This article contains a review in relation to the Parts of the Bible, so that you know how its structure was formed in the variety of books that make it up and that serves as a guide for reading the divine word over time, supporting faith and religion, we invite you to read it.
parts of the bible
To make it easier for you to understand the subject of this article, in principle it must be clear that the Bible is a compilation of several books, whose sacred writings were inspired by the words of the Almighty and his teachings.
General Division
The Bible is divided into two fundamental parts that correspond to each other and are called:
- Old Testament
- New Testament
In this regard, it is important to mention that the term Testament refers to a type of alliance or agreement through which a series of facts of great value is written, in this way its content is preserved over time. In the case of religion, both reveal the evolutionary path from the creation of the universe, through the prophets, the life of the Messiah and other relevant events.
Also, the Old Testament distinction is made, to point out all the writings that refer to the creation narratives and other stories before Christ (BC). And the New Testament for all history after Christ (AD).
Numerical Division of the Bible
Two great religions are governed by the teachings of the Bible: the Jewish and the Christian, made up of Catholics, Orthodox and of different denominations.
- The Jews only accept the Old Testament which consists of 39 books and divide it into three main parts: the law, the prophets and other holy writings.
- Catholics recognize the Bible as made up of the Old and New Testaments, which includes 73 books: 46 of the Old Testament and 27 of the New Testament.
- Mainline Protestants only accept a biblical list of 66 books: 39 from the Old Testament and 27 from the New.
Previously, the hypothesis was used that there were two canons in Judaism, the long (or Alexandrian) and the short (or Palestinian). Consequently, the Church had followed the long or Alexandrian canon, while the Jews of the XNUMXst or XNUMXnd century AD. C., they would have clung to the short or Palestinian canon. Today it is said that this hypothesis is rejected for the following reasons:
- For one thing, translating the Bible from Hebrew to Greek was not a unitary work in its purpose or project, and it was not translated simultaneously.
- On the other hand, most of the Septuagint Bible (Greek translators) is said to be known through the Christian codices (manuscripts) of the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries AD. C. Therefore, they would reflect, in any case, the Christian use of this tense. And even there the variability that existed at certain points is verified.
- In addition, it is said that among the Palestinian Jews there was no uniformity regarding the canon, so some consider that one cannot speak of a short canon.
For all of the above, the exact limits of the books recognized by the Jews of Alexandria are not known. Certainly, in addition to the books that had arisen in Palestine, they had their own books composed in Alexandria, in the Greek language, such as the Wisdom.
Both the Catholic religion and the Orthodox, from the Council of Hippo 383 d. C., recognized as inspired not only the Protocanonical (or the first law) but also the Deuterocanonical (or the second law), a list solemnly accepted by the Council of Trent in 1546. In turn, it is argued that the Bible consists of 73 books and not 66, for the following:
- The community of followers and learners of the Messiah used this translation of the Greek Bible from the seventies, that is, the old scripture with 46 books.
- In the passages of the Bible, when the Messiah pointed to Saint Peter: «I will give you the way to enter the kingdom of God. Then what you bind in the world will be bound in heaven, and what you lose on earth will be redeemed in heaven” (Mt 16:19) forces us to do and accept what the early Christians believed, did, or used (either in words or out loud).
- The arguments used by the Jews for not accepting the deuterocanonical books as part of the Old Testament canon accepted by them did not enjoy divine authority, since at that time (100 AD) the Christian community already existed and had full authority in The matter.
Hence it is said that the Church is right that the parts of the Bible consist of 73 books and not 66 like the other beliefs. We must not forget that the Bible is the expression of God put in writing at a favored moment of custom, that is why nothing can be added, nothing can be taken away, «The Christian economy, being the new and definitive alliance, will never pass nor should another public revelation be expected before the glorious manifestation of the Messiah our Lord” (The Divine Revelation, n°4).
On the other hand, it should be noted that the only institution, the only Church that transmitted the phrases of the Omnipresent to the entire world for more than 1500 years, is the Catholic Church: in its monasteries, the monks faithfully copied the sacred text by hand, the Church in her Liturgy, in her celebrations venerated her in a very special way, the life of the Church revolves around Christ and this content in the parts of the Bible.
Can it be said that people believe in parts of the Bible and at the same time not believe in the Church, as the main entity of religion? Can people eliminate the relevance of the Almighty, even taking into account what was mentioned by the Holy See? Which stated that:
“Above all, keep in mind that no prediction of Scripture is at the mercy of personal interpretation. Because no ancient prediction came by human design, men, as was spoken in the name of the Omnipresent animated by divine grace» (2 Pet 1, 20-21).
Thematic Division
Next, we present the different topics that are addressed in the parts of the Bible:
In the old testament
This division consists of a series of stories that, although its title of Old has been accepted in the versions that have been made of the Bible, these differ in the number of books and their content: forty-six for Catholics, thirty-six for nine for the Protestants and fifty-one for the Orthodox.
It compiles a whole series of writings on the creation, the life of the patriarchs and the prophets among other stories about the traditions and beliefs that existed in ancient times before the Savior was born. Furthermore, he is written in various literary genres such as narratives of events, laws, prophecies (visions, oracles), and sayings or prayers. There are also some lyrical or poetic texts.
In Pentateuch or Book of Five Scrolls we have:
- Genesis: In it you can see how the creation of the heavens and the earth was. What is valued is the creation of light and darkness, the sun and the moon, as well as that of all animals and of course human beings, since they were created in the image and likeness of Almighty God.
- Exodus: In this part of the Bible, it is said that the Israelites were able to escape from the slavery and captivity that the Egyptians imposed on them. In addition, the name of God comes to light, here a description of how the practice of the priesthood in the states of Israel begins.
- Levitical: One of the things that we see mainly in this book are the references to holiness, it is very similar to a teaching in which the cult of the saints is regulated, it regulates and consecrates the people who worship the Messiah.
- Numbers: In Numbers we can find references to Israel's journey, which started directly from Mount Sinai to the plains of Moab. Therefore, this book mentions the rebellion of God's people and, of course, his judgment as well.
- Deuteronomy: You can find a lot of advice of all kinds, especially this advice comes directly from Moses' own honesty. Another aspect to consider is where these scriptures appear is the city of Moab.
In the historical text, the following is found:
- Book of Joshua: This is not a story of citizen heroism, but rather a moving story of how God was able to claim thanks to his army led by Joshua, thus liberating a part of the Earth that they had taken by force of arms and also false gods thanks to the Canaanites.
- Book of Judges: In these parts of the Bible we are told that the Israelites did not have a king and therefore the laws were not fulfilled by them.
- Book of Ruth: In these scriptures, the importance of fidelity that should generally exist between human relationships, as well as the relationships that exist between people with the Kingdom of God, can be appreciated from different areas.
- First Book of Samuel: It tells who the first kings of Israel were, who, according to their order, were Saul and David. Likewise, when we speak of the victory over the Philistines and the salvation of the ark of God, we can take into consideration that this is an interpretation of a victory that was guaranteed by the people of God.
- Second Book of Samuel: Here you can see how Samuel presents himself to David as a theocratic king. Likewise, he goes into great detail about the beginning of what seemed to be his reign in which he presented himself to Hebron as a guide for the tribe of Judah.
- First Book of Kings: It is told how Solomon's reign was after David's death, so the legend begins with a kingdom, which was divided into the nation of Judah and the kingdom of Israel.
- Second Book of Kings: It is basically a continuation of the Book of Kings I, where the expulsion of the people of Israel and Judah is narrated, as a result of ignoring the rules imposed on praise, respect and life under the word of the Omnipresent.
- Chronicles I: It was written to the exiled community in which several questions were raised that refer to the type of condition that exists in the interaction that the people of the Most High have with them, that is, if the pacts and promises are fulfilled or not.
- Chronicles II: They point to times when faith had been the dominant force between the people and their rulers, bringing prosperity, and point out that the abandonment of true faith resulted in ruin.
- Book of Ezra: It tells of the way in which the people who had made a pact with the Supreme and in turn exiled would have been forgiven for the second time and the agreed land was restored, although this time linked as a theocratic community.
- Book of Nehemiah: It explains the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem and that of the Jewish religious group.
- Book of Tobias: It includes the invitation to trust in divine providence and highlights the sanctity of marriage, filial respect, mercy towards the poor, the practice of almsgiving, the humble acceptance of trials and the effectiveness of prayer.
- Judith's Book: It is an exemplary and exalting narration of the link with the homeland and pious religiosity.
- Book of Esther: It provides a clear example of the power and influence for good that a person can have and learn to trust in the Lord.
- Maccabees I: They relate the conflicts of Israel against the Seleucid empire, in defense of their political autonomy and religiosity. Exalts the heroes of the fight for their freedom.
- Maccabees II: In these parts of the Bible, the subject treated in the previous one is extended, however, it diverges in terms of characters and time.
The Jews call Joshua, the judges, Samuel, and the kings "the ancient prophets," because in them is the history of the great prophets: Elijah, Elisha, and even Samuel. What the Catholics call prophets, the Jews later call prophets. It is also noted that, for the Greek Bible, the books of Samuel and Kings formed a single unit and were called the Books of Kings. Likewise, Books I and II Chronicles were one with Ezra and Nehemiah, because they were considered to be the work of the same author.
