Bible
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for Bible. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
the book, in comparison with which other literary productions are not dignified with the name worthy to be of books; or, if they be called books, it then becomes the Book of books. The idea just expressed is founded on the etymology derived originally from the in the Christian Greeks, but now rooted languages of all the nations of Christendom. The first to use the term biblia in this sense is said to have been Chrysostom, who flourished in the 5th century. The word scripture or scriptures, writing, ng, from the Latin scriptura = scripturæ = writings, conveys the analogous idea that the Scriptures are alone worthy of being called writings. This use of the word came originally from the Latin fathers, but it has been adopted not merely by the English, but by the other Christian nations of Europe. The Church of Rome does not differ from the several Protestant denominations respecting the Divine authority of the books which the latter accept as canonical; it combines, however, with them the Apocrypha and Church traditions, regarding faith and morals, which Protestants reject. Articles of faith and symbolical books do not always express the real belief of all who nominally assent to them; and scattered through the several churches are a very large number of persons who contains a revelahold that the Bible tion from God, instead of being of itself the Word of God; while a small number deny the Scriptures all special inspiration, and deal with them as freely as they would with the Mohammedan Koran, the Hindu Vedas, etc. The Bible consists of 66 books, constituting an organic whole. In the Authorized English Version the Bible is divided into the Old and New Testaments, the former containing 39, and the latter 27 books. The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, except Jer. x: 11; Ezra iv: 8 to vi: 18; vii: 12 to 26; and Dan. ii: from middle of verse 4 to vii: 28, which are East Aramæan (Chaldee). The New Testament was originally written in Greek, with the exception, perhaps, of St. Matthew's Gospel, which the Christian fathers, Papias, Irenæus, Pantænus, Origen, Jerome, etc., state to have been published originally in Aramæan. The order of the books in the Hebrew Bible is different from that which obtains in the English Scriptures, which, in this respect, follow the Greek Septua- The Jews gint and the Latin Vulgate. divided the Old Testament primarily into three portions, called the Law, the Prophets, and the Kethubim, or, in Greek, the Hagiographa. The following classification list exhibits the order and of the books in the Hebrew Bible: I. Torah, the Law: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. II. Nebiim, the Prophets: (1) The former prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings. (2) The later prophets: a) The great prophets: Isaiah, Jeresmall or minor (a) miah, Ezekiel. (b) The prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zeph aniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi. books; in Greek III. Kethubim = Hagiographa = holy writings: (1) Truth: P Psalms, Proverbs. (2) The five rolls: Job, Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles. A convenient classification for modern use divides the Old Testament books into three classes: (1) The Historical Books: Genesis-Ezra. (1) The Poetical Books: Job-Song of Solomon. (3) The Prophetical Books: Isaiah-Malachi, A similar division for the New Testament is into: (1) Historical Books: Matthew-The Acts of the Apostles, (2) Epistles: Romans Jude. (3) The Prophetical Book: Revelation. The Old Testament is said to have been collected and arranged by Ezra between 458 and 450 B. C. The Apocrypha are considered inspired writings by the Roman Catholics, but not by the Jews and Protestants. OLD TESTAMENT B. C. Genesis contains the history of the from 4004-1635 world 1635-1490 Exodus. 1490 Leviticus 1490-1451 Numbers Deuteronomy 1451 about 1520 Job from 1451-1420 Joshua 1425-1120 Judges 1322-1312 Ruth 1171-1017 I and II Samuel 1015-562 I and II Kings. 1004-536 I and II Chronicles Book of Psalms (chiefly by David) 1063-1015 about 1000-700 Proverbs, written. about 1014 Song of Solomon. about 977 Ecclesiastes about 862 Jonah about 800 Joel 785-725 about Hosea about 787 Amos 760-698 Isaiah about 750-710 about Micah 713 .about Nahum about 630 Zephaniah 629-538 about Jeremiah. about 538 Lamentations about 626 Habakkuk 607-534 from Daniel 595-574 from Ezekiel. B. C. about 587 Obadiah about 536-456 Ezra Esther about 520 Haggai 520-518 about Zechariah 446-434 about Nehemiah .. about 397 Malachi NEW TESTAMENT A. D. GOSPELS by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and .5 b. c.-33 John. 33-65 Acts of the Apostles. EPISTLES-I and II of Paul to Thes- 54 about salonians 58 To Galatians 59 1st Corinthians 60 2d Corinthians Romans Of James. 60 1st of Peter To Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Hebrews, Philemon 65 Titus, and 1st to Timothy. 66 2d to Timothy. 66 2d of Peter Of Jude 1st, 2d, and 3d of John 96 Revelation The most ancient copy of the Hebrew Scriptures existed at Toledo, called the Codex of Hillel; it was of very early date, probably of the 4th century after Christ; some say about 60 years before Christ. The copy of Ben Asher, of Jerusalem, was made about 1100. The reputed oldest copy of the Old and New Testament in Greek, is that in the Vatican, in Rome, which was written in the 4th or 5th century.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
