Meaning of bible (what is it, concept and definition)

What is the Bible:

The Bible is a collection or collection of holy books, containing the stories, doctrines, codes and traditions that guide Christians, based on the Jewish tradition (Old Testament) and the proclamation of the Gospel (New Testament).

Bible is a term derived from the Greek word βιβλίον ( biblíon ), which means scroll, papyrus or book, and from the Greek expression τὰ βιβλία τὰ ἅγια ( ta biblía ta hágia ), which means holy books.

It was written by about 40 men over a period of approximately 1600 years. The first book of the Bible is Genesis. It was written around 1445 BC. The last book is the Apocalypse, written around 90-96 AD. Originally it was written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.

The Holy Bible (holy bible in Latin) is the best-selling book of all time. It has been translated into more than 2,500 languages, and is available in different versions according to traditions and translations. It is currently also available in digital format.

In a figurative sense, the term is also used to refer to a book critical and containing all relevant information in a given area. For example, The Java Script Bible, The Business Administration Bible, The Musician's Bible, The Soccer Bible, etc.

Structure of the Bible

The Christian Bible is divided into two main parts: the Old and the New Testaments. Testament ( berith in Hebrew) means covenant, covenant, or contract. Each of them gathers a collection of sacred texts. Let's get to know some essential details.

Old Testament

The Old Testament ( Tanach for the Jews and Septuagint for the Greeks) is considered by Christians as the creation story. It comprises the stories related to the creation of the world and the events of the Hebrew people until approximately 445 BC.

There are two versions of the Old Testament, which circulated interchangeably in the times of Jesus and the apostles:

• Hebrew Canon or Palestinian Canon , written in Hebrew, made up of 39 books. This version excludes books called deuterocanonicals. Alexandrine Canon, Version of the Seventy (LXX) or Septuagint Bible . This version was written in Greek. It contains the Hebrew canon and, in addition, the deuterocanonical books, called apocrypha by the Protestant tradition, such as Tobias, Judith, 1st and 2nd book of the Maccabees, Wisdom, Ecclesiastical and Baruch.

Both canons differ in order, distribution and titles. The Catholic and Orthodox Churches recognize the Alexandrian canon or version of the Seventy . Protestant or Lutheran-inspired churches use the Hebrew or Palestinian canon . For its part, the Coptic church admits other books such as the book of Enoch and the book of Jubilees.

New Testament

The New Testament contains 27 books. It is considered by Christians as the history of salvation. It includes the Gospels, which represent the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. These encompass events during his life, his message, his death, and his resurrection.

In addition, the New Testament contains the narration of the acts of the apostles (which tells of the birth of the early Church), the pastoral letters of the early Christian leaders, and the prophetic book of the Apocalypse.

Copies and translations of the Bible

Before the invention of the printing press, holy books were copied manually.

In the case of the Jewish holy book, which corresponds to the Christian Old Testament , the copies were made by Hebrew copyists called masoretes. They were in charge of copying the Hebrew Scriptures between the 6th and 10th centuries, and they used to count the letters to avoid mistakes.

In the Christian world, translations and copies of the Bible were carried out by monks in monasteries, many of whom were also responsible for incorporating illuminations or illustrations of great artistic value.

The monks could copy alone or in a group under the dictation of a brother, which accelerated the production of copies. Therefore, it was not surprising that there were some errors in the process.

There are different opinions regarding the reliability, preservation and integrity of the Bible because many years have passed since the first manuscripts, and also because of possible errors in translations into different languages ​​and divergent opinions in dogmas.

The first translation of the Bible into the vulgar language, and also the first printed version, was the Bible translated by Luther into German in the 16th century.

Archeology has also provided interesting discoveries regarding the conformation of the historical biblical texts themselves.