BIBLE, the book, in comparison with which other literary productions are not worthy to be dignified with the name 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 Christian Greeks, but now rooted in the languages of all the nations of Christen dom. The first to use the term biblia in this sense is said to have been Chry sostom, who flourished in the 5th cen tury. The word scripture or scriptures, from the Latin scriptures = writing, scripturx = writings, conveys the an alogous 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 denomina tions respecting the Divine authority of the books which the latter accept as canonical; it combines, however, with them the Apocrypha and Church tradi tions, regarding faith and morals, which Protesta its 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 hold that the Bible contains a revela tion from God, instead of being of itself the Word of Godi while a small num ber deny the Scriptures all special in spiration, and deal with them as freely as they would with the Mohammedan Koran, the Hindu Vedas, etc.
The Bible consists of 66 books, con stituting 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 Aramman (Chaldee). The New Testament was originally writ ten in Greek, with the exception, per haps, of St. Matthew's Gospel, which the Christian fathers, Papias, Irenieus, Pantmius, Origen, Jerome, etc., state to
have been published originally in Aramman.
The order of the books in the Hebrew Bible is different from that which ob tains in the English Scriptures, which, in this respect, follow the Greek Septua gint and the Latin Vulgate. The Jews divided the Old Testament primarily into three portions, called the Law, the Prophets, and the Kethubim, or, in Greek, the Hagiographa. The following list exhibits the order and classification 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, Sam uel, Kings. (2) The later prophets: (a) The great prophets: Isaiah, Jere miah, Ezekiel. (b) The small or minor prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zeph aniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
III. Kethubim = books; in Greek Hagiographa = holy writings: (1) Truth: Psalms, Proverbs. (2) The five rolls: Job, Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles.
A convenient classification for mod ern use divides the Old Testament books into three classes: (1) The Historical Books: Genesis—Ezra. (1) The Poet ical Books: Job—Song of Solomon. (3) The Prophetical Books: Isaiah—Mal achi.
A similar division for the New Testa ment 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 be tween 458 and 450 B. C. The Apocrypha are considered inspired writings by the Roman Catholics, but not by the Jews and Protestants.
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 the Vatican, in Rome, which was writ ten in the 4th or 5th century.