Where is the REAL UNREVISED BIBLE?

Question

Since we have a new and old testament in the bible and it has been revised a lot, I'm wondering where are the originals of the books comprising the bible and in what language are they written.

Please this is a serious question. Thank you

Thank you for all those who answered without being sarcastic. I am very grateful.

And for those who did I don't think you understood my question or just plain ignored the essence of my question. I am not saying that I wanted to read it. Did i say I wanted to read it? All I asked was where is the real unrevised bible is it that bad to ask? And FYI I am a catholic. Do I need to have an ulterior motive to want to know this? I am not saying that the bibles out are not real. Please read carefully. I asked for the original unrevised one!

Answer 1

The Languages Of The Bible


1. Were all the books of the Bible originally written in one language?
No, besides Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic were used.

2. What books were written in Hebrew?
Almost all the books of the Old Testament.

3. What books were written in Greek?
In the Old Testament, the Second Book of Machabees and the Book of Wisdom; in the New Testament, all books except the Gospel of St. Matthew.

4. What books were written in Aramaic?
The Gospel of St. Matthew.

5. When were the books of the Old Testament, that were originally written in Hebrew, translated into Greek?
About 220 years before Christ.

6. Why was the translation from Hebrew into Greek made?
Because the Jewish people was dispersed into countries where the Greek tongue predominated, and so it gradually forgot the mother tongue, speaking only Greek. Hence the wish to have the Bible in the Greek tongue.

The Septuagint Version

1. Who were the translators of the Old Testament?
The translators of the Old Testament were Jewish scholars well acquainted with both the Hebrew and the Greek languages.

2. By what name is this translation known?
It is known as the Septuagint Version.

3. Why is it called by that name?
It is called by that name because it was commonly supposed that seventy scholars were employed in the work of translating.

4. Was it known by any other name besides that of the Septuagint?
It was known as the Alexandrian Version to distinguish it from the Hebrew or Palestinian Version.

5. Why was it known as the "Alexandrian Bible?"
Because this translation was made in Alexandria, Egypt, which had the biggest and most vibrant Jewish community outside of Israel.

6. Is there any other difference between the Septuagint and the Palestinian version, besides their language?
Several; The Septuagint contains more books than the Palestinian version and is about three hundred years older. The Palestinian Version originated approximately around 106 A.D. and is different from the Hebrew texts that were the basis for the Septuagint translation.

7. Why does the Septuagint have more books than the Palestinian version?
The translators had a well-founded belief that these books were inspired.

8. Were these added books accepted by the Hebrews?
Yes, but only up until 106 A.D., when the Palestinian, known also as the pharisaic version, became the norm.

9. Was the Septuagint Version much in use in Our Lord's time?
It was used not only by the Greek-speaking Jews but also by the Palestinian Jews; Our Lord and the Apostles frequently quoted it.

10. Did this Greek translation of the Bible help to spread Christianity?
It helped very much, because Gentiles, particularly the Greek philosophers, had read it, and had knowledge of the prophecies referring to the Messiah, with the result that when St. Paul preached to them, many converts were made.


The Vulgate

1. Name again the languages of the Old Testament before the time of Christ.
Hebrew and Greek.

2. In what languages did the Apostles write their Gospels and Epistles?
They wrote their Gospels and Epistles in Greek, except St. Matthew, who wrote his Gospel in Aramaic.

3. How did translations in languages other than Hebrew and Greek come into existence?
As Catholicism spread among peoples of different languages, the demand for the Bible in their various languages grew.

4. Name some of the earlier languages into which the Bible was translated.
Armenian, Syrian, Coptic, Arabic, and Ethiopian.

5. Was the Bible translated into Latin?
Many translations into Latin were made during the early Catholic centuries.

6. Were these Latin translations satisfactory?
No; many inaccuracies existed, due to errors of the copyists, or errors of translation caused by a poor understanding of the original language.

7. Which of the Latin translations was the best known?
The best known Latin translation was either the "Old African" or the "Old Italian" (Vetus Itala).

8. What was the result of the general dissatisfaction with these Latin translations?
Pope Damasus (Pope from 366 to 384) commissioned St. Jerome to make a new and accurate translation.

9. How did St Jerome go about this work?
He studied carefully the Hebrew and Greek versions, and from these made his new translation.

10. By what name is the Latin translation of St. Jerome known?
It is known as the Vulgate Version. Vulgate means common or vulgar in Latin and it was called so because Latin was the common tongue of the Western Roman Empire.

11. Does the Vulgate have the Church's special approval?
The Council of Trent (Italy) in 1546 declared it to be the only authentic and official version for the Latin Rite: " The same Sacred and Holy Synod ... hereby declares and enacts that the same well-known Old Latin Vulgate edition ... is to be held authentic in public readings, disputations,sermons, and expositions, and that no one shall dare or presume to reject it under any pretense whatsoever." (DZ. 785). It is still the official Catholic Bible today.


