• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

In England, another renegade priest, William Tyndale, also wanted to make the Scriptures available to all people. But he had to leave England to do so. Working in Germany, where Martin Luther had published his German New Testament in 1520, Tyndale also completed a New Testament first. Although some printers were prevented from publishing it, Tyndale’s English New Testament appeared in 1526. His Old Testament began to appear in pieces in 1530. Again, the authorities were not amused. Tyndale was lured out of hiding and finally captured, arrested, and tried for heresy. In 1536, Tyndale was strangled. Just to make sure the message was clear, his remains were then burned. Tyndale died because he believed “that the boy that dryveth the plough shall know more of the scripture.” It is a small measure of justice that Tyndale’s work became the basis for the 1611 King James Version, the most influential and lasting of English translations. Now at last, “In the beginning” could be understood by all.

That is a brief glimpse at the long and sometimes painful trail of the Bible as it is known in the twentieth century. And that is why you have such a hard time when you go out to buy a Bible.

MILESTONES IN THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES

This timeline shows a simplified overview of the probable dates of the composition and later translation of the Hebrew scriptures, or Old Testament. Many of these dates are speculative and unconfirmed by archaeological or other historical sources and there is disagreement over some of them. The most questionable dates are marked with a ?.

Dates Before the Common Era (BCE)

2000-1700

Age of the Patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob)?

1700-1500

Joseph in Egypt?

1295-1230

The Exodus from Egypt?

1240-1190

Israelite Conquest of Canaan?

1020-1005

Reign of Saul

1005-967

Reign of David

967-931

Reign of Solomon

922

Division of Solomon’s Kingdom

950-900

J (Jahwist) at work?

850-800

E (Elohist) at work?

722

Conquest of the Northern Kingdom; deportation of the Ten Tribes to Assyria—the “Lost Tribes of Israel”

650-600

D (Deuteronomist) at work?

622

A “Book of the Law,” similar to Deuteronomy, discovered in the First Temple

587/6

Fall of Judah; destruction of the First Temple; Babylonian Exile begins

550-500

P (Priestly source) at work?

538

Return to Jerusalem from Exile

520-515

Construction of Second Temple

400

R (Redactor) at work?

250-100

Septuagint: Translation from Hebrew to Greek

100

Earliest surviving Hebrew texts (Dead Sea Scrolls)

Dates in the Common Era (CE)

70

Destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans

90

Final canonization of the Hebrew Bible

405

Vulgate: Latin translation by Saint Jerome

500-1000

Masorah: Standardized Hebrew texts

1520

Luther’s German New Testament

1526

Tyndale’s English Pentateuch

1560

Geneva Bible (Shakespeare’s Bible, also used by the Mayflower Pilgrims)

1611

King James Version

Map on next page: THE WORLD OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST

This map depicts many of the key locations referred to in discussing events in Hebrew scripture, the Old Testament. This map is meant to convey a general overview of the area, since the time period in question covers many thousands of years. Not all of the locations shown on this map existed at the same time. For example, while Babylon was a very ancient city, Alexandria in Egypt was not founded until the end of Old Testament times.

Part Two

THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES OR OLD TESTAMENT

Canst thou by searching out find God? (Job 11:7 KJV)

I believe that our Heavenly Father invented man because he was disappointed in the monkey.

—MARK TWAIN, 1906

God is no saint, strange to say.

—JACK MILES

GOD, A BIOGRAPHY

TWO CREATIONS…NO APPLE

GENESIS

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was