Bible Facts Unveiled

The Bible is arguably one of the best known and most controversial books. Many miracle events are described there, and while their religious interpretations are most often known, others - geologists, archaeologists and historians - see these stories in a different light. Here are Bible Facts Unveiled explanations or interpretations of phenomena mentioned in the Bible.

Did you know that…

• Has the Bible been translated into over 2,000 languages?
• That it was written by some 40 different authors over 1,500 years?
• That its sections were written in three different languages ​​- Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic?
• That the Old Testament has three parts, and the New Testament four?
• That the Old Testament originally consisted of 22 books, not 39?
• That some of the chapters in the Bible are acrostics and were intended to be memorized?
• That its editors wrote it under divine inspiration?

Here are some facts that may surprise you:

The Bible is divided into 7 sections

The Bible is divided into seven main parts - three for the Old Testament, and four for the New. The 39 books of the Old Testament form 3 sections: the Law, the Prophets, and the Psalms ( Luke 24: 44-45 ).

The New Testament contains 27 books divided into 4 sections: The Gospels and Acts; the Epistles of Paul; the General Epistles; and the Apocalypse. In the Bible, the number 7 is significant; it translates completion and perfection.

The Hebrew Bible has only 22 books

In the 1st century AD, the Writings forming the Old Testament were often collected in 22 separate parchments. The famous Jewish historian Josephus wrote: "We Jews have an innumerable multitude of books, not agreeing and contradicting each other, but we have 22 books which contain the record of all that has happened. and are - as we have reason to believe - divine (Flavius Josephus, Against Apion , Book 1, 8 th section).

It is generally believed that this configuration was intended to conform to the number 22 - number of letters of the Hebrew alphabet. Anything that can be written in this language can be written up to 22 characters. In the minds of the Jews at the time, everything God had to communicate to them was written in 22 books.

If we take the 22 books of the Old Testament and add the 27 books of the New Testament to them, that equates to 49 books for the whole Bible - or 7 x 7 - which denotes, as we have just seen. see, completion and perfection.

The 22 books of the Hebrew Bible correspond precisely to the 39 books forming our modern translations. If there is apparently less of it in the Hebrew Bible, this is only due to their arrangement and not to the overall content.

The original order of the books of the Bible

Not only does the number of books differ, but their order is also different. In our modern translations, the book of Malachi is the last of the Old Testament books, while in the Hebrew Bible, 2 Chronicles takes the last place.

What is fascinating is that the last verse of the Bible, according to the Hebrew Writings, is a question asking who must go to Jerusalem to build a house for the Lord there ( 2 Chronicles 36:23 ). The answer to this question can be found in Matthew 1: 1 - the first verse of the New Testament.

It is not a mere coincidence. This indicates that there is continuity between the Old Testament and the New. The latter is the continuation of the inspired Word of God for us now.

Fascinating in many ways

The Bible is fascinating in many ways, but what is most fascinating about it is that it claims to be divinely inspired by God. Why not take the challenge of proving it to yourself, studying it yourself from start to finish.

Are you worried about discovering that this is not a book like any other, despite being the greatest bestseller of all time? Are you going to take up the challenge of proving whether or not this is indeed a work written by the God who created the universe and all life? If so, of course, it is a work that deserves to be studied every day of his life!