Wycliffe (c. 1320-1384), an English theologian at Oxford University. Wycliffe was a critic of the Roman Catholic Church’s reluctance to make the Scriptures available in modern languages, so laypersons could read it, and not just in Latin for the clergy. He completed a translation from the Latin Vulgate into Middle English in the year 1382. That version of the Bible was a precursor, and a possible contributor, to the Protestant Reformation of the 1500s.
There was no Shakespearean Bible. However, the KJV was translated in 1610 and published in 1611, when William Shakespeare was 46 years old. This has led some observers to believe that the KJV editors included a cryptic salute to “The Bard of Avon” in the 46th Psalm. Look it up and see if you can find it. Count 46 words forward from the beginning and 46 words back from the end (not including Selah).
The RSV is a modern translation published in 1952 by the National Council of Churches.
Question 10: The correct answer is “a.” Historically, the most widely circulated English translation of the Bible, published in 1611, was the King James Version (also known as the Authorized Version [AV]). It was translated by a team of English scholars under the sponsorship of King James I in order to mediate a conflict between the established Church of England and the then growing English Puritan movement. The Puritans were reformers who sought to “purify” the Church of England of vestiges of Roman Catholicism, and to take Christianity back to its biblical roots. Consequently, scholars from various British universities and schools of thought were involved in the process. By the end of the 17th century, after some slight revisions, the KJV became the most popular English Bible of all time.
The NASB is a very literal and grammatically precise modern English translation done by American evangelical scholars in the late 1960s. It is a revision of an earlier version called the American Standard Bible of 1910.
The NWT is the official translation of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society (Jehovah’s Witnesses). Completed in 1960, it is regarded as unscholarly and blatantly biased against the deity of Christ.
As great a basketball player as he is, to my knowledge, LeBron James has never published a translation of the Bible. I hope he reads it.
So how did you do? Hopefully this little exercise has taught you a few things about how we got the Bible we have today. More importantly, I hope it has wetted your appetite to learn even more. When we study the history of how the Scriptures came to us, we can see how God’s Holy Spirit was involved in the whole process so that we can be assured what we have today is the pure Word of God.
My next article will be a practical quiz as to how we can best study, interpret, and apply the Bible to our lives. “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:16 NASB)
© 2016 Tal Davis