The word Bible comes from the Greek equivalent word Biblia, meaning ‘Books’. The term the books occurs in Daniel 9:2, “In the 1st year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood form the scriptures (books)…” This usage was taken by the Christian Church for the Old Testament (O.T.), and later it was extended to mean the whole of the Scriptures. By the middle of the 2nd century, Clement called the Sacred writings ‘la Biblia’ – The Books (in English). Jerome named The Books in the 4th century as Divine Library. Later by 13th century the important change took place from plural to singular noun, with a common consent & thereby, The Books became The Book – The Bible.
Divisions of the Bible.
Old Testament (OT) : 39 books
New Testament (NT) : 27 books
Total : 66 books
The Five, Old Testament divisions.
A. The Pentateuch (meaning 5 books) of Mosses.
1.Genesis 2.Exodus 3.Leviticus
4.Numbers 5.Deuteronomy
B. The 12 historical books.
1.Joshua 2.Judges 3.Ruth 4.1 Samuel
5.2 Samuel 6.1 Kings 7.2 Kings 8.1 Chronicles
9.2 Chronicles 10.Ezra 11.Nehemiah 12.Esther
C. The 5 poetical books.
1.Job 2.Psalms 3.Proverbs
4.Ecclesiastes 5.Songs of Solomon.
D. The 5 books of the major Prophets.
1.Isaiah 2.Jeremiah 3.Lamentations
4.Ezekiel 5.Daniel
E. The 12 books of the minor Prophets.
1.Hosea 2.Joel 3.Amos 4.Obadiah
5.Jonah 6.Micah 7.Nahum 8.Habakkuk
9.Zephaniah 10.Haggai 11.Zachariah 12.Malachi
The Five divisions of The New Testament.
A. The 4 Gospels (History of Jesus)
1.Mathew 2.Mark 3.Luke 4.John
B. The Historical book.
The Acts of the Holy Spirit & the Apostles.
C. The 14 Pauline epistles
1.Romans 2.1 Corinthians 3.2 Corinthians
4.Galatians 5.Ephesians 6.Philippians 7.Colossians
8.1 Thessalonians 9.2 Thessalonians 10.1 Timothy
11.2 Timothy 12.Titus 13.Philemon 14.Hebrews
D. The 7 general Epistles.
1.James 2.1 Peter 3.2 Peter 4.1 John
5.2 John 6.3 John 7. Jude
E. The Prophetical book.
Revelation
The Bible as a whole:
1. Number of Books – O.T. - 39
N.T. – 27
Total - 66
2. Chapters – O.T. - 929
N.T. - 266
Total -1189
3. Longest name: 18 letters (Isaiah 8:1) Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz (meaning quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil.)
4. Longest verse: Esther 8:9
5: Shortest verse: John 11:35
6. Middle books: Micah & Nahum
7. Middle verse: Ps.118:8
8. Largest book: Psalms
9. Smallest book: 3John
10. Longest chapter: Psalms 119
11. Authors: 40
12. Translated into 1100 languages.
13. First complete English Bible was made by
John Wycliff in 1380 AD
14. 5 books have only 1 chapter each – Obadiah,
Philemon, 2 & 3John, Jude.
15. Haggai has only 2 chapters.
16. 7 books have only 3 chapters each – Joel,
Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah,
2Thessalonians, Titus, 2Peter.
17. 6 books have only 4 chapters – Ruth, Jonah,
Malachi, Colossians, Philippians, 2Timothy.
18. 5 books have only 5 chapters – Lamentations,
1Thessalonians, James, 1Peter, 1John.
How we got the present day Bible.
Our English Bible is the result of 1200 years of work by all kinds of learned men.. In 1535 Miles Coverdale made the first complete printed English Bible. Then came the Geneva Bible in 1560AD, followed by Bishops Bible in 1563AD and revised in 1568. In 1604AD King James authorized 47 men to make a complete translation of the Bible from the original languages. It was completed in 1611AD. It has been the most popular and accepted version of the English, speaking world till date.
What the Bible is NOT?
1. The Bible is not an amulet, a charm, a fetish, or anything to work wonders by it’s presence alone. It also does not claim that if one study and practice its teaching wonders will work in one’s life.
2. It is not a book of mysteries. It explains it’s mysteries in a self interpreting manner, so that the mysteries no more remains a mystery.
3. The Bible is not a book of chronological (serially arranged) events or an unbroken series on divine utterance. It was given here & there a little to many prophets (Isa.28:9-11); which when linked together forms perfect unity in itself. It is also not a book that gives systematic discoveries on any subject; but it does give divine information practically on every
subject. One must collect from here & there, all God’s information through various writers in order to know the whole truth as well learn the entire subject.
4. Bible is not adapted to the tastes, customs, traditions, and habits of anyone nation or people, age, or period of time. It is for all people, for all ages, in all ages (times).
What the Bible is?
1 Bible is God’s inspired revelation of the origin and destiny of all things. Here the gates of heaven are opened, & gates of hell disclosed. The Bible is a travelers map, the pilgrims staff,
the pilots compass, the soldiers sword, & the Christians charter.
2 Bible is the power of God unto the eternal salvation of present help, for body, soul & spirit (Rom.1:16; Jn.15:7). Jesus Christ is its grand subject, mans good it’s design, and the glory of God it end. It is a mine of wealth, the source of health, & a world of pleasure.
3 Bible is Gods will for man of all ages, revealing the plan for man here on earth & life after. It will be opened at the time of judgment. It blesses all who Proclaims the word for the Glory of God, an eternal salvation to all who believe in it. The eternal damnation (destruction) to all who play with it, rebel against it, manipulate its contents.
4. is the most remarkable book ever compiled. It is a divine library of 66 books by 40 authors. They contain various forms of literature: history, biography, poetry, proverbs, hymns, letters, directions for elaborate ritualistic worship, laws, parables, riddles, allegories, prophecy, & all other forms of human expression.
5 Bible is the only book that reveals the mind of God, state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, & joy of believers. Its doctrines are Holy, percepts binding, history true, and decision immutable(unchangeable).
Directions to read a Bible & benefits of reading Bible.
1.Frequently and daily (Josh.1:8) “Do not let this book (The Bible) of the law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day & night, so that you may be careful to do
everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
2.Not for controversy, but for profit (Pr.3; 2Tim.3:16-17)
3.Meditatively (Ps.113)
4.In love (Ps.119:97-104)
5.With consciousness of need (Mt.5:6; Jn.7:37-39; 2Peter.1:1-10; 3:18)
6.In faith (Rom10:17; Heb.11:6)
7.Searchingly (Jn.5:39)
8.Openness to all of it (2Tim.3:16-17; Heb.4:12; Jude3)
9.By comparing scripture with scripture (1Cor.2:13)
10.In the spirit (Jn.14:16-17; 15:26; Gal.5:16,26)
11.Through, over & over again (Mt.5:18)
12. In obedience (Rom.1:5; 16:26)
Seven reasons why the Bible is easy to understand.
1. The truths in the Bible has been repeated over and over again (2Cor.13:1) Now what we have to do here is to find out what God says, where He says it & then believe it.
2. It is written in the simplest language. Therefore if it is understood as it is written then it becomes a simple book (Lk.24:25,45)
3. God Himself is the author of the Bible (2Tim.3:16-17, 2Pet.1:21) As He is our creator and if He cannot express clearly what He wants to say then probably no one can make us understand. As God is the creator of all languages, & as He wants every simple man to understand the Bible,
therefore it is written in the simplest of the language. The fault with Bible complications is not with God or Bible, but with us who refuse to believe what He says and think that we have to interpret the Bible in order to get the meaning.
Seven reasons why Bible is not easy to understand.
1. Reasoning, implying doubt & unbelief Mark 8:10-18
2. Lack of perception, implying dullness Mark 8:17
3. Ignorance - lack of interest.
4. Hardness of heart – stubbornness in understanding & rebellion.
5. Dull eyes – wish-full blindness to truth (Mt.13:14-15)
6. Dull ears – wish-full rejection of truth (Mark 8:18)
7. Dull memory – will-full forgetfulness.
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