The Origin of the Bible

Philip W. Comfort, Philip W. Comfort

• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781414386355
• Topic: Teología y religión
• Subtopic: Referencia bíblica

Many books have been written about the Bible, but few explain its origins. This updated volume of a classic work provides a fascinating overview of how the Bible was produced (including a section on its authority and inspiration), copied, canonized, read as sacred literature, and eventually translated into the languages of the world. This updated edition will also attend to recent developments in the ever-changing world of contemporary English translations. An excellent resource for pastors, Bible teachers, students, seminarians, and interested lay Christians, this book provides a wealth of information about the historical development of the Bible.

BIBLICAL LANGUAGES

Larry Walker

Christians believe that God has revealed himself through the Bible. Therefore, those who read the Bible can profit from learning as much as possible about the languages in which it was written, of which there are three—Hebrew, Aramaic (a cousin of Hebrew), and Greek.

The connection between language and thought is not a loose one; language is a product and reflection of the human soul. Language is not just a dress for thought to put on or off at pleasure, but the “body” of which thought is the “soul.” Each language that God ordained to transmit divine revelation had a “personality” that made it suitable for such a purpose. The two major languages of Scripture, Greek and Hebrew, represent two major language families: Indo-European and Semitic. Their contrasting linguistic traits combine to produce a thorough, progressive, propositional revelation of God. That revelation is characterized by simplicity, variety, and power.

No translation can replace the original languages of the Bible in primary importance for conveying and perpetuating divine revelation. Those languages should be learned not merely from the “outside,” with grammar and lexicon, but also from the “inside,” with proper appreciation for the uniqueness of each one.

HEBREW

The name “Hebrew” is not applied by the Old Testament to its own language, although the New Testament does use the name that way. In the Old Testament, “Hebrew” means the individual or people who used the language. The language itself is called “the language of Canaan” (Isa. 19:18), or “the language of Judah” (Neh. 13:24).

Origin and History

In the Middle Ages a common view was that Hebrew was the primitive language of humankind. Even in colonial America Hebrew was still referred to as “the mother of all languages.” Linguistic scholarship has now made such a theory untenable.

Hebrew is actually one of several Canaanite dialects which included Phoenician, Ugaritic, and Moabite. Other Canaanite dialects (for example, Ammonite) existed but have left insufficient inscriptions for scholarly investigation. Such dialects were already present in the land of Canaan before its conquest by the Israelites.

Until about 1974, the oldest witnesses to Canaanite language were found in the Ugarit and Amarna records dating from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries B.C. A few Canaanite words and expressions appeared in earlier Egyptian records, but the origin of Canaanite has been uncertain. Between 1974 and 1976, however, nearly seventeen thousand tablets were dug up at Tell Mardikh (ancient Ebla) in northern Syria, written in a previously unknown Semitic dialect. Because they possibly date back to 2400 B.C. (perhaps even earlier), many scholars think that language may be the “Old Canaanite” which gave rise to Hebrew. By 1977, when another thousand tablets were unearthed, only about a hundred inscriptions from Ebla had been reported on. Languages change over a long period of time. The English used in the time of Alfred the Great (ninth century A.D.) seems almost like a foreign language to contemporary English speakers. Although Hebrew was no exception to the general principle, like other Semitic languages it remained remarkably stable over many centuries. Poems such as the Song of Deborah (Judg. 5) tended to preserve the language’s oldest form. Changes that took place later in the long history of the language are shown in the presence of archaic words (often preserved in poetic language) and a general difference in style. For example, the book of Job reflects a more archaic style than the book of Esther.

Various Hebrew dialects apparently existed side by side in Old Testament times, as reflected in the episode involving the pronunciation of the Hebrew word “shibboleth/sibboleth” (Judg. 12:4-6). It seems that the Israelites east of the Jordan pronounced the initial letter with a strong “sh” sound, while those in Canaan gave it the simple “s” sound.

Scholars have also identified features of Hebrew which could be described as reflecting the northern or southern parts of the country.

Family

Hebrew belongs to the Semitic family of languages; these languages were used from the Mediterranean Sea to the mountains east of the Euphrates River valley, and from Armenia (Turkey) in the north to the southern extremity of the Arabian peninsula. Semitic languages are classified as Southern (Arabic and Ethiopic), Eastern (Akkadian), and Northwestern (Aramaic, Syriac, and Canaanite [Hebrew, Phoenician, Ugaritic, and Moabite]).

Character

Hebrew, like the other early Semitic languages, concentrates on observation more than reflection. That is, things are generally observed according to their appearance as phenomena, not analyzed as to their inward being or essence. Effects are observed but not traced through a series of causes.

