From Scrolls to King James: Evolution of the Biblical Canon

Week 2 of course; lecturer Tom Eckner will cover “How the Bible was written” over three weeks.
Today’s span: from the earliest Hebrew scrolls to the 17th-century King James Version (KJV); later weeks will tackle Reformation, further canon history, etc.

Hebrew term: Tanakh = acronym of its 3 divisions
- Torah (Law / Instruction) – $\text{Genesis}\rightarrow\text{Deuteronomy}$ ; most sacred level in Judaism.
- Exodus is the most-cited narrative; liturgically memorialised at Passover.
- Nevi’im (Prophets) – historical+prophetic books (Joshua → Kings, plus classical prophets), covering entry to Canaan → Babylonian Exile.
- Ketuvim (Writings) – poetry, wisdom, additional history (Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Daniel, Ezra–Nehemiah, Chronicles, etc.).
Ranking of texts: Torah highest, analogous to how Christian liturgy ranks Gospels above other NT books.
Core theological claims accepted by Jews & Christians:
- Single, universal Creator‐God; strict monotheism (idol-worship and polytheism forbidden).
- God = moral legislator; humans bear ethical responsibility.
- God acts in history—rewards righteousness, punishes wickedness.
- Covenant relationship with Israel mediated via Law.

All Christian Bibles include the Tanakh but arrange it into 4 parts, not 3: Law | Histories | Wisdom/Poetry | Prophecy.
New Testament – almost universally 27 books (exception: ancient Syriac tradition omits one book).
Relative status: Gospels historically given liturgical priority (standing for reading, etc.).

Tradition	Typical OT size	Unique/extra contents
Protestant	39 OT + 27 NT (smallest overall)	Apocrypha optional & segregated
Catholic	46 OT (Jewish 39 + 7 “Deuterocanonical”: Tobit, Judith, 1–2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, Sirach, Baruch) + 27 NT
Eastern Orthodox	Catholic set plus 3–4 more (e.g.
3 Macc, 4 Macc, Psalm 151)
Ethiopian/Eritrean Orthodox	Largest (~81 books) – includes 1 Enoch, Jubilees, etc.

Mormon corpus: Protestant Bible + Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants, Pearl of Great Price (held superior in LDS hierarchy).

Read and sometimes treated as Scripture in 1st–4th c.: Shepherd of Hermas, 1–2 Clement, Epistle of Barnabas, Apocalypse of Peter, etc.
Gospels not in NT: Thomas, Peter, Mary, et al. – later, narrower circulation, theological divergences; never achieve catholic (universal) acceptance.

Material constraints: scroll length limited; hiring scribes & papyrus costly → churches owned partial collections.
Canon = “measuring stick” (Gk.
κανών | Hb.
קנה) – the list of books that “measure up.”
Three classic criteria used by early church:
1. Apostolicity – authored by or connected to an apostle.
2. Catholicity – wide, continuous liturgical usage.
3. Orthodoxy – consistency with accepted rule of faith.
Evidence base for historians today:
- Citations in church fathers’ writings.
- Explicit canon lists (2nd–4th c.).
- Surviving manuscripts/codices and their contents/order.

Written on papyrus; Dead Sea Scrolls (e.g.
Great Isaiah Scroll, >8 m long) illustrate size limits.
Impossible to fit all NT in one scroll; hence works like Luke & Acts occupy separate scrolls though by same author.

Codex = sheets sewn like a modern book; cheaper, portable, greater “memory.”
Christians pioneered adoption; Judaism retained scroll for Torah (liturgical prestige).
Landmark complete codices:
- Codex Vaticanus (4th c.)
- Codex Sinaiticus (4th c.) – includes Barnabas + Shepherd of Hermas.
- Codex Alexandrinus – contains 1–2 Clement.
By 3rd c.
most churches circulating four Gospels + Paul’s letters; debates lingered over Hebrews, Revelation, 2 Peter, Jude, etc.

Johannes Gutenberg (1454) – first mass-produced Bible = Latin Vulgate (Gutenberg Bible).
Transforms uniformity & affordability; moves text toward final stabilization.

Translated late 4th c.
by St Jerome, commissioned by Pope Damasus I.
Sources: very early Hebrew & Greek MSS; sometimes closer to Dead Sea Scroll readings than later medieval Hebrew.
Dominant in Western Church >1,000 yrs; foundational for Western theology, art, culture.

Pre-KJV milestones: Tyndale NT (1526); Geneva Bible (1560) (marginal notes critical of monarchy).

Commissioned by King James I; 47 scholars.
Translation philosophy: formal equivalence (retain structure & rhythm of source).
Sources: Textus Receptus (Erasmus’ 16th-c.
Greek NT) + Masoretic Text (medieval Hebrew OT).
Limitations: Medieval base-texts, yielding antiquated readings (e.g.
“unicorns”).

Revised Version (RV) – Britain, 1881–85.
American Standard Version (ASV) – 1901.
Revised Standard Version (RSV) – NT 1946, full Bible 1952; Apocrypha 1957.
New RSV (NRSV) – 1989; incorporates Dead Sea Scrolls & earlier Greek papyri; approved by Protestant, Catholic, and (with deuterocanon) Orthodox bodies.

Academic default text today; course requires NRSV for accuracy & ecumenical acceptance.

Retain Greek Septuagint OT + localized translations:
- Greek Orthodox – original Greek.
- Russian Orthodox – Church Slavonic.
- Georgian, Romanian, etc. – vernacular.
- Coptic – Coptic & Arabic; Ethiopic – Ge’ez/Amharic; Syriac – Peshitta (only NT lacking 2 Peter, 2–3 John, Jude, Revelation).
No singular “Orthodox pope,” hence no unified printed standard; diversity of canons (hence extra books like 1 Enoch).

Jewish divisions: 3; Protestant OT divisions: 4.
Universal NT core: 27 books; Protestant total = 39 OT + 27 NT; Catholic = 46 OT + 27 NT.
Greek NT MSS extant: ~ $60{,}000$ fragments/codices.
Criteria for canon: Apostolicity, Catholicity, Orthodoxy.

Jesus spoke Aramaic; NT penned in Koine Greek; shows oral strata before writing.
Absence of autograph writings by Jesus underscores necessity of memory culture.

Approach	Aim	Example
Dynamic/functional equivalence	Clarity & sense in receptor language	Jerome’s Vulgate
Formal equivalence	Preserve form/structure of original	King James Version
Balanced literal-as-possible	Literal yet intelligible	NRSV

Reformers judged certain deuterocanonical texts as teaching “superstitions” (e.g.
prayers for the dead → doctrine of purgatory) and lacking Hebrew originals.
Result: 16th-century Protestant canon reduction; Catholic/Orthodox retained traditional lists.

Exam questions drawn only from slide content (not off-script anecdotes).
Focus on: definitions (canon, Tanakh divisions), major manuscripts, translation milestones, canon differences.
Use NRSV in assignments; KJV acceptable for devotion but not scholarly precision.