The language of the Bible is Hebrew. The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, and some parts of the New Testament were originally written in Greek. The Bible, consisting of the Old Testament and the New Testament, is a sacred text in Christianity and Judaism. The Old Testament, also known as the Hebrew Bible, was written over a span of centuries by multiple authors.
In order to know what language the Bible was first written, you have to understand that there were two different versions of each story: one written in Hebrew, and another written in Greek. The original manuscripts were all translated from Hebrew into Greek, which was spoken by Jewish communities at the time.
The most common versions are Greek (Septuagint) and Latin (Vulgate).
Moses was the first human author of the biblical record. God told Moses to do this in Exodus 34:27: “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” Which language did he speak, by the way? Hebrew was his first language as a writer.
Semitic languages, of which Hebrew is a member, were spoken across what was once called Mesopotamia but is now primarily in Iraq. All consonants, their alphabet only had 22 letters. (Think about it: no vowels in the alphabet! Vowels were only added much later.
In Which Language Was The Bible First Written?
GRIETJE COMMELIN
Nowadays, the complete Bible is available in over 700 languages, and the New Testament in another 1500 languages around the world (see the website of Wycliffe Bible Translators for more figures). All these versions are translations from the original Bible texts as they were written down centuries ago. So, in which language was the Bible first written? Was it written in English, Latin, Hebrew or Greek? The answer is more complicated and more interesting than one would expect. Let me first give a bit of background information.
How and When Was the Bible First Written?
Parts of the Hebrew Bible were written in perhaps the 10th century BCE. The final redaction and canonization of the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) most likely took place during the Babylonian Exile (6th–5th century BCE). The entire Hebrew Bible was complete by about 100 CE.
Here is a breakdown of how and when the Bible was first written:
1. Parts of the Hebrew Bible written in the 10th century BCE
Some parts of the Hebrew Bible, such as the Book of Psalms, were written as early as the 10th century BCE. These writings were initially passed down orally before being recorded in written form.
2. Final redaction and canonization of the Torah during the Babylonian Exile
The Torah, which consists of the first five books of the Bible – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, underwent a process of final redaction and canonization during the Babylonian Exile, which took place from the 6th to 5th century BCE. This period was significant in shaping the Hebrew Bible as we know it today.
3. Entire Hebrew Bible complete by about 100 CE
By the year 100 CE, the entire Hebrew Bible was complete. It had undergone revisions, additions, and editing over the centuries, resulting in the collection of texts that form the basis of Jewish scripture.
The process of writing and compiling the Bible was a complex and ongoing one that spanned many generations. Different books and letters were written by various authors at different times, reflecting the beliefs, traditions, and events of their respective eras. The Bible as we know it today is the result of centuries of religious and scholarly work to preserve and transmit these sacred texts.
Overall, the Bible serves as a foundational document for believers in both Christianity and Judaism, offering guidance, wisdom, and spiritual insight to millions of people around the world.
| Hebrew Bible | New Testament |
|---|---|
| Written over centuries | Written in 1st century CE |
| Various authors | Multiple authors |
| Canonized in 1st century CE | Canonized in 4th century CE |
Who Wrote the Bible?
The Bible is a collection of 66 books that were written by many different authors over the course of centuries. Despite the diversity of human authors, Christians believe that the ultimate author of the Bible is God Himself. In this article, we will delve into the concept of divine authorship and explore how the Lord God is the true author of the Bible.
1. Inspiration of the Human Authors
– The human authors of the Bible were inspired by God’s Spirit to write their books. This divine inspiration ensured that the words they wrote were in line with God’s will and purpose.
– While the authors used their own styles, perspectives, and cultural backgrounds, the underlying message of the Bible is consistent and coherent. This is because God guided the authors in their writing.
2. Jesus as the Center of the Bible
– Although Jesus did not physically write any of the books in the Bible, His life, teachings, and actions are central to its message. The Old Testament foreshadows His coming, while the New Testament documents His life, death, and resurrection.
– The Gospels, in particular, provide a detailed account of Jesus’ ministry and teachings as recorded by His followers. These accounts are considered authoritative and inspired by God.
3. The Canonization of the Bible
– The process of determining which books to include in the Bible was guided by God’s Spirit working through the early Church leaders. The criteria for inclusion included apostolic authorship, consistency with established doctrine, and widespread acceptance among the faith community.
– The final list of books that make up the Bible was formally recognized in the early centuries of Christianity, solidifying the belief that these texts were inspired by God and authoritative for believers.
In conclusion, the Bible is not just a human product but a divine revelation. While it was written by human hands, the Lord God is the true author behind its words. Christians believe that the Bible is the inspired and authoritative Word of God, guiding believers in their faith and practice. Understanding the divine authorship of the Bible helps Christians appreciate its significance and relevance in their lives.
When was the Bible written?