Hebrew’s vividness, conciseness, and simplicity make the language difficult to translate fully. It is amazingly concise and direct. For example, Psalm 23 contains fifty-five words; most translations require about twice that many to translate it. The first two lines with slashes separating the individual Hebrew words in the original read:

The Lord/(is) my shepherd/
I shall want/not

Thus nine English words are required to translate four Hebrew words.

Hebrew does not use separate, distinct expressions for every shade of thought. Someone has said, “The Semites have been the quarries whose great rough blocks the Greeks have trimmed, polished, and fitted together. The former gave religion; the latter philosophy.”

Hebrew is a pictorial language in which the past is not merely described but verbally painted. Not just a landscape is presented but a moving panorama. The course of events is reenacted in the mind’s sight. (Note the frequent use of “behold,” a Hebraism carried over to the New Testament.) Such common Hebraic expressions as “he arose and went,” “he opened his lips and spoke,” “he lifted up his eyes and saw,” and “he lifted up his voice and wept” illustrate the pictorial strength of the language.

Many profound theological expressions of the Old Testament are tightly bound up with Hebrew language and grammar. Even the most sacred name of God himself, “the LORD” (Jehovah or Yahweh), is directly related to the Hebrew verb “to be” (or perhaps “to cause to be”). Many other names of persons and places in the Old Testament can best be understood only with a working knowledge of Hebrew.

Grammar

Many figures of speech and rhetorical devices in the Old Testament are more intelligible if one is familiar with the structure of Hebrew.

Alphabet and Script

The Hebrew alphabet consists of twenty-two consonants; signs for vowels were devised and added late in the language’s history. The origin of the alphabet is unknown. The oldest examples of a Canaanite alphabet were preserved in the Ugaritic cuneiform alphabet of the fourteenth century B.C.

The old style of writing the letters is called the Phoenician or paleo-Hebrew script. It is the predecessor of the Greek and other Western alphabets. The script used in modern Hebrew Bibles (Aramaic or square script) came into vogue after Israel’s exile into Babylon (sixth century B.C.). The older style was still used sporadically in the early Christian era on coins and for writing God’s name (as in the Dead Sea Scrolls). Hebrew has always been written right to left.

Consonants

The Canaanite alphabet of the Phoenician and Moabite languages had twenty-two consonants. The older Canaanite language reflected in Ugaritic had more consonants. Arabic also preserves some Old Canaanite consonants found in Ugaritic but missing in Hebrew.

Vowels

In the original consonantal Hebrew script, vowels were simply understood by the writer or reader. On the basis of tradition and context, the reader would supply whatever vowels were needed much as is done in English abbreviations (“bldg.” for “building”; “blvd.” for “boulevard”). After the Christian era began, and after the collapse of the nation, the dispersion of the Jews and the destruction of Jerusalem led to Hebrew’s becoming a “dead language,” no longer widely spoken. Loss of traditional pronunciation and understanding then became more of a possibility, so Jewish scribes felt a need for permanently establishing the vowel sounds.

First, vowel letters called “mothers of reading” (matres lectionis) were added. These were consonants used especially to indicate long vowels. These were added before the Christian era as the Dead Sea Scrolls reveal.

Later (about the fifth century A.D.), the scribes called Masoretes added vowel signs to indicate short vowels. At least three different systems of vowel signs were employed at different times and places. The text used today represents the system devised by Masoretic scribes who worked in the city of Tiberias. The vowels, each of which may be long or short, are indicated by dots or dashes placed above or below the consonants. Certain combinations of dots and dashes represent very short vowel sounds or “half-vowels.”

Linkage

Hebrew joins together many words that in Western languages would be written separately. Some prepositions (be-, “in”; le-, “to”; ke-, “like”) are prefixed directly to the noun or verb which they introduce, as are the definite article ha-, “the” and the conjunction wa-, “and.” Suffixes are used for pronouns, either in the possessive or accusative relationship. The same word may simultaneously have both a prefix and a suffix.

Nouns

Hebrew has no neuter gender; everything is masculine or feminine. Inanimate objects may be either masculine or feminine, depending on the formation or character of the word. Usually, abstract ideas or words indicating a group are feminine. Nouns are derived from roots and are formed in various ways, either by vowel modification or by adding prefixes or suffixes to the root. Contrary to Greek and many western languages, compound nouns are not characteristic of Hebrew.

The Hebrew plural is formed by adding -im for masculine nouns (seraphim, cherubim), and -oth for feminine nouns.

