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BAS Library Explorer is a monthly guide to the vast array of material available in the BAS Library. In the November 2011 issue, we look at the highly contentious debate over who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls. While many scholars have attributed the scroll library to the Essenes, a mysterious sectarian Jewish group mentioned by Roman-era historians like Josephus and Pliny, others have remained unconvinced. These articles highlight some of the most important differences scholars have about who wrote the scrolls. Each month, the BAS Library Explorer newsletter will cover a new topic from the world of the Bible and archaeology.
In a BAR article from 1977, The Dead Sea Scrolls and the People Who Wrote Them, esteemed Bible and Dead Sea Scroll scholar Frank Moore Cross sets the stage for debates that have continued unabated for more than three decades. For Cross, only one conclusion can be drawn: The Essenes who lived at Khirbet Qumran on the shores of the Dead Sea were the authors of the scrolls. “A careful examination of the classical references side by side with the texts of Qumran establishes the identification, in my opinion, beyond cavil,” he wrote.
For others, however, the answer isn’t quite so simple. In The Significance of the Scrolls, renowned scroll scholar Lawrence Schiffman argues that some of the most important scrolls, including 4QMMT (also known as Some Precepts of the Torah), were written by Sadducees, and that Qumran was the settlement of a breakaway group of Sadducean priests. In response, James VanderKam wrote The People of the Dead Sea Scrolls, a rebuttal to Schiffman’s argument and a vigorous defense of the traditional Essene hypothesis.
In Did the Essenes Write the Dead Sea Scrolls? historian and Josephus expert Steve Mason objects to the uncritical use of Josephus to prove the Essene theory of scroll authorship. “Studying the works of Josephus, I do not find the convergences between the scrolls and Josephus that supporters of the Essene hypothesis rely on,” writes Mason. “If the scrolls were written by the Essenes, that cannot yet be demonstrated by reference to Josephus. Soon after Mason’s article appeared, prominent archaeologists and scroll scholars Kenneth Atkinson, Jodi Magness and the late Hanan Eshel wrote Another View: Do Josephus’s Writings Support the “Essene Hypothesis”? in which they contend, despite Mason’s objections, that Josephus “remains our best evidence in support of the Essene hypothesis.”
Still others have asked whether the site of Qumran can even be associated with the Essenes. In The Qumran Settlement–Monastery, Villa or Fortress? Hershel Shanks summarizes these varied theories, all of which conclude that the scrolls were not related in any way to the site of Qumran itself and were, most likely, written and hidden by Jerusalem priests escaping the Roman destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. Such theories are rejected by scroll scholar Sidnie White Crawford in A View from the Caves, where she argues that the archaeological and scroll evidence recovered from the caves and the site of Qumran indicate the scrolls were indeed authored by a Jewish sectarian community living at the site, presumably the Essenes.
Whether it’s to research a paper, to prepare a sermon, to deepen your understanding of scripture or history, or simply to marvel at the complexity of the Bible–the most important book in history–the BAS Library is an invaluable tool that cannot be matched anywhere else.
“… that thou mayest fear this glorious and fearful name, THE LORD THY GOD;” – Deut 28:58
In the Hebrew understanding, a name was more than just the label that identified a person. A name represented that person. It described him. In Genesis 17:5, God changed Abram’s name to Abraham, which means “father of a multitude.” Solomon’s name means, “His peace,” the name God gave him before he was born:
“Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days.” – 1 Chron 22:9
The names of God in the Bible are always purposefully placed. Isaiah specifically chose which name of God to use in a passage based on his purpose. He referred to God as the “LORD of hosts” in passages that portrayed God as a warrior ready to battle His enemies. When God’s heart of mercy toward Israel was the focus, Isaiah would call Him, the “Lord YHWH” translated “Lord GOD” in the King James (or sometimes “Sovereign Lord” in other versions). YHWH, the name of God given to Moses, means, “I AM.” As opposed to all the gods of the nations, YHWH is the God who actually IS.
God is serious about His name. The Third Commandment (Exo 20:7) warns us not to take His name in vain, no joking about it. The enemies of God speak wickedly against him and take his name in vain (Psalm 139:20). Jesus understood this well when his disciples asked him to teach them how to pray; he told them, “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.” -Matt 6:9
The Hebrews held the name YHWH in great honor. So much so that they stopped speaking it in common practice, even to this day. In the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, YHWH is generally replaced with kyrios, that is, “Lord”, to prevent the name of God from being thrown about loosely, as though it were a common thing. The King James translators continued this practice by translating YHWH as “The LORD” with LORD in all capitals to indicate the name there was originally YHWH and not simply the Hebrew word adonai – “lord.” The name of YHWH was used so rarely, in fact, that the exact pronunciation has been lost.
