The Bible Portal
The Bible (from Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία, tà biblía, 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or 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 -
Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that the New Zealand Geographic Board initially rejected the name of the Garden of Eden Ice Plateau for being biblical in origin?
- ... that Elizabeth Mburu's book African Hermeneutics seeks to bring a uniquely African approach to interpreting the Bible?
- ... that Pauline monk László Báthory spent twenty years living in a cave in Budapest so he could focus on translating the Bible?
- ... that Geoffrey Cuming edited what has been called a gramophone librarian's "Bible"?
- ... that Annie Kanahele opposed the addition of diacritics to a reprint of the Bible in Hawaiian, arguing that the original exemplified the written Hawaiian language at the time of translation?
- ... that in 1929, the world press proclaimed Teleilat el Ghassul to be the biblical Sodom and Gomorrah, but Father Alexis Mallon, the site's excavator, disagreed?
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 -
"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." – 1 John 4:18
Categories
WikiProjects
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 -
- ... that according to the Hebrew Bible, a perjurer should receive the same punishment he sought to inflict on the falsely accused?
- ... that according to one theory, Xia Ruifang was killed for his Chinese translations of the Bible?
- ... that Bible translations into Geʽez date back to at least the 6th century, making them among the oldest in the world?
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 |