| The Christian Life | June 1943 |
Wisdom from above is the noblest science, the best instruction.
How Our Bible Reached Us
Manuscripts — Translations — Revisions
TO CHRISTIANS the Bible is a divine revelation, written by holy men of old, who wrote as they were moved by the Spirit of God. (II Pet. 1:21) However, it was not originally given in the convenient form in which it is now possessed by millions throughout all parts of the earth. The first copies of the Bible were hand-written, and in manuscript form—the Old Testament in the ancient Hebrew and Chaldee language, and the New Testament in the Greek language. The purpose of this discussion is to examine briefly some of the historical facts relating to the manner in which our Common or Authorized King James version of the Bible, has reached the English-speaking world.
Should we be able to visit one of the early churches, such as the church at Rome, or Corinth, or Ephesus, we would find that not all the individual members of these congregations possessed even manuscript copies of the Bible. It was not until about the year 120 A.D. that the books of the New Testament, as we know them, were complete and available for use.
The most favorable view possible as to the availability of the Bible to these early Christians is that the larger churches possessed, as property of the church, not of the individuals in the congregation; (1) Some manuscripts of the Hebrew Old Testament books; (2) Considerably more of the Old Testament books translated into Greek—such being generally known as the Septuagint Version of the Old Testament; (3) Copies of the Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the various Apostolic Epistles, and the Book of Revelation—all in manuscript form.
From this stockpile of sacred writings came our present-day most used version of the English Bible, the King James or Authorized Version. It has reached us by a long and devious chain of circumstances including the hand-copying of manuscripts and translating. Both the copying and the translating were often done under most trying circumstances. The early translators were usually persecuted, sometimes even unto death, not by the worldly, but by their contemporary religionists, who often took the viewpoint—as one of the early translators expressed it—that “ignorance was holiness.”
One of the earliest translations of the Bible from the Hebrew and Greek manuscripts is known as the Latin Vulgate, translated by one of the early fathers, known as St. Jerome, the latter part of the fourth or early fifth century of the Christian era. St. Jerome was born 340 and died 420 A.D.
One of the earliest English versions of the Bible was translated by John Wycliffe about the year 1367, although no part of it was printed before the year 1731. England at that time was dominated by the Roman Catholic Church, and concerning the death of Wycliffe, one of the monkish writers of the time said,
“On the feast of the Passion of St. Thomas of Canterbury, John Wycliffe, the organ of the devil, the enemy of the church, the idol of heretics, the image of hypocrites, the restorer of schism, the storehouse of lies, the sink of flattery, being struck by the horrible judgment of God, was seized with palsy throughout his whole body.”
Archbishop Arundel, a zealous but not very learned prelate, complained to the pope of “that pestilent wretch, John Wycliffe, the son of the old serpent, the forerunner of anti-Christ, who had completed his iniquity by inventing a new translation of the Scriptures.” Wycliffe himself was evidently keenly aware of the opposition that would be aroused by his translation of the Scriptures, and in the preface had the following inscribed,
“God grant us, to ken and to kepe well Holie Writ, and to suffer joiefulli some paine for it at the laste.”
The First Printed Bible
Singularly the very first book to be printed was the Bible. It was published by the recognized inventor of the printing press, Johann Gensfleisch, which name translated into English means John Gooseflesh. Later, Gensfleisch took the name of Gutenberg. Of Gutenberg’s achievement the following excerpt is to the point: “At last, in 1455 or 1456, the complete Bible in the Latin tongue, bound in two volumes, was presented to the world.” Then in 1526, came Tyndale’s English version of the Bible—the first English translation to be printed. It is claimed that the language of Tyndale’s translation is essentially that which we find today in our Common, or King James Version.
Tyndale, even as former translators of the Bible, was persecuted by the orthodox church of his day. In order to complete his task, he was forced to leave England and become an exile in Germany. But it was this, in the providence of God, that put him in touch with the printing press and resulted later in large quantities of his printed Bible being smuggled into England contrary to the decree of the church, and distributed among the common people.
It was in the year 1524 that he left his native land, never to see it again, and as the historian states, “At Hamburg, in poverty and distress, and amid constant danger, the brave-hearted exile worked at his translation, and so diligently that the following year we find him at Cologne with the sheets of his quarto New Testament already in the printer’s hands.”