A good name is to be chosen over great riches, Solomon tells us in Proverbs 22:1, and God treasures His.
There is a shift in the New Testament, as God the Father demonstrates His love and goodness and mercy by sending His Son to save a lost world. Jesus tells his disciples to do things in his name, not to detract from the Father, but to bring Him glory.
“And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.” – John 14:13
Jesus is the Son of God. He tells Philip in John 14:9, “he that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” If you want to know what God is like, look at His Son. The honor and glory of God go to the Son, and the name of the Son is as worthy as the name of the Father.
Paul wrote to the church at Philippi:
“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” -Phil 2:9-11
Paul is equating Jesus Christ with YHWH at that point, directly referencing Isaiah 45:23.
Jesus Christ is the King of the Universe. At his name people are healed (Acts 3:6-7). At his name demons flee(Acts 16:16-18). He is the Son of Man (Dan 7:13, Matt 26:64 ) and the Son of God (John 11:4). He is the Rock, The Good Shepherd (John 10:11), the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Rev 17:14). May God be blessed for his goodness toward us, for “God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:17).
That is who Jesus is. Let us treat his name with the reverence we would the Almighty God who parted the Red Sea, for it pleases God and brings Him glory when we do so.
“Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.” – Provebs 18:21
TEACHING THE BIBLE IN SCHOOLS: A CURRICULUM COMPARISON – PART II
The Bible is still the world’s best selling book. Not only is it the holy book of Christians and Jews (at least in part, the first 39 books of the Bible are comprised of the Hebrew Scriptures), but its influence has shaped Western civilization. Shakespeare, Milton, Faulkner, Melville, Steinbeck and many other writers include allusions to the Bible in their works. All American students, whether Christians or Hindus or atheists, should have a working knowledge of the Bible if only to better their understand American culture.
The way the Bible is presented to students, however, is extremely important. In order to pass constitutional scrutiny in these times, the Bible should be presented neutrally and objectively when taught to public school students – without any political or philosophical biases. Remember though, an anti-Christian bias is no more neutral than a pro-Christian bias.
Last week, we briefly reviewed the Bible Literacy Project textbook, The Bible and Its Influence, and some of its liberal tendencies. In this week’s article, we’ll consider an alternative curriculum put out by the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools.
The National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools:
Textbook: The Bible
Other course materials: The Bible in History and Literature study guide
The NCBCPS elective course materials go through the Bible, both Old and New Testaments, in a straightforward, neutral manner. The Bible is the actual textbook for the course, accompanied by a study guide that focuses on the literature and history of the Bible and the impact it has had on Western culture. The King James Version is recommended, since it has been the dominant English version for nearly 400 years – the version that inspired men like John Bunyan, John Milton, and William Wordsworth. However, students are presumably free to study whichever version of the Bible with which they are most comfortable.
The NCBCPS website states that its materials have been adopted in over 370 school districts in 37 states and has yet to be legally challenged. Its materials are endorsed by such legal organizations as
American Family Association Center For Law and Policy
Pacific Justice Institute and
American Center For Law and Justice
and individuals
Dr. Robert P. George – McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton
Gerard V. Bradley – Professor of Law, Notre Dame School of Law
and even Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s niece Alveda King.
The NCBCPS curriculum is not hostile toward the Bible, nor does it promote the Bible in a religious or devotional manner. In Unit 9, for instance, the Lesson 4 sample lesson plan suggests that students, “Choose Psalms that exhibit examples of personification, metaphor, hyperbole, simile, understatement and iteration.”
In Lesson 5, there is even a specific note to make sure students understand the study is not meant to be devotional in nature. It states that students are to:
Choose Psalms that are expressions of praise, worship, procession and ascent. Suggestions are: 8, 9, 149, 150. Have students choose any two, or three, and objectively compare and contrast these with one other for their literary and poetic qualities. One to two class periods. HOTS. (Note: The instructor must point out that these selections are being reviewed only for their influential literary and poetic qualities, and that the review must not be regarded or treated as a devotional exercise inappropriate for a classroom setting.)The Texas Freedom Network, a liberal organization dedicated to countering the influences of the “religious right” in America, has taken issue with the NCBCPS curriculum. The majority of the TFN’s complaints, however, are with the other materials that schools using the NCBCPS curriculum have also implemented, and with older versions of the NCBCPS curriculum – not with the current NCBCPS materials.
