INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE

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The Structure and Divisions of the Bible

The Bible and Its Testaments: Definitions

Meaning of “Bible”

The word Bible can rightfully claim to be the great-grandson of the Greek word biblos, which was the name given to the outer coat of a papyrus reed in Egypt during the eleventh century b.c.. The plural form of biblos is biblia, and by the second century a.d. Christians were using this latter word to describe their writings. Biblia gave birth to the Latin word of the same spelling, biblia, which was in turn transliterated into the Old French biblia by the same process. The modern English word Bible is derived from the Old French, with the Anglicized ending. The word is thus the product of four stages of transliteration and transmission. The term Bible is often used synonymously with “Scripture” or “Word of God” (see chap. 3).

“Meaning of Testament”

Next to the fact that the Bible is a biblos, or one book, the most obvious fact is that it is divided into two parts called testaments. The Hebrew word for testament is berith, meaning a “covenant, or compact, or arrangement between two parties.” The Greek word diathēkē is often translated “testament” in the King James Version.¹ This is a poor translation, and is one of the corrections made in newer versions of the Bible that regularly translate it as “covenant.”² The Greek version of the Old Testament, the Septuagint (LXX), translates the Hebrew word berith as diathēkē, thus showing the derivation of the Greek term. The Old Testament was first called the covenant in Moses’ day (Ex. 24:8). Later, Jeremiah announced that God would make a new “covenant” with His people (Jer. 31:31-34), which Jesus claimed to do at the Last Supper (Matt. 26:28, cf. 1 Cor. 11:23-25; Heb. 8:6-8). Hence, it is for Christians that the former part of the Bible is called the “Old” Covenant (Testament), and the latter is called the New Covenant.³

The relationship between the two covenants is well summarized by the famous statement of St. Augustine: “. . . the Old Testament revealed in the New, the New veiled in the Old. . . .”⁴ Or, as another has put it, “The New is in the Old contained, and the Old is in the New explained.”⁵ For the Christian, Christ is the theme of both covenants (cf.Heb. 10:7; Luke 24:27, 44; John 5:39), as may be seen from the accompanying chart.

The Bible and Its Ancient Forms

Hebrew Form

Probably the earliest division of the Hebrew Bible was twofold: the Law and the Prophets.⁶ That is the most common distinction in the New Testament and is confirmed as well by Jewish usage and the Dead Sea Scrolls. ⁷ However, from less ancient times the Jewish Bible was arranged in three sections totaling twenty-four books (twenty-two books if Ruth is attached to Judges and Lamentations is attached to Jeremiah).⁸ This Old Testament contains all thirty-nine of the books of the Protestant Old Testament in English. The basic difference is that the books are grouped differently (see discussion in chap. 15).

*This is the arrangement in the New Jewish Version of the Old Testament based on the Masoretic Text (MT). See TANAKH: A New Translation of THE HOLY SCRIPTURES According to the Traditional Hebrew Text; Rudolf Kittel and Paul E. Kahle, eds., Biblia Hebraica and K. Elliger and W. Rudolph, eds., Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia. This is not the arrangement as it appears in Alfred Rahlfs, ed., Septuaginta: Id est Vetus Testamentum graece iuxta LXX interpretes.

Some believe a threefold division may be implied in the words of Jesus in Luke 24:44: “All the things which are written about Me in the law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”⁹ Philo, the Jewish philosopher at Alexandria, alluded to a threefold division of the Old Testament, and Flavius Josephus divided the twenty-two books of the Hebrew Scriptures into three sections, saying that the twenty-two books “contain the records of all the past; . . . five belong to Moses, . . . the prophets, who were after Moses, wrote down what was done in their times in thirteen books. The remaining four books contain hymns to God, and precepts for the conduct of human life.”¹⁰

Perhaps the earliest testimony to a threefold division, however, comes from the prologue to Ecclesiasticus, which reads, “. . . my grandfather Jesus, after devoting himself especially to the reading of the law and the prophets and the other books of our fathers. . . .”¹¹ The modern threefold classification, with eleven books in the Writings, stems from the Mishnah (Baba Bathra tractate), which in its present form dates from the fifth century a.d.

