Transcript Byblos

THE BIBLE
AN INTRODUCTION
WORLD LITERATURE I
BY
RALPH MONDAY
The Bible
That most of
Us are
Familiar with:
The King
James
Version,
Translated in
1611.
QUESTIONS READERS ASK ABOUT
THE BIBLE
• AGE
• AUTHORSHIP
• ORIGINAL
LANGUAGES
• PERTINENT
QUESTIONS
• SINCE
• INDIVIDUALS ARE
ALWAYS CURIOUS
• ABOUT THE
ORIGIN OF THEIR
FAITH.
1. What is the Bible?
• Known as the Good
Book, as though it
were a single
volume, the Bible is
a collection or library
• Of many small
books written over a
period of more than
a thousand years.
• The Hebrew Bible,
known to Christians
as the Old
Testament, is
primarily a record of
• The Hebrew god’s
dealings with his
chosen people,
Israel.
Moses with
The
Commandments.
The word of
God come
Down from
The sky.
Revealed
Religion.
• The Old Testament
is made up of 24
books, divided into
39 in the Christian
Bible,
• Of narrative, poetry,
and prophecy.
• It is a book that
many millions of
people have based
their life upon.
• Christians add to the
original Hebrew the
New Testament,
consisting of
• The Gospel--four
narratives of Jesus’
life, a theological
account of the early
Church (Acts), 21
letters, and an
apocalypse
(revelation of future
history).
2. WHAT DOES THE WORD BIBLE
MEAN?
Bible means “little
books.” The word is
derived from the
Greek term biblion,
The diminutive form of
Byblos, which
means “papyrus” or
“book.”
This concept
originated in the
ancient Phoenician
• City of Byblos,
where the papyrus
plant was cut and
dried in strips
• For use as writing
paper.
• Thus, the
manuscript material
produced was
named after the
place of its
manufacture.
Ruins of the
Ancient city of
Byblos.
BYBLOS (JBEIL)
Byblos, one of the oldest
continuously inhabited cities in the
world, its history reaches into
antiquity. It is one of the richest
archeological sites in the Middle
East. It was the religious and
commercial capital of the Phoenician
coast and it was here
where the first linear alphabet was invented.
Byblos has given its name to the Bible.
The city of Byblos is one of the oldest cities in the world,
having been inhabited continuously since Neolithic
times more
than 7000 years ago. It is located in today's Lebanon,
about 35 km north of Beirut. In ancient times it was an
important
sea port from which the famous cedar trees of Lebanon
were exported to Egypt in exchange for papyrus, ivory,
ebony and
gold. Trade goods from as early as Egypt's 2nd dynasty
have been found there. Byblos is also noteworthy as the
place
where the linear alphabet was invented. This became
the basis for the modern alphabet that we use today.
The local goddess of Byblos was Astarte, whose
spheres of influence included war, protection, love and
fertility. She was known as the Baalat Gebal,
the "Lady of Byblos."
The Temple of Baalat Gebal, the "Lady of Byblos"
This is Inanna or Ishtar—the same archetype.
3. Who Wrote the Bible?
• No one knows.
• The Old Testament
authors were not
concerned with
personal
recognition– they
were interested in
• Their sense of
Israel’s god and his
purpose for the
world.
• Thus, Old Testament
authorship is
typically
anonymous,
• Although later
traditions assigned
important books to
eminent figures of
the past.
In the last several centuries B.C.E., Moses was regarded
As the author of the first five books of the Bible—
The Pentateuch.
However, most modern scholars believe that these books
Assumed their present form long after Moses’ time.
The majority of the narrative works—Joshua, Judges,
Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles—are the work of nameless
Priests, scribes, and archivists.
Scholars believe that the great prophets—Amos, Isaiah,
Micah, and others—delivered their messages orally and
That their words were collected and written down by later
Disciples whose names are unknown.
4. When Was The Bible Written?
• The Bible is dated
by most scholars
from the creation to
• Israel’s conquest of
Palestine—
• About the tenth
century B.C.E.