The Texas Freedom Network’s primary concern with the NCBCPS curriculum is that it advocates “Christian Americanism” – the idea that the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and other founding U.S. documents were inspired by the Bible. The NCBCPS does argue that the Bible played an important role in major U.S. founding documents.
The TFN also criticizes the NCBCPS curriculum for not making students aware of controversies surrounding certain texts of the Bible.The explorationof suchcontroversies, however, are better relegated to biblical experts and not to high school teachers.
According to the NCBCPS site, Stephen M. Crampton, Chief Counsel for the AFA Center for Law & Policy has stated: “We have carefully reviewed the NCBCPS curriculum, and found it to be constitutional in every respect. For that reason, we have promised to defend against any lawsuit challenging its constitutionality, free of charge, provided only that the school in question implement the curriculum without material alteration.”
No curriculum to teach the Bible in public schools will ever please everybody. The United States is filled with groups that have political agendas and which are trying to force the Bible and Christianity into the margin of American life. The Bible, however, is a vital part of American culture and should be read and understood as a part of a well-rounded education.
TEACHING THE BIBLE IN SCHOOLS: A CURRICULUM COMPARISON
Part 1: The Bible Literacy Project
Mandatory reading of the Bible in public schools was banned as a result of the 1963 Supreme Court decision Abington Township v. Schempp. The Bible still makes its way into public schools, however, in at least two ways. The first, of course, is that students have the liberty to bring their Bibles to school and read them during free time. A second way the Bible enters public schools is in the form of classes that teach the Bible in a non-sectarian manner – as history or literature, for instance.
Two specific Bible curriculums have made it successfully into public schools and have gained popularity in recent years. Both classes are careful to avoid teaching the Bible in a religious way, and therefore pass the First Amendment test. These two sets of curriculum are quite different in their approach, however. We want to compare and contrast these two different Bible class curriculums, especially in light of how they teach public school students to view the Bible. In Part I, we’ll consider the Bible Literacy Project, and in Part II we’ll look at the curriculum offered by the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools.
The Bible Literacy Project
Textbook: The Bible and Its Influence by Cullen Schippe, Chuck Stetson
The Bible and Its Influence has generated a great deal of controversy in both conservative and liberal circles. Some major evangelicals like Chuck Colson and Ted Haggard have endorsed the textbook as a great way to teach students about the Bible. Conservatives like Berit Kjos, on the other hand, argue that the book is communitarianism (communism for those who believe in God) lite. Berit Kjos sees evidence in the textbook that its authors are trying to undermine Christianity and promote the notion that all world religions are of equal value. She cites the following selections from the textbook as examples of this:
Undermines the heart of Christianity: “Jesus was also seen as an example of self sacrifice that can be imitated.” … “On your own, try to find examples of such Christ figures in literature, film or even music.”Blends pagan images with Biblical references: “Look up some examples of other ancient literature and mythology of the origins of the world (such as Enuma Elish, Gilgamesh, or Praise of the Pickax). Compare what you read there with the first two chapters of Genesis. Share your comparisons.”On the other hand, Joseph L. Conn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State is suspicious of the textbook because one of its major editors, Chuck Stetson, is a Christian and a conservative whom Conn sees as a promoter of religion in public schools. Conn notes that Stetson is a force behind the National Bible Association, the Network of Bible Storytellers, and School Ministries, “an outfit that promotes released-time religious education for public school students.” Conn also notes, however, that Stetson is not an author of the book. Conn writes:
Is Stetson’s “biblical worldview” reflected in the BLP’s new book?Yes and no. The book was apparently compiled by a committee, and the ideological tilt varies. Readers will find it an interesting mix of conservative and liberal concepts. Stetson was apparently willing to include progressive voices in the volume as the price he had to pay to get endorsements from the moderate end of the civil liberties spectrum.
Conn still faults the textbook for being too positive about the Bible, saying, “The Bible is repeatedly promoted as having an overwhelmingly positive impact on individuals, American history and, indeed, the whole world.” He includes in his criticism that, “A ‘unit feature’ treats farm workers’ rights advocate Cesar Chavez, Holocaust author Elie Wiesel and the peace-promoting American Friends Service Committee as examples of modern-day prophets!”
