A History of the Bible: The Story of the World's Most Influential Book

700 Pages·2019·14.9 MB·English

by  John Barton

VIKING
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Copyright © 2019 by John Barton
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First published in Great Britain by Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Random House UK
Illustration credits on this page.
ISBN 9780525428770 (hardcover)
ISBN 9780698191587 (ebook)
Version_2
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
List of Illustrations
Maps
Acknowledgements
Introduction: The Bible Today
PART ONE
The Old Testament
1. Ancient Israel: History and Language
2. Hebrew Narrative
3. Law and Wisdom
4. Prophecy
5. Poems and Psalms
PART TWO
The New Testament
6. Christian Beginnings
7. Letters
8. Gospels
PART THREE
The Bible and Its Texts
9. From Books to Scripture
10. Christians and Their Books
11. Official and Unofficial Texts
12. Biblical Manuscripts
PART FOUR
The Meanings of the Bible
13. The Theme of the Bible
14. Rabbis and Church Fathers
15. The Middle Ages
16. The Reformation and Its Readings
17. Since the Enlightenment
18. Translating the Bible
Conclusion: The Bible and Faith
Notes
Further Reading
Bibliography
Biblical References
Index
About the Author
List of Illustrations
1: The beginning of the ‘Community Rule’ scroll, found in cave 1 at Qumran. Israel Museum,
Jerusalem, 1QS. Bridgeman Images
2: Fragments of the Gospel of St Matthew from p45, a codex from third-century Egypt.
Chester Beatty Library, Dublin, BP I, folios 1–2. © The Trustees of the Chester Beatty
Library
3: John 7:52 in Codex Sinaiticus. British Library, London, MS 43725, folio 252r. © British
Library Board/Bridgeman Images
4: Deuteronomy 32 in the Leningrad Codex. National Library of Russia, St Petersburg,
Firkovich B 19 A, folio 118v. National Library of Russia, St Petersburg
5: The Annunciation depicted in a thirteenth-century bible moralisée. British Library,
London, MS Harley 1527, folio 6v. © British Library Board/Bridgeman Images
6: The Glossa Ordinaria on Genesis 9. Worcester Cathedral, MS 76, folio 31r. Photograph
by Mr Christopher Guy, Cathedral Archaeologist. By permission of the Chapter of
Worcester Cathedral
7: Genesis 15 in a modern Hebrew Bible. Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 5th edition
(Stuttgart: Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, 1997), p. 22
8: Deuteronomy 32 in the Complutensian Polyglot, volume 1 (Alcalá de Henares:
Complutense University, 1514). Biblioteca Nacional de España, Madrid
9: Opening of the Gospel of St John from the Canterbury Gospels. The Parker Library,
Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, MS 286, folio 208r. © The Master and Fellows,
Corpus Christi College
10: Opening of the Gospel of St John from The Holy Bible, conteyning the Old Testament,
and the New (London: Robert Barker, 1611). Annenberg Rare Book and Manuscript
Library, Philadelphia, BS185 1611 L65. SCETI/University of Pennsylvania Libraries