How to read scripture. Holy Scripture and Holy Tradition

21. What is Holy Scripture? Sacred Scripture is a collection of sacred books that are part of the Bible, which were written by inspiration from the Holy Spirit by the prophets (Old Testament) and the disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, the holy apostles ( New Testament). is a Greek word meaning "books" download bible ). 21.2. What are the Old and New Testaments? The Bible is divided into the Old and New Testaments. All the time from the creation of the world to the coming of the Savior to earth is called the Old Testament, that is, the ancient (old) agreement or union of God with people, according to which God prepared people to receive the promised Savior. People had to remember the promise (promise) of God, believe and expect the coming of Christ.

The fulfillment of this promise - the coming to earth of the Savior - the Only Begotten Son of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, is called the New Testament, since Jesus Christ, having appeared on earth, having conquered sin and death, concluded a new alliance or agreement with people, according to which everyone can again receive the lost blessedness is eternal life with God through the Holy Church founded by Him on earth.

21.3. How did the first books of the Old Testament appear?

– The books of the Old Testament were written for more than a thousand years before the birth of Christ in Hebrew. Initially, God gave Moses only the first part of the Bible, the so-called Torah, that is, the Law contained in five books - the Pentateuch. These books are: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. For a long time, only this, that is, the Pentateuch-Torah, was the Holy Scripture, the word of God for the Old Testament Church. Following the Law, a second section of Holy Scripture appeared, called the Historical Books. These are the books: Joshua, Judges, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Ruth, Esther, Judith, Tobit, Maccabees. In later times, the third section of the Bible, the Teaching Books, was compiled. This department includes: the book of Job, the Psalter, the Proverbs of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, the Song of Songs, the Wisdom of Solomon, the Wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach. Finally, the works of the holy prophets made up the fourth section of the Holy Books - the Prophetic books. This section includes: the book of the prophet Isaiah, the prophet Jeremiah, the Lamentations of Jeremiah, the Epistle of Jeremiah, the book of the prophet Baruch, the book of the prophet Ezekiel, the book of the prophet Daniel and 12 minor prophets.

21.4. What does the division of the books of the Bible into canonical and non-canonical mean?

- in the editions of the Bible, he places several non-canonical books in the Old Testament: 1st, 2nd and 3rd Maccabees, 2nd and 3rd Esdras, Tobit, Baruch, Judith, the book of the Wisdom of Solomon, the book of the Wisdom of Jesus, son Sirakhova. The formal sign that distinguishes non-canonical books from canonical ones is the language in which these books have come down to us. All the canonical books of the Old Testament have been preserved in Hebrew, while the non-canonical books have come down to us in Greek, with the exception of the 3rd book of Ezra, which has been preserved in a Latin translation.

In the III century. BC most of the books of the Old Testament were translated from Hebrew into Greek at the request of the Egyptian king Philadelphus Ptolemy. According to tradition, the translation was made by seventy Jewish interpreters, so the Greek translation of the Old Testament was called the Septuagian. The Orthodox Church assigns no less authority to the Greek text of the Old Testament than to the Hebrew text. Using the Old Testament books, the Church relies equally on the Hebrew and Greek texts. In each case, preference is given to the text that is more consistent with church teaching.

The New Testament holy books are all canonical.

21.5. How should the non-canonical books of the Bible be understood?

– Non-canonical books are recommended by the Church for edifying reading and enjoy great religious and moral authority. That the so-called non-canonical books the Church accepted into her life is evidenced by the fact that they are used in divine services in exactly the same way as canonical ones, and, for example, the book of the Wisdom of Solomon is the most read from the Old Testament during divine services.

The Russian Orthodox Bible, like the Slavic one, contains all 39 canonical and 11 non-canonical books of the Old Testament. Protestants and all Western preachers use only the canonical Bible.

21.6. What is contained in the books of the New Testament and why was it written?

– The holy books of the New Testament were written by the holy apostles with the aim of depicting the salvation of people accomplished by the incarnated Son of God – our Lord Jesus Christ. In accordance with this high goal, they tell about the greatest event of the incarnation of the Son of God, about His earthly life, about the teaching that He preached, about the miracles that He performed, about His redemptive sufferings and death on the Cross, about the glorious Resurrection from the dead and Ascension to heaven, about the initial period of the spread of Christ's faith through the holy apostles, they explain to us the teaching of Christ in its diverse application to life and warn about last destinies world and humanity.

21.7. What is called the gospel?

– The first four New Testament books (the holy gospel from Matthew, from Mark, from Luke, from John) are called the “Four Gospels” or simply the “Gospel”, because they contain the good news (the word “Gospel” in Greek means “good” or “good news”, which is why it is translated into Russian by the word “gospel”) about the coming into the world of the Divine Redeemer promised by God to the forefathers and about the great work of salvation of mankind accomplished by Him.

All other books of the New Testament are often combined under the title "Apostle", because they contain a narrative of the deeds of the holy apostles and a presentation of their instructions to the first Christians.

21.8. Why are the four evangelists sometimes depicted as animals?

- Ancient Christian writers compared the Four Gospels with a river, which, coming out of Eden to irrigate the paradise planted by God, was divided into four rivers flowing through countries abounding in all kinds of jewels. An even more traditional symbol for the four Gospels is the mysterious chariot that the prophet Ezekiel saw at the river Chebar (1:1-28) and which consisted of four creatures - a man, a lion, a calf and an eagle. These creatures, each separately, became the symbols of the evangelists. Christian art, starting from the 5th century, depicts St. Matthew with a man or an angel, St. Mark - with a lion, St. Luke - with a calf, St. John - with an eagle.

21.9. What do these creatures symbolically signify, in the form of which the four evangelists are depicted?

– A man became a symbol of the Evangelist Matthew because in his Gospel he especially emphasizes the human origin of the Lord Jesus Christ from David and Abraham; the evangelist Mark is a lion, for he brings out in particular the royal omnipotence of the Lord; the evangelist Luke is a calf (a calf as a sacrificial animal), for he primarily speaks of Christ as a great High Priest who offered Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of the world; John the Evangelist is an eagle, since he soars high in the sky, like an eagle, “above the clouds of human weakness”, in the words of Blessed Augustine, with the special loftiness of his thoughts and even the very majesty of his style.

21.10. Which gospel is better to buy?

—The Church recognizes only those Gospels that were written by the Apostles, and which, from the very moment of their writing, began to be distributed throughout church communities and read during liturgical meetings. There are four of them - from Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. From the very beginning, these Gospels had universal circulation and unquestioned authority in the Church. From the end of the 1st century, a specific heresy appeared in the church environment - Gnosticism, a relative of modern theosophy and occultism. In order to give some authority to the texts preaching Gnostic views, heretics began to inscribe them with the names of the Apostles - Thomas, Philip, etc. But the Church did not accept these "gospels". The logic of selection was based on two things: 1) these “gospels” preached a completely different teaching, different from the teachings of Christ and the Apostles, and 2) these “gospels” were “pushed” into the Church “from the side”, they were not known to all church communities of all times , as was the case with the four canonical gospels; therefore they did not express the faith of the Universal Church of Christ.

21.11. From what can one see the powerful effect of Christian teaching?

– At least from the fact that the twelve apostles, who were poor and uneducated people before meeting the Savior, by this teaching conquered and brought to Christ the strong, wise and rich, kings and kingdoms.

21.12. When the Church offers the teaching of Holy Scripture to people who do not know it, what evidence does she present that this is the true word of God?

– Over the centuries, the human race has not been able to create something more exalted than the Gospel teaching about God and man, about the meaning of human life, about love for God and people, about humility, about prayer for enemies, and so on. This teaching penetrates so sublimely and deeply into human nature, raises it to such a height, to such a god-like perfection, that it is absolutely impossible to admit that the disciples of Christ could create it.

It is also obvious that Christ Himself, if He were just a man, could not have created such a doctrine. Only God could give such a wonderful, holy, Divine teaching, elevating a person to such a spiritual height, which many saints of the Christian world have reached.

A practical guide to parish counseling. St. Petersburg 2009.

Cover of the modern edition of the Russian Orthodox Bible 2004.

The word "Bible" is not found in the sacred books themselves and was first used in relation to the collection of sacred books in the east in the 4th century by John Chrysostom and Epiphanius of Cyprus.

Composition of the Bible

The Bible is made up of many parts that are combined into Old Testament and New Testament.

Old Testament (Tanakh)

The first part of the Bible in Judaism is called the Tanakh; in Christianity, it was called the "Old Testament", in contrast to the "New Testament". The name is also used Jewish bible". This part of the Bible is a collection of books written in Hebrew long before our era and selected as sacred from other literature by the Hebrew scribes. It is the Holy Scripture for all Abrahamic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - however, it is canonized only in the first two named (in Islam, its laws are considered invalid, and also distorted).

The Old Testament consists of 39 books, artificially counted in the Jewish tradition as 22, according to the number of letters of the Hebrew alphabet, or 24, according to the number of letters of the Greek alphabet. All 39 books of the Old Testament are divided into three sections in Judaism.

• "Teaching" (Torah) - contains the Pentateuch of Moses:

• "Prophets" (Nevi'im) - contains books:
  • 1st and 2nd Samuel, or 1st and 2nd Samuel ( count as one book)
  • 3rd and 4th Kings, or 1st and 2nd Kings ( count as one book)
  • Twelve minor prophets count as one book)

• "Scriptures" (Ketuvim) - contains books:
  • Ezra and Nehemiah count as one book)
  • 1st and 2nd Chronicles, or Chronicles (Chronicles) ( count as one book)

Combining the Book of Ruth with the Book of Judges into one book, as well as the Lamentations of Jeremiah with the Book of Jeremiah, we get 22 books instead of 24. The ancient Jews considered twenty-two sacred books in their canon, as Josephus testifies. This is the composition and order of the books in the Hebrew Bible.

All these books are also considered canonical in Christianity.

New Testament

The second part of the Christian Bible is the New Testament, a collection of 27 Christian books (including 4 Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles of the Apostles, and the book of Revelation of John the Evangelist (Apocalypse)), written in c. n. e. and come down to us in ancient Greek. This part of the Bible is the most important for Christianity, while Judaism does not consider it divinely inspired.

The New Testament consists of books belonging to eight divinely inspired writers: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Paul, James, and Jude.

In the Slavic and Russian Bibles, the books of the New Testament are placed in the following order:

• historical

teaching

• The Epistles of Peter
• The Epistles of John
• Paul's Epistles
  • to the Corinthians
  • to the Thessalonians
  • to Timothy

prophetic

The books of the New Testament are also placed in this order in the most ancient manuscripts - the Alexandrian and Vatican, the Rules of the Apostles, the Rules of the Councils of Laodicea and Carthage, and in many ancient Church Fathers. But such an arrangement of the books of the New Testament cannot be called universal and necessary, in some Bible collections there is a different arrangement of books, and now in the Vulgate and in the editions of the Greek New Testament the Catholic Epistles are placed after the Epistles of the Apostle Paul before the Apocalypse. There were many considerations in the placement of the books, but the timing of the writing of the books did not matter much, which can be seen most clearly from the placement of the Pauline Epistles. In the order indicated by us, we were guided by considerations regarding the importance of the places or churches to which the messages were sent: first, the letters written to whole churches were placed, and then the letters written to individuals. The exception is the Epistle to the Hebrews, which is in last place, not because of its low significance, but because of the fact that its authenticity has long been doubted. Based on chronological considerations, the Epistles of the Apostle Paul can be placed in this order:

• to the Thessalonians
  • 1st
• to the Galatians
• to the Corinthians
  • 1st
• to the Romans
• to Philemon
• to the Philippians
• to Titus
• to Timothy
  • 1st

Deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament

Apocrypha

Jewish scribes, starting from the 4th century. BC e., and the Church Fathers in the II-IV centuries. n. e., selected books in the "Word of God" from a considerable number of manuscripts, writings, monuments. What was not included in the selected canon remained outside the Bible and constitutes apocryphal literature (from the Greek ἀπόκρυφος - hidden), accompanying the Old and New Testaments.

At one time, the leaders of the Hebrew "Great Assembly" (administrative and theological scholars of the synclite of the 4th-3rd centuries BC) and subsequent Jewish religious authorities, and in Christianity, the Fathers of the Church, who formalized it on the initial path, worked hard, cursing, banning as heretical and out of line with the accepted text, and simply destroying books that didn't meet their criteria. Relatively few apocrypha have survived - just over 100 Old Testament and about 100 New Testament. The latest excavations and discoveries in the area of ​​the Dead Sea caves in Israel have especially enriched science. Apocrypha, in particular, help us to understand the ways in which the formation of Christianity took place, from what elements its dogma was formed.