The Douay Bible

1. Is there a Catholic translation of the Bible in English?
Yes, it is the translation known as the Douay-Rheims Version. It was translated from the Latin Vulgate.

2. Why is it called "Douay-Rheims"?
Because it was begun at Rheims and finished at Douay in 1582-1609 by a group of English priests exiled in France.

3. What happened in the sixteenth century to cause the publication of a reliable and accurate translation?
During the Protestant "Deformation" in England many false translations had been made, hence there was great necessity of placing in the hands of Catholics a reliable and accurate translation.

4. Is it true that the Bible was never translated into vernacular languages before the Protestant Deformation?
It is not true; the first translation known in England was the translation into Anglo-Saxon made by Venerable Bede in the eighth century. There is a Gothic translation, made by a certain bishop Ulfilas around 380. The first German translation predates Luther by a good fifty years.

5. Why do Protestants assert that the Bible was never translated before the Deformation?
Through a mixture of ignorance and bad faith.

6. What is the most well known of the false English Protestant translations?
It is the version called the "King James," named after the King who commissioned it in 1604. It was finished in 1611. It is still the most popular of the Protestant Bibles in the English speaking world.

7. What is wrong with the "King James" version?
Like all the Protestant Bibles, it is incomplete and poorly translated. It is a "Pick and choose" version. Such is the real lack of respect of the "Reformers" for the word of God!

Differences Between Catholic And Protestant Versions

1. Does the Catholic version of the Bible differ from Protestant versions?
Yes, in many ways.

2. What is the most noticeable difference?
The most noticeable difference is the absence of seven whole books and parts of two others from the Protestant versions.

3. What books are not contained in the Protestant version?
The Deutero-Canonical Books (See lesson 6).

4. Why are the Deutero-Canonical Books Omitted by Protestants?
Because the Protestant versions of the Bible follow the late Palestinian version of the Bible, which also omits these books (See lesson 8).

5. Name another difference between the Catholic and Protestant versions.
Many important arbitrary changes are found in the texts of the Protestant Bible. According to some scholars, the most popular Protestant Bibles have literally hundreds of mistranslations, additions and omissions.

6. To what do such changes of text lead?
They lead to an entirely different interpretation from the one intended by the Sacred Writer.

7. Give an example of this change of text.
St Paul says, "... Being therefore justified by Faith ..." (Rom. V, 1), and Luther inserted the word "alone" so that the text reads, "Being therefore justified by faith alone."

8. Why were the Reformers so anxious to change texts?
They were anxious to change texts to give force to the particular doctrine of their choice.

9. Should that behavior of the Reformers raise some questions in our mind?
Yes, what did they believe exactly concerning the Bible? Either they did not believe it was the Word of God, and therefore felt free to change it any which way; or if they did believe it was the Word of God, it took a lot of pride and presumption to correct God's word. In either case, they should be called "Deformers" rather than Reformers.

10. Name other differences between the King James version and the Douay version.
The King James version has a preference for words of Anglo-Saxon origin whereas the Douay version freely uses words of Latin origin. The Douay version latinizes the name of some books while the King James gives what they thought at the time to be the Hebrew name. Many Protestant versions other than King James omit the Epistle of St. James.

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

There is no single unrevised version of the Bible, since we do not have the originals. What we do is compare the oldest versions that we can find, and see if there have been any changes.

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Try these:

The King James Version (KJV) — Translated in 1611 by 47 scholars using the Byzantine family of manuscripts, Textus Receptus. This remains as a good version of the Bible. It has been the most reliable translation for over three centuries, but its Elizabethan style Old English is difficult for modern readers, especially youth. This is still a good translation for those who can deal with the language.


The New American Standard Bible (NASB) — Translated in 1971 by 58 scholars of the Lockman Foundation, from Kittle’s Biblia Hebraica and Nestle’s Greek New Testament 23rd ed., which include the Alexandrian Family codices. Though academic in tone, it is said to be the most exact English translation available. A very good version.


The Living Bible (TLB) — A paraphrased rendition of the King James Version by Kenneth Taylor in 1971. This is not a genuine translation, but is a type of phrase-by-phrase commentary that was originally intended to help the author’s own children understand the scriptures. It is useful for inspiration and commentary, but for serious Bible study it should only be used in conjunction with a legitimate translation.


The New International Version (NIV) — Over 100 translators completed this work in 1978 which was composed from Kittle’s, Nestle’s and United Bible Society’s texts, which include the Alexandrian Family codices. This is considered an “open” style translation. It is a good, easy to read version.


The New King James Version (NKJV) — 130 translators, commissioned by Thomas Nelson Publishers, produced this version from the Byzantine family (Textus Receptus) in 1982. This is a revision of the King James version, updated to modern English with minor translation corrections and retention of traditional phraseology. This is a very good version.

Answer 4

The Scriptures commonly known as the Old Testament were written in Hebrew. The New Testament was written in Greek.

Thousands of years ago, there were no printing machines and so every manuscript was copied by hand. Every single time the manuscripts were copied, there was the possibility of copyists editing, revising, cutting, adding, and also just making errors.

