Characteristics and Organisation of the Scriptures
Samuel Smith
23 Jan'19
5
LESSON 2
CHARACTERISTICS AND ORGANISATION OF THE SCRIPTURES
You are welcome to another edition of Insights from God's Word, a Bible study programme that is committed to sharing God's Word by allowing the Bible to speak for itself.In this edition, we continue with our series on The Holy Scriptures. The topic for this study is: Characteristics and Organisation of the Scriptures. In our previous study, we considered various internal and external evidences that showed clearly that the Bible is a divinely inspired work. In this study, we will consider the characteristics and organisation of the Scriptures.
The book that is referred to as the Holy Scriptures in Christendom is the Bible. The name Bible has got an interesting history. Phoenician merchants brought Egyptian papyrus scrolls to the ancient Phoenician city of Gebal (Byblos). The Greeks then purchased these scrolls from the city of Byblos for their writing purposes. With time, the Greeks began referring to the scrolls by the name of the city from which they were purchased. Thus, Byblos became the equivalent of books from which our Bible was later named.
Our modern Bible is made up of two broad divisions — the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament comprises of 39 books which were written before the advent of Christ while the New Testament comprises of 27 books which were written after the advent of Christ. The Old Testament was primarily written in Hebrew with the exception of a few of its portions which were written in Aramaic (such as
The Old Testament of our modern Bible is based on the ancient Hebrew Scriptures which is called Tanakh after the names of the three sections of which it is composed — that is the Torah (Law), Nevi'im (Prophets) and Ketuvim (Writings). From the gospel of Luke, we read the following words of Christ concerning the three broad divisions of the Hebrew Scriptures: "... These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in THE LAW OF MOSES (TORAH), and in THE PROPHETS (NEVI'IM), and in THE PSALMS (first book in the KETUVIM), concerning me" (
The Torah literally means the law and comprises of the 5 books of Moses. These 5 books are usually referred to as the Pentateuch. The Nevi'im literally means the prophets and comprises of the 4 former prophets (Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings), and the 4 later prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and the twelve minor prophets all captured as one, and written on one scroll). The Ketuvim literally means the writings and is made up of the following 11 books: Psalms, Lamentations, Song of Songs, Proverbs, Job, Ecclesiastes, Ruth, Esther, Daniel, (Ezra and Nehemiah captured as one, and written on one scroll), and Chronicles. All books such as Samuel, Kings and Chronicles which are divided into 1 and 2 in the present Old Testament arrangement were considered as one in the ancient Hebrew Scriptures. Thus, the Hebrew Scriptures were categorised into 24 different sections, and thus written on 24 different scrolls. Our modern Old Testament on the other hand has been categorised as follows:
i) 5 Books of Moses / The Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy);
ii) 12 Books of History (Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1st and 2nd Samuel, 1st and 2nd Kings, 1st and 2nd Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther);
iii) 5 Books of Poetry or Writings (Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Solomon);
iv) 5 Major Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel). These 5 prophetic books were labelled as "major" not because they were considered to be more inspired or important than the 12 minor prophetic books but rather because of the large amount of text they contained;
v) 12 Minor Prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi).
Thus, our modern Old Testament Scriptures have been caterogised into 5 different sections with a total of 39 books. This current division of our modern Old Testament into 39 books was initiated by Greek and Latin translations in the early centuries after the ascension of Christ. Even though the new division altered the arrangement as was found in the ancient Hebrew Scriptures, the content remained the same. Thus, the Old Testament Scriptures that we use today is the same one that was utilised by Christ and the apostles in biblical times. We can be sure of this fact because of archeological discoveries such as the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 which has confirmed once and for all time the accuracy of our modern Old Testament Scriptures.
Unlike the Old Testament, the content of the New Testament Scriptures is not based on any ancient Hebrew Scriptures. Even though several of the New Testament writers quoted from the Old Testament, their writing were new, original and different from the Hebrew Scriptures that already existed. Our modern New Testament has been categorised as follows:
i) The 4 Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John). The first three gospels (Matthew, Mark and Luke) are similar in content and structure. As a result of their similarity, they are classified as the "Synoptic Gospels". The Synoptic Gospels stand in contrast to the gospel of John which seeks to expound more on the divine nature of Christ;
ii) The Historical Book of Acts;
iii) The 14 Epistles of Paul (Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus and Philemon and Hebrews). It is an ongoing debate among Bible scholars as to whether Paul is the author of Hebrews or not. Though some internal evidence in the book suggests he is the author, some scholars have pointed to other internal evidence which suggests he is not. Despite the various arguments on the authorship of Hebrews, we can be sure that Paul is the author of the book as the pen of inspiration names him as such (see YI June 30, 1892, par.3; see also BIAD 189.2);
iv) The 7 General Epistles (James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John and Jude);
v) The Prophetic Book of the Revelation.
Thus, our modern New Testament Scriptures have been categorised into 5 different sections with a total of 27 books. It is important for us to note that both the Old and New Testament books of the Bible are not arranged in the order in which they were written. Yet in the current arrangement, just as in the writing of the Scriptures, we see that the hand of the Holy Spirit had guided God's people towards a perfect chronology of the entire sacred Scriptures. Another important point to note is that the Scriptures that were used by Christ and the apostles did not have chapter and verse divisions. Division of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible into chapters was accomplished as far back as the early 13th century after Christ. Scholars differ on the exact person who introduced the concept of chapters into the Holy Scriptures. While some scholars credit the chapter divisions to Stephen Langton, the archbishop of Canterbury, others credit the chapter divisions to Hugo a Santo Caro, the Spanish cardinal. Verse divisions of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible followed after the chapter divisions. The Jewish Rabbi Isaac Nathan introduced verse divisions into the Hebrew Old Testament Scriptures in 1448 while publisher Robert Estienne (also known as Stephanus) of Paris introduced verse divisions in his 1551 Greek-Latin edition of the New Testament.
Our current generation has come to love the chapters and verses of the Bible. But we must remember that in as much as these concepts are helpful in locating and memorising Scripture, they also have some pitfalls. For instance, these chapter and verse divisions often break the continuity of thought in various Bible passages, thus making it difficult for the casual reader to grasp important understanding that can be gained only through the reading of a continuum of passages. Thus, as we read the Scriptures, it is important for us to remember that they were not broken down into chapters and verses as we find today. This exercise will enable us to critically consider the context of various Bible passages, and thus protect us from formulating doctrines from isolated portions of Scripture.
Exhortation: From the pen of inspiration, we read the following in relation to the Holy Scriptures:
"In the Word of God the mind finds subjects for the deepest thought, the loftiest aspirations. Here we may hold communion with patriarchs and prophets and listen to the voice of the Eternal as He speaks with men. Here we behold the Majesty of heaven as He humbled Himself to become our substitute and surety, to cope single-handed with the powers of darkness, and to gain the victory in our behalf. A reverent contemplation of such themes as these cannot fail to soften, purify, and ennoble the heart, and at the same time to inspire the mind with new strength and vigor." -- (1MCP 90.3)NB: YI is an acronym for the magazine "The Youth’s Instructor". Ellen G. White contributed several articles to this magazine. BIAD is an acronym for a book by James White titled: "Bible Adventism".
In our next study, we will consider the topic: Preparation and Preservation of the Scriptures. The Bible Study references for this study are
Stay blessed and keep shining for King Jesus.
Maranatha!
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