Such claims should raise concerns. It is also telling that the textbook is supported by groups like the Texas Freedom Network, a liberal organization (though they claim to be mainstream) formed for the purpose of countering “the religious right.” While the Bible Literacy Project promotes the education of public school students on the Bible, some of the contents of the book are problematic for those who take the Bible seriously as the Word of God.
Stay tuned next week for Part II, an examination of the Bible curriculum created by the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools.
Here is one of the most loved epistles in the entire New Testament. I John has been called the sanctum sanctorum of the New Testament, and is a climax after the other two. It is really more of a sermon than a personal letter. It develops, in detail, the themes of love and truth introduced in II John. It takes the child of God into the fellowship of the Father’s home. (Paul’s epistles, and all the other epistles, are church epistles; but this is a family epistle. It may prove more important to the individual believer than all the church epistles!)
It is interesting that while John develops the overwhelming themes of love and truth, he also employs heptadic structures just as he does in his Gospel and Revelation. We find:
Seven Contrasts: The Light vs. The Darkness (1:5-2:11), The Father vs. The World (2:12-2:17), Christ vs. the Antichrist (2:18-2:28), Good Works vs. Evil Works (2:29-3:24), Holy Spirit vs. Error (4:1-4:6), Love vs. Pious Pretence (4:7-4:21), and The God-Born vs. others (5:1-5:21).
Seven Tests: Of Profession (1:5-2:11), Of Desire (2:12-2:17), Of Doctrine (2:18-2:28), Of Conduct (2:29-3:24), Of Discernment (4:1-4:6), Of Motive (4:7-4:21), Of New Birth (5:1-5:21).
Other heptadic structures include: seven traits of the born again (2:29; 3:9; 4:7; 5:1 (2x), 4, 18); seven reasons why this epistle was written (1:3, 4, 2:1, 13-17, 21-24, 26, 5:13); seven tests of Christian genuineness (1:6, 8, 10; 2:4, 6, 9, 4:20); and, seven tests of honesty and reality (1:6, 8, 10; 2:4, 6, 9; 4:20). (However, we find only six liars: 1 Jn 1:6, 10; 2:4, 22; 4:20; 5:10.) In any case, John’s three letters focus on our walking in love, in truth, and in the intimate knowledge of God. They deal with, in a sense, a challenge similar to the famous indictment by the Prophet Hosea:
“Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.”-Hosea 4:1
The issue in all three letters is that love and truth must be practiced: “walked.” “To walk in the truth” means to obey it. It is easier to study the truth, or even argue about the truth, than it is to obey it. Knowing the truth is more than giving assent to a series of doctrines; it means that the believer’s life is controlled by a love for the truth and a desire to magnify the truth. We encourage you to explore our expositional commentary on these three letters.
After watching many National Football League games growing up, I finally grew curious enough to walk into my parents’ office and pick up the family Bible. It seemed every football broadcast included shots of someone standing in the end zone, behind and between the goal posts, holding up a simple sign: JOHN 3:16. I knew enough about the Bible to locate the Book of John in the New Testament. When I read John 3:16, I wasn’t impressed. Turns out the verse was familiar, thanks to Sunday school. I guess I expected to read some sort of decoded message that would unlock a valuable secret. In some sense that’s exactly what I read, but I didn’t yet have the eyes of faith to behold the beauty of what God has done in Jesus Christ.
You probably won’t be surprised to learn that John 3:16 is the most-searched Bible verse, according to statistical analysis provided by the folks at Bible Gateway. They reviewed the behavior of some of the 8 million visitors who stop by their site each month, many of them chasing results provided by Google. I was intrigued to review the top 10 results, which I’ve listed in reverse order.
10.) Matthew 28:19: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
9.) Philippians 4:6: “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
8.) Romans 12:2: “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”
7.) Proverbs 3:6: “In all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
6.) Proverbs 3:5: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”
5.) Genesis 1:1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”
4.) Philippians 4:13: “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
3.) Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
2.) Jeremiah 29:11: “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”
1.) John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Four verses come from the Old Testament. Two more come from the Gospels, and four may be found in the Pauline epistles. You’ve seen many of these verses on bumper stickers, bookmarks, plaques, and various other knickknacks you can buy in a Christian bookstore. Tim Tebow wrote some of them on his eye black, knowing cameras would zoom in on it during his days as Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback at the University of Florida. In fact, when Tebow’s Gators won the national championship in 2009, John 3:16 topped Google’s list of hottest searches.