History of the Bible

page from the Vatican Codex

Writing the Books of the Bible

• Codex Alexandrinus (lat. Codex Alexandrinus), held in the British Museum Library
• Vatican Codex (lat. Codex Vaticanus), kept in Rome
• Codex Sinaiticus (lat. Codex Sinaiticus), stored in Oxford, formerly in the Hermitage

All of them are dated (paleographically, that is, on the basis of the “handwriting style”) of the 4th century BC. n. e. The language of the codices is Greek.

In the 20th century, the Qumran manuscripts, discovered, starting from the year, in a number of caves in the Judean Desert and in Masada, became widely known.

Division into chapters and verses

The ancient Old Testament text was not divided into chapters and verses. But very early (probably after the Babylonian captivity), some divisions appeared for liturgical purposes. The oldest division of the Law into 669 so-called parshas, ​​adapted for public reading, is found in the Talmud; the current division into 50 or 54 slops dates back to the time of the Masorah and is not found in ancient synagogue lists. Also in the Talmud there are already divisions of the prophets into goftars - the final sections, this name was adopted because they were read at the end of the service.

Divisions into chapters of Christian origin and made in the XIII century. or Cardinal Hugon, or Bishop Stephen. When compiling the concordance for the Old Testament, Hugon, for the most convenient indication of places, divided each book of the Bible into several small sections, which he designated with letters of the alphabet. The division now accepted was introduced by the Bishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton (died in ). In r. he divided the text of the Latin Vulgate into chapters, and this division was transferred to the Hebrew and Greek texts.

Then in the fifteenth century Rabbi Isaac Nathan, in compiling the Hebrew concordance, divided each book into chapters, and this division is still maintained in the Hebrew Bible. The division of poetic books into verses is already given in the very nature of Jewish versification and therefore of very ancient origin; it is found in the Talmud. The New Testament was first divided into verses in the 16th century.

The verses were first numbered by Santes Panino (died in 1994), then, near the city, by Robert Etienne. The current system of chapters and verses first appeared in the 1560 English Bible. The division is not always logical, but it is already too late to refuse it, let alone change anything: for four centuries it has settled in links, comments and alphabetical indexes.

The Bible in the Religions of the World

Judaism

Christianity

If the 27 books of the New Testament are the same for all Christians, then Christians have major differences in their views on the Old Testament.

The fact is that where the Old Testament is quoted in the books of the New Testament, these quotations are most often given according to the Greek translation of the Bible of the 3rd-2nd centuries. BC e., called, thanks to the legend of the 70 translators, the Septuagint (in Greek - seventy), and not according to the Hebrew text adopted in Judaism and called by scientists Masoretic(by the name of the ancient Jewish biblical theologians who organized the sacred manuscripts).

In fact, it was the list of books of the Septuagint, and not the later "cleansed" collection of the Masoretes, that became traditional for the Ancient Church as a collection of books of the Old Testament. Therefore, all the Ancient Churches (in particular, the Armenian Apostolic Church) consider all the books of the Bible read by the apostles and Christ himself to be equally blessed and inspired by God, including those called “deuterocanonical” in modern biblical studies.

The Catholics also, having trusted the Septuagint, accepted these texts into their Vulgate - the early medieval Latin translation of the Bible, canonized by Western ecumenical councils, and equated them with the rest of the canonical texts and books of the Old Testament, recognizing them equally inspired by God. These books are known to them as the Deuterocanonical or Deuterocanonical.

The Orthodox include 11 deuterocanonical books and inserts into the rest of the books in the Old Testament, but with the note that they "have come down to us in Greek" and are not part of the main canon. They put inserts in canonical books in brackets and stipulate with notes.

Non-canonical book characters

• Archangel Sariel
• Archangel Jerahmiel

Sciences and teachings related to the Bible

see also

• Tanakh - Hebrew Bible

Literature

• Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg: 1890-1907.
• McDowell, Josh. Evidence for the Reliability of the Bible: Reason for Reflection and Basis for Decision: Per. from English. - St. Petersburg: Christian Society "Bible for All", 2003. - 747 p. - ISBN 5-7454-0794-8, ISBN 0-7852-4219-8 (en.)
• Doyel, Leo. Testament of eternity. In Search of Biblical Manuscripts. - St. Petersburg: "Amphora", 2001.
• Nesterova O. E. The theory of the plurality of "meanings" of Holy Scripture in the medieval Christian exegetical tradition // Genres and forms in the written culture of the Middle Ages. - M.: IMLI RAN, 2005. - S. 23-44.
• Kryvelev I. A. Bible book. - M.: Publishing house of socio-economic literature, 1958.

Footnotes and sources

Links

Bible texts and translations

• More than 25 translations of the Bible and its parts and a quick search in all translations. Ability to create hyperlinks to passages in the Bible. Ability to listen to the text of any of the books.
• Literal translation from Greek of some books of the New Testament into Russian
• Review of Russian translations of the Bible (with the ability to download)
• "Your Bible" - Russian Synodal translation with search and comparison of versions (Ukrainian translation by Ivan Ogienko and English King James Version
• Interlinear translation of the Bible from Greek into Russian
• Text of the Old and New Testaments in Russian and Church Slavonic
• Bible on algart.net - online text of the Bible with cross-references, including the complete Bible on one page
• Electronic Bible and Apocrypha - repeatedly verified text of the Synodal Translation
• Superbook - one of the most complete Bible sites with non-trivial, but very powerful navigation

Preliminary Information

Concept of Holy Scripture

Holy Scripture or the Bible is a collection of books written by the prophets and apostles, as we believe, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Bible is a Greek word meaning "books". This word is put in Greek with the article "ta", in the plural, that is, it means: "Books with a certain content." This definite content is God's revelation to people, given in order for people to find the way to salvation.

The main theme of Holy Scripture is the salvation of mankind by the Messiah, the incarnated Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. The Old Testament speaks of salvation in the form of types and prophecies about the Messiah and the Kingdom of God. The New Testament sets forth the very realization of our salvation through the incarnation, life and teaching of the God-man, sealed by His death on the cross and resurrection. According to the time of their writing, the sacred books are divided into Old Testament and New Testament. Of these, the first contain what the Lord revealed to people through divinely inspired prophets before the Savior came to earth; and the second is what the Lord Savior Himself and His apostles discovered and taught on earth.

Initially, God, through the prophet Moses, revealed what later formed the first part of the Bible, the so-called. Torah, i.e. Law, consisting of five books - the Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. For a long time, it was this Pentateuch that was the Holy Scripture, the word of God for the Old Testament Church. But immediately after the Torah, the Scriptures appeared, supplementing it: the book of Joshua, then the book of Judges, the books of Kings, Chronicles (chronicles). Complement the books of Kings, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah. The books of Ruth, Esther, Judith and Tobit depict separate episodes in the history of the chosen people. Finally, the books of Maccabees complete the history of ancient Israel and bring it to its goal, to the threshold of the coming of Christ.

Thus, following the Law, comes the second section of Holy Scripture, called the Historical Books. And in the Historical books there are separate poetic creations: songs, prayers, psalms, as well as teachings. In later times, they compiled whole books, the third section of the Bible - Teacher's books. This section includes the books: Job, Psalter, Proverbs of Solomon, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs, Wisdom of Solomon, Wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach.

Finally, the works of St. prophets who acted after the division of the kingdom and the captivity of Babylon, made up the fourth department of the Holy Books, the books of the Prophets. This section includes books: Prop. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations of Jeremiah, Epistle of Jeremiah, Prop. Baruch, Ezekiel, Daniel and 12 minor prophets, i.e. Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.

This division of the Bible into Legislative, Historical, Teaching and Prophetic books was also applied to the New Testament. The gospels are legislative, the Acts of the Apostles are historical, the epistles of Sts. Apostles and the Prophetic Book - Revelation of St. John the Evangelist. In addition to this division, the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament are divided into canonical and non-canonical books.

Why We Love Scripture

The Old Testament writings, firstly, are dear to us because they teach us to believe in the One true God and to fulfill His commandments and speak of the Savior. Christ Himself points to this: "Search the Scriptures, for through them you think you have eternal life, and they testify of Me," He said to the Jewish scribes. In the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, the Savior puts into Abraham's mouth these words about the rich man's brothers: "They have Moses and the prophets, let them listen to them." Moses is the first five books of the Old Testament Bible, and the prophets are the last 16 books. In a conversation with the disciples, the Savior pointed out, in addition to those books, also the Psalter: "everything written in the law of Moses, the prophets and psalms about me must be fulfilled." After the Last Supper, “having sung, they went up to the Mount of Olives,” says the Evangelist Matthew: this indicates the singing of psalms. The words of the Savior and His example are enough for the Church to carefully treat the named books - the Law of Moses, the prophets and psalms, to protect and learn from them.

In the circle of books recognized by the Jews as sacred, besides the Law and the Prophets, there are two more categories of books: a number of teaching books, of which one Psalter is named, and a number of historical books. The Church accepted the circle of sacred Jewish books in the Greek translation of seventy interpreters, made long before the birth of Christ. The apostles also used this translation, since they wrote their own epistles in Greek. This circle also included books of sacred content of Jewish origin, known only in Greek, as they were compiled after the establishment of the official list of books by the Great Synagogue. The Christian Church added them under the name of non-canonical. Jews do not use these books in their religious life.

In addition, Holy Scripture is dear to us because it contains the foundations of our faith. Thousands of years separate us from the time when the sacred books of the Bible were written, so it is not easy for a modern reader to be transported to the atmosphere of that time. However, when getting acquainted with the era, with the task of the prophets and with the peculiarities of the language of the Bible, the reader begins to better understand its spiritual richness. The inner connection between the Old Testament and New Testament books becomes apparent to him. At the same time, the reader of the Bible begins to see in the religious and moral issues that concern him and modern society not new, specific problems, say, of the 21st century, but the primordial conflicts between good and evil, between faith and unbelief, which have always been inherent in human society. .

The historical pages of the Bible are still dear to us because they not only truthfully recount the events of the past, but put them in the right religious perspective. No other secular ancient or modern book can equal the Bible in this respect. And this is because the assessment of the events described in the Bible is given not by man, but by God. So, in the light of the word of God, mistakes or right decisions moral problems past generations can serve as a guide for solving contemporary personal and social problems. Getting acquainted with the content and meaning of the sacred books, the reader gradually begins to love the Holy Scripture, finding more and more pearls of Divine wisdom during repeated readings.

By accepting the Old Testament Holy Scripture, the Church showed that she is the heir of the extinct Old Testament Church: not the national side of Judaism, but the religious content of the Old Testament. In this inheritance, one thing has eternal value, while the other has died out and has significance only as a remembrance and edification, such as the statutes about the tabernacle, about sacrifices, and the prescriptions for the daily life of the Jew. Therefore, the Church disposes of the Old Testament inheritance completely independently, in accordance with her fuller and higher understanding of the world than that of the Jews.

Of course, a great distance of centuries separates us from the time of writing the books of the Old Testament, especially its first books. And it is no longer easy for us to be transported into that structure of the soul and into that environment in which these divinely inspired books were created and which are presented in these books themselves. This gives rise to perplexities that confuse the thought of modern man. Especially often these perplexities arise when there is a desire to harmonize the scientific views of our time with the simplicity of the biblical ideas about the world. There are also general questions about the extent to which Old Testament views correspond to the New Testament worldview. And they ask: why the Old Testament? Are not the teachings of the New Testament and the Scriptures of the New Testament sufficient?

As for the enemies of Christianity, from time immemorial, attacks against Christianity begin with attacks on the Old Testament. Those who have gone through a period of religious doubt and perhaps religious denial indicate that the first stumbling block to their faith was thrown to them from this area.

For a believer, or for a "seeker" to find it, Holy Scripture is a science for life: not only a young student, but also the greatest theologian, not only a layman and a novice, but also a higher spiritual rank and a wise elder. The Lord bequeathed to the leader of the Israelite people Joshua Nun: "Let not this book of the Law depart from thy mouth, but meditate in it day and night" (Is. Joshua 1:8). The Apostle Paul writes to his disciple Timothy: "From childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise unto salvation" (2 Tim. 3:15).

Why should you know the Old Testament?