The books of the Bible are divided into two different Testaments. The history of humanity is covered by the Old Testament, which spans from the moment of creation to around 400 BC, which is a period of thousands of years (for a timeline, see here). We are able to determine the year that certain novels were written since the books themselves provide this information. The following is an example of how the book of Amos is presented to the reader:
“The words of Amos, who was among the shepherds of Tekoa, which he saw concerning Israel in the days of Uzziah king of Judah and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel, two years before the earthquake” (Amos 1:1).
The book of Jeremiah describes how the words of this prophet were written down, destroyed by the king, and written down again during his lifetime. When this was, becomes clear in the introduction of the final book: “The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah, one of the priests who were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his reign. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, and until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah, until the captivity of Jerusalem in the fifth month” (Jeremiah 1:1-3).
For other books in the Old Testament, we don’t know exactly when they were written down, or they were written over a longer period of time (such as the book of Psalms). The first five books were largely written by Moses, who lived about 1400 BC. The last books were written shortly after the Jewish people returned from exile, around 400 BC.
The New Testament records the life of Jesus Christ and the period of the early church, thus covering about 100 years only. The Gospels (the books about Jesus’ earthly life) were written down by eye witnesses, within decades after the actual events. The New Testament letters were written by the apostles, who were all contemporaries of Jesus. The last books of the Bible were written by the apostle John by the end of the first century AD.
Where Is the Original Bible?
The first editions of well-known books are either meticulously preserved by collectors or held in museums for public viewing. Is it possible to locate the very earliest edition of the Bible? What is the whereabouts of the original handwritten versions of the many books that make up the Bible? We regret to inform you that we do not possess any originals. Papyrus, leather, and parchment were some of the materials that were used to write the books of the Bible. These are not materials that have a particularly lengthy lifespan. It was for this reason that the books of the Bible were copied by hand in order to preserve and multiply them.
This required a significant amount of work, and every once in a while, copyists would make a mistake, which would then be rectified or taken up by the copyist who came after them. This allowed for the development of a few minor distinctions. In several instances, we are unable to determine which version is the original and which one has been altered over the course of several centuries. The great majority of these variances are just linguistic in nature; they do not have any impact on the meaning transmitted by the text.
We have nearly 6000 very old manuscripts of the New Testament alone, dating from the second to the sixteenth century. This is despite the fact that the original Bible books have been lost since their publication.
While others only include passages from the Bible, some cover entire books. Through careful examination of these manuscripts, academics have been able to establish with a high degree of certainty the original phrasing of all of the Bible’s earliest texts.
If you are interested in learning more about the matter of whether or not the modern Bibles we use are similar to the original Bible text, you may read our page that is dedicated to this subject. Now that we have this necessary background information, let’s move on to the primary question that this post is trying to answer.
What language was the Bible first written in?
The Bible was not written in one language, but three!
The Old Testament is written in Hebrew, and a few passages [1] in Aramaic. There are minor language differences between the first books of the Old Testament and the last ones, because every language develops over time, and there is some variation in language use by different authors and literal genres.
The New Testament, however, is written in a completely different language: Greek. In Jesus’ days, this had become the language of the common people in the region around Israel, primarily due to the conquests of Alexander the Great. Therefore, Greek would be a language that many people could understand at that time.
Old Testament Hebrew
The Hebrew language that is used in the Old Testament scriptures was probably in use from about 1500 BC until 400 BC. After that, many people switched to Aramaic. But Jews also kept using Hebrew, especially as their religious language. This Biblical Hebrew is different from the modern Hebrew that is spoken in Israel nowadays.
Hebrew is written from right to left. Originally, only the consonants of Hebrew words were written down. Later on, in many manuscripts, vowels were added in the form of little vowel points in, under or above the letters. This is especially helpful for readers who don’t have Hebrew as their mother tongue.
See below for the first verses of Genesis as they look like in most modern versions [2] (with added verse numbers et cetera), and a piece of text with only consonants.
Aramaic
As already mentioned above, the Old Testament contains a few text passages in Aramaic. Hebrew and Aramaic belong to the same language family, and are very similar. They use the same alphabet, for example. Aramaic was the official language in the Assyrian, Babylonian and Persian empires. Since these empires reigned over a large region including Israel (and took the majority of its inhabitants into exile), Aramaic became the common language of many Jews. Jesus also spoke Aramaic, see for example Mark 5:41; 7:34; 14:36; 15:34. When Jesus is quoted in the New Testament, these quotes are thus often translations from Aramaic into Greek (although Jesus in all likelihood did speak Greek with people from outside the land of Israel).
Koinè Greek
When Alexander the Great conquered his enormous empire, he introduced Greek as the common language. So, when the Bible writers wrote down their accounts about Jesus Christ three centuries later, they used this language instead of Hebrew or Aramaic. The addition “koinè” makes clear that this was the ordinary, somewhat simpler Greek used by the common people, not ‘literary’ or ‘classical’ Greek.
These are the first verses of the Gospel according to Luke, as they look like in modern versions [3].
And this is a piece of a Greek manuscript as it looked originally.
When was the Bible translated into other languages? And why did people translate it?
