02.16.2015 - By Michael Whitworth
HOST: Michael Whitworth
How did we get the Old Testament? Second Timothy 3:16 tells us that all Scripture was "God-breathed." But how did the OT get from the mind of God to the pages between the leather covers of our Bibles?
1. God spoke to his messengers or prophets, known as the nabi in Hebrew.
This practice may originate in Exod. 4:12
Deut. 18:15-22 gives regulations for the work of a prophet.
2. At times, the prophets wrote down God's messages (e.g. Exod. 17:14; 24:4).
3. It was not uncommon for a prophet's servant or secretary to write down the message (Jer. 36:1-4; Rom. 16:22).
4. None of the original copies of the Old or New Testament books still exist. But the originals were copied, and those copies were copied, all by faithful scribes.
5. Most of the OT was written in Hebrew; some in Aramaic.
Dan. 2:4-7:28, Ezra 4:8-6:18; 7:12-26, Jer. 10:11, and One word in Gen. 31:47
6. Beginning c. 250 B.C., Jewish scholars in Alexandria, Egypt began translating the OT into Greek.
This became known as the Septuagint or LXX (Roman for 70).
Guest: Dewayne Bryant
Light from the Past podcast
Associates for Biblical Research
Deadseascrolls.org