the Scriptures. The word is of Greek origin, signifying a book or books. Both meanings are retained. At time of prayers, the head of the family says, "Hand me `The Book.'" In the plural, the Bible is a library of the sacred literature of the Hebrews contained in sixty-six books. With the exception of a few chapters, the thirty-nine books of the Old Testament were written originally in Hebrew. The twenty-seven books of the New Testament were written wholly in Greek. It is convenient to divide the books of the Old Testament into five groups. The first five books are called the Pentateuch (pen-ta-took); Joshua, Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther are historical; the book of Job, the Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon are poetical. In the original Hebrew they have the form of poems. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel are the four greater prophets, the other writers from Hosea to Malachi are the twelve minor prophets. The New Testament is divided into the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, the Acts, the Epistles, and the Revelation of St. John. The country of the Hebrews lay in the great pathway between the Euphrates and the Nile, the cradles of ancient civilization. The route of travel bent northward to avoid the sands of Arabia. The Hebrews were buffeted back and forth by the two powers, and afterward came under the sway of the Greeks and Romans. It is not strange, therefore, that the phraseology of the Scriptures should be colored by a sojourn in many lands. From a literary point of view, however, the Scriptures of the Old Testament are related closely to the literature of Babylonia. The New Testament is decidedly Greek in its style and wording. The translators have had much difficulty in finding English equivalents for the names of peoples, cities, coins, weights and measures, herbs, shrubs, trees, flowers, animals, birds, serpents, and insects. The names in the original are drawn from many sources and lands, and many have not been identified with certainty. The question of just what writings should be accorded a place in the Bible is yet an open one. A compromise of long standing assigns a number of books a half way position in what is known as the Apocrypha. None of the original manuscripts have been preserved. It is impossible to state or even infer the number of copyings through which the texts have passed before the oldest manuscripts now known were written. The oldest Hebrew copies date from the tenth century. The oldest Greek copies date from the fourth century. The first printed book was a part of the Old Testament in Latin. The first complete printed Bible is believed to have been issued in 1488. Luther's Bible was completed in 1534. The text of the Dutch Bible was adopted in 1637; the French Geneva Bible in 1535; the Danish Bible in 1550, and finally, after revision, in 1647; the Swedish in 1541. The standard English Bible of the Catholic church is known as the Douay Bible. It was published in France in 1609. Caedmon paraphrased the Bible story in Anglo-Saxon about 670 A. D. King Alfred translated portions, but his Bible has been lost. The first considerable translation into English was accomplished by Wyclif 1380-2. Tyndale's Bible appeared in 1525. A score of other translations appeared from time to time. The ordinary text is that known as the King James Bible. It is known among Protestants as the Authorized Version. It was prepared in the reign of James I by a committee of forty-seven scholars and appeared in 1611. This is the Bible of English speaking peoples, the "Book" of family devotions, the source of literary allusions, the book that gave form to the English language and shape to Anglo-Saxon civilization. A Revised Version was decided upon by the Church of England in 1870. Two companies of twenty-seven divines each were organized. A committee of Americans was invited to cooperate. The revision of the New Testament appeared in 1881; the Old Testament was ready in 1884. The changes from the King James Bible are numerous, but most of them are of minor character. Bibles are published entire in over a hundred different languages. In 1907 partial copies were issued in 409 languages. There are about eighty Bible societies engaged in circulating the Scriptures. The British and Foreign Bible Society alone issues not far from 4,000,000 copies annually. The American Bible Society issues half as many. It was organized in 1816 and has circulated over 75,000,000 copies. This society sells the New Testament as low as six cents per copy, and the entire Bible for seventeen cents. See Tyndale ; Wyclif ; Douay ; Printing ; Septuagint 2026 Editor's Note: The Bible remains the best-selling book in history — billions of copies, with complete translations in more than 700 languages. Its scholarship was transformed by a chance discovery: the Dead Sea Scrolls , found in caves from 1947, pushed the oldest known Hebrew manuscripts back a thousand years and showed how remarkably faithfully the text had been copied. (Ed: BR 2026-07-18)