"Church hymns and readings reveal to us two series of events: the Old Testament, as a prototype, as a shadow, and the New Testament, as an image, truth, acquisition. In worship, comparisons of the Old and New Testaments are constant: Adam - and Christ, Eve - and the Mother of God "There is an earthly paradise - here is a heavenly paradise. Through the wife of sin, through the Virgin salvation. Tasting the fruit to death is the communion of the Holy Gifts to life. There is a forbidden tree, here is a saving Cross. It says: you will die a death, - here: today you will be with me in "There is a flattering serpent - here is Gabriel the evangelist. There it is said to the woman: You will be in sorrow - here it is said to the women at the tomb: Rejoice. The parallel is drawn throughout the two Testaments. Salvation from the flood in the ark is salvation in the Church. Abraham's three strangers - and the gospel truth of the Holy Trinity The sacrifice of Isaac - and the death of the Savior on the cross The ladder seen in a dream by Jacob - and the Mother of God, the ladder of the descent of the Son of God to earth The sale of Joseph by the brothers - and the betrayal of Christ Jude oh. Slavery in Egypt and the spiritual slavery of humanity to the devil. Exodus from Egypt - and salvation in Christ. The crossing of the sea is baptism. The fireproof bush is the ever-virginity of the Mother of God. Saturday Sunday. The rite of circumcision is the sacrament of Baptism. Manna - and the New Testament Lord's Supper. The law of Moses is the law of the gospel. Sinai - and the Sermon on the Mount. Tabernacle - and the New Testament Church. The Ark of the Covenant - and the Mother of God. The serpent on the staff is the nailing of sin to the cross by Christ. The flourishing rod of Aaron is rebirth in Christ. Such comparisons can be continued further.

New Testament understanding, expressed in hymns, deepens the meaning of Old Testament events. By what power did Moses divide the sea? - The Sign of the Cross: "Moses having drawn the Cross with a straight rod, cut off the Black." Who led the Jews through the Red Sea? - Christ: "The horse and the rider in the Red Sea ... Christ has shaken, but Israel has been saved." What was prefigured by the uninterrupted flow of the sea after the passage of Israel? - A prototype of the imperishable purity of the Mother of God: "In the Red Sea, the image of the Unskilful Bride was sometimes written ..."

In Great Lent, on the first week and on the fifth, we gather in the church for the repentant touching canon of St. Andrew of Crete. Examples of righteousness and failures pass before us in a long chain from the beginning of the Old Testament to its end, followed by New Testament examples. But only knowing sacred history are we able to fully understand the content of the canon and be enriched by its edifications.

That's why knowledge biblical history it is necessary not only for adults; lessons from the Old Testament are preparing us and our children for conscious participation and understanding of worship. But other reasons are even more important. In the speeches of the Savior and in the writings of the Apostles there are many references to persons, events and texts from the Old Testament: Moses, Elijah, Jonah, the testimonies of the prophets. Isaiah, etc.

The Old Testament gives reasons why mankind needed salvation through the coming of the Son of God.

Let us not lose sight of the direct moral edification. As App. Paul: "And what else can I say? I will not have time to tell about Gideon, about Barak, about Samson and Jephthah, about David, Samuel and (other) prophets, who by faith conquered kingdoms, did righteousness, received promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, avoided the edge of the sword, strengthened from weakness, were strong in war, drove away the armies of strangers ... Those whom the whole world was not worthy, wandered through deserts and mountains, through caves and gorges of the earth "(Heb. 11:32 -38). We also use these guidelines. The Church constantly puts the image of the three youths in the cave of Babylon before our thought.

Led by the Church

“In the Church, everything has its place, everything has its correct illumination. This also applies to the Old Testament Scriptures. We know by heart the ten commandments of the Sinai legislation, but we understand them much deeper than the Jews understood them, because they are illuminated and deepened for us by the Mount on the Mount There are many moral and ritual laws in the Mosaic legislation, but among them there is such an exalted call: "Love your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and love your sincere as yourself" - only through the gospel did they shine for us with their full brilliance. There is no longer any tabernacle or temple of Solomon: but we study their structure because many symbols of the New Testament are contained in their institutions. Readings from the prophets are offered in the temple not in order to know the fate peoples surrounding Palestine, but because these readings contain prophecies about Christ and the events of the Gospel.

But it so happened that in the 16th century a huge branch of Christianity abandoned the leadership of Church Tradition, all the wealth of the ancient Church, leaving as a source and guide of faith one priest. Scripture - the Bible in its two parts of the Old and New Testaments. This is what Protestantism did. Let us give it its due: it burned with a thirst for the living word of God, it fell in love with the Bible. But it did not take into account the fact that the sacred writings were collected by the Church and belong to her in her historical apostolic succession. It did not take into account that just as the faith of the Church is illuminated by the Bible, so the Bible in turn is illuminated by the faith of the Church. One demands the other and lean on each other. Protestants gave themselves with all hope to the study of one Holy Scripture, hoping that, following exactly along its path, they would see this path so clear that there would no longer be any reason for disagreement in the faith. The Bible, consisting of three quarters of the Old Testament, has become a reference book. They studied it to the smallest detail, checked it against the Hebrew texts, however, at the same time, they began to lose the ratio of the values ​​of the Old and New Testaments. It appeared to them as two equal sources of one faith, mutually complementing one another, as two equal sides of it. Some groups of Protestantism have taken the view that, with the quantitative predominance of the books of the Old Testament, it occupies the first place in terms of significance. This is how Judaizing sects appeared. They began to put the Old Testament faith in the One God above the monotheism of the New Testament with its divinely revealed truth about the One God in the Holy Trinity; the commandments of the Sinai legislation are more important than the gospel teaching; Saturday is more important than Sunday.

Others, if they did not follow the path of the Judaizers, failed to distinguish the very spirit of the Old Testament from the spirit of the New, the spirit of slavery from the spirit of sonship, the spirit of the law from the spirit of freedom. Impressed by some passages in the Old Testament Scriptures, they abandoned that all-encompassing fullness of worship of God, which is confessed in Christian Church. They rejected the external forms of spiritual and bodily worship, and in particular destroyed the symbol of Christianity - the cross and other sacred images. By this they moved themselves to the condemnation of the Apostle: "How are you - shunning idols, sacrilegious?" (Rom. 2:22).

Still others, embarrassed either by the simplicity of the narration of ancient legends, or by the harsh nature of antiquity, especially manifested in wars, Jewish nationalism, or other features of the pre-Christian era, began to be critical of these legends, and then of the Bible itself in its entirety.

Just as it is impossible to eat only bread without water, although bread is the most essential for the body, so it is impossible to eat only Holy Scripture without the grace-filled irrigation given by the life of the Church. Protestant theological faculties, designed to be on guard for Christianity and its sources, while working on the study of the Bible, got a kind of sore mouth. They were carried away by the critical analysis of the texts of the Old and New Testaments and gradually ceased to feel their spiritual power, they began to approach the sacred books as ordinary documents of antiquity, with the techniques of positivism of the 19th century. Some of these theologians began to compete with each other in inventing theories of the origin of certain books, contrary to the sacred tradition of antiquity. In order to explain the facts of predicting future events in the sacred books, they began to attribute the very writing of these books to later times (to the time of these events themselves). This method led to the undermining of the authority of Holy Scripture and the Christian faith. True, the simple Protestant milieu of believers has ignored and still partly ignores this so-called biblical criticism. But since the pastors went through a theological school, they themselves often turned out to be conductors of critical thought in their communities. The period of biblical criticism began to wane, but this vacillation led to the loss of dogmatic faith in a large number of sects. They began to recognize only the moral teaching of the Gospel, forgetting that it is inseparable from the dogmatic teaching.

But it often happens that even good undertakings have their shadow sides.

So, a big deal in the field of Christian culture was the translation of the Bible into all modern languages. Protestantism fulfilled this task to a large extent. However, in the languages ​​of our modern times, it is more difficult to feel the breath of ancient times; not everyone can understand and appreciate the simplicity of biblical tales. It is not for nothing that the Jews strictly cherish the Hebrew language of the Scriptures, avoid printed Bibles for prayer and reading in synagogues, using parchment copies of the Old Testament.

The Bible has spread in millions of copies all over the globe, but has not the reverent attitude towards it decreased among the human masses? This refers to the inner workings of Christianity.

But new circumstances came from outside. The Bible was brought face to face with the scientific research of geology, paleontology, archeology. From under the ground appeared an almost unknown hitherto world of the past, defined in modern science many thousands of years old. The enemies of religion did not fail to use the data of science as a weapon against the Bible. They put her on the platform of the court, saying in the words of Pilate: "Don't you hear how many people are testifying against you?"

Under these conditions, we must believe in the holiness of the Bible, its correctness, its value, its exceptional greatness as a book of books, the true book of mankind. Our business is to protect ourselves from embarrassment. The Scriptures of the Old Testament come into contact with modern theories of science. Therefore, let us look into the Old Testament Scriptures in their essence. As far as science is concerned, objective, impartial, genuine science will itself, in its conclusions, be a witness to the truth of the Bible. Father John of Kronstadt instructs: “When you doubt the truth of any person or event described in Holy Scripture, then remember that all “God-inspired Scripture is”, as the Apostle says, it means it is true, and there are no fictitious persons, fables in it. and fairy tales, although there are parables, and not their own tales, where everyone sees that in question inlet. The entire word of God is one truth, integral, indivisible, and if you recognize as a lie any one legend, saying, word, then you are sinning against the truth of all Holy Scripture, and its original truth is God himself.

(Protopresbyter M. Pomazansky).

The Inspiration of Scripture

The main feature of the Bible, which distinguishes it from all other literary works, giving it unquestioned authority, is its divine inspiration. By it is meant that supernatural, divine illumination, which, without suppressing the natural forces of man, elevated them to the highest perfection, protected them from mistakes, imparted revelations, in a word, guided the entire course of their work, thanks to which the latter was not a simple product of man, but, as it were, the work of God himself. This is a fundamental truth of our faith that leads us to recognize the books of the Bible as inspired by God. The apostle Paul first used this term when he said, "All Scripture is inspired by God" (2 Tim. 3:16). "Prophecy was never uttered by the will of man," testifies the holy Apostle Peter, "but holy men of God spoke it, being moved by the Holy Spirit" (2 Peter 1:21).

In the Slavic and Russian languages, we usually define the Scriptures with the word "sacred", which means having grace in itself, reflecting in itself the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Only the Gospels are always accompanied by the word "holy", and before reading it, we are called to pray for a worthy hearing of it: "And we pray that we may be vouchsafed to hear the holy Gospel of the Lord God." We are obliged to listen to him standing: "Forgive (standing) let us hear the holy Gospel" reading. When reading the Old Testament scriptures (paroemias) and even psalms, if they are not read as prayers, but for edification, such as kathismata at Matins, the Church allows you to sit. Ap words. Paul's "star differs from star in glory" are applicable to the sacred books. All Scriptures are inspired by God, but the subject of their speech elevates some of them over others: there are the Jews and the Old Testament law, here - in the New Testament - the Savior Christ and His Divine teaching.

What is the inspiration of Scripture? - The sacred writers were under guidance, which at the highest moments turns into illumination and even direct revelation of God. "I had the revelation of the Lord" - we read in the prophets, and in App. Paul, and John (in the Apocalypse). But with all this, writers use the usual means of cognition. For information about the past, they turn to oral tradition. "What we have heard and learned, and what our fathers have told us, we will not hide from their children, proclaiming to the coming generation the glory of the Lord and His power..." days of old" (Ps. 43:1; 77:2-3). Ap. Luke, who was not one of the 12 disciples of Christ, describes the gospel events "according to a careful study of everything from the beginning" (Luke 1:3). Then, sacred writers use written documents, lists of people and family lineages, state reports with various indications. In the historical books of the Old Testament there are references to sources, such as in the books of Kings and Chronicles: "other things about Ahaziah ... are written in the annals of the kings of Israel", "other things about Joatham ... in the annals of the kings of the Jews." Original documents are also cited: the first book of Ezra contains a number of verbatim instructions and reports related to the restoration of the Jerusalem temple.

The sacred writers did not have the omniscience that belongs to God alone. But these writers were saints. "The sons of Israel could not look at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face" (2 Cor. 3:7). This holiness of the writers, purity of mind, purity of heart, consciousness of loftiness and responsibility in fulfilling their vocation was expressed directly in their writings: in the truth of their thoughts, in the truth of their words, in a clear distinction between the true and the false. Under inspiration from above, they began their recordings and performed them. At certain moments, their spirit was illumined by the highest blessed revelations and mysterious insight into the past, like the prophet Moses in the book of Genesis, or into the future, like the later prophets and apostles of Christ. It was like a vision in a fog or through a veil. "Now we see, as it were, through a dim glass, guessingly, then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know, just as I am known" (1 Cor. 13:15).

Whether attention is paid to the past or to the future, there is no account of time in this insight - the prophets see "far as near." That is why the evangelists depict two future events: the destruction of Jerusalem and the end of the world, predicted by the Lord, so that both of them almost merge into one perspective of the future. "It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has fixed in His own power," said the Lord (Acts 1:7).

Divine inspiration belongs not only to Holy Scripture, but also to Holy Tradition. The Church recognizes them as equal sources of faith, for the tradition that expresses the voice of the entire Church is also the voice of the Holy Spirit living in the Church. All our divine services are also inspired by God, as it is sung in one of the prayers: “Witnesses of the truth and preachers of piety, we will worthily honor in inspired songs.” Particularly divinely inspired is the Liturgy of the Holy Mysteries, called by the high name "Divine Liturgy".