Overall the list represents a nice cross-section of Scripture and tells an uplifting story of God’s work in the world. He created it (Gen. 1:1); calls us to trust and submit to him, not conform to it (Prov. 3:5-6; Rom. 12:2); loves it enough to save it (John 3:16); and commissions us to traverse all of it making disciples (Matt. 28:19). From this list we learn that when most people turn to Scripture, they’re often looking for encouragement. They cling to these verses trusting that God is working for their good (Rom. 8:28), giving them strength (Phil. 4:13), planning their hopeful future (Jer. 29:11), and calming their anxieties by answering their requests (Phil. 4:6). If nothing else, these results help those of us who regularly preach and teach the Bible understand how many Christians and even non-Christians use the Bible.
Let me mention an omission. Maybe you caught it, too. Knowing the whole Bible and not just the most-searched passages, you realize that the absence is glaring. You won’t learn from this list why God needs to redeem the world he created. You won’t learn why his love is so significant. You won’t find any warning of what’s to come if you don’t believe. In short, you won’t read about our sin and God’s wrath. Actually, you need to follow the list all the way down to #19 and #20 to find sin. At #19, 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” And #20 reads, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
If we neglect sin and the Lord’s righteous wrath, then we haven’t understood even the basics of Scripture and God’s true character. D. A. Carson writes in The Gagging of God: Christianity Confronts Pluralism:
The point that cannot be escaped is that God’s wrath is not some minor and easily dismissed peripheral element to the Bible’s plot-line. Theologically, God’s wrath is not inseparable from what it means to be God. Rather, his wrath is a function of his holiness as he confronts sin. But insofar as holiness is an attribute of God, and sin is the endemic condition of this world, this side of the Fall divine wrath cannot be ignored or evaded. It is not going too far to say that the Bible would not have a plot-line at all if there were no wrath.
The danger of popping into Scripture from Google is that we miss the story for the verses. Each one of these top 10 most-searched Bible verses is a beautiful, moving testament to God’s loving faithfulness. We should memorize them, sing them, copy them, and remind one another of them. But without knowing the whole story, we don’t know why we should care that God loved the world enough to give his one and only Son. Unless we know about our sin, we will surely perish in it.
There are more miracles recorded in Mark than in the other Gospels, despite its being shorter. (Matthew’s Gospel seems longer only because he includes the discourses – probably verbatim, having the skill to take them down in shorthand required of a customs official. Removing the discourses, it is shorter than Mark’s.)
The action moves right along: It takes only 20 short verses in Chapter 1 to describe the ministry of John the Baptist, Jesus’ baptism, His temptation in the wilderness, and the call of the disciples.
The Gospel for Romans: Mark’s purpose was to write down the Gospel, as Peter had presented it, to Romans (so say the Fathers, at least, and internal evidence supports them). That the Gospel was for Gentiles can be seen:
1) From the translation of the Aramaic expressions as Boanerges (Mark 3:17), Talitha cumi (Mark 5:41), Corban (Mark 7:11), Bartimaeus (Mark 10:46), Abba (Mark 14:36) and Golgotha (Mark 15:22);
2) In the explanation of Jewish customs (Mark 14:12; 15:42);
3) From the fact that the Law is not mentioned and the Old Testament is only once quoted in Mark’s own narrative;
4) The Gentile sections, especially in Mark Chapters 6 through 8.
That it was for Romans specifically is seen in:
1) The explanation of a Greek term by a Latin in Mark 12:42;
2) The preponderance of works of power, the emphasis on authority (Mark 2:10), patience and heroic endurance (Mark 10:17 ff);
3) Highlighting the forbidding of a practice that was not Jewish but Roman (Mark 10:12).
Those who believe it was written at Rome find further hints in the mention of Rufus and the resemblance between Mark 7:1-23 and Romans 14. (However, the common presumption that “Babylon” is Peter’s code name for Rome is disputed by some authorities. Peter was the apostle to the Jews, and Babylon was a major Jewish center – the Babylonian Talmud later emerged from there.)
The Roman centurion’s remark, “Truly this man was the Son of God,” (Mark 15:39) is also the style of the author, and bears the same relation to Mark’s purpose as does John 20:31 to John’s.