It is possible that this threefold division is based on the official status of the writers in a descending order: Moses the lawgiver appeared first, with his five books; next came the prophets, with their eight books; finally, the nonprophets, or wise men, kings, and princes, appear with their books. In light of that it would seem that the older breakdown of books was twenty-two rather than twenty-four. The books of Ruth and Lamentations were probably written by the authors of Judges and Jeremiah respectively and only later removed from their original position to form, with Ecclesiastes, Esther, and Song of Songs, the five books to be read during the festial year. That feature would also leave a more symmetrical arrangement of books in the canon, with three books in each of the three subsections of the Kethuvim, namely, the poetical books, the five rolls, and the historical books.The overall number (twenty-two) would thus correspond with Josephus’s count, as well as the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet, indicating that the leaders of Israel considered twenty-two books to be a complete collection, as twenty-two letters formed the complete Hebrew alphabet.¹²

Greek Form

The Hebrew Scriptures were translated into Greek at Alexandria, Egypt (c. 250-15 b.c.). This translation, known as the Septuagint (LXX), introduced some basic changes in the format of the books: some of the books were reclassified, others regrouped, and some were renamed (see the chart at the end of this chapter). The Alexandrian tradition divided the Old Testament according to subject matter, which is the basis of the modern classification of five books of Law, twelve books of History, five books of Poetry, and seventeen books of Prophecy.

The order of the books varies in the early canonical lists, but the grouping of the books remains the same throughout.¹³ The accompanying chart illustrates this arrangement, which contains the same content but a different total than its Hebrew counterpart.

To that arrangement the early Christian Fathers added the books of the New Testament, which were classified in four groups: Gospels (four books), History (one book), Epistles (twenty-one books), and Prophecy (one book). Further, the twenty-one Epistles were subdivided into the Pauline (thirteen)¹⁴ and the General (eight).

Latin Form

The grouping of books in the Latin Bible (the Vulgate) follows that of the Septuagint (LXX), or Greek version. Jerome, who translated the Latin Vulgate (c. 383-405), was familiar with the Hebrew division, but Christendom had come to favor (or be associated with) the Greek version; thus it was only natural for him to adopt its fourfold classification. In fact, any other classification would no doubt have been unacceptable to Latin Christians.¹⁵

The Bible in Its Modern Form

The Historical Reason for the Structure of the English Bible

After the Vulgate had reigned for a thousand years as the standard Bible of Christendom, it is to be expected that Wycliffe’s first English Bible would follow the timeworn divisions of its Latin precursor. As a matter of fact, the fourfold division of the Old Testament and the similar division of the New Testament have been the standard ever since. As a result, the divisions of the modern English Bible follow a topical rather than an official order (i.e., by rank or office of the writer), in contrast to the Hebrew Bible. Yet, within that overall topical structure, there is a semichronological listing of the books from Genesis through Revelation.

The Topical Reason for the Structure of the English Bible

Because the present structure of the English Bible has been subject to several historical variations, it would be too much to assume that it is God-given. The order as we have it is not, however, purely arbitrary. In fact, the order shows evidence of being purposefully directed, at least insofar as it falls into meaningful categories, because it presents the historical unfolding of the drama of redemptive revelation.

