LESSON TWENTY-FOUR

UNDERSTANDING THE BIBLE

by Steve and Terri White 

". . . from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work." II Timothy 3:15-17

PART ONE: CANONIZATION OF THE BIBLE

• TANAKH

The Tanakh is the Jewish Bible containing the oldest scriptures. Ezra canonized the Torah and Nevi’im in 400 B.C., while the Ketuvim was canonized in 200 A.D. However, all the scriptures had been written before 250 B.C. Around 250 B.C. the Tanakh was translated into Greek at Alexandria, Egypt. This translation is called the Septuagint. Since Greek was the universal language and most Jews scattered abroad had lost their knowledge of ancient Hebrew, this at last enabled the Tanakh to be available in their spoken language. From the list below, you can see that the Tanakh is separated into three sections:

Torah ------- instructions ( the law)

Nevi’im ----- prophets ( former/latter)

Ketuvim ---- writings

• CANONIZATION OF THE NEW TESTAMENT

Jesus’ original movement included Pharisees, Sadducees, Levites, Zealots, Essenes, Judeans, Galileans (called Gentiles by Judeans), and Samaritans. Believers kept their membership within their various groups and were also a part of Jesus’ movement. Jesus permitted different beliefs as long as they did not exclude others from being a part of the Kingdom of God (see the issue of the Gentile/Jewish believers in Acts 15). A relationship with Jesus was the unifying influence with the various groups, and when He walked on the earth, Jesus pointed out the shortcomings within the different parties.

A canon is an authoritative list of books accepted as Holy Scriptures. In the days of the early Christian Church, the Tanakh was the only scripture the believers had. It was to these that Paul referred in 2 Timothy 3:15-17. The first century letters that were circulating from church to church were not considered scripture at that time. These letters dealt with problems within local churches and also served as commentaries on the Tanakh, explaining it in New Covenant terms. They were real letters written to real people who lived in a particular culture and at a certain time in history. What the letters meant to whom they were originally written is absolutely crucial so that we don’t misunderstand the writers’ intentions. Mark’s record of the gospel was the earliest account. He traveled extensively with Peter and wrote down what Peter taught. Other accounts of the earthly ministry of Jesus followed as did a record of the actions of the apostles after Jesus’ ascension.

The process of canonization began in 140 A.D. This means that there was a deliberate attempt by church leadership to establish writings other than the Tanakh as divinely inspired by God. It is important to understand that the Christian Church at this time was not in the same vibrant state as the early Church. According to ancient writings, doctrine was becoming watered down, sects divided the body, and pagan influences infiltrated the church. These factors greatly affected the leaders as they examined the writings circulating among the believers.

No original manuscripts exist today; we only have copies of copies of copies of copies, et al. The earliest existing complete manuscript dates back to 400 A.D. The copiers were human, and some of the scribes made errors. Here are some examples:

(1) Mark 1:2 (NIV) — "It is written in Isaiah the prophet . . . " The scriptures that are quoted are from Isaiah and Malachi, not just Isaiah.

(2) The name James as the title in the book of James, and references to James in Acts are Jacob in the Greek. The story goes that when King James authorized his translation of the Bible, he wanted his name in it!

(3) John 7:53 - 8:ll — The account of the woman taken in the act of adultery is not in the earliest manuscripts and other ancient witnesses.

(4) Mark 16:9-20 — The last section of the book of Mark is not included in the earliest manuscripts and other ancient witnesses.

(5) IDIOMS are words or a word that cannot be literally translated into another language with any understanding. Matthew 6:22,23 is an example – the good eye/evil eye was translated literally. The actual definition of good eye is to be generous, while evil eye means to be stingy. This accurate definition enables the reader to understand the true meaning of this passage of scripture. (see Prov. 22:9; 23:6)

(6) A TRANSLITERATION means that the sound is transferred from one language to another – not the meaning. (Note: A translation denotes that the meaning is transferred from one language to another.) Some examples are: (1) baptism – the Greek is baptisma; (2) apostle – the Greek is apostolos; (3) prophet – the Greek is prophetes. When you have a church that believes in baptism by sprinkling a bit of water over one’s head, translating a word like baptisma (which means immersion) creates some problems. To keep the people ignorant, the solution was to transliterate baptisma instead of translating it properly into immersion. Also, if you do not believe in apostles and prophets in the modern church, you don’t want the people to know their function; thus, apostolos (one sent forth) and prophetes (a spokesman for God) were transliterated instead of translated. Other examples: Names of people in the Bible (i.e., Judah means praise); angel means messenger.

The Bible contains and preserves principles that are a part of the inspired Word of God. These principles lead us to a relationship with God. To give the Bible the characteristics that God reserves only for Himself – such as inerrant or infallible – leads one to worship the written word instead of the God who inspired the writers. If your husband or wife is away and writes you a letter, you would cherish the letter and read it over and over because it is your contact with him/her while he or she is away. Your love, however, is for your spouse and not the letter! In this same way, God’s word is His love letter to us. And His reason for the written word is to lead us to a loving relationship with Him, not His word.

PART TWO: HOW WORDS WORK*

A word is a bundle of associations, and those associations are a product of the source’s culture, historical time period, geographical location and personal experiences. Basic communication involves three parts:

Source: the person speaking or writing

Receptor: the person(s) listening to or reading what the source is saying or writing

Signal: the words used by the source       

• UNDERSTANDING WORDS FROM DIFFERENT CULTURES:

In order to understand the meaning of words from a different culture, we must understand the culture of the people using that language. The meaning of the word is in its use. The following are some examples of how different cultures use the same words:

 "At that time Jesus went on the sabbath day through the corn; and his disciples were an hungered, and began to pluck the ears of corn, and to eat." (Matthew 12:1) Words paint pictures on the canvas of our mind. Look closely at the picture in your mind as you read the previous verse. What are Jesus’ disciples plucking and eating? This translation is from the King James Version – a British translation. What would the word "corn" mean to the King James translators? Keep in mind they were British. Do you still have the same picture in your mind?       

During World War Two, the British government requested corn from the U.S. government. The Americans bought the 'corn', which was to be used in the European famine relief. Keeping the above meaning in mind, when the British ordered corn, they were wanting what the Americans called wheat. The Americans first shipped maize and then had to replace it with wheat. This bit of linguistic ignorance cost our government a few million dollars to correct.

Mokusatsu is a Japanese word that has two meanings: to ignore or to refrain from comment. The release of a press statement using the second meaning in July 1945 might have ended World War II then. The Japanese emperor was ready to end it, and had the power to do so. The cabinet was preparing to accede to the Potsdam ultimatum of the Allies -- surrender or be crushed -- but wanted a little more time to discuss the terms. A press release was prepared announcing a policy of mokusatsu, with the no comment implication. But it got on the foreign wires with the ignore implication through a mix-up in translation: "The cabinet ignores the demand to surrender." To recall the release would have entailed an unthinkable loss of face (from the oriental way of thinking). Had the intended meaning been publicized, the cabinet might have backed up the Emperor’s decision to surrender. In which event, there might have been no atomic bombs over Hirshima and Nagasaki, no Russian armies in Manchuria, and no Korean war to follow. Tens of thousands of lives might have been saved. One word, misinterpreted. (Information from an article in Harper’s Magazine, March 1953, written by W. J. Coughlin.) 

• UNDERSTANDING WORDS WITHIN THEIR HISTORICAL CONTEXT: