Encyclopedia article
Bible
Anthology of religious texts central to Judaism and Christianity
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See every claimThe Bible is an anthology of religious texts central to Judaism and Christianity, comprising narratives, laws, poetry, prophecy, letters and other genres compiled by different communities into differing official collections, or canons 112. The Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, is divided into Torah, Nevi'im and Ketuvim, while the Christian Bible consists of an Old Testament and a New Testament whose contents vary by tradition 1. Believers generally regard the Bible as divinely inspired, but they differ on what inspiration means and on how the text should be read 15. Scholars continue to debate how the texts were composed and transmitted, and what bearing they have on the history of ancient Israel 246.
Etymology and terminology
#The English word Bible derives from the Koine Greek ta biblia, meaning 'the books'; the singular biblion originally meant 'scroll' and is a diminutive of byblos, 'Egyptian papyrus' 117. Hellenistic Jews used ta biblia for their sacred books, and the biblical scholar F. F. Bruce identified John Chrysostom, in homilies delivered between 386 and 388 CE, as apparently the first writer to apply the phrase to both Testaments together 1.
The term can refer either to the Hebrew Bible or to the Christian Bible, which includes the Old and New Testaments 1. Medieval Latin biblia, short for biblia sacra ('holy books'), came to be treated as a feminine singular noun and entered the vernaculars of Western Europe in that form 1.
Hebrew Bible: composition and canon
#The Hebrew Bible was written mainly in Biblical Hebrew, with some portions in Biblical Aramaic 112. Its name Tanakh is an acronym of its three divisions: Torah ('Teaching'), Nevi'im ('Prophets') and Ketuvim ('Writings') 1.
Many scholars hold that the texts began as orally transmitted material and were written and compiled by many mostly unknown people over a long period 1. Ronald Hendel and Jan Joosten, using linguistic and historiographical methods, date the oldest parts, such as the Song of Deborah in Judges 5, to the early Iron Age around 1200 BCE 1. No original manuscripts survive, and the dating of composition is heavily debated 1.
In Jewish tradition, the Torah is held to have been dictated to Moses by God 1. From the 17th century onward, scholars have proposed that the Torah derives from multiple anonymous sources 1. Wikipedia reports a general consensus that it reached its final form in the Persian period (probably 450–350 BCE) or perhaps the early Hellenistic period 1.
The Documentary Hypothesis divides the Torah into four underlying documents, labelled J, E, D and P, woven together by later editors, and has long been presented as the orthodoxy of Pentateuchal scholarship 11. Stuart Zachary Steinberg, in an essay published on Medium, argues that the hypothesis is 'dead' yet still taught 11. This view rests on a single essay among the sources used here 11.
According to the account in Wikipedia, the Torah was accepted as canon by the fifth century BCE, the Nevi'im by about the second century BCE, and the Ketuvim was not a fixed canon until the second century CE 1. Josephus, writing around 95 CE, treated the Hebrew scriptures as a closed collection, although the inspiration of Esther, the Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes was debated for some time afterwards 1.
Old Testament and canon differences
#The Septuagint is a Koine Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures begun in Alexandria in the late third century BCE 112. It came to include additional books, such as the Books of the Maccabees and the Wisdom of Sirach, which Rabbinic Judaism did not accept as scripture 1. Britannica notes that the Septuagint provided a language for the New Testament and for early Christian liturgy and theology 12.
Christian canons differ in their Old Testaments 1. The Protestant Old Testament has 39 books, matching the content of the Jewish Tanakh but divided differently, while the Catholic Church recognises 46 books, including books it calls deuterocanonical, and Eastern Orthodox churches recognise further additional books 1. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church uses an 81-book canon that includes Enoch and Jubilees, though that total is reached through varying lists 1.
The Council of Trent (1545–1563) defined the Catholic canon as an article of faith 1. After the Protestant Reformation many Protestant Bibles followed the Jewish canon and placed the additional books, called the Apocrypha, separately or omitted them 1.
New Testament
#The New Testament is a collection of 27 books comprising Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, epistles and the Book of Revelation, and Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox churches share the same 27-book list 1. The majority scholarly view is that it was written in Koine Greek, mostly in the first century CE, although some scholars argue for an Aramaic original 1.
Scholars describe canon formation in different terms 1. John Barton treats the recognition of inspired writings, the development of a concept of canon in the second century, and its formalisation as three stages of one process, while Albert C. Sundberg distinguishes 'scripture', recognised early, from 'canon', which came later 1. Stanley E. Porter argues that the Greek New Testament text was relatively fixed by the second and third centuries 1.
Christian tradition holds the Gospels to have been handed down from the Apostles, while biblical criticism has questioned their authorship and dating 1. Some Oriental Orthodox canons have included further writings, such as the two Epistles of Clement in the Coptic New Testament 1.
Textual transmission and variants
#Biblical books were first copied by hand, and all biblical manuscripts contain variants, defined as any deviation between two texts 1. Most variants are accidental, such as spelling errors, but some changes were intentional, including harmonising parallel passages and, in New Testament texts, changes made for theological reasons 1.
The Masoretes standardised the Hebrew text, with vowel signs, between about the sixth and ninth centuries CE, and the Masoretic Text is regarded as authoritative by all branches of modern Rabbinic Judaism 1. The Leningrad Codex, dated to about 1008 CE, is the oldest surviving complete copy of the Hebrew Bible 1. Old Testament scholar Bruce K. Waltke has observed about one variant per ten words in the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, leaving about 90% of the Hebrew text without variation 1.
Wikipedia reports that the fourth edition of the United Bible Societies' Greek New Testament notes variants in about 500 of 6,900 words, or about 7% 1. The 6,900-word figure is not the length of the whole Greek New Testament, and the source excerpt does not say which words it covers 1.
Bart Ehrman describes how local copying produced distinct New Testament 'text types', commonly identified as Alexandrian, Western, Caesarean and Byzantine 1.
Dead Sea Scrolls
#The Dead Sea Scrolls, discovered near Qumran from 1947, contain copies dated to between 250 BCE and 100 CE and are the oldest non-fragmentary copies of Hebrew Bible books 1. They include partial copies of every book of the Hebrew Bible except Esther 4.
Their significance is interpreted differently 4. Many of the scrolls are very close to the later Masoretic text, and some commentators cite them as evidence that the biblical text was accurately transmitted 14. A 2026 Yale University Press essay argues that this is true only in a limited way, since the scrolls also show at least two editions of Exodus, a long and a short Jeremiah, and many psalms not in the canonical Bible 4. The same essay argues that the scrolls cannot show what happened in 2000 or 1000 BCE, only how later Jewish writers recorded their traditions 4.
Many differences between the scrolls and the Masoretic text agree with the Septuagint or the Samaritan Pentateuch, which has led many scholars to treat the Septuagint as a careful translation of a different Hebrew text form rather than a careless one, though debate continues 1.
History and scholarship
#Megan Bishop Moore and Brad E. Kelle describe a shift in scholarship since the mid-20th century, from using the study of ancient Israel mainly to clarify the biblical story toward reconstructing Israel's past from biblical and extrabiblical evidence without privileging the biblical perspective 2.
The historicity of a united monarchy under Saul, David and Solomon remains debated, with Israel Finkelstein's arguments set against counterarguments from Amihai Mazar, including over the archaeology of Jerusalem and Khirbet Qeiyafa 6. Views of the Bible's historical value vary: some regard parts as historically inaccurate, while others treat it as a useful source for certain peoples and events 1.
The website Reasons to Believe states that alleged contradictions in the Bible are most widely debated in the areas of science and history and of theology, and attributes many challenges to differing interpretations, gaps in historical knowledge or deeper theological questions 3. Within Christianity, some approach scientific findings on evolution and cosmology with suspicion, fearing that they undermine biblical authority, while many others regard scientific discovery more positively 9.
Interpretation and authority
#Christians with different theological and political beliefs use the Bible as textual support for their positions, and how to interpret it is itself contested 5. Some Christians, largely in fundamentalist and evangelical traditions, hold that the Bible is inerrant; the 1974 Lausanne Covenant affirms the Scriptures as 'without error in all that it affirms, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice' 5.
Other Christians regard the Bible as inspired and a trustworthy guide to faith but not necessarily scientifically or historically accurate in every statement 5. Some of them argue that a focus on inerrancy is a form of Bible-worship that might be construed as unfaithfulness to the Christian witness that 'the Word became flesh' 5.
Christian interpreters differ over how to read passages on topics such as gender roles, slavery and homosexuality 5. Many hold that these passages must be read in the historical context of the ancient Near East and Mediterranean world, in order to understand how the culture of the time informed them, while others maintain that the Bible transcends the culture it originally addressed and speaks directly to the present 5. For all Christians, the question of interpretation remains 5.
In the 20th century, theologian Karl Barth accepted historical criticism as legitimate and described the Bible as both human and fallible 8. A 1968 Christianity Today article describes Barth and Rudolf Bultmann as occupying almost opposite positions on one line of criticism 8.
The Catholic Church's Pontifical Biblical Commission was constituted by Pope Leo XIII by a letter of 30 October 1902, with the tasks of promoting biblical study among Catholics, counteracting by scientific means opinions about Scripture that it regarded as erroneous, and studying debated questions in the biblical field 14.