Its cadence is found in the speeches of Abraham Lincoln and the lyrics of Paul Simon. Renowned narrator Alexander Scourby and country music legend Johnny Cash have recorded spoken versions of the text. It’s estimated that 1 billion copies have been printed since the first volume rolled off the press in 1611.
The King James Version of the Bible, also known as the “Authorized Version,” marks its 400th anniversary in 2011, and by any measure, it has had a lasting impact on the world and on the language into which it was sent. The “authorized” moniker comes from a title-page declaration that this Bible was “authorized to be read in churches.”
“The sheer poetry of the King James Version, not to mention its almost half-millennium of absolute authority, militates against its slipping into obscurity any time soon,” declared Phyllis Tickle, longtime religion editor at Publishers Weekly magazine.
Even noted atheist Richard Dawkins has praise for the volume: “You can’t appreciate English literature unless you are to some extent steeped in the King James Bible. There are phrases that come from it — people don’t realize they come from it — proverbial phrases, phrases that make echoes in people’s minds,” he said in a video released by the King James Bible Trust, the British organization that is one promoter of the 400th-anniversary celebrations due next year.
“Not to know the King James Bible is to be, in some small way, barbarian,” Mr. Dawkins added.
Indeed, many of its phrases have entered everyday use, among them: “my brother’s keeper,” “salt of the earth,” “give up the ghost,” “scapegoats,” “an eye for an eye,” “casting your pearls before swine,” “scarlet woman,” “writing on the wall” and “the blind leading the blind.”
“A house divided against itself,” Lincoln’s signature sentiment, was translated that way 250 years before Lincoln was elected president.
Geof Morin, communications director for the American Bible Society, whose New York headquarters will host a King James Bible exhibit next year, called the King James “still relevant” in the age of Twitter and Facebook.
“It was the Bible staring Thomas Jefferson in the face,” Mr. Morin said. Its words, he added, were “in the speeches of Abraham Lincoln. It’s the language we still use today. It’s part of the American psyche, of how we see ourselves as a nation.”
But before the KJV — as the version is known by many readers and scholars — came into America’s consciousness, it had to arrive on the scene at all. That happened following a contentious 1604 meeting at Hampton Court palace, when a young James VI of Scotland, newly crowned as James I of England, was trying to iron out differences between the Church of England and a dissident sect known as the Puritans.
Putting the Scriptures into English could be a dangerous practice: 16th-century translator William Tyndale was executed. After Henry VIII broke with the Roman Catholic Church, and established the Church of England under the monarch, there were some efforts to approve a complete English-language Bible.
Henry authorized production of what came to be known as the “Great Bible,” while the 1583 “Bishop’s Bible” followed during the reign of Elizabeth I. In Geneva, English-speaking exiles who opposed Mary I’s moves to reconcile with Rome produced the “Geneva Bible,” whose translation and margin notes took a decidedly anti-monarchist and anti-clerical stance.
The Hampton Court Conference was drifting into sectarian arguments, historians note, when Puritan leader John Rainolds (also spelled Reynolds), took the bold step of addressing James and asking for a new translation of the Bible, since the previous Bibles “were corrupt and not answerable to the truth of the original.”
By almost all accounts, James was delighted: He didn’t like the Geneva Bible, and the earlier versions weren’t fully up to his standards of scholarship. As a boy, James had immersed himself in Greek and Latin, among other intellectual pursuits. He hardly had known his parents and was installed on the Scottish throne while just a year old with a regent in charge.
It took seven years to create the volume known as the KJV. And while the title page stated it was “newly translated out of the original tongues, and with the former translations diligently compared and revised,” the actual work drew more on an earlier English version, said Larry Stone, a former vice president at Thomas Nelson Publishers and author of “The Story of the Bible,” a new history of the Scriptures published to coincide with the anniversary.
The translators “were told to follow the ‘Great Bible,’” Mr. Stone said in a telephone interview, “and they would compare the translation of the ‘Great Bible’ with the Greek and the Hebrew. If they wanted to change [the wording], it would change for several reasons; either the ‘Great Bible’ translation was not accurate, or they could say the words better.”
And because the ‘Great Bible’ drew on Tyndale’s translations, the 16th-century “thee” and “thou” entered into the King James Version, even though they were long departed from common usage.