Because redemption and revelation center about the Person of Jesus Christ, it may be observed that the several sections of Scriptures form a Christocentric structure (Luke 24:27, 44; John 5:39; Heb. 10:7). That is, Christ is not only the theme of both Testaments of the Bible, as mentioned above, but He may also be seen as the subject in the sequence of each of the eight sections of the Scriptures.¹⁶

Structure and Divisions of the Bible

In the Old Testament, the books of the law lay the foundation for Christ in that they reveal how God chose (Genesis), redeemed (Exodus), sanctified (Leviticus), guided (Numbers), and instructed (Deuteronomy) the Hebrew nation, through whom He was to bless all nations (Gen. 2:1-3). The historical books illustrate how the nation was being prepared to carry out its redemptive mission. In order for the chosen nation to be fully prepared for the task, it had to conquer its land (Joshua-Ruth), to be established under its first king, Saul (1 Samuel), and later to expand its empire under David and Solomon (2 Samuel – 1 Kings 10). After Solomon’s reign, the kingdom was divided (1 Kings 11ff.) and later deported to Assyria (721 b.c.) and Babylonia (586 b.c., 2 Kings). However, redemptive hopes were not lost, for God protected and preserved His people (Esther) so He could cause them to return (Ezra) and their holy city to be rebuilt (Nehemiah).

In the law the foundation is laid for Christ; in the historical books the nation takes root in preparation for Christ; in the poetical books the people look up in aspiration for Christ; in the prophetical books they look forward in expectation of Christ. The law views the moral life of Israel, history records their national life, poetry reveals their spiritual life, and prophecy depicts their prophetical or Messianic life and expectations.

The gospels of the New Testament bring that prophetic expectation to a historical manifestation in Christ. There the promised Savior becomes present; the concealed becomes revealed; the Logos enters the cosmos (John 1:1,14) as Christ is made manifest in the flesh. The gospels give a fourfold manifestation of Christ: He is seen in His sovereignty (Matthew), ministry (Mark), humanity (Luke), and deity (John). The manifestation was limited in Jesus’ day for the most part, “to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matt. 10:6). After Christ died and rose again, the disciples were commissioned to carry the account of His manifestation “to the end of the earth” (NKJV) as told in the book of Acts. There is recorded propagation of faith in Christ as He had commanded: “And you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

The gospels give the manifestation of Christ, Acts the propagation of faith in Him, and the epistles the interpretation of His person and work. The gospels and Acts record the deeds of Christ and His disciples, but the epistles reveal His doctrine as it was taught by the apostles. The former give the historic foundation for New Testament Christianity; the latter give the didactic interpretation and application of it.

The climactic chapter of Christocentric revelation comes in the final book of the New Testament, Revelation, where all things are brought to a consummation in Christ. The “Paradise Lost” of Genesis becomes the “Paradise Regained” of Revelation. Whereas the gate to the tree of life is closed in Genesis, it is opened forevermore in Revelation. All things are to be summed up in Him (Col. 2:9), for all things were made by Him, redemption was accomplished through Him, and it is only fitting that all things should be consummated in Him (Eph.1:10).

Summary and Conclusion

The Bible is a biblos, a single book. It has two Testaments, better called covenants or agreements between God and His people. Those two parts of the Bible are inseparably related: the New Testament is in the Old concealed, and the Old is in the New revealed.

Down through the centuries the Bible has been subdivided into sections and has had several different arrangements of its books. The Hebrew Bible came to have a threefold division (Law, Prophets, and Writings), so categorized according to the official position of the writer. However, beginning with the Septuagint and continuing in the Latin and modern English translations, the Old Testament has been given a fourfold topical structure. The New Testament was also given a fourfold topical arrangement of Gospels, Acts, Epistles, and Revelation.

When viewed carefully, those sections of the Bible are obviously not arbitrarily put together. Instead, they form a meaningful and purposeful whole, as they convey the progressive unfolding of the theme of the Bible in the person of Christ. The law gives the foundation for Christ, history shows the preparation for Him. In poetry there is an aspiration for Christ and in prophecy an expectation of Him. The Gospels of the New Testament record the historical manifestation of Christ, the Acts relate the propagation of Christ, the Epistles give the interpretation of Him, and in Revelation is found the consummation of all things in Christ.

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