Influence and contemporary belief
#The Christian Bible is often described as the best-selling publication of all time, with estimated total sales of over five billion copies; this figure is an estimate reported by Wikipedia rather than an audited total 1. It is translated or being translated into about half of the world's languages, and the Gutenberg Bible was the first book printed in Europe using movable type 1. Britannica states that the Latin Vulgate shaped Western thought and life for a thousand years and that Bible translation led to the literary development of many languages 12.
Wikipedia describes the Bible as important in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam, and as having influenced Western culture and history and cultures around the globe 1. Biblical texts have been cited both to support and to oppose political power 1. Some scholars of nationalism, such as Adrian Hastings, argue that the Hebrew Bible's model of ancient Israel supplied the original concept of nationhood 1. Some people view biblical texts as morally problematic, while others regard them as a source of ethical teachings 1.
A Lifeway Research survey of U.S. Protestant churchgoers found that 28% agreed some biblical truths become obsolete as culture changes, up from 24% in 2019, and 34% said they accept some biblical truths but not others, up from 30% 710. Barna Group and Gloo data reported that 36% of U.S. adults believe the Bible is 100% accurate, down from 43% in 2000, even as Bible reading reached a 15-year high 7. These figures cover U.S. samples only 710.
Scripture
Passages quoted from the King James Version. The text is fetched, never written by a model.
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.
We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
And he said unto them, 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, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
Sources
- 1.Bible — Wikipedia (opens in a new tab)
en.wikipedia.orgWikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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- 5.Fighting for the Bible (opens in a new tab)
pluralism.org
- 6.Debating the United Monarchy: Let's See How Far We've Come (opens in a new tab)
journals.sagepub.com
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- 8.The Modern Debate around the Bible (opens in a new tab)
christianitytoday.com
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Truth Ledger
Every checkable claim in the draft, checked by GPT-6.1 Sol and Grok 4.7. A claim is stated as fact only when both checkers confirm it from the cited sources; a split verdict is published with attribution, and a claim neither can confirm is cut.
Showing 42 claims.
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F. F. Bruce identified John Chrysostom as apparently the first writer to use ta biblia for both Testaments, in homilies of 386–388 CE.
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Source [1] explicitly attributes this observation to Bruce and dates Chrysostom’s homilies to 386–388 CE. / Source 1 credits F. F. Bruce: Chrysostom first used ta biblia for both Testaments in 386–388 homilies.
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The Hebrew Bible was written mainly in Hebrew with some portions in Aramaic.
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Source [1] states that the Hebrew Bible was written mainly in Hebrew, with portions in Aramaic. / Source 1 says the Hebrew Bible was written in Hebrew with some Aramaic portions.
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Tanakh is an acronym of Torah, Nevi'im and Ketuvim.
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Source [1] explains that Tanakh abbreviates Torah, Nevi’im, and Ketuvim. / Source 1 calls Tanakh an acronym from Torah, Nevi'im and Ketuvim.
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Hendel and Joosten date the oldest parts of the Hebrew Bible to around 1200 BCE.
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Source [1] attributes the approximate 1200 BCE dating of the oldest portions to Hendel and Joosten. / Source 1 says Hendel and Joosten date the oldest parts to c. 1200 BCE.
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No original manuscripts of the biblical books survive.
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Source [1] states that no originals survive and separately confirms the loss of New Testament autographs. / Source 1 states no originals or New Testament autographs have survived.
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Since the 17th century scholars have viewed the Torah as the product of multiple anonymous sources.
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Source [1] dates scholarly views of multiple anonymous Torah authors to the seventeenth century. / Source 1 says since the 17th century scholars see multiple anonymous authors behind the Torah's sources.
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There is a general scholarly consensus, per Wikipedia, that the Torah reached its final form in the Persian period or early Hellenistic period.
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Source [1] explicitly describes this consensus, allowing either Persian-period finalization or an early Hellenistic date. / Source 1 reports consensus on a Persian (450–350 BCE) or early Hellenistic final form.
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An essay by Stuart Zachary Steinberg on Medium argues that the Documentary Hypothesis is dead but still taught.
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The title and author information in source [11] directly support this description of Steinberg’s essay. / Source 11's Medium title by Steinberg says the Documentary Hypothesis is dead yet still taught.
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The Ketuvim was not a fixed canon until the second century CE.
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Source [1] explicitly states that Ketuvim was not a fixed canon until the second century CE. / Source 1 explicitly says the Ketuvim was not a fixed canon until the second century CE.