Would James I, the only English monarch to ascend the throne as a published author, be happy his eponymous Bible has survived this long?
“I actually think he would be somewhat pleased, because of its longevity,” said David Teems, author of “Majestie: The King Behind the King James Bible,” a 2010 biography of the monarch and his most famous book.
A strong believer in the “divine right of kings,” Mr. Teems explained, James was determined “his Bible would reflect his reign, unite realms of Scotland and England. His desire was to unify, and to unify all of Christendom.”
While that didn’t happen, the impact of the KJV is without question: It quickly displaced the Geneva Bible as the Protestant standard in the English-speaking world, and was often the primary “reader” for generations.
Evangelists from Charles Finney to Billy Graham preached from it; Paul Simon derived the phrase “workman’s wages” in his song “The Boxer,” from reading I Timothy, he once told Rolling Stone magazine.
Author Joe Kovacs, whose 2009 “Shocked by the Bible” explored the lesser-known stories and facts of the Bible text, said he chose the King James to quote in his book because “it’s the most well-known and frequently quoted translation.”
Beginning in November, Thomas Nelson Publishers, which sold 329,000 printed copies of the King James Bible between July 2009 and July 2010, has mounted a major campaign to promote the text, with a website, www.kjv400celebration.com, and national marketing campaigns.
The firm also is working with the History Channel to promote the anniversary.
“To me, the 400th anniversary, is not just about KJV, but about the Bible. The fact that it is a historic milestone gives us the opportunity to go beyond and look at the impact of Scripture. It’s not a translation story; it really is a Bible story,” said Carla Ballerini, Nelson’s bible group marketing vice president.
Despite the language changes and continued research of the past four centuries, the King James Version retains a great deal of authority, said Alister McGrath, head of the Center for Theology, Mission and Culture at King’s College in London.
“The KJV is a surprisingly reliable translation, even though some minor translation changes are necessary on account of advances in our understanding of the manuscript tradition over the last 400 years,” said Mr. McGrath, whose 2001 “In the Beginning” was a history of the KJV’s development.
However, “the day of a single dominant biblical translation is past,” he added. “In many ways, the KJV held a monopoly in English from about 1700 to 1950, as no other translation was seen as being significant over that period. Nowadays, there are multiple [English language] translations.”
That may be the case, but there may be life in the older text yet: Compare its “Give us this day our daily bread,” found in Matthew 6:11, to the rendering in “The Message,” a popular modern version: “Keep us alive with three square meals.”
The first thing to notice about the Gospels is that they are skillfully designed; each one is tailored to suit its specific perspective. Matthew was a Jew, a Levite; he presents Jesus Christ as the Messiah of Israel”the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. This first book of the New Testament plunges right in to establish Jesus as the Meshiach Nagid, the Messiah the King.
After first establishing the royal genealogy, Matthew then proceeds to focus on the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies: Matthew uses the term fulfilled 82 times! (Again, his interest was to present Jesus as the Messiah of Israel; Jesus credentials are that He fulfilled prophecy.)
The first miracle described in Matthew is also very Jewish; the leper was cleansed, and leprosy was, to Jews, a sign of sin. Matthew also ended his Gospel in a very Jewish way; with the Resurrection. [Matthew left out the Ascension, but remember that it is not a milestone in respect to Jesus Messianic mission (His return, however, will be).]
Stenographic Skill
Matthew emphasized what Jesus said. He evidently recorded the discourses verbatim. As a customs official, he was a tachygrapher, or shorthand writer. (The reason Matthews Gospel is so much longer than Mark’s is that he includes Jesus’ extensive discourses, such as the Sermon on the Mount and the Olivet Discourse; without these discourses, Mark’s Gospel is longer!)
Early Origin Many scholars now believe that the Gospels were written before Paul’s first imprisonment in AD 57-60, and that virtually all of the New Testament books were written before Jerusalem’s destruction. (See Risto Santala’s The Messiah in the New Testament.)
There is no hint in the New Testament of Nero’s persecutions after AD 64, nor of the execution of James, the Lords brother, in AD 62. There is not the slightest mention of the Jewish revolt against the Romans, which began in AD 66, nor of the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. These historic events would have been irresistible in making many of the arguments in the New Testament documents.
Textual evidence suggests that the Gospels were originally written in Hebrew. In hundreds of places the Greek sentence structure betrays a Semitic influence and implies a translation from the Hebrew. It appears that within five years after the death and resurrection of Christ, most of His words and deeds had been committed to a simple written Hebrew form and Matthew is, of course, assumed to be part of this compilation.
