Apologetics 101: How We Got Our Bible, Part 1

I am beginning a new series today on apologetics — specifically how we got our Bible. This is structured for ease of learning and remembering. I hope you enjoy the series.

I cover three important terms in this lesson: autograph, manuscript, and translation. An autograph is an original; a manuscript is a copy of the original; and a translation generally refers to translations made from the original Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek.

To ensure accuracy of copies, each letter was visually confirmed - despite the fact that vast portions of scripture were memorized. The scribes also counted each word and compared that to the master scroll. The middle letter in each scroll was located and compared to the master scroll. If a single mistake was made or found, the entire scroll was destroyed.

The Old Testament manuscripts that are still in existence are The Dead Sea Scrolls, the Geniza Fragments, and the Ben Asher Manuscripts - which include the Aleppo Codex and the Leningrad Codex, both of which contain the complete Old Testament.

The Aramaic paraphrases of the Old Testament that began in 400 B.C. are known as the Aramaic Targums. They helped the Jewish people to understand the Old Testament in the language that they commonly spoke after the Babylonian captivity.

The Old Testament was translated into Koine Greek between the 3rd and 2nd century B.C. in Alexandria. This translation is known as the Septuagint.

The oldest Greek Septuagint translations of the Old Testament still in existence are the Chester Beatty Papyri, and the Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus.

We know from the diligence of the scribes and the evidence of the Dead Sea Scrolls that what was written down in the autographs has been accurately copied into the existing manuscripts. We can have confidence in our Old Testament texts.

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Tags:

• Bible
• apologetics
• archaeology
• Biblical History
• autograph
• manuscript
• translation
• Dead Sea Scrolls
• Geniza Fragments
• Ben Asher Manuscripts
• Aleppo Codex
• Leningrad Codex
• Aramaic Targums
• Septuagint
• Chester Beatty Papyri
• Codex Vaticanus
• Codex Sinaiticus
• reliability of the Bible