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Josephus, around 95 CE, treated the Hebrew scriptures as a closed canon.
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Source [1] dates Against Apion to 95 CE and describes Josephus treating the Hebrew Bible as a closed canon. / Source 1 says Josephus's Against Apion (95 CE) treats the Hebrew Bible as a closed canon.
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The Septuagint is a Koine Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures begun in Alexandria in the late third century BCE.
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Source [1] explicitly supplies the language, location, and late-third-century BCE starting date. / Source 1 describes the Septuagint as a Koine Greek translation begun in Alexandria in the late third century BCE.
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The Protestant Old Testament has 39 books with the same content as the Tanakh, divided differently.
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Source [1] states that the Protestant Old Testament’s 39 books differ from the Tanakh in division, not content. / Source 1 says the Protestant OT has 39 books; only the division, not the content, differs from the Tanakh.
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The Catholic Old Testament has 46 books and the full Catholic Bible has 73 books.
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Source [1] gives 46 Old Testament books and 73 total books for the Catholic canon. / Source 1 gives 46 Catholic Old Testament books and 73 books in the Catholic Bible.
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The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church canon has 81 books, reached through varying lists.
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Source [1] states that the Ethiopian canon has 81 books, with different lists producing that total. / Source 1 says the Ethiopian canon has 81 books, reached by varying lists.
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The Council of Trent (1545–1563) defined the Catholic canon as an article of faith.
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Source [1] identifies Trent’s dates as 1545–1563 and its affirmation of the canon as an article of faith. / Source 1 says Trent (1545–1563) established the Catholic canon as an article of faith.
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Catholic, Protestant and Eastern Orthodox churches share a 27-book New Testament.
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Source [1] explicitly states that these three traditions share the same 27-book New Testament canon. / Source 1 says Catholicism, Protestantism and Eastern Orthodoxy share a 27-book New Testament.
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The majority scholarly view is that the New Testament was written in Koine Greek, though some scholars argue for Aramaic.
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Source [1] identifies Koine Greek as the majority scholarly view and acknowledges scholars proposing Aramaic. / Source 1 says the majority view is Koine Greek, while some scholars assert Aramaic.
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Stanley E. Porter argues the Greek New Testament text was relatively fixed by the second and third centuries.
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Source [1] quotes Porter describing the Greek New Testament text as relatively established and fixed by the second and third centuries. / Source 1 quotes Porter that the Greek New Testament was relatively fixed by the second and third centuries.
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Later biblical criticism has questioned the traditional authorship and dating of the Gospels.
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Source [1] explicitly says later biblical criticism questioned Gospel authorship and dating. / Source 1 says later biblical criticism has questioned the Gospels' authorship and dating.
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All biblical manuscripts contain variants, most of them accidental.
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Source [1] states that variants occur in all biblical manuscripts and that most variants are accidental. / Source 1 says variants occur in all biblical manuscripts and most are accidental.
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Bruce K. Waltke observed about one variant per ten words in the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, leaving 90% of the text without variation.
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Source [1] attributes precisely these figures and this observation to Bruce K. Waltke. / Source 1 attributes to Waltke one variant per ten words in BHS, leaving 90% unvaried.
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The UBS Greek New Testament, fourth edition, notes variants affecting about 500 of 6,900 words, about 7%.
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Source [1] explicitly reports these figures. However, 6,900 is not the total word count of the complete Greek New Testament. / Source 1 says UBS4 notes variants in about 500 of 6,900 words, about 7%.
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The Masoretic Text is considered authoritative by all branches of modern Rabbinic Judaism.
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Source [1] explicitly calls the Masoretic Text authoritative across all branches of modern Rabbinic Judaism. / Source 1 says all branches of modern Rabbinic Judaism treat the Masoretic Text as authoritative.
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The Leningrad Codex, dated to about 1008 CE, is the oldest complete copy of the Hebrew Bible.
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Source [1] identifies the Leningrad Codex as the oldest surviving complete copy and gives its date as 1008 CE. / Source 1 calls the Leningrad Codex, dated 1008 and c. 1000, the oldest complete Hebrew Bible.
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The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered near Qumran from 1947 and date to between 250 BCE and 100 CE.
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Source [1] gives discovery at Qumran in 1947 and dates the scrolls between 250 BCE and 100 CE. / Source 1 says the Scrolls were found in Qumran caves in 1947 and date from 250 BCE to 100 CE.
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The Dead Sea Scrolls include partial copies of every Hebrew Bible book except Esther.
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Source [4] explicitly states that partial copies of every Hebrew Bible book except Esther occur among the scrolls. / Source 4 says the Scrolls include partial copies of every Hebrew Bible book except Esther.