(Protopresbyter M. Pomazansky).

But the inspiration of the authors of sacred books did not destroy their personal, natural features. God does not suppress the free will of man. As can be seen from the words of the Apostle Paul: "And the spirits of the prophets are obedient to the prophets" (1 Cor. 14:32). That is why in the content of St. books, especially in their presentation, style, language, nature of images and expressions, we observe significant differences between individual books of Holy Scripture, depending on the individual, psychological and peculiar literary characteristics of their authors.

The image of Divine revelation to the prophets can be represented by the example of Moses and Aaron. To tongue-tied Moses, God gave his brother Aaron as mediators. To Moses’ perplexity, how he could proclaim the will of God to the people, being tongue-tied, the Lord said: “You (Moses) will speak to him (Aaron) and put words (Mine) into his mouth, and I will be with your mouth and with his mouth and I will teach you what you should do, and he will speak instead of you to the people. So he will be your mouth, and you will be to him instead of God" (Ex. 4:15-16).

Under constant persecution for his prophecies, Jeremiah decided one day to stop preaching altogether. But he could not resist God for a long time, because the prophetic gift "was in his heart like a burning fire, enclosed in his bones, and he was weary holding it" (Jer. 20:8-9).

While believing in the divine inspiration of the books of the Bible, it is important to remember that the Bible is the book of the Church. according to plan God's people are called to be saved not alone, but in a society which the Lord guides and dwells in. This society is called the Church. Historically, the Church is divided into the Old Testament Church, to which the Jewish people belonged, and the New Testament Church, to which Orthodox Christians belong. The New Testament Church inherited the spiritual wealth of the Old Testament - the word of God. The Church has not only preserved the letter of the word of God, but also possesses a correct understanding of it. This is due to the fact that the Holy Spirit, who spoke through the prophets and apostles, continues to live in the Church and guide it. Therefore, the Church gives us the correct guidance on how to use her written wealth: what is more important and relevant in it, and what has only historical significance and is not applicable in New Testament times.

History of the Sacred Books

The sacred books in their modern fullness did not immediately appear. The time from Moses (1550 BC) to Samuel (1050 BC) can be called the first period of the formation of St. Scriptures. The inspired Moses, who wrote down his revelations, laws, and narratives, gave the following command to the Levites carrying the ark of the covenant of the Lord: "Take this book of the law and lay it on the right side of the ark of the Lord your God" (Deut. 31:26). Subsequent sacred writers continued to attribute their creations to the Pentateuch of Moses with the command to keep them in the same place where it was kept - as if in one book. Thus, we read about Joshua that he "wrote his words" "in the book of the law of God," that is, in the book of Moses (Is. Joshua 24:26). In the same way, it is said of Samuel, a prophet and judge who lived at the beginning of the royal period, that he "expounded to the people the rights of the kingdom, and wrote in a book (obviously already known to everyone and existed before him), and laid before the Lord", i.e. on the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord, where the Pentateuch was kept (1 Sam. 10:25).

During the time from Samuel to the Babylonian captivity (589 years BC), the elders of the Israelite people and the prophets were the collectors and keepers of the sacred Old Testament books. The latter, as the main authors of Hebrew writing, are very often mentioned in the books of Chronicles. One should also keep in mind the remarkable testimony of the Jewish historian Josephus Flavius ​​about the custom of the ancient Jews to revise the existing texts of Holy Scripture after any vague circumstances (for example, prolonged wars). It was sometimes, as it were, a new edition of the ancient divine Scriptures, which was allowed to be released, however, only by God-inspired people - the prophets, who remembered the most ancient events and wrote the history of their people with the greatest accuracy. Worthy of note is the ancient tradition of the Jews that the pious king Hezekiah (710 BC), with his chosen elders, published the book of the prophet Isaiah, Proverbs of Solomon, Song of Songs and Ecclesiastes.

The time from the Babylonian captivity to the time of the Great Synagogue under Ezra and Nehemiah (400 years BC) is the period of the final completion of the Old Testament list of Holy Books (canon). The main work in this great work belongs to the priest Ezra, this sacred teacher of the law of the God of heaven (Ezra 7:12). With the assistance of the scholar Nehemiah, the creator of an extensive library, who collected "tales about kings, prophets, about David and letters from kings about sacred offerings" (2 Mac. 2:13), Ezra carefully revised and published in one composition all the inspired writings that were before him and included in this composition both the book of Nehemiah and the book with his own name. Then the prophets Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi, who were still alive, were, without a doubt, employees of Ezra and their creations, of course at the same time, were included in the list of books collected by Ezra. From the time of Ezra, divinely inspired prophets cease to appear among the Jewish people, and books published after that time are no longer included in the list of sacred books. So, for example, the book of Jesus the son of Sirach, also written in Hebrew, with all its ecclesiastical dignity, was no longer included in the sacred canon.

The antiquity of the sacred Old Testament books is evident from their very content. The books of Moses tell so vividly about the life of a person of those distant times, so vividly depict the patriarchal life, so correspond to the ancient traditions of those peoples, that the reader naturally comes to the conclusion that the author himself is close to the times he tells about.

According to experts in the Hebrew language, the very style of the books of Moses bears the stamp of the deepest antiquity: the months of the year do not yet have their own names, but are simply called the first, second, third, etc. months, and the books themselves are called simply their own initial words no special names, eg. BERESHIT ("in the beginning" - the book of Genesis), VE ELLE SHEMOT ("and these are the names" - the book of Exodus), etc., as if to prove that there were no other books, to distinguish from which would require special names. The same correspondence with the spirit and character of ancient times and peoples is seen in other sacred writers who lived after Moses.

By the time of Christ the Savior, the Hebrew language in which the Law was written was already a dead language. The Jewish population of Palestine spoke a common language for the Semitic tribes - Aramaic. Christ also spoke this language. Those few words of Christ that the evangelists cite literally: "talifa kumi; abba; Eloi, Eloi, lamma savakhvani" - all these are Aramaic words. When, after the Jewish War, the existence of small communities of Judeo-Christians ceased to exist, then the Holy Scripture in the Hebrew language completely disappeared from the Christian environment. It was pleasing to the will of God that, having rejected Him and betrayed its purpose, the Jewish community turned out to be the only custodian of the Holy Scripture in the original language, and, contrary to its will, became a witness that everything that the Church of Christ says regarding the ancient prophecies about Christ the Savior and God's preparation of people for acceptance of the Son of God, is not invented by Christians, but is a genuine, many-sidedly affirmed truth.

A very important feature of the sacred books of the Bible, which determines varying degrees their authority, is the canonical nature of some books and non-canonical others. To find out the origin of this difference, it is necessary to touch upon the very history of the formation of the Bible. We have already had occasion to notice that the Bible includes sacred books written in different epochs and by different authors. To this it must now be added that, along with genuine, inspired books, there appeared in different epochs inauthentic or non-inspired books, with which, however, their authors tried to give the appearance of authentic and inspired books. Especially many such writings appeared in the first centuries of Christianity, on the basis of Ebionism and Gnosticism, such as the "first gospel of James", "the gospel of Thomas", "the Apocalypse of St. Peter", "Apocalypse of Paul", etc. Therefore, an authoritative voice was needed, which I would clearly define which of these books are really true and inspired by God, which ones are only edifying and useful (not being inspired by God), and which ones are directly harmful and false. Such guidance was given to all believers by the Christian Church itself in its list of so-called canonical books.

The Greek word kanon, like the Semitic kane, originally means a reed stick, or in general, any straight stick, and hence, in a figurative sense, everything that serves to straighten, correct other things, for example. "carpenter's plumb", or the so-called "rule". In a more abstract sense, the word kanon received the meaning of "rule, norm, pattern", with which meaning it occurs, by the way, in St. Paul: "To those who walk according to this rule (kanon), peace and mercy be upon them, and to the Israel of God" (Gal. 6:16). Based on this, the term kanon and the adjective kanonikos derived from it began to be applied quite early to those sacred books in which, according to the tradition of the Church, they saw the expression of the true rule of faith, its model. Already Irenaeus of Lyon says that we have "the canon of truth - the word of God." And St. Athanasius of Alexandria defines "canonical" books as those that serve as a source of salvation, in which alone the teaching of piety is indicated. The final distinction between canonical and non-canonical books dates back to the time of St. John Chrysostom, Bl. Jerome and Augustine. Since that time, the epithet "canonical" has been applied to those sacred books of the Bible that are recognized by the entire Church as inspired by God, containing the rules and patterns of faith - in contrast to the books "non-canonical", i.e., although instructive and useful, ( for which they are placed in the Bible), but not inspired and "apocryphal (apokrifos - hidden, secret), completely rejected by the Church and therefore not included in the Bible. Thus, we should look at the sign of the" canonicity "of known books as a voice Church Tradition, which confirms the inspired origin of the books of Holy Scripture.Consequently, in the Bible itself, not all of its books have the same meaning and authority: some (canonical) are inspired by God, contain the true word of God, others (non-canonical) are only edifying and useful, but they are not alien to the personal, not always infallible opinions of their authors.This distinction must be kept in mind when reading the Bible, for a correct assessment and an appropriate attitude to incoming in her books.

Question of "non-canonical" books

(Bishop Nathanael Lvov)

The question of the canon, that is, which of the pious writings can be considered truly inspired by God and be placed along with the Torah, occupied the Old Testament Church during the last centuries before the Nativity of Christ. But the Old Testament Church did not establish a canon, although it did all the preparatory work. One of the milestones of this preparatory work is noted in 2 Maccabees, which says that Nehemiah, "assembling a library, collected the stories of the kings and the prophets and of David, and the letters of the kings" (2:13). To an even greater extent, the selection of books for the translation of 70 interpreters, solemnly conciliarly accomplished by the Old Testament Church, prepared the establishment of the canon of the most sacred books.

Both events could with some right be considered the establishment of the canon, if we had a list of books that the righteous Nehemiah collected as sacred or that were chosen for translation by God's chosen interpreters. But we do not have an exact list for either event.

The division between recognized and unrecognized, canonical and non-canonical was established by the Jewish community only after the rejection of Christ the Savior by the leaders of the Jewish people, after the destruction of Jerusalem, on the verge of the 1st and 2nd centuries after the Nativity of Christ, by a meeting of Jewish rabbis in Mt. Jamnia in Palestine. Among the rabbis, the most prominent were Rabbi Akiba and Gamaliel the Younger. They established a list of 39 books, which they artificially reduced into 24 books, combining into one: the books of Kings, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, and 12 books of the minor prophets, according to the number of letters of the Hebrew alphabet. This list was accepted by the Jewish community and introduced into all synagogues. It is the "canon" according to which the books of the Old Testament are called canonical or non-canonical.

Of course, this canon, established by the Jewish community, which rejected Christ the Savior and therefore ceased to be the Old Testament Church, which lost all right to God's heritage, which is Holy Scripture, such a canon cannot be binding on the Church of Christ.

Nevertheless, the Church reckoned with the Jewish canon, for example, the list of sacred books established by the Local Holy Council of Laodicea was clearly compiled under the influence of the Jamne list. This list does not include the Maccabees, or Tobit, or Judith, or the Wisdom of Solomon, or the third book of Ezra. However, this list does not completely coincide with the list of the Jewish canon, since the list of the Laodicean Council includes the book of the prophet Baruch, the epistle of Jeremiah and the 2nd book of Ezra, excluded by the Jewish canon (in the New Testament, the Laodicean Council did not include St. John the Theologian in the canon of Revelation) .

But in the life of the Church, the Laodicean canon has not received a predominant significance. In determining its sacred books, the Church is guided to a much greater extent by the 85th Apostolic Canon and the Epistle of Athanasius the Great, which include 50 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament. This wider choice was influenced by the composition of the translation books of the 70 interpreters (Septuagint). However, the Church did not unconditionally submit to this choice, including in its list books that appeared later than the translation of the 70, such as the Maccabees and the book of Jesus the son of Sirach.

The fact that the Church accepted the so-called "non-canonical" books into her life is evidenced by the fact that in divine services they are used in exactly the same way as the canonical ones, and, for example, the book of the Wisdom of Solomon, rejected by the Jewish canon, is the most read from the Old Testament for divine services.

The 11th chapter of the book of the Wisdom of Solomon speaks so prophetically clearly about the sufferings of Christ, as there can be no other place in the Old Testament, except the prophet Isaiah. Is this the reason why the rabbis assembled in Jamnia rejected this book?