In Wisdom or Knowledge Texts, we can find the following:
- Book of Job: This book is aimed at martyrs who created a struggle when a crisis of faith arose, this arose after having created a lot of suffering, of course it is very difficult to remain firm in the word of God from the moment you go through a terrible suffering that accompanies you for many years, in these parts of the Bible they try to guide people on the right path of faith.
- Proverbs: You can find many facts, experiences and knowledge in which you can see that wisdom is the gift of seeing everything from God's point of view.
- Ecclesiastes: It is the written revelation of the Supreme that he basically wants to warn us of how sad it can be to spend time looking for happiness in the material things and banalities of the world.
- Song of songs: It is based on a lyrical style poem, a book that through its writings can teach us what are the virtues of love that exist between a husband and his wife, it shows the way in which God presents the sacrament of marriage, emphasizing that love It starts with the spiritual, then with the emotional, and finally with physical love.
- Book of Wisdom: This text highlights the importance of different relevant topics for religion, such as devotion, immortality, among others.
- Ecclesiastic's Book: It deals mainly with the religious customs of the Jewish people.
- Book of Psalms: It consists of various sets of prayers and praises that are aimed at instructing its readers to learn more about the faith.
In the Prophetic or Revelation Texts, the following are presented:
- Book of Isaiah: It is appreciated what the judgment and salvation of the Omnipresent were.
- Book of Jeremiah: Sorrow and tears are manifested by the Omnipresent's severe rebuke to the people. He also glimpsed the imminent restoration of the apostate people.
- Book of Lamentations: The mercy of the Supreme can be seen reflected, and that prayers should be used to express repentance.
- Book of Baruch: It shows a people that recognizes that they have sinned and asks the Most High to free them from their suffering.
- Book of Ezekiel: It mainly alludes to the theme of leading the people towards repentance, regaining faith and hope in the Most High.
- Book of Daniel: They emphasize the power and sovereignty of the Almighty over Israel and show that the Lord directs the destinies of his chosen people through the centuries until the final restoration.
- Book of Hosea: It presents the love of the Supreme for his children, because it teaches that despite all the occasions in which the people of Israel have not fulfilled their promise to protect the word, they have always been blameless with respect to their covenant.
- Book of Joel: It deals with the day of judgment for the wicked and the day of salvation for those who keep their faith in God.
- Book of Amos: The judgment and restoration of the people is also mentioned.
- Abbey Book: Story about the enmity between Israel and its neighboring country.
- Book of Jonah: During the development of his book his story of how he was sent to preach the word of the Lord is described to us.
- Book of Micah: It is a story that refers to the condemnation of all those who wanted to distract people from the path of God, to enslave them and force them to work.
- Book of Nahum: It tells how the recurrence of the city of Nineveh was, considering that they had been forgiven after the warning that Jonah had given them, they were saved from the wrath of God, but they began to sin again, and this time more, frequently and more bad.
- Book of Habakkuk: It speaks of the disobedience of Judah and Jerusalem, since this is a city that has completely forgotten the word of God.
- Book of Zephaniah: The text indicates to us the great importance of the power of the Lord and how all those who are not under his dominion will be judged.
- Book of Haggai: It reflects the experiences of the Jewish people subjected by external peoples.
- Book of Zechariah: It relates the arrival of the Messiah to the World.
- Book of Malachi: It expresses the importance of being good people and thus being judged well when the time comes.
In some editions of the Bible, the books of Jeremiah and Lamentations are joined together as one book.
In the new testament
These 27 books with their 290 chapters were written after the sacrifice of the Messiah, for what is known as the Christian stage and are divided as follows:
The 4 Gospel Books, deal with the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, and were written by four of his apostles, according to their perspectives:
- Matthew (28 chapters)
- Mark (16 chapters)
- Luke (24 chapters)
- John (21 chapters)
The Book of Acts or Acts of the Apostles, includes the history of the preaching of the gospel of Jesus, the efforts and dedication of Paul to achieve each of his trips, the increase of faith and the incorporation of followers who helped spread the words of the Messiah to the most distant peoples , thus promoting the beginnings of the Christian religion and its worldwide recognition. This part of the Bible contains 28 chapters.
The 14 Epistles of Saint Paul, They were the most used means of communication at that time, which were directed at churches or certain people. These letters had the intention of transmitting affection and wisdom to their senders, so that they would find holy peace and security before the words of the Lord, being a holy people, in charge of spreading the message without any alteration or misinterpretation.