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The Dead Sea Scrolls include at least two editions of Exodus and a long and a short Jeremiah.
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Source [4] explicitly lists at least two Exodus editions and both long and short Jeremiah editions. / Source 4 cites at least two Exodus editions and a long and a short Jeremiah.
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A Yale University Press essay argues the scrolls cannot show what happened in 2000 or 1000 BCE.
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Source [4] explicitly argues that the scrolls cannot establish what actually happened in 2000 or 1000 BCE. / Source 4, a Yale University Press essay, says the Scrolls cannot show events in 2000 or 1000 BCE.
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Many differences between the scrolls and the Masoretic text agree with the Septuagint or Samaritan Pentateuch.
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Source [1] states that many differences agree with the Septuagint, Samaritan Pentateuch, or Greek Old Testament. / Source 1 says many scroll differences from the Masoretic text agree with the Septuagint or Samaritan Pentateuch.
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Moore and Kelle describe scholars increasingly reconstructing Israel's past without privileging the biblical perspective.
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Source [2] explicitly describes this trend in Moore and Kelle’s account of scholarship. / Source 2 says Moore and Kelle describe scholars telling Israel's past without privileging the Bible.
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Israel Finkelstein and Amihai Mazar hold opposing positions on the United Monarchy, including over Jerusalem and Khirbet Qeiyafa.
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Source [6] references Finkelstein’s positions, Mazar’s counterarguments, and archaeological issues involving Jerusalem and Khirbet Qeiyafa. / Source 6 pairs Finkelstein with Mazar's counterarguments and discusses Jerusalem and Khirbet Qeiyafa.
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The 1974 Lausanne Covenant affirms Scripture as without error in all it affirms.
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Source [5] quotes the 1974 Lausanne Covenant affirming Scripture as “without error in all that it affirms.” / Source 5 quotes the 1974 Lausanne Covenant affirming Scripture without error in all it affirms.
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Some Christians regard the Bible as inspired but not necessarily scientifically or historically accurate in every statement.
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Source [5] explicitly describes Christians who affirm inspiration without requiring scientific or historical factuality in every statement. / Source 5 says some Christians call the Bible inspired but not necessarily scientific or historical truth.
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Karl Barth accepted historical criticism and regarded the Bible as both human and fallible.
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Source [8] explicitly describes Barth’s acceptance of historical criticism and his view of the Bible as human and fallible. / Source 8 says Barth accepted criticism, including historical questions, and called the Bible human and fallible.
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The Pontifical Biblical Commission was established on 30 October 1902 by Leo XIII.
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Source [14] gives Leo XIII, the founding letter, and the exact date of 30 October 1902. / Source 14 says Leo XIII constituted the Commission by letter of 30 October 1902.
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The Christian Bible has estimated total sales of over five billion copies.
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Source [1] explicitly reports estimated total Christian Bible sales exceeding five billion copies. / Source 1 twice estimates Christian Bible sales at over five billion copies.
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The Gutenberg Bible was the first book printed in Europe using movable type.
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Source [1] explicitly identifies the Gutenberg Bible as the first book printed in Europe using movable type. / Source 1 states the Gutenberg Bible was the first book printed in Europe with movable type.
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Adrian Hastings argues the Hebrew Bible's model of Israel provided the original concept of nationhood.
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Source [1] attributes this argument about Israel and the original concept of nationhood to Adrian Hastings. / Source 1 says Hastings contends biblical Israel supplied the original concept of nationhood.
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Lifeway Research found 28% of U.S. Protestant churchgoers agreed some biblical truths become obsolete as culture changes, up from 24% in 2019.
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Sources [7] and [10] report 28%, compared with 24% in 2019, for agreement that cultural change makes some biblical truths obsolete. / Sources 7 and 10 report 28% of Protestant churchgoers, up from 24% in 2019.
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Lifeway Research found 34% of U.S. Protestant churchgoers accept some biblical truths but not others, up from 30% in 2019.
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Sources [7] and [10] report 34%, compared with 30% in 2019, accepting some biblical truths while rejecting others. / Sources 7 and 10 report 34%, up from 30% in 2019, accepting some biblical truths but not others.
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Barna Group and Gloo data show 36% of U.S. adults believe the Bible is 100% accurate, down from 43% in 2000.
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Source [7] attributes these figures to Barna Group and Gloo: 36% currently, compared with 43% in 2000. / Source 7 cites Barna and Gloo: 36% of Americans say the Bible is 100% accurate, down from 43% in 2000.
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 licence. Written by Claude Opus 5.5 from the sources listed and checked claim by claim by GPT-6.1 Sol and Grok 4.7.