Christ the Savior in the Sermon on the Mount cites, although without references, words from the book of Tobit (cf. Tov. 4:15 with Matt. 7:12 and Luke 4:31, Tov. 4:16 with Luke 14:13), from the book of the son of Sirach (cf. 28:2 with Mt. 6:14 and Mark 2:25), from the book of the Wisdom of Solomon (cf. 3:7 with Mt. 13:43). The Apostle John in Revelation takes both the words and images of the book of Tobit (cf. Rev. 21:11-24 with Tov. 13:11-18). The Apostle Paul in his epistles to the Romans (1.21), to the Corinthians (1 Cor. 1:20-27; 2:78), to Timothy (1 Tim. 1:15) has words from the book of the prophets. Baruch. At ap. James has a lot of common phrases with the book of Jesus the son of Sirach. Epistle to the Hebrews Paul and the book of the Wisdom of Solomon are so close to each other that some moderately negative critics considered them the creation of the same author.

All the countless hosts of Christian martyrs of the first centuries were inspired to exploit by the most holy example of the Maccabean martyrs, about whom the 2nd book of Maccabees tells.

Metropolitan Anthony accurately defines: "The holy books of the Old Testament are divided into canonical, which are recognized by both Christians and Jews, and non-canonical, which are recognized only by Christians, while the Jews have lost them" (Experience of the Church of St. Catechism, p. 16).

All this indisputably testifies to the high authority and divine inspiration of the holy books of the Bible, incorrectly, or rather, ambiguously referred to as non-canonical.

We dwelled on this issue in detail because Protestantism, obediently following the Jewish canon, rejects all books rejected by the Jews.

Original Appearance and Language of Scripture

The language of the sacred books

The Old Testament books were originally written in Hebrew. Later books from the time of the Babylonian captivity already have many Assyrian and Babylonian words and turns of speech. And the books written during the Greek rule (non-canonical books) are written in Greek, while the 3rd book of Ezra is in Latin.

Much of the Old Testament is written in Hebrew. In Aramaic written in the Old Testament 2-8 chapters of the book of Prop. Daniel, 4-8 chapters of the I book of Ezra and the book of Wisdom of Jesus the son of Sirach.

The 2nd and 3rd books of Maccabees and the entire New Testament, except for the Gospel of Matthew, are written in Greek in the Old Testament. In addition, both the Gospel of Matthew and all the books of the Old Testament not recognized by the Jewish canon have survived only in Greek, and have been lost in the Hebrew or Aramaic original.

The first translation of Holy Scripture known to us was the translation of all the books of the Old Testament from Hebrew into Greek, completed by the so-called 70 (more precisely, 72) interpreters in the 3rd century BC.

Demetrius Phalareus, a learned nobleman of the Hellenistic Egyptian king Ptolemy Philadelphus, set out to collect in the capital of his sovereign all the books that existed then all over the world. Judaea at that time (284-247 BC) was subordinate to the Egyptian kings, and Ptolemy Philadelphus ordered the Jews to send to the Alexandrian library all the books that they had, attaching to them a Greek translation from them. Probably none of his contemporaries understood that this, typical of bibliophiles, the desire of the king and his nobles to compile the most complete collection of books would be of such importance for the spiritual life of mankind.

The Jewish high priests took this task with extreme seriousness and a sense of responsibility. Despite the fact that by this time, in fact, the entire Jewish people were concentrated in one tribe of Judah and the Jews could safely take upon themselves the fulfillment of the wishes of the Egyptian king, however, quite rightly and holyly wishing that all Israel would take part in such a matter, the spiritual leaders of the Jewish people established fasting and increased prayer throughout the people and called on all 12 tribes to elect 6 translators from each tribe so that they would jointly translate the Holy. Scripture in Greek, the most common language then.

This translation, which was thus the fruit of the conciliar feat of the Old Testament Church, was called the Septuagint, i.e. Seventy, and became for Orthodox Christians the most authoritative presentation of the Holy. Scriptures of the Old Testament.

Much later (apparently, around the 1st century BC for the Old Testament part of the Holy Scriptures and around the beginning of the 2nd century AD for the New Testament part), a translation of the Holy Scriptures into the Syriac language appeared, the so-called . Peshitta, which in all important respects coincides with the translation of the Septuagint. For the Syrian Church and for the Eastern Churches associated with the Syrian Church, the Peshitta is as authoritative as the Septuagint is for us, and in the Western Church the translation made by Blessed Jerome, the so-called. The Vulgate (which in Latin means exactly the same as the Aramaic Peshitta - "simple"), was considered more authoritative than the Hebrew original. This may seem strange, but we will try to clarify it.

By the time of Christ the Savior, Hebrew, in which the Law and most other books of the Old Testament were written, was already a dead language. The Jewish population of Palestine spoke a language that was then common to the Semitic tribes of Asia Minor - Aramaic. Christ the Savior also spoke this language. Those few words of Christ that the holy evangelists cite in a literal transmission: "talifa kumi" (Mk. 5:41), "abba", in the Lord's address to God the Father (Mk. 5:41), the dying cry of the Lord on the cross "Eloi , Eloi, lamma savakhthani" (Mark 15:34) are Aramaic words (in the Gospel of Matthew, the words "Eloi, Eloi" - My God, My God - are given in the Hebrew form "Either, Or", but the second half of the phrase in both gospels are given in Aramaic).

When, during the 1st and 2nd centuries, after the storms of the Jewish War and the uprising of Bar Kokhba, the existence of Jewish-Christian communities ceased, then the Holy Scriptures in Hebrew disappeared from the Christian environment. It turned out to be pleasing to the will of God that the Jewish community, which rejected Him and thereby changed its main purpose, received a different appointment, becoming the only custodian of the Holy Scripture in the original language and, contrary to its will, became a witness that everything that the Church of Christ says regarding ancient prophecies and types about Christ the Savior and about God's Fatherly preparation of people for the acceptance of the Son of God, is not invented by Christians, but is the true truth.

When, after many centuries of divided existence in different and, moreover, warring circles, in the Greek and Aramaic translations of St. The Scriptures and in translations from the Greek and Aramaic on the one hand and the Hebrew original on the other hand, when they were all brought to comparison, it turned out that in everything more or less important, with rare exceptions, they are identical. This agreement is evidence of how carefully they preserved the sacred text of the Divine words, how gloriously justified humanity's trust in God, which entrusted the absolute Truth to the care of weak and limited human forces.

But if the texts coincide so much in all the main things, then why does the Greek translation still remain more authoritative for Orthodox Christians, and not the Hebrew original? - Because by the grace of God he was kept in the Church of Christ from apostolic times.

Targums and other ancient translations

In addition to the ancient translations of Scripture, there are more or less free transcriptions of it into Aramaic, the so-called. targums, i.e. interpretation.

When the Hebrew language fell out of use among the Jews and Aramaic took its place, the rabbis had to use it to interpret the Scriptures in the synagogues. But they did not want to completely leave the precious heritage of the fathers - the original of God's Law - and therefore, instead of a direct translation, they introduced explanatory interpretations in Aramaic. These interpretations are called targums.

The most ancient and famous of the Targums are the Babylonian Targum on the entire Holy Scriptures, compiled in the 1st century BC. by a certain rabbi Onkelos, and the Jerusalem Targum is somewhat later, attributed to Joyathan ben Uziel, compiled only on the Torah. There are also other, later Targums. Although both of the most ancient of them appeared before the Massoretic reform, the text interpreted by them almost coincides with the Massoretic one, firstly, because the Targums came from the same rabbinic environment from which the Massorites came out, and secondly, because the text of the Targums (surviving to us only in the later lists) was subjected to processing by massorets.

In this regard, the Samaritan Targum, which was compiled in the 10th-11th centuries, is very important, but which takes as its basis for interpretation not the Masoretic, but the pre-Assoretic Jewish text, which largely coincides with the text of the Septuagint.

The original appearance of the Holy Books

The books of Holy Scripture came out of the hands of sacred writers appearance not the way we see them now. They were originally written on parchment or papyrus (the stems of plants native to Egypt and Israel) with a cane (a pointed reed stick) and ink. Strictly speaking, it was not books that were written, but charters on a long parchment or papyrus scroll, which looked like a long ribbon and was wound around a shaft. Scrolls were usually written on one side. Subsequently, parchment or papyrus ribbons, instead of being glued into scroll ribbons, for ease of use, began to be sewn into books.

The text in the ancient scrolls was written in the same large capital letters. Each letter was written separately, but the words were not separated from one another. The whole line was like one word. The reader himself had to divide the line into words and, of course, sometimes did it wrong. There were also no punctuation marks, no aspirations, no stresses in the ancient manuscripts. And in the ancient Hebrew language, vowels were also not written, but only consonants.

The division into chapters was made in the 13th century A.D., in the edition of the Latin Vulgate. It was accepted not only by all Christian nations, but even by the Jews themselves for the Hebrew text of the Old Testament. The division of the biblical text into verses, according to some Bible scholars, for sacred books written in poetic meters (for example, psalms) began in the Old Testament church. But all the sacred books of the Old Testament were divided into verses already after the Nativity of Christ by Jewish scholars - the Masoretes (in the 6th century). The division into verses of the New Testament text appeared at a relatively late time in the middle of the sixteenth century. In 1551, the Parisian printer Robert Stephan published the New Testament divided into verses, and in 1555 the entire Bible.

He also owns the numbering of biblical verses. Christians in the III-V centuries adopted the division of the New Testament books into perekops, chapters and types, i.e. departments read for worship on certain days of the year. These departments were not the same in different churches.

currently accepted in Orthodox Church the liturgical division of the New Testament Scripture into conceptions is attributed to St. John of Damascus.

List of Old Testament Books

Books of the prophet Moses or Torah (containing the foundations of the Old Testament faith): Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

Historical books: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Kings: 1, 2, 3 and 4, Chronicles: 1 and 2, 1 Ezra, Nehemiah, Second Book of Esther.

Teaching (edifying content): the book of Job, the Psalter, the book of Solomon's parables, the book of Ecclesiastes, the book of the Song of Songs.

Prophetic (books of predominantly prophetic content): the book of the prophet Isaiah, the book of the prophet Jeremiah, the book of the prophet Ezekiel, the book of the prophet Daniel, the Twelve books of the minor prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.

In addition to these books of the Old Testament list, the Greek, Russian and some other translations of the Bible contain the following so-called "non-canonical" books. Among them: the book of Tobit, Judith, the Wisdom of Solomon, the book of Jesus the son of Sirach, the Second and Third Book of Ezra, the three Maccabean books. As already mentioned, they are called so because they were written after the list (canon) of sacred books was completed. Some modern editions of the Bible do not have these "non-canonical" books, while the Russian Bible has them. The above titles of the sacred books are taken from the Greek translation of 70 interpreters. In the Hebrew Bible and in some modern Bible translations, several Old Testament books have different titles.

So, the Bible is the voice of the Holy Spirit, but the Divine voice sounded through human intermediaries and human means. Therefore, the Bible is a book that has its earthly history. She didn't show up right away. It was written by many people over a long period in several languages ​​in different countries.

Orthodox Christian can never in anything, whether small or large, "contradict the Bible", consider even one word obsolete, out of force, or false, as Protestant and other "critics", enemies of God's word, assure us. "Heaven and earth pass by, but the words of God do not pass by" (Matt. 24:35) and "Heaven and earth will sooner pass away than one tittle from the Law be lost" (Luke 16:17), as the Lord said.

Summary of Translations of Scripture

Greek translation of the seventy interpreters (Septuagint). The closest to the original text of the Scriptures of the Old Testament is the Alexandrian translation, known as the Greek translation of the seventy interpreters. It was started by the will of the Egyptian king Ptolemy Philadelphus in 271 BC. Desiring to have in his library the holy books of Jewish law, this inquisitive sovereign ordered his librarian Demetrius to take care of acquiring these books and translating them into the Greek language that was generally known at that time and the most widespread. Six of the most able men were chosen from each Israelite tribe and sent to Alexandria with an exact copy of the Hebrew Bible. The translators were placed on the island of Pharos, near Alexandria, and completed the translation in a short time. The Orthodox Church since apostolic times has been using sacred books translated from 70.

Latin translation, Vulgate. Until the fourth century AD, there were several Latin translations of the Bible, among which the so-called Old Italic, made according to the text of the 70, enjoyed the greatest popularity for its clarity and special closeness to the sacred text. But after bliss. Jerome, one of the most learned Fathers of the Church of the 4th century, published in 384 his translation of the Holy Scripture into Latin, made by him from the Hebrew original, the Western Church gradually began to abandon the ancient Italic translation in favor of Jerome's translation. In the 11th century, by the Council of Trent of Jerome, the translation was put into general use in the Roman Catholic Church under the name of the Vulgate, which literally means "common translation".