It was difficult enough to stop the circulation of Wycliffe’s Bibles, a single copy of which took months to finish, but what could be done about Tyndale’s translation? These books were pouring into the country in great numbers because they were coming off the printing press at the rate of hundreds per day, and at a price within the reach of all.
The Bishop of London hit upon what he thought was an excellent plan to put a stop to this plague. He contacted a man by the naive of Augustine Pakington, a merchant trading between England and Antwerp, and asked what he thought of the possibility of buying up all of Tyndale’s copies of the Bible, bringing them to England, and burning them. Pakington was a friend of Tyndale’s, and sympathetic with what he was doing, so quickly agreed with the Bishop saying,
“My lord, if it be your pleasure, I could do in this matter probably more than any merchant in England, so if it be your lordship’s pleasure to pay for them—for I must disburse money for them—I will insure you to have every book that remains unsold.”
The bishop agreed to this, thinking, as one humorous writer of the time said, that “he hadde God by the toe, whanne in truthe he hadde, as after he thought, the devyl by the fiste.” What happened is this: Tyndale accepted the offer, charged a good price for the Bibles he had on hand, and with the money paid his debts and published a much larger and better edition of his Bible. Hence the bishop’s plan acted as a boomerang, and Tyndale’s Bibles continued to pour into England.
Poverty, distress and misrepresentation were Tyndale’s constant lot. Imprisonment and death were ever staring him in the face. Finally, in October, 1536, he was strangled at the stake, and then burned to ashes, fervently praying with his last words, “Lord, open the King of England’s eyes.”
Additional Translations
Three years after this, in 1539, in every parish church in England, was found a copy of what was then known as the “Great Bible,” which was the fast English authorized version—that is, authorized by the church. However, this so-called “Great Bible” was virtually Tyndale’s, being but slightly revised. The “Great Bible” so-called from its large size, was really a revised copy of the Matthew’s Bible which in turn was merely a copy of the Tyndale and Coverdale Bibles.
Some years later, still another English version of the Bible appeared. Reformers, who had fled from England to Geneva, returned, bearing with them this new version of the Bible, the work of the best years of their exile. The dedication of the Book was accepted by Queen Elizabeth, and was known as the Geneva Bible. Afterward, it was dubbed the “Breeches Bible,” from its rendering of Genesis 3:7, where Adam and Eve “served fig tree leaves together, and made themselves breeches.” This version was published at Geneva in 1560 and Coverdale was among those who issued it.
This was the most popular Bible that had yet appeared in England, and for sixty years it held its own against all rivals. For a time it even contested the ground with what we now know as our own Authorized Version, when later it was published in 1611.
In 1568 the Bishops’ Bible appeared, another English translation. And then, in January, 1604, at a conference of bishops and clergymen held in the drawing rooms of Hampton Court Palace, the first suggestions were made which led to the revision of versions then in use and resulted in our Authorized Version in 1611.
To prepare this translation, forty-seven learned men from Oxford, Cambridge and London were selected as impartially as possible, from high churchmen and Puritans, as well as from those who represented scholarship totally unconnected with any party. The king (James I) authorized that the co-operation of every Biblical scholar of note in the entire kingdom should be secured. Excellent rules were adopted to govern the work of translating. Never before had such labor and care been expended on translating the English Bible.
The language of the King James Version follows closely the pattern of that used by Tyndale in his translation. Revised and improved by a committee of such excellent scholars, it has stood the test of more than four hundred years of popular use. While many English translations have been produced since, such as the Revised Version (in 1881 and 1885), the Emphatic Diaglott, etc., the King James Version is still the most popular of all in the entire English-speaking world.
From what we have seen, the whole history of the English Bible has been one of growth and improvement by means of repeated revisions. This was true previous to Tyndale’s first New Testament (1525), which was revised by himself in 1534, and again in 1535. Coverdale’s (1535) and Tyndale’s translations appeared in Matthew’s Bible (1537), having undergone a still further revision. Then came the Great Bible (1539), representing more changes and further improvement. Additional revisions were published in the Geneva Bible (1560), but this wasn’t the end of revision, for the Bishops’ Bible, published in 1568, contained more changes. And then the King James or Authorized Version, in 1611.
Manuscripts
Probably the greatest weakness of the King James Version is the fact that when it was translated, only eight manuscripts were available from which the work could be done, the oldest one dating back only to the tenth century. Since then, many hundreds of manuscripts have come to light, some of them dating back as early as the fourth century.
It is well to note the difference between manuscripts and translations. In terms of Bibliography, the word manuscript is used to describe copies of the original writings of the Scriptures in the same language as the original. The original writings of the Bible are all lost, hence manuscripts now available are merely copies, usually copies of copies, many times removed. The value of a manuscript for critical textual examination depends largely on its age. The oldest manuscripts, and therefore the most valuable, are written in capital letters, in the style of the original writings of the Bible, namely, without punctuation, and with no division between words.
The Old Testament was divided into chapters as they now stand, by Cardinal Hugo, in the middle of the thirteenth century. These chapters were divided into verses, as we now have them, by Rabbi Nathan, and adopted by Robert Stephens, a French printer, in his edition of the Vulgate, in 1555. The chapter and verse division of the New Testament likewise was done in 1551, long centuries after the original manuscripts were written.
Punctuation was not used in the original writings of the Bible, nor does it appear in the oldest of the manuscripts, as punctuation was not generally used until the end of tine 15th century. It is important to keep this fact in mind when the study any English translation of the Bible, and to remember that the punctuation is not a part of the inspired record. Generally speaking, the punctuation of all the English versions of the Bible is very helpful, but at times it has served to confuse the meaning of the text. The accompanying lines in Greek are the words of Jesus to the thief on the cross, as they appeared from the pen of the original recorder.
When punctuation was introduced into this statement, the misplacement of the comma makes it appear that Jesus expected to be in paradise with the thief the very day that He died. But by placing the comma where it should be, in harmony with what the Master really meant, Jesus’ words simply emphasize that the promise He was making to the thief was made on a day when, from the human standpoint, it seemed impossible that it could be fulfilled—“Indeed I say to thee this day, thou shalt be with Me in Paradise.”—Luke 23:43, Emphatic Diaglott
It is well, also, to remember that all the manuscript copies of the Bible were written by hand, and that each additional copy of these copies, when needed, also had to be written out, letter by letter, at a great expense of time and trouble, and very often, too, at some expense of the original correctness.
Careful though the scribe might be, it was well nigh impossible to keep from making mistakes. One letter could be mistaken for another. If the manuscript were read to the scribe he might confound two words of similar sound. Remarks and explanations written in the margin might sometimes, in transcribing, be inserted in the text.
In these and various other ways errors might creep into the copy of a manuscript. Naturally these errors would be repeated by the copyists. To these, sometimes, would be added other errors of his own. It is evident, as copies increased, the errors would be likely to increase also. Therefore, as a general rule, the earlier the manuscript, the more nearly correct it is likely to be.
Even in the case of printed Bibles errors are likely to occur, as all who are acquainted with the publishing business are painfully aware, and this despite every precaution and care in the preparation of copy by proofreaders and editors with years of training and experience. For example, in an edition of the Bible published in 1653, I Corinthians 6:9 reads, “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall inherit the Kingdom of God?” In an old version known as the “Printer’s Bible,” Psalm 119:161 reads, “Printers have persecuted me without a cause.”
Three Oldest Manuscripts
The three oldest known manuscripts available for use today are those known as the Sinaitic, the Vatican, and the Alexandrian. The Sinaitic and the Vatican are probably the oldest, having been written about the sane time. The Sinaitic, however, is the more valuable of these two, being the most complete. The Vatican has a number of omissions, including the entire Book of Revelation.
The Sinaitic manuscript, about as old as the Vatican, is the most complete in this prized group of three. It is called the Sinaitic manuscript from the place it was found—in a convent at the foot of Mt. Sinai, by the great German scholar, Dr. Tischendorf, in 1659. We present herewith a photographic copy of a small section of it. If the cut looks faded, don’t blame the printer, as this is the way the manuscript itself appears. Thus particular section shows the close of the Book of Mark and the beginning of the Book of Luke.
The Alexandrian manuscript is the latest of the three, and is also incomplete. The original of this manuscript can be seen at the British Museum, but copies which exactly represent it are kept in many of the principal public libraries. The Arabic inscription on the first sheet states that it was written “by the hand of Thekla the Martyr.”
Dr. Tischendorf, who naturally was interested in making a careful comparison of the Sinaitic manuscript with the King James Version, has made available a long list of additions appearing in the English translation which do not appear in this old manuscript. As careful students of the Bible, we believe it is proper that we give due consideration and weight to this list of obvious uninspired additions to the sacred text.
