The Bible - Introduction

The following entry represents my notes and observations as I read ‘Zondervan’s NASB Study Bible’. The text of the entry is my best attempt to summarize a large volume of text for easier reference in the future. As I go, I will compare and contrast the text of the NASB with ‘The Jewish Study Bible’ by Oxford University Press. If a passage is not specified as referring to either the Jewish or Christian version of the Bible then it can be assumed that it applies to both works. Passages specific to one or the other will be marked with either [NASB] or [JSB] as appropriate. Any person who differs with any detail of interpretation is invited to comment and include specifics and I’ll be happy to reexamine the passage(s) at issue.

Introduction [JSB]
Early on, the authors acknowledge there is no ‘official’ translation of the Jewish Bible or in fact even an official interpretation: “There are 70 faces to the Torah.” However, the 2nd Edition of the National Jewish Publication Society serves as the basis for this text. The first translation of the Bible took place about 2200 years ago from Hebrew to Greek. This translation became known as the ‘Septuagint’ (Latin for 70 after the 72 elders responsible). Two centuries after, similar translations into Aramaic were known as the Targums. The first Latin version of the bible was translated around 400 A.D. and became known as the Vulgate Bible or Bible in the language of the common people.

The first five books of the Bible are referred to as the Torah, “teachings or instructions” and refer to Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Alternatively, they are known as the “Pentateuch” or “The Five Books of Moses.” Jewish and Christian traditions agree on these five books as a single unit standing at the beginning of the Bible. Moses is classically believed to be the author of the Torah despite the fact that in several places the text would suggest that it was actually written after Moses’ time. In fact, the last chapter of the Torah, Deuteronomy 34, describes the death of Moses but it was believed during the middle ages that this was dictated to Moses by God himself in foresight of the actual event.

More modern analysis has revealed that the Torah is apparently an amalgamation of the work of four different authors separated by hundreds of years in some cases. At times, the authors flatly contradict each other or cover the exact same material. These authors have been distinguished from each other by their use of language and their approach to representing (and addressing) god. The authors are not known but they have been assigned letters loosely based on the manner in which they denote the creator: Yahveh (J), Elohim (E), also Elohim (P) and Deuteronomist (D). There is still much debate, but current scholarship suggests that J is the earliest author dating from the 10th century B.C.E. followed closely by E. D and P are associated with the 7th and 6th centuries respectively. The whole of the text was then edited together sometime around 550 B.C.E. and was done in such a way as to preserve differing viewpoints rather than eliminate them.

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