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BOOKS OF THE BIBLE

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Publishing Committee · Battle Creek, Mich. · Mar 19, 1861

FromReview and Herald, Vol. 17, No. 18.

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BOOKS OF THE BIBLE.

WHEN and by whom were the books of the Old Testament first collected and arranged?
By Ezra, about 400 years before Christ. The five books of Moses had been kept with the ark of the covenant [Deut. xxxi, 24, 26], and Joshua had written the portion of scripture bearing his name "in the book of the law of God." Joshua viii, 24, 26.
What are the most prominent translations of the Bible that have been made?
The Septuagint, the Vulgate, the Douay, and the English, or king James' Bible.
What is the meaning of the word Septuagint?
Seventy. The translation was so called because it was made by seventy, or more strictly, by seventy-two men; six having been chosen from each of the twelve tribes of Israel for this purpose.
When and where was the translation made?
At Alexandria, in Egypt, about 200 years before Christ. It was a translation of the Old Testament only, from the Hebrew and the Greek.
How was the translation regarded by the Jews in the time of Christ?
It was regarded with peculiar reverence. Our Saviour and the apostles, in their discourses, generally quoted from this version.
What is the Vulgate translation?
It is a Latin translation of the Septuagint not of the Hebrew, and so called the Vulgate, because, being the only version which the Roman Catholic church holds to be reliable, it is in that church the common version.
When and by whom was the translation made?
By Jerome, about the year A. D. 403.
What of the Douay Bible?
It is an English translation of the Vulgate, with notes and comments, and is the only English Bible approved by the Roman Catholic church.
From what did it receive its name?
From the place where it was first published—Douay, a town in France.
When was it published?
In the year 1610.
Why does it differ so much from our English Bible?
Because it was made, not from the original Hebrew, but from the Vulgate, which was from the Septuagint, and was very imperfect. It could not be as correct as a translation made directly from the Hebrew.
Why is our English version called king James' Bible?
Because it was made during the reign of James I, king of England.
When was it begun, and when completed?
In the year 1607 the work was commenced, and finished in about three years, and published in 1611.
Fifty-four of the most learned men of the kingdom were appointed to perform the task. Seven of these did not serve, leaving forty-seven as the number who were actually engaged in the work.
How was the labor apportioned among this number?
They were divided into six classes: to each of which a certain portion of the Bible was given to translate, not from the Latin or the Septuagint, but directly from the original Hebrew and Greek.
What was the earliest division of the Bible?
That which is supposed to have been made by Ezra. The books of the Old Testament were divided into three classes: The Law, the Prophets, and the Writing, or The Psalms. To this our Saviour refers. Luke xxiv, 44. All things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and in the Prophets and in the Psalms concerning me.
When and by whom was the Bible first divided into chapters?
This is generally said to have been done by Cardinal Hugo, A. D. 1240. But as early as the middle of the third century the four gospels had been divided into chapters.
When and by whom were the chapters divided into verses?
By Robert Stephens, in the year 1551. It is said he performed the greater part of his laborious task while on horseback, on a journey from Paris to Lyons.
What of the punctuation of the Bible?
The introduction of points or stops to mark the sense, is a gradual improvement, commenced by Jerome in the fourth century, and continued and improved by succeeding critics.