Evening School of the Bible

Bibliology Notes for January 22, 2026

The Transmission of Scripture – Determining the Original Reading

• Textual Criticism is necessary for any written work of which the original work is unknown to determine the autograph text

• New Testament Criticism

  • The Masoretic Text

  • Dated 7th to 11th century.

  • Uses the Tiberian Vocalization system.

    • Uses diacritical marks (niqqud) and cantillation (te’amim) to indicate pronunciation, grammar, and intonation in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh).

    • Developed between the 7th and 11th century by the Masoretes of Tiberias (A city of Galilee).

      • The Dead Sea Scrolls

      • Dated 250 BC to 70 AD.

      • Some of the scrolls match the Masoretic Text with surprising accuracy.

• Terminology used in Textual Criticism

  • Uncial (UHN-shul) – written all in Capital letters

  • Minuscule (MIN-yoo-skewl) – written in lower case letters

  • Codex – in a book form (having leafs or sheets bound together

  • Manuscript – a portion of handwritten text

  • Papyrus – writing material made from the papyrus plant

  • Vellum – parchment made from animal skin

• Determine the Most Plausible Reading

  • Manuscripts must be evaluated for their value, not counted

    • Examining internal evidence

      • Comparing book

      • Comparing authors

    • Examining eternal evidence

      • Other writing where Scripture is quoted

      • Non-biblical uses of the words and phrases

    • Common changes to look for

      • Grammar and spelling

        • Revelation 1:5 (λύσαντι–loose verses λούσαντι–washed).

          • λύσαντι from λύω–not supported by context

          • λούσαντι from λούω–greater support from the general context of Apostle’s writings. John 13:10; 1 Corinthians 6:11; Ephesians 5:26.

      • Harmonization (Modifying a passage to agree with another passage)

      • Cleaning up difficulties contradicting from Theology, or difficult to understand

      • Conflated readings (combining two or more words)

      • Theological changes

      • Other additional due to Scribe errors

    • Determine the reading that would most like give rise to the others

    • The most difficult reading is preferred

    • The shortly reading is favored over the longer reading

The Origins of the English Bible

• Philosophy of translations

  • Literal translation (according to the normal use of the language – includes use of idioms, similes, types)

    • Dynamic equivalent (thought for thought)

    • Essential literal (word for word)

  • KJV

    • Initiated because of the many perceived errors in the Bishops’ Bible (The predominate English bible used at that time)

    • Original version included the Apocrypha books.

      • These books were written mainly between 200 BC and AD 100, during the intertestamental period (the time between Malachi and Matthew).

      • The term Apocrypha (“hidden, concealed”) refers to a collection of ancient Jewish writings that are found in some Bibles but not in the Hebrew canon.

      • Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches accept many of these writings as Deuterocanonical (secondary canon)

    • The Bishops’ Bible translation was to be preserved at much as possible – by order of the King

    • Old Testament - Hebrew Masoretic text and the Septuagint

    • New Testament – Erasmus (Textus Receptus)

    • Translation System – Literal

    • NKJV, RSV, ASV, ESV, CBS use the KJV as their base

  • NAS

    • Revised from the ASV – based on KJV

    • Modified in 1995

      • Old Testament based BIBLIA HEBRAICA and Dead Sea Scrolls

      • New Testament base on Nestle’s 26th edition

    • Translation System – Literal

      • Contains Major Theological Changes Based on Reform Theology

        • Romans 10:10, making salvation a result of a person’s confession

  • NIV, CEV

    • Translation system—dynamic equivalent

      • A translation philosophy that emphasizes conveying the meaning of the original text in a way that is natural and understandable in the target language, rather than strictly reproducing the form of the original words and grammar.

      • Formal equivalence (word-for-word):

        • John 1:14 — “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us…” (NASB, KJV).

      • Dynamic equivalence (thought-for-thought):

        • John 1:14 — “The Word became a human being and lived here with us…” (Contemporary English Version).

  • The Masoretic Text compared to the Septuagint

    • Dead Sea Scrolls give evidence of the accuracy of the Masoretic Text

    • Septuagint has several versions and is a translation of the Hebrew into Greek

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