TRANSLATIONS

The original manuscripts of the Bible were written in three different languages: Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. Great care -strict, meticulous, and painstaking care -was always taken in translating and copying the Bible. There were two professions of men among the Jews, called Mosoretes and Scribes, who dedicated their lives to the task of translating and copying the Scriptures. In their translating and copying functions they were strict copiers, meticulously keeping count of every letter and syllable in every word and every word in every sentence and passage and book. (See the chapter on "The Reliabilities of the Bible" by Josh McDowell. Evidence That Demands A Verdict, Vol. I, p.39- 65.) This exactness was necessary, for God Himself had given the written law to the Jewish nation. Therefore, the law was not only the very Word of God, it was the greatest thing in the life of the Jewish nation. It was considered the most precious possession in all the world - consequently, the Jewish nation was committed to the preservation of the law (the whole Word of God, Nehemiah 8: 1-8).

I. The Old Testament was translated into Greek some time between 250 - 150 B.C. It is called the Septuagint and is symbolized with the letters LXX. However, the oldest copies that we have today date back somewhere around 400 - 500 years after Christ.

2. “Other translations in Greek appeared soon after the beginning of the Christian era. Parts, at least, of the OT were rendered into Syriac c. 150 and into Coptic c. 200. In subsequent centuries, versions appeared in the Armenian, Gothic, Ethiopic, Georgian, Arabic, Persian, and Slavonic languages.” (Taken from the book, The New Compact Bible Dictionary, edited by T. Alton Bryant. Copyright 1967 by Zondervan Publishing House, p. 83. Used by permission.)

3. Around 400 A.D., Jerome translated the Latin version of the Bible known as the Latin Vulgate, which was used as the basic Bible for about 1000 years.

4. During the Reformation Period there were numerous versions of the Bible that flooded the scene. The most well known were...

- John Wycliff's version translated into English for the very first time in 1382.

- William Tyndale's New Testament which was based upon the original Greek, published in 1525.

- Martin Luther’s German translation in the 16th century.

-The King James version in 1603.

There have been numerous versions of the Bible since the Reformation, and today the Bible has been translated in most of the languages and dialects of the world.