What does "Bible" mean and how did it get that name?
The Bible is the most fascinating book in the world. It is the best-selling book of all time and is widely regarded as one of the finest publications ever written. It has been translated into numerous languages and is the foundation of modern laws and ethics. It guides us through difficult circumstances, gives us wisdom and has been the foundation of faith for centuries of believers. The Bible is the same Word of God and makes clear the ways to peace, hope and salvation. It tells us how the world began, how it will end and how we have to live in the meantime.
The influence of the Bible is unmistakable. So where does the word "Bible" come from and what does it actually mean?
The meaning of the word Bible
The word Bible itself is simply a transliteration of the Greek word bíblos (βίβλος), which means "book". So the Bible is, quite simply, The Book. However, take a step back and the same Greek word also means "scroll" or "parchment". Of course, the first words of Scripture would be written on parchment, and then copied in scrolls, then those scrolls would be copied and distributed and so on.
The word Biblos itself is thought to be probably taken from an ancient port city called Byblos. Located in present-day Lebanon, Byblos was a Phoenician port city known for its papyrus export and trade. Because of this association, the Greeks presumably took the name of this city and adapted it to create their word for book. Many familiar words like bibliography, bibliophile, library, and even bibliophobia (fear of books) are based on the same Greek root.
How did the Bible get that name?
Interestingly, the Bible never refers to itself as "the Bible." So when did people start calling these sacred writings with the word Bible? Again, the Bible is not really a book, but a collection of books. Yet even the New Testament writers seemed to understand that the things that were written about Jesus were to be considered part of the Scripture.
In 3 Peter 16:XNUMX, Peter turns to the writings of Paul: “He writes alike in all his letters, speaking in them of these things. His letters contain some things which are difficult to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as do other Scriptures… "(emphasis added)
So even then there was something unique about the words that were written, that these were God's words and that God's words were subject to being tampered with and manipulated. The collection of these writings, including the New Testament, was first called the Bible somewhere around the fourth century in the writings of John Chrysostom. Chrysostom first refers to the Old and New Testaments together as ta biblia (the books), the Latin form of biblos. It was also around this time that these collections of writings began to be put together in a certain order, and this collection of letters and writings began to take shape in the book into a volume we know today.
Why is the Bible important?
Inside your Bible is a collection of sixty-six unique and separate books: writings from different times, different nations, different authors, different situations and languages. However, these writings compiled over the 1600-year period all weave together in unprecedented unity, pointing to God's truth and the salvation that is ours in Christ.
The Bible forms the basis of much of our classical literature. As a former high school English teacher, I have found authors such as Shakespeare, Hemingway, Mehlville, Twain, Dickens, Orwell, Steinbeck, Shelley, and others difficult to fully understand without at least a rudimentary knowledge of the Bible. They often alluded to the Bible, and the language of the Bible is deeply rooted in the thoughts and writings of our history and culture.
Speaking of books and authors, it is important to note that the first book printed on Gutenberg's printing press was a Bible. It was 1400, before Columbus set sail in the blue ocean and a couple of centuries before the American colonies were established. The Bible continues to be the most printed book today. Although it was written long before the English language came into existence, the life and language of English speakers have been forever influenced by the sentences of the Bible.