• This document
forms the oldest
• Narrative strand in
the Pentateuch, and
is characterized by
its consistent use of
• The personal name
Yahweh for the
Hebrew god, and is
• Usually called J, for
Jahveh, the German
form of the divine
name.
The Old Testament took approximately 1000 years to
Assume its present form. The New Testament took about
100 years. 1100 years comprise the Bible’s creation.
5. Is the Bible the World’s Oldest Book?
• No. At one time
scholars believed
that the Bible was
the only significant
literary production of
the ancient near
east.
• In the 19th century,
in the library of the
Assyrian Emperor
• Ashurbanipal IV
(668-627 B.C.E.), in
the ruins of his
palace at Nineveh,
capital of the
Assyrian empire,
• Hundreds of clay
tablets were
discovered written in
cuneiform.
The most important find were eleven tablets
Recounting the legendary adventures of
Gilgamesh, King of Uruk.
A startlingly find was the story of Utnapishtim
Who survived a great flood by building an ark
According to the directions of Ea, the god of
Wisdom.
The story is remarkably similar to the flood story
In Genesis, and the story is believed to go back
To a single source, although the Gilgamesh
Version is much older.
Noah
Having
A
Problem
With a
Woodpecker.
6. In What Languages Was the Bible
Originally Written?
Most of the Old Testament was written in classical
Hebrew, the Semitic tongue spoken by the
Israelites.
Later, certain books were composed in Aramaic,
An Aramean (Syrian) dialect closely related to
Hebrew.
This is the language probably spoken by Jesus.
All of the New Testament is in Koine, the international
Language of the first-century workaday world, a
Blend of classical Greek with the commercial
Vernacular of Near Eastern peoples conquered by
Alexander the Great.
7. When Was The Bible First Translated?
• The first translation
of the Hebrew Bible
was begun in
Alexandria, Egypt.
• This occurred in the
mid-third century
before Christ
because the
younger generation
• Of Jews no longer
understood classical
Hebrew.
• This is called the
Septuagint after the
70 elders who
supposedly
produced it.
• It took more than
two centuries to
produce the
translation.
The Pentateuch (Genesis through Deuteronomy)
Was translated first, followed by the prophetic
Books and the Writings (poetic and wisdom
Literature), and eventually by works that became
Known as the Apocrypha.
The Septuagint was the Bible adopted by the early
Greek-speaking Christians.
The next translation was St. Jerome’s production of
The Latin Vulgate. This was commissioned by the
Bishop of Rome to render the Scriptures into the
Common tongue for the Latin-speaking Western
Church. Jerome, between 385 and 405 C.E.
Produced the official Bible of Roman Catholicism.
8. How Did Our Modern English
Translations Come About?
Two historical events ensured that the Bible would
Have a larger English reading public.
The first was Johann Gutenberg’s invention of
Moveable type in 1455.
The second was the Protestant Reformation,
Started in 1517 by Martin Luther.
Luther completed a German translation in 1522-34—
The first version in a modern European language
Based not on the official Latin Vulgate Bible but
On the original Hebrew and Greek.
William Tyndale first translated the Bible into English
(the New Testament) in 1525. He had to flee to
Germany to do this, because he was under threat
Of persecution.
He never entirely completed his translation of the
Old Testament, because in 1535-36 he was betrayed,
Tried for heresy, and burned at the stake.
The first freely distributed English Bible—the Coverdale
Bible—(1535) relied heavily on Tyndale’s work.
By far, the most popular version of all time is the King
James English version, produced by scholars in 1611.
9. What Is Meant By Canon?
The term canon refers to the standard or
Measurement by which books were included or
Excluded from the final list of authoritative
Scripture.
In Greek, canon means a straight stick by which
Something is ruled or measured.
The Hebrew word qaneh also referred to
measurement or the norm by which something
Was judged.
10. Which Parts Of The Bible Were First
Accepted As Canonical?
At about 400 B.C.E. the Jews decided that the
First five books of the Bible—Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy—were
Authoritative and binding.
These five scrolls are called the Pentateuch, and
Make up the Torah, meaning “law” or “instruction.”
These are the words that Yahweh gave to Israel
Through Moses, and remains, for Jews, the core
nucleus to which all other parts of scripture accrue.