In them, strict and essential laws are established to be a worthy bearer of the holy word, speaking of the integrity, honesty and holiness with which they must live to deserve to favor the towns. He also names love, compassion, forgiveness, justice and peace.
- Romans (16 chapters)
- I Corinthians (16 chapters)
- II Corinthians (13 chapters)
- Galatians (6 chapters)
- Ephesians (6 chapters)
- Philippians (4 chapters)
- Colossians (4 chapters)
- I Thessalonians (5 chapters)
- II Thessalonians (3 chapters)
- I Timothy (6 chapters)
- II Timothy (4 chapters)
- Titus (3 chapters)
- Philemon (1 chapter)
- Hebrews (13 chapters)
Catholic or General Letters: These were the support and reaffirmation of the epistles mentioned above, teaching the commitment that a Christian must have and impeccable conduct, according to divine inspiration in what was heard and lived, through this will and authority that these men had, they were able to change and transform lives, improve people and add faithful believers to the Lord Jesus Christ.
- Santiago (5 chapters)
- I Peter (5 chapters)
- II Peter (3 chapters)
- I John (5 chapters)
- II John (1 chapter)
- III John (1 chapter)
- Jude (1 chapter)
- Apocalypse (22 chapters)
Unity of Both Testaments
The Old and New Testaments depend on each other. Their connection is so complete that the first explains the second and vice versa. Only in the light of the Old Testament can we understand the former, and only in the light of the New Testament do we realize what the Old meant.
With good reason, Christ told his listeners: "Examine the Scriptures and you will see that Moses speaks of me" (Jn 5, 39-45). And Saint Luke, when recounting the meeting of Jesus with the disciples of Emmaus, says that Jesus "beginning with Moses and continuing through all the prophets, explained to them everything that was about him in the Scriptures" (Lk 24, 25-27) . Likewise, St. Matthew in the first three chapters of it.
Original Texts and Copies
There are no autograph sacred texts, that is, written by the author's own hand as an intermediary of the Most High. When the annotation of "originals" is sometimes used, it is to indicate the languages in which they were originally written from which the translation of the biblical version is made.
Handwritten Copies
Here's what the parts of the Bible were made of:
Material
In the past, divine events were written using papyrus and parchment as material, the former being widely used in Egypt from 3000 BC. C., which is derived from an aquatic plant, cane or reed, which was found mostly in the Nile delta, whose production process consisted of opening the stem of the plant and then squeezing it. The sheets thus obtained were crossed, crushed and dried. It was the most common material, but at the same time the most fragile. Usually it was written only on the inside. Many Egyptian papyri have been preserved thanks to its dry climate.
The second constitutes the oldest testimony in the field of biblical manuscripts. The parchment is formed from the skin of certain animals (sheep and lambs), made with a special technique developed in Pergamon, north of Ephesus, around 100 AD. C. It seems to have been widely distributed by the Persians.
A testimony to its use is found in the New Testament in 2 Timothy 4:13: "When you come, bring me the cloak that I left with Carpus in Troas, and the books, especially the scrolls." From the fourth century AD. C. was very common. It is a much more resistant material, but at the same time more expensive, it is said that some parchment manuscripts were completely scraped to be able to reuse them.
Format
The roll is a long strip of papyrus or skin, reinforced at the ends by two sticks that were used to roll it up (cf. Lk 4, 16-20; Jr 36). Even today, Jews use scrolls. The codex or ordinary book (more common in parchment) was used by Christians from the second century, but by the Jews, it appears later, already in the seventh century. The Greek codices are distinguished in uncials or capitalized calligraphy.
The first ones are written in continuous capital letters, which makes them difficult to read because there is no separation between the words, they were basically used until the 250th and 2th centuries, it is believed that there are more than 600 of them. While the seconds appear in lowercase letters that are easy to read, because the separation between the words is given. They begin to be used from the XNUMXth century AD. C and multiply from the eleventh century, they are calculated around XNUMX thousand XNUMX.
Languages in which the Bible was written
It was written mainly in the Hebrew language, with few parts in Aramaic and some books in the Greek language.
in Hebrew, almost all of the first part of the holy scriptures was written in the language of the people of Israel. Its origin is quite obscure. It seems that the Canaanites began to speak it and then the Israelites took it in after their sojourn in Canaan.
in aramaic, a language older than Hebrew, little was written. Some chapters of Ezra, Jeremiah, Daniel and Matthew can be quoted. Aramaic began to enter Israel around the XNUMXth and XNUMXrd centuries BC. C. and took so much force, that it came to supplant the Hebrew language. Even the Messiah spoke to the people in one of the Aramaic dialects.