The Slavic translation of the Bible was made according to the text of 70 interpreters by the holy Thessalonica brothers Cyril and Methodius, in the middle of the 9th century AD, during their apostolic labors in the Slavic lands. When the Moravian prince Rostislav, dissatisfied with the German missionaries, asked the Greek emperor Michael to send capable mentors of the faith of Christ to Moravia, imp. Michael sent Sts. Cyril and Methodius, who thoroughly knew the Slavic language, and even in Greece began to translate the Divine Scripture into this language. On the way to the Slavic lands, Sts. the brothers stopped for some time in Bulgaria, which was also enlightened by them, and here they did not a little work on the translation of St. books. They continued their translation in Moravia, where they arrived around 863. It was completed after the death of St. Cyril of St. Methodius in Panonia, under the auspices of the pious prince Kocel, to whom he retired due to civil strife in Moravia. With the adoption of Christianity under St. Prince Vladimir (988), the Slavic Bible, translated by Sts. Cyril and Methodius.

Russian translation. When, over time, the Slavic language began to differ significantly from Russian, for many, reading St. Scripture became difficult. As a result, the translation of St. books into modern Russian. First, by order of the imp. Alexander the First and with the blessing of the Holy Synod, the New Testament was published in 1815 at the expense of the Russian Bible Society. Of the Old Testament books, only the Psalter was translated, as the most commonly used book in Orthodox worship. Then, already in the reign of Alexander II, after a new, more accurate edition of the New Testament in 1860, a printed edition of the law-positive books of the Old Testament appeared in Russian translation in 1868. The following year, the Holy Synod blessed the publication of historical Old Testament books, and in 1872 - teaching. Meanwhile, Russian translations of individual sacred books of the Old Testament often began to be published in spiritual journals; so we finally saw the complete edition of the Bible in Russian in 1877. Not everyone sympathized with the appearance of the Russian translation, preferring Church Slavonic. The Russian translation was supported by St. Tikhon of Zadonsk, Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow, later Bishop Theophan the Recluse, Patriarch Tikhon and other prominent archpastors of the Russian Church.

Other translations of the Bible. The Bible was first translated into French in 1160 by Peter Wald. The first translation of the Bible into German appeared in 1460. Martin Luther in 1522-32 again translated the Bible into German. On the English language the first translation of the Bible was made by Bede the Venerable, who lived in the first half of the 8th century. Modern English translation made under King James in 1603 and published in 1611. In Russia, the Bible was translated into many native languages. So, Metropolitan Innokenty translated it into the Aleutian language, the Kazan Academy - into Tatar, and into others. The most successful in translating and distributing the Bible into different languages ​​were the British and American Bible Societies. The Bible has now been translated into over 1200 languages.

At the end of this note on translations, it must be said that every translation has its advantages and disadvantages. Translations that seek to literally convey the content of the original suffer from heaviness and difficulty in understanding. On the other hand, translations that seek to convey only the general meaning of the Bible in the most understandable and accessible form often suffer from inaccuracies. The Russian Synodal translation avoids both extremes and combines maximum closeness to the meaning of the original with ease of language.

Holy Scripture and Worship

(Bishop Nathanael Lvov)

During the daily worship in the Orthodox Church, as is known, the process of accomplishing the whole work of saving people is repeated in its main features: Vespers begins with a remembrance of the creation of the world, then recalls the fall of people, speaks of the repentance of Adam and Eve, of the bestowal of the Sinai Law, ending with the prayer of Simeon the God-Receiver. Matins depicts the state of the Old Testament humanity before the Coming into the world of Christ the Savior, depicts the sorrow, hope, expectation of the people of that time, speaks of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Nativity of the Lord. The Liturgy reveals the whole life of Christ the Savior from the Bethlehem manger to Golgotha, Resurrection and Ascension, introducing us into reality through symbols and reminders, because in Holy Communion we receive not a symbol, but actually His very Body, His very Blood, that very Body, that The very Blood that He gave at the Last Supper in the Upper Room of Zion, that very Body, that very Blood that suffered at Golgotha, rose from the tomb and ascended into heaven.

The repetition in Divine services, at least in the most brief outline, of the entire process of preparing mankind for the acceptance of the Lord, is necessary because both processes - historical and liturgical - have essentially the same goal: both here and there a weak, infirm, inert, carnal person is needed. to prepare for the most great and terrible: for a meeting with Christ - the Son of God - and for union with Him. The goal is one, and the object is the same - a person. Therefore, the path must be the same.

In the historical process, the preparation of people for the acceptance of the Son of God is most closely connected with Holy Scripture, not only because this process is described in Scripture, but also because it was Scripture from the moment of its appearance that most of all prepared the souls of people for spiritual growth, which made them able to meet Christ. According to church tradition, the Blessed Virgin Mary at the time of the gospel of the Archangel was reading the book of the prophet Isaiah, in any case, thanks to the knowledge of the prophecy of Isaiah, She could understand and accept the gospel. John the Baptist preached in fulfillment of the Scriptures and with the words of the Scriptures. His testimony, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world,” which gave the Lord the first apostles, could be understood by them only in the light of Scripture.

Naturally, from the very beginning, the process of individual preparation of each individual person for the acceptance of the Son of God, i.e. Divine service turned out to be most closely connected with the same instrument of God by which humanity was historically prepared for the same thing, i.e. with Holy Scripture.

The very act of the entry of the Lord and Savior of our Jesus Christ into the world in the Sacrament of Transubstantiation is a very brief act, just as it was brief when it was first performed by Christ Himself in the Zion Room at the Last Supper. But the preparation for it, for this act, was everything sacred, everything good in the entire previous history of mankind.

The Last Supper is short, and its repetition in the Divine Liturgy is also brief, but the Christian consciousness understands that this most important act in the universe cannot be started without worthy appropriate preparation, for the Lord says in Scripture: “Cursed is everyone who does the work of God negligently” and “Who eats and drinks [Communion] unworthily, he eats and drinks condemnation to himself, not considering the Body of the Lord" (1 Cor. 11:29).

A worthy preparation for the acceptance of the Son of God in the historical process was chiefly the Holy Scriptures. It is, i.e. careful reverent reading of it can be a corresponding preparation for the acceptance of the Son of God and in the process of liturgical service.

That is why, and not just out of imitation of the synagogue, as is often interpreted, from the very beginning of Christian history, Holy Scripture has taken such a comprehensive place in preparing Christians for the Mystery of the Eucharist and for the communion of St. Mysteries of Christ, i.e. in worship.

In the original Church, in the very first years of its existence, in Jerusalem, when the Church consisted mainly of Jewish Christians, the reading and singing of the Holy Scriptures was performed in the sacred language of the Old Testament Church, in the language of ancient Hebrew, although the people, who then spoke Aramaic , the Hebrew language was almost incomprehensible. To clarify the Holy Scriptures, its text was interpreted in Aramaic. These interpretations were called targums. In Christianity, targums mean interpretations of the Old Testament in the sense of its fulfillment and fulfillment in the New Testament.

These interpretations of the Old Testament were made by the holy apostles themselves and were for the original Church a substitute for the Holy Scriptures of the New Testament, which, as such, did not yet exist.

Thus, despite the absence of the New Testament books in the original Church, essentially Christian worship from the very beginning consisted of hearing and learning from the Divine verbs of both Testaments. And the interpretation by the holy apostles of the Old Testament Scriptures - the Law, the Prophets and Psalms, was the most important part of the preparation for St. Eucharist worship.

Examples of such Christian interpretations of the Old Testament are the homilies preserved in the Acts of the Apostles by St. Peter and the First Martyr Stephen.

Later, when pagan Christians began to predominate in the Church, the Holy Scriptures of the Old Testament began to be read and explained in Greek, which was then generally understood throughout the known world. Soon the books of the New Testament also appeared, first the epistles of the apostles, then the Gospels and other apostolic writings, also written in Greek.

At the same time, a providentially important circumstance was that the apostolic Church did not have to take care of creating a translation of the Old Testament into the new sacred language of the Church - into Greek.

This translation by the Providence of God had already been prepared in advance by the inspired feat of the Old Testament Church, which created such a translation of all the sacred books of the Old Testament from Hebrew into Greek. This translation is called the translation of the 70s, or in Latin the Septuagint.

Levels of Understanding

The meaning of Holy Scripture, that is, those thoughts that the sacred writers, inspired by the Holy Spirit, set forth in writing, is expressed in two ways, directly through words and indirectly through persons, things, events and actions described by words. There are two main types of meaning of Holy Scripture: In the first case, the meaning is verbal or literal, and in the second, the meaning is objective or mysterious, spiritual.

Literal meaning

Sacred writers, expressing their thoughts in words, use these latter sometimes in their own direct meaning, sometimes in an improper, figurative meaning.

For example, the word "hand" in public usage means a certain member of the human body. But when the psalmist prayed to the Lord "send your hand from on high" (Ps. 143:7), he uses the word "hand" here in a figurative sense, in the sense of general help and protection from the Lord, thus transferring the original meaning of the word on the subject of the spiritual, higher, insane.

In accordance with such uses of words, the literal meaning of Holy Scripture is divided into two types - into the proper literal and the non-proper or literal-figurative sense. So, for example, and Gen. 7:18 the word "water" is used in its proper, literal sense, but in Ps. 18:2 - figuratively, in the sense of sorrows and disasters, or in Is. 8:7 - in the sense of a hostile army. In general, Scripture uses words in a figurative sense when it speaks of higher, spiritual things, for example, about God, His properties, actions, etc.

mysterious meaning

Since the persons, things, actions, events described to convey a mysterious meaning are taken by sacred writers from different areas, are placed in unequal relationships with each other and with expressed concepts, the mysterious meaning of Scripture is divided into the following types: prototype, parable, apologist, vision and symbol.

A prototype is such a kind of mysterious meaning of Scripture, when the sacred writers communicate concepts about any higher objects through church-historical persons, things, events and actions. Thus, for example, the Old Testament writers, while narrating about the various events of the Old Testament Church, very often under them reveal individual events of the New Testament Church through them.

In this case, the prototype is the pre-image of what belongs to the New Testament, which had to be fulfilled in Christ the Savior and the Church founded by Him, contained in the persons, events, things and actions of the Old Testament. So, for example, Melchizedek, the king of Salem and the priest of the Most High God, according to 14 ch. book of Genesis, he went out to meet Abraham, brought him bread and wine and blessed the patriarch, and Abraham, for his part, offered Melchizedek a tithe of the booty. Everything that Scripture tells in the present case is an actual church-historical fact.

But besides this, the narration of the 14th chapter of Genesis also has a deep, mysteriously transformative significance in relation to New Testament times. The historical person of Melchizedek, according to the explanation of the Apostle Paul (Heb. 7), represented Jesus Christ: the actions of blessing and offering tithes did not indicate the superiority of the New Testament priesthood over the Old Testament: the objects taken out by Melchizedek - bread and wine, according to the explanation of the Church Fathers, pointed to the New Testament sacrament of the Eucharist . The passage of the Israelites across the Black Sea (Ex. 14), in addition to its historical significance, at the direction of the Apostle (1 Cor. 10: 1-2), foreshadowed the New Testament baptism, and the sea itself contained, according to the explanation of the Church, the image of the Unsophisticated Bride - the Virgin Mary . The Old Testament Paschal lamb (Ex. 12) represented the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world - Christ the Savior. According to the Apostle (Heb. 10:1), the entire Old Testament was a type, a shadow of the future blessings of the Old Testament.

When sacred writers, in order to elucidate certain thoughts, use for this person and event, although unhistorical, but quite possible, usually borrowed from everyday reality, in this case the mysterious meaning of Scripture is called inflow or simply a parable. Such, for example, are all the parables of the Savior.

In an apologist, human actions are attributed to animals and inanimate objects, human actions that are impossible for them in reality, actions that are impossible for them in reality - for a visual representation of some truth and to strengthen the instructive impression. Such is the apologist in Su. 9:8-15 - about the trees that chose a king for themselves, or an apology from the prophet Ezekiel - about two eagles (17:1-10), also an apologist for Joash the king of Israel (2 Kings 14:8-10-2; Par. 25 :18-19) about thorns and cedar.

There are also some extraordinary types of Divine Revelation in Scripture. So often the prophets, patriarchs and other chosen men, sometimes in a conscientious state, sometimes in dreams, were honored to contemplate some events, images and phenomena with a mysterious meaning, indicating a future event. These mysterious images and phenomena are called visions. Such, for example, are the visions of Abraham when God entered into a covenant with him (Gen. 15:1-17), Jacob's vision of the mysterious ladder (Gen. 28:10-17), the vision of the prophet Ezekiel (27) of a field with human bones, etc.

The mysterious meaning of Scripture is called a symbol, when the thoughts of Scripture are revealed through special external actions, which, at the command of God, were performed to His chosen ones. So the prophet Isaiah, at the command of the Lord, walks naked and barefoot for three years as an omen of future disasters for the Egyptians and Ethiopians, when the Assyrian king takes them into captivity naked and barefoot (Is. 20). The prophet Jeremiah, in the presence of the elders, broke a new earthen vessel in commemoration of the destruction coming to Jerusalem (Jer. 19).

Methods of explanation borrowed

a) from the Holy Scripture itself

In the first place, therefore, one should consider the interpretations by the sacred writers themselves of various passages of Scripture: such interpretations of the Old Testament are especially numerous in the books of the New Testament. For example, to the question - why did the Old Testament law allow divorces on various occasions? The Savior answered the Pharisees: "Moses, because of your hardness of heart, allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so" (Matthew 19:8). Here is a direct interpretation of the spirit of the Mosaic legislation, given in relation to the moral state of the Old Testament man. The explanations of the ancient prophecies of the Old Testament types in the books of the New Testament are very numerous. An example is Mt. 1:22-23; Is. 7:14; Matt. 2:17-18; Jer. 31:15; And he. 19:33-35; Ref. 12:10; Acts. 2:25-36; Ps. 15:8-10.

Another no less important way is to demolish parallel or similar passages of Scripture. Thus, the word "anointing", used by the Apostle Paul without any explanation (2 Cor. 1:21), is repeated by the Apostle John in the sense of an outpouring of the grace-filled gifts of the Holy Spirit (1 John 2:20). Thus, regarding the literal and proper meaning of the Savior’s words about eating His flesh and blood (John 6:56), the Apostle Paul leaves no doubt when he says that those who eat bread and drink the cup of the Lord unworthily are guilty of the body and blood of the Lord (1 Cor. 11:27).

The third way is to study the composition or context of speech, i.e. explanation of known passages of Scripture in connection with previous and subsequent words and thoughts that are directly related to the place being explained.

The fourth way is to clarify the various historical circumstances of the writing of a particular book - information about the writer, about the purpose, occasion, time and place of writing it. Knowing the purpose of writing the Epistle to the Romans of the Apostle Paul: to refute the false opinion of the Jews about their predominant position in the Christian Church, we understand why the apostle so often and persistently repeats about justification by faith in Jesus Christ alone, without the works of the Jewish law. Bearing in mind also that the Apostle James wrote his epistle about the misunderstood teaching of the apostle Paul about justification by faith, one can understand why he teaches with particular force in his epistle about the necessity for salvation of works of piety, and not only faith.

b) From various auxiliary sources

Auxiliary sources of interpretation of the Holy Scriptures include:

Knowledge of those languages ​​in which the sacred books are written - mainly Hebrew and Greek, because in many cases the only way to understand the true meaning of this or that place in Scripture is to clarify its meaning from the word formation of the original text. For example, in Proverbs. 8:22 the saying "The Lord created me ..." is more accurately translated from the Hebrew original: "The Lord acquired (acquired) me ..." in the sense of "begotten." In Gen. 3:15 the Slavic expression about the seed of the woman, that it will "guard" the head of the serpent, is more precisely and clearly translated from the Hebrew so that it will "wipe off" the head of the serpent.

Comparison of different translations of the Holy Scriptures. Knowledge of ancient geography, and especially the geography of the Holy Land, as well as chronology (dates of events), in order to have a clear knowledge of the succession of historical events set forth in the Holy Books, as well as a clear idea of ​​​​the places where these events took place. This also includes archaeological information about the manners, customs and rituals of the Jewish people.

The mood of the soul when reading the word of God

One should begin to read the Holy Scriptures with reverence and readiness to accept the teachings contained in it as Divine Revelation. There should be no place for doubts, the desire to find shortcomings and contradictions in Scripture.

There must be sincere faith in the truth, importance, and saving power of what is being read, since it is the word of God, transmitted through the mediation of holy men under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Reverence is inseparable from a special spiritual fear and joy. These feelings should be kindled in oneself when reading the word of God, remembering the words of the Psalmist (Ps. 119:161-162). According to the saying of the All-Wise, "wisdom will not enter into an evil soul" (Wisdom 1:4). Therefore, for a successful study of the word of God, integrity of heart and holiness of life are essential. Therefore, in the prayer read before the beginning of the teaching, we ask: "cleanse us from all filth."

Remembering our weakness in everything, we must definitely know that without the help of God, the knowledge of His word is impossible.

Harmony of two revelations

Some topics covered by the Bible are also the domain of scientific research. Often, when comparing those with others, bewilderment and even, as if, contradictions arise. In fact, there are no contradictions.

The fact is that the Lord reveals himself to man in two ways: directly through the spiritual illumination of the human soul and through nature, which, by its structure, testifies to the wisdom, goodness and omnipotence of its Creator. Since the Source of these revelations - internal and external - is one, the contents of these revelations must complement each other and under no circumstances can be in conflict. Therefore, it must be recognized that between pure science, based on the facts of the study of nature, and Holy Scripture - this written witness of spiritual illumination - there must be complete agreement in everything related to the knowledge of God and His works. If throughout history there have sometimes been sharp conflicts between representatives of science and religion (mainly of the Catholic faith), then with a careful acquaintance with the causes of these conflicts, one can easily be convinced that they arose due to a pure misunderstanding. The fact is that religion and science have their own individual goals and their own methodology, and therefore they can only partially touch on some fundamental issues, but they cannot completely coincide.

"Conflicts" between science and religion arise when, for example, representatives of science express arbitrary and unfounded judgments about God, about the root cause of the emergence of the world and life, about the ultimate goal of human existence, etc. These judgments of learned people have no support in the very facts of science, but are built on superficial and hasty generalizations, completely unscientific. Similarly, conflicts between science and religion also arise when the representatives of religion wish to derive the laws of nature from their understanding of religious principles. For example, the Roman Inquisition condemned Galileo's doctrine of the rotation of the earth around the sun. It seemed to her that since God created everything for the sake of man, the earth should be in the center of the universe, and everything should revolve around it. This, of course, is a completely arbitrary conclusion, not based on the Bible, because being in the center of Divine care has nothing to do with the geometric center. physical world(which may not even exist). Atheists at the end of the last century and at the beginning of this century sneered at the Bible's account of God's original creation of light. They ridiculed the believers: "Where could the light come from when its source, the sun, did not yet exist!" But today's science has gone far from such a childishly naive idea of ​​light. According to the teachings of modern physics, both light and matter are different states of energy and can exist and pass into each other, regardless of star bodies. Fortunately, such conflicts between science and religion resolve themselves when the fervor of controversy is replaced by a deeper study of the issue.

Not all people can find a healthy harmony of faith and reason. Some people blindly believe in the human mind and are ready to agree with any theory, the most hasty and untested, for example: about the appearance of peace and life on earth, regardless of what the Holy Scripture says about this. Others suspect scientists of dishonesty and malice and are afraid to get acquainted with the positive discoveries of science in the fields of paleontology, biology and anthropology, so as not to shake their faith in the truth of Holy Scripture.

However, if we adhere to the following provisions, then we should never have serious conflicts between faith and reason:

Both Scripture and nature are true and mutually confirming witnesses of God and His works.

Man is a limited being, who does not fully understand either the secrets of nature or the depth of the truths of Holy Scripture in full measure.

What seems contradictory at this time can be explained when a person understand better what nature and the Word of God tell him.

At the same time, one must be able to distinguish the exact data of science from the assumptions and conclusions of scientists. Facts always remain facts, but scientific theories based on them often change completely when new data appears. Similarly, direct evidence of Scripture must be distinguished from interpretations of it. People understand Holy Scripture to the extent of their spiritual and intellectual development and the available stock of knowledge. Therefore, one cannot demand from the interpreters of Holy Scripture perfect infallibility in matters concerning both religion and science.

The theme of the emergence of the world and the appearance of man on earth is given by the Holy Scriptures only in the first two chapters of the book of Genesis. It must be said that in all world literature no book has been read with greater interest than this divinely inspired book. On the other hand, it seems that no other book has been subjected to such cruel and undeserved criticism as the book of Genesis. Therefore, in a number of subsequent articles, I would like to say something in defense of both this sacred book itself and the content of its first chapters. The forthcoming articles are supposed to cover the following topics: the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures, the author and the circumstances of writing the book of Genesis, the days of creation, man as a representative of two worlds, the spiritual qualities of primitive man, the religion of primitive people, the causes of unbelief, etc. d.

Dead Sea Scrolls

A. A. Oporin

Over the years, not only have critics denied the reality of the historical events described in the Bible, but they have also questioned the authenticity of the books of Scripture themselves. They argued that the books of the Bible were not written by the people whose names appear in the titles, that their spelling did not match the biblical dating, that all the prophecies were written backdating, and that the books of the Bible abound in a huge number of later inserts; finally, that the modern text of the Bible differs sharply from that which was many hundreds of years ago. Even some theologians and believers began to agree with this. But the true children of God, remembering the words of Christ: "Blessed are those who have not seen and believed" (John 20:29), always believed in the veracity of Scripture, although they did not have material evidence. But the time has come when such evidence appeared, and today scientists no longer question the fidelity, truth and immutability of the Bible.

Qumran community

One summer day in 1947, a Bedouin boy, Mohammed ed-Dhib, was tending a herd and accidentally discovered ancient leather scrolls in one of the caves. This cave was located 2 kilometers from the northwestern coast of the Dead Sea, in the town of Qumran. These few leather scrolls, sold for next to nothing by a little shepherd, prompted a sensational excavation.

Systematic excavations began in 1949 and continued until 1967 under the direction of R. De Vaux. In the course of them, a whole settlement was dug out, which died in the first century AD. This settlement belonged to the Jewish sect of the Essenes (in translation - doctors, healers). Along with the Pharisees and Sadducees, the Essenes were one of the branches of Judaism. They settled as a community in remote places, trying to have almost no contact with the outside world. They had common property, they did not have wives, believing that by doing so they would bind themselves to the sinful world. True, the presence of women and children in the community was not strictly prohibited. The Essenes strictly observed the letter of the law, which, according to them, could only save a person. The founder of the doctrine was a teacher of righteousness, who lived in the second century BC, who at one time parted ways with the religious circles of Israel and established his community in a monastic manner.

During the Jewish War, the community perished, but managed to hide their scrolls in hidden places, where they lay until 1947. It was these scrolls that produced a kind of explosion in scientific world. The Essenes were actively engaged in the study and rewriting of the Holy Scriptures, as well as the compilation of various commentaries on its individual books. The fact is that before this discovery, the oldest original of Scripture belonged to the tenth century A.D., which gave reason to critics to assert that over the thousand years that have passed since the fall of the Kingdom of Judah, the text has changed dramatically. But the discovery at Qumran silenced even the most zealous opponents of the Bible. Hundreds of texts of all the books of the Old Testament, except for the book of Esther, were found in eleven caves. When conducting a comparative analysis of them with the modern text of the Bible, it turned out that they are completely identical. Not a single letter of Scripture has changed in a thousand years. In addition, the authorship of the books of the Bible, which are in their titles, was proved. Even many places and chronology of the New Testament have been confirmed, such as the dating of the letter of the apostle Paul to the Colossians and the Gospel of John.

Holy Trinity Orthodox Mission
Copyright © 2001, Holy Trinity Orthodox Mission
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Editor: Bishop Alexander (Mileant)

Opening a book for reading - the holy Gospel - remember that it will decide your eternal fate. According to her we will be judged and, depending on what we were here on earth, in relation to her, we will receive either eternal bliss or eternal punishment. Do not be satisfied with one fruitless reading of the Gospel; try to fulfill his commandments, read his deeds. This is the book of life, and one must read it with life.

When reading, observe moderation. Temperance maintains a constant desire for reading, and satiation with reading produces an aversion to it.

The Spirit has spoken Scripture, and only the Spirit can interpret it. God-inspired men, prophets and apostles wrote it; God-inspired men, the Holy Fathers, interpreted it. Therefore, anyone who wants to acquire a true knowledge of the Holy Scriptures needs to read the Holy Fathers.

Many, all those who madly, arrogantly rejected the Holy Fathers, who approached the Gospel directly, with blind insolence, with an impure mind and heart, fell into disastrous error. They were rejected by the Gospel: it admits only the humble…

The books of the Holy Fathers, in the words of one of them, are like a mirror: looking at them carefully and often, the soul can see all its shortcomings.

Saint Ignatius (Bryanchaninov)

Reading only then will bring the desired benefit ...

When what is read will, to the best of its ability, enter into life, become the rule of life, and not simple, bare, soulless and cold knowledge. What good can it be that a man knows to pray and does not pray; knows that it is necessary to forgive insults - and does not forgive; knows that it is necessary to fast - and does not observe fasts; one must endure - and does not tolerate, etc. Such knowledge, according to the word of the Gospel, will even be a condemnation of a person. Therefore, you need to read with attention and try to live in the spirit of what you read. Of course, we cannot immediately become an executor of everything that is written - gradualness is needed.

It is best, if possible, to receive the blessing of a spiritual father for each reading. In the absence of such an opportunity, one should receive at least a general blessing on the order and choice of books to read.

The elders advise reading and rereading the works of the Holy Fathers... There is no limit to spiritual growth, so rereading has great value. It is better to reread a small number of books with reverence and attention than to read a lot hastily.

Reverend Nikon of Optina

Constant spiritual singing and reading of Scripture is the food of the soul, it is its decoration, it is its protection. On the contrary, not listening to the Scriptures is hunger and ruin for the soul. If you do not understand something, then accept it by simple faith; for it was God Himself who said it.

Saint John Chrysostom

Before you hear what needs to be done, you must promise that you will do it. One thought, that God speaks, banishes all contradiction and produces complete obedience.

Rev. Isidore Pelusiot

When you read, read with zeal and diligence; stop at each verse with great attention and do not only try to turn the sheets, but, if necessary, do not be lazy and twice, and thrice, and read the verse several times in order to comprehend its power. And when you sit down to read or listen to the reader, first pray to God, saying: “Lord Jesus Christ! Open the ears and eyes of my heart, that I may hear Thy words and understand them, and do Thy will; because I am a stranger on earth; do not hide from me, O Lord, Thy commandments, but open my eyes, and I will understand the wonders manifested by Thy law (Ps. 119:18-19). For I trust in You, my God, that You may enlighten my heart.”

Rev. Ephraim the Syrian

The humble and spiritually active, reading the Divine Scriptures, will refer everything to himself, and not to another.

Reverend Mark the Ascetic

When reading spiritual books, apply more to yourself, and not to others, what is written in them, otherwise, instead of applying a plaster to your ulcers, you impose a harmful poison. Read not for curiosity, but for teaching piety and knowing your weakness, and from this come to humility. Read books with humility, and the Lord will enlighten your hearts.

Venerable Macarius of Optina

First, pray to God to direct your mind to comprehend the Scriptures. What is clear, try to fulfill, and skip the incomprehensible, as the Holy Fathers advise. Holy Scripture must be read not for knowledge, but in order to save one's soul. And the study of the incomprehensible belongs to pride. The Holy Fathers advise reading the Holy Gospel daily; if it is very untimely, at least one conceived yet read. Do not read in such a way that you only read it, but inwardly pray to the Lord to open the eyes of your heart to comprehend the power of the holy gospel of Christ; read carefully, exactly in warehouses. By experience you will know the spiritual power emanating from such reading.

Schiegumen John (Alekseev).

If you only refine your mind from a book, but do not correct your will, then from reading a book you will be even angrier than before, since learned and reasonable fools are the most evil than simple ignoramuses.

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk

Who is from God, he listens to the words of God. (John 8, 47) No prophecy in Scripture can be solved by oneself (2 Pet. 1, 20). If a wise word is heard by a prudent one, he will praise it and apply it to himself. (Sir. 18, 18). Laying aside every impurity and remnant of wickedness, receive in meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls. Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. (James 1:21-22)

Cover of the modern 2004 edition of the Russian Orthodox Bible.

The word "Bible" is not found in the sacred books themselves and was first used in relation to the collection of sacred books in the east in the 4th century by John Chrysostom and Epiphanius of Cyprus.

Composition of the Bible

The Bible is made up of many parts that are combined into Old Testament and New Testament.

Old Testament (Tanakh)

The first part of the Bible in Judaism is called the Tanakh; in Christianity, it was called the "Old Testament", in contrast to the "New Testament". The name is also used Jewish bible". This part of the Bible is a collection of books written in Hebrew long before our era and selected as sacred from other literature by the Hebrew scribes. It is the Holy Scripture for all Abrahamic religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - however, it is canonized only in the first two named (in Islam, its laws are considered invalid, and also distorted).

The Old Testament consists of 39 books, artificially counted in the Jewish tradition as 22, according to the number of letters of the Hebrew alphabet, or 24, according to the number of letters of the Greek alphabet. All 39 books of the Old Testament are divided into three sections in Judaism.

• "Teaching" (Torah) - contains the Pentateuch of Moses:

• "Prophets" (Nevi'im) - contains books:
  • 1st and 2nd Samuel, or 1st and 2nd Samuel ( count as one book)
  • 3rd and 4th Kings, or 1st and 2nd Kings ( count as one book)
  • Twelve minor prophets count as one book)

• "Scriptures" (Ketuvim) - contains books:
  • Ezra and Nehemiah count as one book)
  • 1st and 2nd Chronicles, or Chronicles (Chronicles) ( count as one book)

Combining the Book of Ruth with the Book of Judges into one book, as well as the Lamentations of Jeremiah with the Book of Jeremiah, we get 22 books instead of 24. The ancient Jews considered twenty-two sacred books in their canon, as Josephus testifies. This is the composition and order of the books in the Hebrew Bible.

All these books are also considered canonical in Christianity.

New Testament

The second part of the Christian Bible is the New Testament, a collection of 27 Christian books (including 4 Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, the Epistles of the Apostles, and the book of Revelation of John the Evangelist (Apocalypse)), written in c. n. e. and come down to us in ancient Greek. This part of the Bible is the most important for Christianity, while Judaism does not consider it divinely inspired.

The New Testament consists of books belonging to eight divinely inspired writers: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Paul, James, and Jude.

In the Slavic and Russian Bibles, the books of the New Testament are placed in the following order:

• historical

teaching

• The Epistles of Peter
• The Epistles of John
• Paul's Epistles
  • to the Corinthians
  • to the Thessalonians
  • to Timothy

prophetic

The books of the New Testament are also placed in this order in the most ancient manuscripts - the Alexandrian and Vatican, the Rules of the Apostles, the Rules of the Councils of Laodicea and Carthage, and in many ancient Church Fathers. But such an arrangement of the books of the New Testament cannot be called universal and necessary, in some Bible collections there is a different arrangement of books, and now in the Vulgate and in the editions of the Greek New Testament the Catholic Epistles are placed after the Epistles of the Apostle Paul before the Apocalypse. There were many considerations in the placement of the books, but the timing of the writing of the books did not matter much, which can be seen most clearly from the placement of the Pauline Epistles. In the order indicated by us, we were guided by considerations regarding the importance of the places or churches to which the messages were sent: first, the letters written to whole churches were placed, and then the letters written to individuals. The exception is the Epistle to the Hebrews, which is in last place, not because of its low significance, but because of the fact that its authenticity has long been doubted. Based on chronological considerations, the Epistles of the Apostle Paul can be placed in this order:

• to the Thessalonians
  • 1st
• to the Galatians
• to the Corinthians
  • 1st
• to the Romans
• to Philemon
• to the Philippians
• to Titus
• to Timothy
  • 1st

Deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament

Apocrypha

Jewish scribes, starting from the 4th century. BC e., and the Church Fathers in the II-IV centuries. n. e., selected books in the "Word of God" from a considerable number of manuscripts, writings, monuments. What was not included in the selected canon remained outside the Bible and constitutes apocryphal literature (from the Greek ἀπόκρυφος - hidden), accompanying the Old and New Testaments.

At one time, the leaders of the Hebrew "Great Assembly" (administrative and theological scholars of the synclite of the 4th-3rd centuries BC) and subsequent Jewish religious authorities, and in Christianity, the Fathers of the Church, who formalized it on the initial path, worked hard, cursing, banning as heretical and out of line with the accepted text, and simply destroying books that didn't meet their criteria. Relatively few apocrypha have survived - just over 100 Old Testament and about 100 New Testament. The latest excavations and discoveries in the area of ​​the Dead Sea caves in Israel have especially enriched science. Apocrypha, in particular, help us to understand the ways in which the formation of Christianity took place, from what elements its dogma was formed.

History of the Bible

page from the Vatican Codex

Writing the Books of the Bible

• Codex Alexandrinus (lat. Codex Alexandrinus), held in the British Museum Library
• Vatican Codex (lat. Codex Vaticanus), kept in Rome
• Codex Sinaiticus (lat. Codex Sinaiticus), stored in Oxford, formerly in the Hermitage

All of them are dated (paleographically, that is, on the basis of the “handwriting style”) of the 4th century BC. n. e. The language of the codices is Greek.

In the 20th century, the Qumran manuscripts, discovered, starting from the year, in a number of caves in the Judean Desert and in Masada, became widely known.

Division into chapters and verses

The ancient Old Testament text was not divided into chapters and verses. But very early (probably after the Babylonian captivity), some divisions appeared for liturgical purposes. The oldest division of the Law into 669 so-called parshas, ​​adapted for public reading, is found in the Talmud; the current division into 50 or 54 slops dates back to the time of the Masorah and is not found in ancient synagogue lists. Also in the Talmud there are already divisions of the prophets into goftars - the final sections, this name was adopted because they were read at the end of the service.

Divisions into chapters of Christian origin and made in the XIII century. or Cardinal Hugon, or Bishop Stephen. When compiling the concordance for the Old Testament, Hugon, for the most convenient indication of places, divided each book of the Bible into several small sections, which he designated with letters of the alphabet. The division now accepted was introduced by the Bishop of Canterbury, Stephen Langton (died in ). In r. he divided the text of the Latin Vulgate into chapters, and this division was transferred to the Hebrew and Greek texts.

Then in the fifteenth century Rabbi Isaac Nathan, in compiling the Hebrew concordance, divided each book into chapters, and this division is still maintained in the Hebrew Bible. The division of poetic books into verses is already given in the very nature of Jewish versification and therefore of very ancient origin; it is found in the Talmud. The New Testament was first divided into verses in the 16th century.

The verses were first numbered by Santes Panino (died in 1994), then, near the city, by Robert Etienne. The current system of chapters and verses first appeared in the 1560 English Bible. The division is not always logical, but it is already too late to refuse it, let alone change anything: for four centuries it has settled in links, comments and alphabetical indexes.

The Bible in the Religions of the World

Judaism

Christianity

If the 27 books of the New Testament are the same for all Christians, then Christians have major differences in their views on the Old Testament.

The fact is that where the Old Testament is quoted in the books of the New Testament, these quotations are most often given according to the Greek translation of the Bible of the 3rd-2nd centuries. BC e., called, thanks to the legend of the 70 translators, the Septuagint (in Greek - seventy), and not according to the Hebrew text adopted in Judaism and called by scientists Masoretic(by the name of the ancient Jewish biblical theologians who organized the sacred manuscripts).

In fact, it was the list of books of the Septuagint, and not the later "cleansed" collection of the Masoretes, that became traditional for the Ancient Church as a collection of books of the Old Testament. Therefore, all the Ancient Churches (in particular, the Armenian Apostolic Church) consider all the books of the Bible read by the apostles and Christ himself to be equally blessed and inspired by God, including those called “deuterocanonical” in modern biblical studies.

The Catholics also, having trusted the Septuagint, accepted these texts into their Vulgate - the early medieval Latin translation of the Bible, canonized by Western ecumenical councils, and equated them with the rest of the canonical texts and books of the Old Testament, recognizing them equally inspired by God. These books are known to them as the Deuterocanonical or Deuterocanonical.

The Orthodox include 11 deuterocanonical books and inserts into the rest of the books in the Old Testament, but with the note that they "have come down to us in Greek" and are not part of the main canon. They put inserts in canonical books in brackets and stipulate with notes.

Non-canonical book characters

• Archangel Sariel
• Archangel Jerahmiel

Sciences and teachings related to the Bible

see also

• Tanakh - Hebrew Bible

Literature

• Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - St. Petersburg: 1890-1907.
• McDowell, Josh. Evidence for the Reliability of the Bible: Reason for Reflection and Basis for Decision: Per. from English. - St. Petersburg: Christian Society "Bible for All", 2003. - 747 p. - ISBN 5-7454-0794-8, ISBN 0-7852-4219-8 (en.)
• Doyel, Leo. Testament of eternity. In Search of Biblical Manuscripts. - St. Petersburg: "Amphora", 2001.
• Nesterova O. E. The theory of the plurality of "meanings" of Holy Scripture in the medieval Christian exegetical tradition // Genres and forms in the written culture of the Middle Ages. - M.: IMLI RAN, 2005. - S. 23-44.
• Kryvelev I. A. Bible book. - M.: Publishing house of socio-economic literature, 1958.

Footnotes and sources

Links

Bible texts and translations

• More than 25 translations of the Bible and its parts and a quick search in all translations. Ability to create hyperlinks to passages in the Bible. Ability to listen to the text of any of the books.
• Literal translation from Greek of some books of the New Testament into Russian
• Review of Russian translations of the Bible (with the ability to download)
• "Your Bible" - Russian Synodal translation with search and comparison of versions (Ukrainian translation by Ivan Ogienko and English King James Version
• Interlinear translation of the Bible from Greek into Russian
• Text of the Old and New Testaments in Russian and Church Slavonic
• Bible on algart.net - online text of the Bible with cross-references, including the complete Bible on one page
• Electronic Bible and Apocrypha - repeatedly verified text of the Synodal Translation
• Superbook - one of the most complete Bible sites with non-trivial, but very powerful navigation