Three original case endings indicating nominative, genitive, and accusative have dropped away during the evolution of Hebrew. To compensate for the lack of case endings, Hebrew resorts to various indicators. Indirect objects are indicated by the preposition le-, “to”; direct objects by the objective sign eth; the genitive relationship by putting the word before the genitive in the “construct state,” or shortened form.

Adjectives

Hebrew is deficient in adjectives. “A double heart” is indicated in the original Hebrew by “a heart and a heart” (Ps. 12:2) and “two differing weights” is actually “a stone and a stone” (Deut. 25:13); “the whole royal family” is “the seed of the kingdom” (2 Kings 11:1).

Adjectives that do exist in Hebrew have no comparative or superlative forms. Relationship is indicated by the preposition “from.” “Better than you” is expressed literally in Hebrew “good from you.” “The serpent was more subtle than any other beast” is literally “the serpent was subtle from every beast” (Gen. 3:1). The superlative is expressed by several different constructions. The idea “very deep” is literally “deep, deep” (Eccl. 7:24); the “best song” is literally “song of songs” (compare “king of kings”); “holiest” is literally “holy, holy, holy” (Isa. 6:3).

Verbs

Hebrew verbs are formed from a root usually consisting of three letters. From such roots, verbal forms are developed by change of vowels or by adding prefixes or suffixes. The root consonants provide the semantic backbone of the language and give a stability of meaning not characteristic of Western languages. The vowels are quite flexible, giving Hebrew considerable elasticity.

Hebrew verb usage is not characterized by precise definition of tenses. Hebrew tenses, especially in poetry, are largely determined by context. The two tense formations are the perfect (completed action), and imperfect (incomplete action). The imperfect is ambiguous. It represents the indicative mood (present, past, future) but may also represent such moods as the imperative, optative, and jussive or cohortative. A distinctive usage of the perfect tense is the “prophetic perfect,” where the perfect form represents a future event considered so sure that it is expressed as past (for example, see Isa. 5:13).

Style

Hebrew diction is characterized by a picturesque quality.

Vocabulary

Most Hebrew roots originally expressed some physical action or denoted some natural object. The verb “to decide” originally meant “to cut”; “to be true” originally meant “to be firmly fixed”; “to be right” meant “to be straight”; “to be honorable” meant “to be heavy.”

Abstract terms are alien to the character of Hebrew; for example, biblical Hebrew has no specific words for “theology,” “philosophy,” or “religion.” Intellectual or theological concepts are expressed by concrete terms. The abstract idea of sin is represented by such words as “to miss the mark” or “crooked” or “rebellion” or “trespass” (“to cross over”). Mind or intellect is expressed by “heart” or “kidneys,” emotion or compassion by “bowels” (see Isa. 63:15, KJV). Other concrete terms in Hebrew are “horn” for strength or vigor, “bones” for self and “seed” for descendants. A mental quality is often depicted by the part of the body thought of as its most appropriate embodiment. Strength can be represented by “arm” or “hand,” anger by “nostril,” displeasure by “falling face,” acceptance by “shining face,” thinking by “say.”

Some translators have attempted to represent a Hebrew word always by the same English word, but that leads to serious problems. Sometimes there is considerable disagreement on the exact shade of meaning of a Hebrew word in a given passage. A single root frequently represents a variety of meanings, depending on usage and context. The word for “bless” can also mean “curse, greet, favor, praise.” The word for “judgment” is used also for “justice, verdict, penalty, ordinance, duty, custom, manner.” The word for “strength” or “power” also means “army, virtue, worth, courage.”

Further ambiguity arises from the fact that some Hebrew consonants stand for two different original consonants that have merged in the evolution of the language. Two words which on the surface appear to be identical may be traced back to two different roots. For an example of this phenomenon in English, compare “bass” (a fish) with “bass” (a vocalist).

Syntax

Hebrew syntax is relatively uncomplicated. Few subordinating conjunctions (“if,” “when,” “because,” etc.) are used; sentences are usually coordinated by using the simple conjunction “and.” English translations of biblical texts generally try to show the logical connection between successive sentences even though it is not always clear. In Genesis 1:2–3:1, all but three of the 56 verses begin with “and,” yet the RSV translates that conjunction variously as “and” (1:3), “so” (1:27), “thus” (2:1), “but” (2:6), and “now” (3:1).

Hebrew style is enlivened by use of direct discourse. The narrator does not simply state that “such and such a person said that . . .” (indirect discourse). Instead, the parties speak for themselves (direct discourse), creating a freshness that remains even after repeated reading.

Poetry

Hebrew poetry uses a variety of rheto...