In Greek, some texts of the old part were written, such as Wisdom, 2 Maccabees and all the books of the New Testament, except the Gospel of Matthew. This Greek was not a classical Greek, like Demosthenes, but a Greek cataloged as popular, typical of the man in the street. It expanded after the conquest of Greece by Alexander the Great.
The books and their respective languages of writing are listed below:
Old Testament
- Daniel: Hebrew, with bits in Aramaic and Greek
- Ezra: Hebrew, with some documents in Aramaic
- Esther: Hebrew, with Greek fragments
- 1 Maccabees: Hebrew. 2 Maccabees: Greek
- Tobias and Judith: Hebrew and Aramaic
- Wisdom: Greek
- All other books: Hebrew
New Testament
- Saint Matthew: Aramaic
- All Other Books: Greek
Bible Versions
Over time, countless versions of the Bible have been made. Among the oldest, which are the most interesting, there are two very important ones: the Septuagint and the Vulgate, which are listed below:
The XNUMX's version
According to tradition, it was executed by 70 wise men of Israel between the XNUMXrd and XNUMXst centuries BC. C., was intended for the Jews of the Diaspora or of the dispersion, that is, for the worship of the Jewish communities that lived in the Greco-Roman world, in particular in Alexandria, and that had already forgotten the Hebrew language, or perhaps better, to to be able to propagate it in Greek. In any case, this translation was important to Greek-speaking Jews and later spread to Mediterranean countries, thus paving the way for the Gospel.
The Vulgate version
This was done in Latin by Saint Jerome in Bethlehem in the fourth century. It started with a need, like that of the Seventy. During the first 2 centuries, popular Greek was used in the Church, which was the one spoken in the Roman Empire. But in the third century, Latin prevailed in the West. That is why it has been translated into Latin. Numerous editions have been produced up to the present, since the Council of Trent solemnly recognized it as the official Latin version without denying the value of the other versions.
Sacred Scripture is very Valuable for the Life of the Church
As holy writing is the living word of the Most High, its power and impulse for Christians is enormous and together with the Eucharist, it is what sustains and invigorates the very existence of religion, guaranteeing the firmness of faith, nourishes the soul and It is a source of spiritual life.
Sacred Scripture must be the soul of theology, of pastoral prayer, of catechesis, of Christian instruction. Only in this way is the presence of the Messiah, the word and, therefore, the fruits of his holiness assured in these activities. By inviting the Messiah to accompany us in these actions, we will be more human. He himself will be responsible for sanctifying every word that is made known to all men. The temple advises the frequent reading of the parts of the Bible, since to ignore it is to ignore the Messiah.
There are many different Bibles. What is the Original?
Here are some of the different versions of the Bible:
- Latin American Bible.
- Queen valera.
- Word of God for All.
- New International Version.
Among the reasons that have encouraged the development of several Bibles, reference is made to the fact that there have been people of good will who, in accordance with the dictates of the Church, have made translations and adaptations into different languages, to make it more accessible to all men. the word of the Omnipresent. However, there are other religions that have suppressed or reworked what they did not like, or that adulterated the message of the Supreme, modifying the words originally written by the hagiographers.
To know if the scriptures are the originals, it is important to verify that it includes the 73 books and verify that the back cover indicates that it has been accepted by an authority of the Catholic Church. This indication appears with the Latin expressions “imprimatur” and “nihil obstat”, which mean: “it can be printed” and “nothing hinders its printing”. Also, if you have any doubts, you can also seek the advice of a trusted priest.
In how many languages has the Bible been translated?
In any language you can imagine, it was written. Among the most common we have: English, Spanish, German, French, Italian, Chinese, Russian, among others.
Who Wrote the Parts of the Bible?
This is a question that many ask themselves and some believe that, like every book or text, only one person wrote it. However, one thing must be clarified, and that is that the Bible itself is not a single book, but rather the grouping of different books as we have clarified in the previous points.
Being a group of texts or a collection of books, it is very true that they have more than one author in each of them. Of course, it is established from the Church and in the various branches of Christianity that all these authors were influenced by the divine inspiration of the Almighty, and therefore it is assumed that the main author of this text is the Most High.
In this sense, we will mention below some of the authors of the books whose veracity was recorded, guided by the Omnipresent:
- The books from Genesis to Numbers were written by Moses.
- The Book of Lamentations was written by Jeremiah.
- Psalms, has a wide variety of authors among which are: David and Solomon, among others.
- The Book of Judges was written by Samuel.
- Both books of Chronicles, their author was Ezra.
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