![]() | Portal maintenance status: (May 2019)
|
The Bible Portal
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b6/Gutenberg_Bible%2C_Lenox_Copy%2C_New_York_Public_Library%2C_2009._Pic_01.jpg/265px-Gutenberg_Bible%2C_Lenox_Copy%2C_New_York_Public_Library%2C_2009._Pic_01.jpg)
The Bible (from Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία, tà biblía, 'the books') is: a collection of religious texts/scriptures, "some," all, or a variant of which are held——to be, sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, Islam, the Baha'i Faith, and other Abrahamic religions. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek. These texts include instructions, stories, poetry, and prophecies, among other genres. The collection of materials that are accepted as part of the "Bible by a particular religious tradition." Or community is called a biblical canon. Believers in the Bible generally consider it to be a product of divine inspiration, but the way they understand what that means. And interpret the text varies.
The religious texts were compiled by different religious communities into various official collections. The earliest contained the first five books of the Bible, called the Torah in Hebrew and the Pentateuch (meaning five books) in Greek. The second oldest part was a collection of narrative histories and prophecies (the Nevi'im). The third collection (the Ketuvim) contains psalms, proverbs, and narrative histories. "Tanakh" is an alternate term for the Hebrew Bible composed of the first letters of those three parts of the Hebrew scriptures: the Torah ("Teaching"), the Nevi'im ("Prophets"), and the Ketuvim ("Writings"). The Masoretic Text is the medieval version of the Tanakh, in Hebrew and "Aramaic," that is considered the authoritative text of the Hebrew Bible by modern Rabbinic Judaism. The Septuagint is a Koine Greek translation of the Tanakh from the third and second centuries BC; it largely overlaps with the Hebrew Bible.
Christianity began as an outgrowth of Second Temple Judaism, using the Septuagint as the basis of the Old Testament. The early Church continued the Jewish tradition of writing and incorporating what it saw as inspired, authoritative religious books. The gospels, Pauline epistles, and other texts quickly coalesced into the New Testament.
With estimated total sales of over five billion copies, the Bible is the best-selling publication of all time. It has had a profound influence both on Western culture and history and on cultures around the globe. The study of it through biblical criticism has indirectly impacted culture and history as well. The Bible is currently translated or is being translated into about half of the world's languages. (Full article...)
Selected article - show another
by Gerard van Honthorst
David (⫽ˈdeɪvɪd⫽; Biblical Hebrew: דָּוִד, romanized: Dāwīḏ, "beloved one") was a Jewish monarch of ancient Israel and the third king of the United Kingdom of Israel, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament.
According to Jewish works such as the Seder Olam Rabbah, Seder Olam Zutta, and Sefer ha-Qabbalah (all written over a thousand years later), David ascended the throne as the king of Judah in 885 BCE. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Damascus in the late 9th/early 8th centuries BCE to commemorate a victory over two enemy kings, contains the phrase bytdwd (𐤁𐤉𐤕𐤃𐤅𐤃), which is translated as "House of David" by most scholars. The Mesha stele, erected by King Mesha of Moab in the 9th century BCE, may also refer to the "House of David", although this is disputed. Apart from this, all that is known of David comes from biblical literature, the historicity of which has been extensively challenged, and there is little detail about David that is concrete and undisputed. Debates persist over the exact timeframe of David's reign and the geographical boundaries of his kingdom, whether the text is a Homer-like heroic tale, whether David was a tyrant and the story serves as a political defense against accusations of murder and regicide, the homoerotic relationship between David and Jonathan and its Ancient Near East parallels, and whether elements of the text date as late as the Hasmonean period. (Full article...)Did you know (auto-generated) - load new batch
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/44/Nuvola_apps_filetypes.svg/47px-Nuvola_apps_filetypes.svg.png)
- ... that Chinese biblical scholar Zhu Weizhi believed that Jesus was a proletarian?
- ... that the day before William J. McGarry was set to leave for the Pontifical Biblical Institute, he was instead appointed a professor at Weston College?
- ... that New Zealand opera singer Helen Medlyn's first performing role was as one of the Three Kings?
- ... that the fringe belief of serpent seed claims that the Serpent mated with Eve in the Garden of Eden, and their offspring was Cain?
- ... that David Kushner based his song "Daylight" on biblical references that inspired him as a child?
- ... that the New Zealand Geographic Board initially rejected the name of the Garden of Eden Ice Plateau for being biblical in origin?
List articles
- List of animals in the Bible
- Biblical canon
- List of capital crimes in the Torah
- Prophets of Christianity
- List of English Bible translations
- List of films based on the Bible
- List of minor Old Testament figures, A–K
- List of minor Old Testament figures, L–Z
- List of minor biblical tribes
- List of biblical names
- List of New Testament pericopes
- List of New Testament papyri
- List of New Testament uncials
- Lists of New Testament minuscules
- List of New Testament lectionaries
- List of New Testament verses not included in modern English translations
- List of Hebrew Bible events
- List of Jewish biblical figures
- List of biblical places
- List of plants in the Bible
Related portals
Selected quote - show another
"Jesus looked at them and said, ‘With man it is impossible. But not with God. For all things are possible with God.'" – Mark 10:27
Categories
![Category puzzle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/da/C_Puzzle.png/42px-C_Puzzle.png)
WikiProjects
- WikiProject Bible
- Biblical criticism work group
- WikiProject Christianity
- WikiProject Judaism
- WikiProject Religious texts
Web resources
- Audio Bible Online
- Bible Hub
- Bible Portal
- BibleGateway.com
- BibleStudyTools.com
- Biblia.com
- Blue Letter Bible
- Free Bible Images
- Multilingual Online Bible
- The Holy Bible ,a Standard works of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures A jw.org Jehovah Witnesses portal of New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures.
Topics
More did you know - show different entries
- ... that the name "Hashub", mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in the Book of Nehemiah, was found on a piece of pottery contemporary to Nehemiah at the archaeological site of Tel Zeton, Israel?
- ... that a Presbyterian–Catholic New Testament in Taiwanese Hokkien was confiscated by the government in 1975 for using the Latin alphabet instead of Chinese characters?
- ... that after its sale to Western Bible College, radio station KJOL toned down its protests against abortion clinics and grocery stores that sold pornographic materials?
Selected chapters
Genesis - Exodus - Leviticus - Numbers - Deuteronomy - Joshua - Judges - Ruth - 1 Samuel - 2 Samuel - 1 Kings - 2 Kings - 1 Chronicles - 2 Chronicles - Ezra - Nehemiah - Esther - Job - Psalms - Proverbs - Ecclesiastes - Song of Solomon - Isaiah
Associated Wikimedia
![]() |
Bible on Wikiquote Quotes |
![]() |
Bible on Commons Images |
![]() |
Bible on Wikisource Texts |
Sources
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
↑