In Revelation 22:18,19, a solemn warning is given for the benefit of those who may be tempted to add to or take away from the inspired Word. It seems to us in keeping with this warning, that when we discover that additions have been made we are under obligation to discontinue their use, and to call attention to them. Not to do so would make us guilty of sponsoring the additions.
To take proper notice of these spurious passages, which were added through the centuries, is not in the category of “higher criticism.” It is merely using sanctified common sense, with the aid of helps and old manuscripts now available, to discover as nearly as possible the purity of God’s inspired Word. Higher criticism, on the contrary, is a deliberate decision on the part of the worldly-wise that the historical records of the Bible, its prophecies and its miracles, are but legendary, and at the best allegorical tales by which lessons in morality and righteousness are taught.
Following is a partial list of spurious texts and parts of texts submitted by Dr. Tischendorf. We have selected what seemed to be the most important from the standpoint of the effect they have upon the teachings of the Bible as a whole. You will notice that in each case we have offered a brief suggestion as to how the interpolation changes the meaning of the text. In some cases we have suggested a possible reason why the copyist who made the addition may have thought it desirable. The spurious text, or portion of text, is shown in bold-face type at the beginning of the paragraph, followed immediately by our own observations. To save space, we have not quoted the entire passage in which these interpolations appear. It is important, however, to look up the passage in your own King James Version of the Bible, and study it in connection with the observations suggested.
Interpolations, and Why
“For thine is the Kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” (Matt. 6:13) These words added to our Lord’s prayer make the prayer contradictory. It would be useless to pray for God’s Kingdom to come if the divine rule is already operative in the earth. At the time these uninspired words were added it was the general belief that Christ’s Kingdom was operating through the church-state systems of Europe, hence this effort to make the Bible support the claim. I Chronicles 29:11 shows that this statement was true during the days of God’s typical kingdom, but this was overthrown in 606 B.C., and was not to exist again until “He come whose right it is.”
“When it is evening, ye say, it will be fair weather: for the sky is red.” (Matt. 16:2) This is merely a tradition, having no foundation in fact. The use of such a statement in the inspired record tends to discount the authority of the whole book in the minds of reasoning people.
Matthew 16:3. This entire verse is spurious. Note suggestion immediately foregoing.
“and fasting.” (Matt. 17:21) That this is spurious is evident from the fact that Jesus cast out the devil to which reference is made without being prepared by a season of fasting. Fasting is proper for Christians, but the use of the word in this text makes a contradiction.
“and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.” (Matt. 20:7) Christ does not bargain with those He invites to become co-workers with Him.
“cometh.” (Matt. 25:6) To announce that the Bridegroom is coming is contrary to the prophecies which show that none would know in advance the time of His arrival. With the spurious word “cometh” out of the text, the statement reads, “Behold the Bride-groom,” which indicates a recognition that Christ has already returned and is present.
“so that it was now full.” (Mark 4:37) This is obviously an enthusiastic exaggeration of a copyist, for no ship could be “full” of water and remain afloat.
“unto Me, every one of you.” (Mark 7:14) This was evidently added by a copyist who had the erroneous idea that Jesus did all He could to convert every one, which is not in keeping with the Master’s teachings. He didn’t expect everyone to understand at that time. Indeed, He often spoke in parables so they couldn’t understand. The time for the general enlightenment of the world is yet future, during the thousand-year Kingdom reign.
“houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions.” (Mark 10:30) Verses 29 and 30, without these added words, contain a wonderful promise to Christians, assuring them of abundant compensating blessings of a spiritual kind in this life for every sacrifice they make, and in the world to come eternal life. But no Christian has ever received a hundred houses in return for a house he may have sacrificed in the Lord’s service. Material blessings are not promised to the Christian, and such statements as this tend to discredit the reasonableness of the Bible.
Mark 16:9-20.—All these verses. Christians are not promised protection from harm resulting from snake bites and drinking poison. Some have been misled by these verses into attempting a false demonstration of their faith and have suffered accordingly. This, like many other interpolations, tends to make the Bible unreasonable and impracticable.
“and every man presseth into it.” (Luke 16:16) It is not true that every man presseth into the Kingdom. On the contrary, the privileges of the Kingdom are available only for a “little flock” during this Gospel age. This addition to the inspired text was evidently made by a copyist who held the view that the program for this age is the conversion of the entire world.
“me, nor let me go.” (Luke 22:68) These added words give the thought that Jesus was attempting to put up a defense that would result in acquittal, but this was not the case. Jesus knew that He was to die as man’s Redeemer, and that His hour for the supreme sacrifice had come, so He was not asking to be set free.
“Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) Some copyist added these words with the evident thought of revealing the Master’s benevolence toward His enemies, but actually they are not in harmony with the known facts. James declares, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss.” (James 4:3) Certainly Jesus would not ask “amiss,” hence whatever He requested of the Heavenly Father would be granted. But those who crucified Him were not forgiven. It was a national sin for which they have suffered severely.
“which is in heaven.” (John 3:13) Jesus, the “Son of Man,” was not in heaven at the time of His dialog with Nicodemus. Who ever added these spurious words may have believed that Jesus was God Himself, and in some mysterious way could be on earth and in heaven at the same time.
“for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans.” (John 4:9) These words are historically incorrect, as is indicated by Luke 9:52.
John 5:3,4. From the word “waiting” in the third verse, through verse four. These words reflect superstitions which played such an important role in the religious lives of professed Christians during the Dark Ages.
“and now is.” (John 5:25) Soon after the apostles fell asleep in death the church began to lose sight of the real hope of the resurrection. The heathen doctrine of immediate survival after death—which, in professed Christian circles became the doctrine of inherent immortality—made void the necessity of a resurrection of the dead. The addition of the words “and now is” to this text is intended to convey the thought that Jesus’ promise of the resurrection is fulfilled in some mysterious way when one hears the call of truth and becomes a Christian. Thus, not only is the real meaning of this promise voided, but the text is made to contradict itself, because the resurrection could not be “coming” and “now is” at the same time.
John 8:1-11.—All these verses. A very interesting story, but evidently merely legendary.
John 21:25.—This entire verse. Obviously none could say enough in three and one-half years—the length of Jesus’ ministry—to fill so many books that the world wouldn’t hold them. Passages like this help to discredit the Bible regardless of what its friends had in mind when adding them.
“and confirmed them.” (Acts 15:32) These words, descriptive of an apostate church ordinance, may have been added in an attempt to justify a practice not otherwise authorized in the Bible.
“for us.” (Rom. 8:26) These two little words may seem like a harmless addition to this text, but when we analyze the passage we find that by their use the Holy Spirit, or power of God, is made to appear as a person who intercedes at the throne of grace on behalf of Christians, with groanings which cannot be uttered. By omitting these added words from the text, we get the real meaning of what the apostle said, namely, that it is the Christian’s own spirit, which oftentimes for the lack of words adequately to express himself, approaches God in the attitude of prayer, seeking His forgiveness and blessing. The copyist who added these two words evidently held the unscriptural view that the Holy Spirit is a third person in a trinity of Gods. (See article in this issue on “The Holy Spirit.”)
“and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (I Cor. 6:20) An evident attempt to bolster up the erroneous theory which was introduced into the church in the Dark Ages that the “spirit” is an entity separate and distinct from the body.
“of His flesh, and of His bones.” (Eph. 5:30) The body of Christ glorified, of which Christians are prospective members, is not a fleshly body, as these words tend to indicate. Probably the copyist who added them had accepted the erroneous view introduced into the church during the Dark Ages, that Jesus was raised from the dead as a man, and took a fleshly body to heaven with Him.
“God.” (I Tim. 3:16) The addition of the word “God” in this text represents another effort on the part of Dark Age theologians to prove that Jesus and God were one and the same person. The personality discussed in this text is Christ Jesus, who is introduced in verse 13. According to the Greek text, the word “who” should be used instead of God.
“spiritual.” (I Pet. 2:5) The sacrifices offered by Christians are their earthly rights and privileges. They are promised a spiritual reward, but are not asked to sacrifice spiritual things.
“God and our.” (II Pet. 1:1) This text should read “the righteousness of ‘our Lord and’ Savior Jews Christ.”
“of God.” (I John 3:16) This is another effort to have the Bible prove that God and Jesus are the same. God did not lay down His life for us, but the Son of God did.
“in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” (I John 5:7) This is a master stroke of Satan to prove the trinitarian doctrine. It is the only expression in the King James Version of the Bible that in any way suggests a triune God, but it is spurious, hence should not be accepted as a part of the inspired Word.
“And there are three that bear witness in earth.” (I John 5:8) Having added the above noted words in verse 7, the copyist evidently felt it necessary to add these words to verse 8 to make the entire passage seem more complete and reasonable.
“But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished.” (Rev. 20:5) These words were added at a time when Papacy claimed to be fulfilling Scriptural promises concerning the thousand-year reign of Christ. The dead were not being raised during this pseudo-millennium of Papacy, and it was convenient to make the inspired record teach that the resurrection should not be expected until the close of the thousand years.
“of them which were saved.” (Rev. 21:24) The copyist who added these words to this precious promise of God had evidently lost sight of the divine promises to bless all the nations of the earth. While the Scriptures do not teach universal salvation of all individuals, yet all the families of the earth are to be blessed during the Kingdom reign of Christ, which fact these added words tend to annul.
The Old Testament Scriptures
There is not much that need be said analytically concerning the Old Testament manuscripts. It is rather surprising to realize that the earliest Hebrew manuscripts in existence do not date back earlier than about the 9th century, A.D. Obviously, this is a disadvantage to the textual criticism of the Old Testament. This is especially so in view of the fact that the Hebrew alphabet and methods of writing have changed considerably since the days of the ancient prophets.
However, this lack of early Hebrew manuscripts is less important than it might seem. As far as can be learned, there appears to have been a gradual, though a not too critical revision of the Palestine manuscripts going on almost continually from the days of Ezra. History indicates that from the dispersion this process of Hebrew manuscript revision ceased. Thus, at that early date, the Hebrew Old Testament was made as nearly correct as the best scholarship of the Jewish academies could make it. After this, the older manuscripts gradually disappeared.
While it is true that the existing Hebrew manuscripts are not very old, yet much dependence can be placed upon them, owing to the great reverence the Jewish scribes held for the Word of God, and their consequent carefulness in transcriptions. It is said that these scribes were so scrupulous that even if a manifest error appeared in the copy from which they were transcribing they would not change it in the text, but would write an explanatory note in the margin, giving the proper thought. It is claimed, also, that even if one letter were larger than another, or a word running beyond the line, or other irregularity, they would copy it exactly as found. Another important factor which enters into the accuracy of the Old Testament is that in the recensions more than one person was occupied in making the copies. One scribe copied the consonants, another inserted the vowel points and accents in fainter ink, a third revised the copy and a fourth wrote in the Masorah.
Changed Meaning of Words
In addition to the importance of proper translations, and the noting of spurious passages, it is well also to remember in our study of the Bible that the meaning of many English words has changed since the Authorized Version was first published in 1611. Hundreds of English words used in this version of the Bible now have a slightly changed meaning—some of them, in fact, are very radically changed. Take, for example, the word damnation. This word now conveys to many the idea of doom, with which they associate the thought of unending torment in a fiery hell. The English word damnation did not mean this centuries ago. At that time it meant only condemn, without implying to what one was condemned. Even so, it is a poor translation of the Greek word krisis in John 5:28, which carries the thought of test or trial, culminating in a sentence. The sentence may be for or against, according to the result of the trial. See also the margin of I Cor. 6:29.
The English word hell when used in the Authorized Version as a translation of sheol in the Old Testament, and hades in the New, meant simply a hidden or covered condition. Today it conveys the thought of torment in fire, which the Bible does not teach.
Concluding Thoughts
This, briefly then, is the story of the Bible as it has come to us from earliest times all the way to the King James translation—now most widely used of any version in the entire English-speaking world. We have not gone into all the detail possible, as the story would have been too long. We have not even mentioned all the English translations which preceded the Authorized Version, but merely the most important of them.
But we hope that the question of how our Bible reached us has been answered comprehensively enough to increase our enthusiasm for its use, and to cause its influence to be more effectual in our lives. How wonderfully the Lord has overruled the imperfect work of His servants, and provided the essential information, thus enabling the student to have greater confidence in the Bible as God’s Word.
Equally important to the purity of the Bible, separating from it the interpolations of men, and mistranslations, is an understanding of the glorious message of the divine plan which it presents. Today, there are available Hebrew and Greek Concordances listing every word in the Bible, together with the meaning of the Hebrew or Greek term from which it is translated. These are most valuable helps to the student.
And, because it is God’s due time for His Word to be better understood, He has provided other valuable helps. Most important among these is the book, “The Divine Plan of the Ages,” which is the first volume of a series of six entitled, “Studies in the Scriptures.” Thousands have been helped to a better understanding of the harmony of the Bible through the use of these wonderful volumes, and we commend them to every thoughtful person interested in the study of God’s precious word.