Scrolls only lasted a few decades, so for every century that went by there were several generations of copying. By the time we get to the modern age and the invention of the printing press, these texts were revised literally hundreds and hundreds of times.

A good scholarly edition of the Bible will have footnotes explaining where there is textual corruption, etc., so you can get a basic idea of what our best texts say. But there's no way to get back to what the original authors wrote. That was lost thousands of years ago.

Answer 5

Unfortunately, none of these original manuscripts exist today. Well over 3000 years have passed since Moses first penned the book of Genesis. None of his own writing has survived, but copies have been made down through the centuries.

Ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek

The real question about the location of God's Word is actually a very personal one. The real question is not in which museum it is housed, but does it find lodging in your heart? If it's located there, then a second question arises. Are you translating its message into the drama of your life day by day?

God Bless You

Answer 6

If original copies of the books of the bible still exist somewhere, I can guarantee you they are locked in the deepest, darkest vault of the Vatican where nobody can ever find them. The closest you are going to get is to look at manuscripts like the dead-sea scrolls or the Nag Hammadi manuscripts. Many of these are not part of the Bible per se, being Gnostic or Hermetic instead, but there are some fragments here and there. I know the Dead-Sea scrolls especially have bits and pieces from alll over the bible.

There used to be an online collection of photos of both the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Nag Hammadi Library, but I think it's been removed for copyright reasons. You'll have to find out at which museum they can be viewed. I believe the Dead Sea Scrolls are at the Library of Congress in the US.

The Nag Hammadi Library can be read be seen online at:
http://www.gnosis.org/naghamm/nhl.html
And the Dead Sea Scrolls at
http://www.gnosis.org/library/dss/dss.htm

Answer 7

Hey! good, serious question.

The short answer is "there ain't one."

The Bible was collected over a number of years and was written by people froma variety of perspectives, all attempting to articulate the experience of Israel (OT)or the early Christian community (NT). It is a collection of creation stories (genesis), folk tales (also in genesis), poems (psalms), short stories (job), histories (Chronicles/Acts), letters (Romans), the Gospels (Matthew), and apocalyptic literature (Revelation, Daniel), some of which started off as oral literature transferred from generation to generation....

Christian literature, too, emerged after the death of Jesus--remember this was a movement of people--nobody was creating press releases, and then after the crucifixion, it became an apocalyptic movement where early Christians were concerned about the end of the world, so they weren't writing much either, until it became obvious that the return of Jesus wasn't happening...just...yet....hence the early Christian lit, such as the Gospels, the letters, the acts, the apocalypses, and even tracts on practice, like the didache.

As the Church evolved from movement to institution, the question of scripture was debated for a long time, it wasn't until the 4th or 5th century that Athanasius (who was himself booted as a heretic a time or two) presented the canon of scripture that is now accepted by Christians as the Bible.

There are lots of Good textbooks ou there on the history of the Bible. Good luck in your searching!

Answer 8

Since the first words given by inspirations from God that were written down are no longer with us and all we have are copies, can we say all we have is God’s message?
Standard Version, 1901. We are told that these modern translations were done to update for easier reading and the changes are minor. Satan can’t destroy God’s word so he uses men to teach his method of (1) subtract a word or words (2) change a word or words (3) add a word or words (4) remove words from context. (Genesis 3:1-6) Who changed scripture? Who is responsible for this confusion? Satan is the author of confusion.
Gal 5:9 A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.
There is one absolute standard by which all bibles are compared, the King James Bible. So it is one against all the rest

Answer 9

It's been almost 20 years since I've taught anything like this. And I have health problems that affect my memory. But you would want a copy of the Textus Receptus in their original language. And only one bible has ever been written from those manuscripts and that is the original King James bible, from 1611 I believe. And it's modern counter part, the Modern King James, which takes out all the "thee's" and "thou's". That is what I always bought for my youth. Hope this helps. Sorry for the rusty memory.

Answer 10

The Bible we have is the REAL Bible.

The Old Testament and New Testament were written in Hebrew/Aramaic and Greek repsectively.

There is a small chance that the originals are still out there to be discovered. Most likely due to the wear and tear of time they are not complete but only fragments. In fact some of the oldest manuscripts we have are very small portions of text.

CONCERNING SUPPOSED "REVISIONS"
When you consider the manuscripts(mss) there has been minor to no revisions in the text. Even when we found the dead sea scrolls well over 95% of the text matched what he currently had. History has revealed a very careful and detailed means of copying text. Have variations occured? Well yes, but for the most part minor variations. An article here and there. The major revisions are quickly discovered and recanted. So the current mss we have are VERY VERY accurate to the original.

Each time we find a more reliable mss, we see that it almost exactly matches much older mss. So the once again the copying process is very accurate.

Answer 11

Take a look at the website BlueletterBible.org You can find lots of information on all things related to biblical study. Next go to:
www.josh.org/ and find Josh McDowell's book "Evidence That Demands a Verdict" for detail about how the Bible was written and the the methods used.