In "The Text of the Bible," we will consider briefly the restoration of the Hebrew and Greek text of the 66 books that comprise the book we refer to as the Bible. Originally, Bible text was translated from three major languages--Hebrew, Aramaic (very similar to Hebrew), and Greek--into English and the other languages of the world.

The text of the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). The translation of the original Hebrew text (the first 39 books of the Bible), in many ways, has not posed the challenges that translating the Greek text (New Testament) has. One reason for the absence of comparative difficulty is the fact that the Jewish scribes carefully and fastidiously guarded their copies of the Hebrew text. In fact, when a copy became old or worn, they would, out of respect for the manuscript, ceremonially bury it. Alas, this practice resulted in later scholars not having access to the older texts. The earliest Hebrew manuscripts are known as the Cairo Codex and the Leningrad Codex of the Prophets. The Cairo Codex dates back to 895 A.D., and the Leningrad Codex of the Prophets to 916 A.D. Still another old Hebrew manuscript that has been important in restoring the original Hebrew text is the British Museum Codex of the Pentateuch (tenth or eleventh century). The oldest known manuscript that contains the entire 39 books is the Leningrad Codex that was finished in 1008 A.D. There are many other manuscripts, but the foregoing are the primary witnesses to the Hebrew text.

One cannot study the text of the Hebrew books without considering the Massoretes. Until the age of printing, the Hebrew Scriptures were laboriously handed down to us by copying. To guard the letter of the law with what almost amounted to fanaticism, there developed, in an early age, various groups of Jewish scholars who were dedicated to the purity and preservation of the Hebrew text. Leaders among these Jewish scholars became generally known as the Massoretes. Their contribution to the accuracy and preservation of the Hebrew text was so large that the Hebrew text today is sometimes referred to as the "Massoretic text."

Other works are involved in the Hebrew text:

• The Samaritan Pentateuch (ca. 400 B.C.),
• The Aramaic Targums,
• Syriac Peshitta (ca. 50 A.D.),
• The Latin Versions (ca. 150 A.D.), and
• The Talmud.

About 250 B.C., someone decided that there was a need to translate the Hebrew text into Greek. Hence, the Septuagint became a reality. It is believed that 70 scholars took part in the translation of the Pentateuch (first five books of the Bible). We do not know the circumstances that prompted translation of the remaining 34 books.

The Dead Sea Scrolls. In March of 1948, a great discovery was made. This discovery was the Dead Sea Scrolls, in all about 350 rolls, most of which were fragmentary.

The Dead Sea Scrolls contained portions of almost all the 39 Old Testament books. Of great importance is the fact that some of the material dated back to around 100 B.C.. Some who rejected the Bible believed the scrolls would prove that the Bible is not God's inspired word. I quote Professor F. F. Bruce, and with this quotation, conclude our consideration of the Hebrew text:

The text of the New Testament. Scholars generally agree that although Jesus' spoken language was Aramaic, the 27 books that comprise the New Testament were written in Koine Greek. (Some maintain that Matthew may originally have been written in Aramaic.) Since the gospel is God's power unto salvation, it was necessary to preserve the gospel message for all men until Jesus returns on Judgment Day (Romans 1:16; John 12:48). Greek, in the first century, as English is today, was a "universal" language. Also, in many ways, the Koine Greek is a frozen language; thus, to an even greater degree, it lends itself to preservation.

The original 27 letters were written and introduced during the latter half of the first century. It appears that they were originally written on papyrus sheets. The New Testament manuscripts are of two primary types--uncial and cursives.

• Uncials were written in all capital letters, with no punctuation. These are the older manuscripts. About 300 manuscripts are classified as uncials. As a rule, uncials date from the fourth to the ninth century. These are, of course, copies of the original letters (there are no extant originals).
• Cursive manuscripts are in lower case and are usually dated from the ninth century.

In all, there are about 4,500 New Testament manuscripts.

Among the uncials are the Vatican, the Sinaitic, and the Alexandrian manuscripts. They date from 300-450 AD. Some scholars consider the Vatican manuscript to be the most important single manuscript in restoring the New Testament text. These uncials have only become accessible since the translation of the King James Version.

Many other significant sources are useful in the restoration of the Greek text:

• The Manuscript of Ephraem,
• The Codex of Ephraem,
• The Codex Bezae, and
• The Syriac versions.

Translation and restoration efforts should give consideration to a combination of all of these sources.

The writings of the so-called church fathers are also a valuable source. Some of these men lived near the time when the apostles actually lived. Their writings are compared to the ancient manuscripts for critical analysis.

Some claim that the New Testament manuscripts contain 200,000 scribal errors. However, such charges and claims are highly misleading. Allow me to quote Neil R. Lightfoot's response to this claim.

"From one point of view it may be said that there are 200,000 scribal errors in the manuscripts, but it is wholly misleading and untrue to say that there are 200,000 errors in the text of the New Testament. The large number is gained by counting all the variations in all of the manuscripts (about 4,500). This means that if, for example, one word is misspelled in 4,000 different manuscripts, it amounts to 4,000 "errors." Actually, in a case of this kind only one slight error has been made, and it has been copied 4,000 times. But this is the procedure followed in arriving at the large number of 200,000 "errors." A person who tries to take this large number of variations and use it in such a way as to undermine one's faith in God's word is either unlearned or of a skeptical mind." (How We Got the Bible, pg. 53, 54).

As noted, most of these so-called errors are trivial. They do not pertain to how to be saved or live a godly life. Westcott and Hort wrote the following regarding the reliability of the Bible text:

"The proportion of words virtually accepted on all hands as raised above doubt is very great, not less, on a rough computation, than seven-eighths of the whole. The remaining eighth, therefore, formed in great part by changes or order and other comparative trivialities, constitutes the whole area of criticism. The amount of what can, in any sense, be called substantial variation is but a small fraction of the whole residuary variation, and can hardly form more than a thousandth part of the entire text. Since there is reason to suspect that an exaggerated impression prevails as to the extent of possible textual corruption in the New Testament, we desire to make it clearly understood beforehand how much of the New Testament stands in no need of a textual critic's labours" (B. F. Westcott and F. J. A. Hort, The New Testament in the Original Greek, Introduction and Appendix, pg. 2-3).

There is no doubt that, of all the ancient books, as far as textual vindication and validation are concerned, the Bible is in a class by itself. There are more manuscripts and external proofs for the books of the Bible than for any other book extant. No other book has been rightly subjected to such rigorous and exacting authenticity tests. Yet, time and again, not only has the Bible survived all the tests, it has triumphantly prevailed. Almost 2000 years ago, Jesus said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away." (Matthew 24:35) Again, "Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer, for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me." (Acts 27:25)

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I want to add a comment to brother Martin's excellent article. A study of the Massorete's work would certainly serve as an aid for those who lack confidence in the Bible's accuracy. These men spent their lives copying the sacred texts. This process involved making an exact copy, then counting the number of letters in the original and in the copy. If the number was off by even one letter, the copy was discarded, and the process began again. Each page was examined for accuracy at least five times. Whenever they copied God's name, they used a special pen. Indeed, they took their work very seriously!!! (KMG)