Within a decade, this corpus would have been translated into a Greek version for church requirements. This corpus, or its variations, is often called the Q-document (for German, quelle, source).
Around the year AD 50 the original material was developed into written Greek form and the synoptic Gospels were composed, probably since the persecutions were imminent. The key point is that eyewitnesses were still around to verify the details.
Papyrus Discovery
In 1994, an ancient segment of the Greek text of Matthews Gospel was analyzed and it appears to be dated before AD 66. Known as the Magdalen Papyrus, P64, it contains segments of Matthew 26:23 and 26:31 on both sides of three fragments. Using a scanning laser microscope, it has provided physical evidence that the Gospel according to Matthew is an eyewitness account written by contemporaries of Christ.
At this time of year, we look at the bright stars in the sky and wonder which one the wise men followed to find the house where the Christ child lived. We remember that they knelt and worshiped him who was born King of the Jews and gave him the famous gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Matthew records these things, and it is important to recognize that he could have spoken to people in the area who were alive when the maji came. He himself could have spoken to Joseph’s family to obtain Joseph’s lineage as a descendant of King David. Those who claim that the gospels were written centuries after the fact dismiss the evidence easily. There are plenty of internal and external indicators that point to the reality of Matthew’s having written his gospel within the lifetimes of those found within its pages.
The second book of the Torah, or Pentateuch, is one of the basic “seed-plots” of the Bible. It is basic, dramatic, and provides an essential background for all that follows.
It centers on the call of Moses, one of the most pivotal men of all history and a participant at the Transfiguration (Matt 17:3). We also suspect that he will reappear as one of the Two Witnesses of Revelation 11.
The family of Jacob (“Israel”), who had migrated to Egypt in the Book of Genesis, now emerges as a nation, earning its title as God’s “Firstborn.” (It is this designation that is deliberately contrasted with the subsequent death of Egypt’s firstborn when Moses is called out of Midian (Exodus 4:22-23).)
A Non-Egyptian Pharaoh?
Much has been speculated about the specific Pharaoh in this book. Stephen gives us a clue when he notes that, “Another king arose who knew not Joseph,”(Acts 7:18). The Greek term used was heteros, another of a different kind, not allos, another of the same kind. This Pharaoh was of a different race and dynasty. (Josephus also makes mention of this fact, who describes “the crown being come to another family,” (Antiquities ii, 9). It seems that he was the Assyrian of Isaiah 52:4.
No wonder he became uncomfortable with the continuing growth of a non-Egyptian constituency in Goshen!
The plight of Israel under the taskmasters leads to the famed Passover and the deliverance of God’s chosen people. The celebration of the Passover continues as one of their principal observances to this day. In fact, the instruction to the nation was to make that month (Nisan) “the beginning of months.” Thus, Israel has two calendars; one, their civil calendar, begins in the fall (Tishri, about September/October on our calendar); the other, their religious calendar, begins in the spring (Nisan, about April/May on our calendar).
It is interesting that John the Baptist’s first public introduction of Jesus declared, “Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.” This was an allusion to the Passover Lamb. Paul reminds us that all these things were also “a shadow of things to come,” (Colossians 2:17).
It is also astonishing to discover that the “new beginning” of the Planet Earth after the flood of Noah occurred on the anniversary – in advance – of our “new beginning” in Christ, on the 17th of Nisan, the 7th month of the old calendar.
The House of Blood
When Moses came down from Mt. Sinai, he not only carried the famed Ten Commandments; he also brought with him the detailed specifications of a portable sanctuary that would accompany the nation until replaced by Solomon’s Temple. A careful study of this “Tabernacle” reveals amazing mystical discoveries, each pointing to the Messiah. (A detailed study of this mysterious structure is essential for every serious student of the Bible.)
The Book of Exodus is an adventure of discovery, since the dramatic narrative is laced with numerous hidden messages in the form of microcodes and macrocodes, each anticipating the New Testament climax.
In addition to Moses himself and the hidden symbolism of the Burning Bush, the Tabernacle structure, and its observances, we also encounter the strange manna, the role of the two rocks, the numerous elements of the priesthood, et al.
The Book of Exodus is the bedrock of God’s plan of redemption and is one of the most rewarding studies in the Old Testament. For further study, see the links below.
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