C.

Formation of the Bible

 Three Stages:
 Actual/ Crucial Events

 Oral Tradition

 Writing
C. Formation of the Bible
1. Crucial Events that led to the
Formation of the Bible

a. The Exodus and the

covenant at Mt. Sinai

- Basis of the books of

Exodus, Numbers,
Leviticus, Deuteronomy
C. Formation of the Bible
1. Crucial Events that led to the
Formation of the Bible
b. The Establishment of the
Kingdom

-basis of the books of

Joshua, Judges, Ruth,
Samuel, Kings,
Chronicles, and some
prophets
C. Formation of the Bible
1. Crucial Events that led to the
Formation of the Bible
c. The Exile

- basis of the books of

other prophets, Ezra,
Nehemiah and Wisdom
Writings
C. Formation of the Bible
1. Crucial Events that led to the
Formation of the Bible

d. The Jesus Event

-basis of the New

testament books
 2. The Basic Sources of the Bible: Ancient
Manuscripts
For the Old Testament:
 Masoretic Texts - traditional

Hebrew text of the Bible

 Septuagint (LXX)- Greek

translation of the Jewish

Scriptures
 Dead Sea Scrolls- discovered

between the years 1947 and

1956
2. The Basic Sources of the Bible:
Ancient Manuscripts
For the New Testament:
 Papyri Scrolls - oldest New Testament
manuscripts
 Majuscules/Uncials - sources of the New
Testament which are contained in what is
called a “codex” (book form of manuscripts),
written in Greek capital letters
3. CANON OF THE BIBLE
Greek word kanon meaning
"measuring rod; rule; criterion“.
"Canonization" or to be
"canonized" refers to the process by
which a book was accepted into the
official list of core scriptures.
Canonical books are books

acknowledged by the Church to be

inspired and contain a rule of faith and
morals.
criteria used to determine
biblical canonicity are:
 special relation to God, i.e.,

inspiration;
 prophetic/apostolic origin;
 used in Church services, i.e.,

used by the community of

believers guided by the Holy
Spirit.
4. DIVISION OF BOOKS IN THE BIBLE – The
Old Testament and New Testament

 Old Testament does not mean outdated, the

word “old” is a title of respect or reverence.
 “testament” is from Latin testamentum,
Hebrew berith,  Greek diatheke, referring to
a formal agreement, or covenant between
two parties, with specific obligations on
each side.
 It was Tertulian (200 AD), who introduced
the “Old Testament” for the Jewish
Scriptures and “New Testament” for the
Christian Scriptures.
 Catholics (both of the Roman and Greek rites),
the Greek Orthodox and the Anglicans
recognize seventy-three (73) books.
 Protestants recognize only sixty-six (66) books
in their Canon.
 All recognize the twenty-seven (27) books of
the New Testament as canonical.
 Catholic Bibles have seven more books in the
Old Testament which they call as
deuterocanonicals (Judith, Ecclesiasticus or
Sirach,Wisdom, Baruch, Maccabees 1 and 2,
and Tobit)
Classification of the books of the
Bible
The Old Testament
Jewish/Hebrew: Christian:
*Torah *Pentateuch

*Nev’im
-Former Prophets *Historical Books
-Latter Prophets *Prophets
-Major Prophets
-Minor Prophets
*Khetuvim *Writings/Wisdom
 The Old Testament
► Pentateuch
Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
► Historical Books
Joshua, Judges, Ruth, I & II Samuel, I & II Kings, I & II Chronicles,
Ezra, Nehemiah, Tobit, Judith, Esther, I & II Maccabees
► Wisdom Books
Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom, Sirach
► Prophetic Books
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Baruch, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea,
Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk,
Zepahniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
 The New Testament
► Gospels
Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

► “Historical”
Acts of the Apostles

► PaulineLetters
Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians,
Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians,
Colossians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians,
1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon,
Hebrews
►Apostolic/Catholic
Letters
James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1, 2 & 3 John,
Jude

►“Prophetic/ Apocalyptic”
Revelation
5. ORIGINAL LANGUAGES OF THE BIBLE

► Hebrew - language of the Israelites

► Aramaic – language of Jesus

► Greek - called Koine; a mixture of the old

dialects of Greece (Ionic, Attic, Doric and
Aeolic)
 7 . Chapters and Verses

►1226 - Stephen Langton, divided each

book into numbered chapters
►1551 - Robert Stephanus divided the
chapters into verses.