Aramaic
I mentioned above that some later parts of the Old Testament were written in Aramaic, since this had become a common language for Israelites living in exile. During this period, they also translated older Bible books in Aramaic since people no longer understood the Old Testament Hebrew. These translations, called targumim, were mostly spoken by a professional translator. Initially, it was not even acceptable to put them in writing. But later on, the written versions were accepted by many Jews as authoritative translations.
Greek
By about 280 BC the first five books of the Bible were translated into Greek, because some Jews, especially those living outside the land of Israel, no longer mastered the Hebrew language. Some years later, the other Old Testament books followed. This early Greek translation is called Septuagint (meaning 70), or LXX (the Roman denotation of 70). This name is based on the (probably not 100% historically correct) story that 70 people were involved in the translation. When the authors of the New Testament quote the Old Testament, they often cite this Greek version.
Latin
When the Roman Empire became more and more influential and Latin became the common language, parts of the Bible were translated in Latin as well. These are called the Vetus Latina. In the 5th century AD, the whole Bible was translated into Latin by Hieronymus. This translation is called the Versio Vulgata, which means ‘translation for the common people’. For centuries, this has been the Bible translation used in the western churches. During the Middle Ages, the church even prohibited other translations. But since Latin was no longer understood by the common people, more and more initiatives developed to translate the Bible into people’s mother tongues.
Early translations into other languages
Despite the church’s rejection of Bible translations, there are some very old translations of particular books of smaller parts of the Bible in old English, German and Slavonic, for example. These were translated as early as +/- 800 AD. In 1199 AD, Pope Innocent III banned unauthorized Bible translations to suppress heresies. While some vernacular translations seem to have been accepted later on, the general tendency was to forbid them.
The Reformation movement
In the 16th century, the Reformation movement boosted the translation of the complete Bible in many European vernacular languages, since this movement considered it very important that “ordinary people” could read the Bible for themselves without being dependent on any church authorities. This endeavor greatly benefited from the fact that in this period, the printing press was invented and made it possible to produce many affordable copies of the Bible. Until then, only the clergy and the very rich could afford books.
A German Bible translation by Martin Luther was first printed in 1522. Within decades, Luther’s example was followed in other European languages such as Polish, Spanish, Czech, Dutch and English. The Roman Catholic Church strongly opposed these translation efforts since they considered the reading and explanation of the Bible the task of theologians, not lay people, and since they were suspicious that translators also changed the Bible to match their theological point of view. Therefore, many translators used pseudonyms and worked in secret. But they were not always able to escape the church’s sanctions. William Tyndale, for example, was executed before he could even finish his translation work.
Modern translations
When European missionaries traveled the globe to spread the Gospel, many made translating the Bible into vernacular languages a priority, since they believed that God’s Word is so valuable and powerful that every individual should have access to it in a language they can understand. This goal has not yet been accomplished, but in recent years, technological developments have allowed missionaries and churches worldwide to increase this work dramatically.
Nowadays, organizations like Wycliffe Bible Translators and the International Bible Society unite many smaller initiatives “to provide the Bible in accurate, contemporary translations and formats so that more people around the world will have the opportunity to be transformed by Jesus Christ” (International Bible Society).
When was the Bible first printed?
The printing press was invented around 1440 AD by Johannes Gutenberg, a German goldsmith. His invention, together with developments in paper making, greatly improved the speed, quality and affordability of book production. The earliest major book printed by Gutenberg was the Bible, in Latin. In 1516, Desiderius Erasmus produced the first printed edition of the Greek New Testament. The printing press also allowed the first vernacular Bible translations to spread rapidly. So, Bibles have been printed ever since the existence of the printing press.
Other formats
Even though the Bible is a book, it is not only available as a printed or hand-written text. Nowadays, you can find countless Bible versions online, which allows for easy searching. In many languages, the Bible is also available in audio format. These new formats allow more people than ever before to have access to God’s Word.
Should I read the Bible in its original languages?
Nowadays, many people around the world profit from Bible translations in languages they can understand clearly. That’s a wonderful way to get access to God’s Word! It is still valuable to learn Hebrew and Greek if you want to delve deeper and study the Bible in its original languages, but a good translation is just as much “God’s Word” as the original Hebrew scrolls or Greek manuscripts are. You do not need to learn Hebrew and Greek in order to know God or in order to be saved.
The fact that Jesus quoted the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) and that the New Testament Bible books were written in Greek instead of Hebrew, makes clear that God does not favor one human language over another. He does not require people to learn a new or “holy” language in order to read the Bible, but had His Word written down in languages that were best known to the original audiences. Actually, this is not very surprising when we realize that God took the enormous step to express His eternal, universal truths in human language in the first place. Compared to this, translating the Bible from one human language into another is only a minor step!
God has revealed Himself to us humans through the Bible. He inspired people to write the Bible books in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek, but now the Bible has been translated into many languages. It is not important which language you are reading the Bible in, but it is vitally important to listen to God’s Word, since it reveals to us how we can have a personal relationship with the Lord God. Do you have such a relationship with Him?