The inscription is probably the oldest known example of Hebrew writing with a probable date from the 10th Century BC. This indicates that the inscription was written at a time when the Bible says Solomon was on the throne in Jerusalem - I Kings 9. The tablet is particularly interesting because there are traces of erasing and reuse on both front and back. We can surmise that it may have been a practice tablet for a young scribe 3,000 years ago. The content of the tablet lists agricultural activities and associates each with a number of months in the year. The importance of writing to this early Hebrew society is emphasized. The content of the stone tablet reminds us of the annual routine in a society based upon agriculture. The list on the tablet is as follows:

• Two months of ingathering (Exodus 23:16)
• Two months of sowing (Psalm 107:37)
• Two months of spring growth (Deuteronomy 11:14)
• One month of pulling flax (Joshua 2:6)
• One month of barley harvest (Ruth 1:22)
• One month when everything else is harvested

It was a triumphal inscription in Aramaic, chiselled into the black basalt stone. The king that the stone commemorates was probably Hazael, King of Damascus. It records, from the Aramean perspective, the turbulent politics that engulfed Israel during the 9th Century BC.

In the inscription, written about 835 BC, Hazael claimed to have killed both the King of Israel and his ally, the King of the House of David. This is the first use of the name David from sources outside the Bible. The inscription was carved about 100 years after David's time and, significantly, it identifies a line of kings descended from David.

The Bible record is in II Kings. It and the inscription agree that Jehoram of Israel and Ahaziah King of Judah died about the same time during a period when Hazael threatened Israel. The most important confirmation of the Bible record, however, is that David was known to be the dynastic founder of the Royal House of Judah. This confirmation was carved in the basalt by an independent observer just a few generations after David lived.

The Gihon spring flows from the lower reaches of the eastern slope of the hill on which the ancient City of Jerusalem is built. It is probable that from the time of King Solomon the water from this spring flowed along a cut channel on the hillside and into a reservoir. This water was used to irrigate fields in the valley bottom. The disadvantage was that water was outside the city walls and was easily available to an invading army.

When Sennacherib invaded Judea about 700 BC, Hezekiah's response was "Why should the Kings of Assyria come and find much water" (II Chronicles 32:4). The Bible record says that he stopped the watercourse of Gihon and brought it to the west side of the city (II Chronicles 32:30).

He constructed a tunnel, which brought water into a defensible location in the southwest corner of the city. The tunnel itself is a remarkable engineering feat for the period when it was built. It is 1750 ft. long and follows an s-shaped path. This conduit was constructed by two teams working from each end. The moment when the two teams met is recorded on the Siloam inscription, which was carved into a commemorative stone on the walls surrounding the pool of Siloam. The original stone is now in a museum in Istanbul and a copy placed near the pool that can still be seen in Jerusalem.

Although the Bible describes a project by Hezekiah to protect the main water supply for Jerusalem, there are no inscriptions to identify Hezekiah. However, some of the original pools, which stored water were plastered. Small fragments of bone in these plastered walls could be carbon dated. The date indicated is about 700 BC, which was the date of Sennacherib's invasion and Hezekiah's defensive preparations.

Tourists today can visit the Gihon spring, wade through Hezekiah's tunnel, come out at the pool of Siloam and see the inscription.

Sennacherib's Prism is one of the many examples of written records from the empires that the Israelites were in contact with. It contains the Assyrian account of a military campaign, which extended into the Kingdom of Judah. These same events are also recorded in the Old Testament.

The Assyrian empire was expanded and maintained by its army. The citizens of newly conquered lands were mostly deported and resettled far from their homeland. Later, many would be inducted into the army.

The prism boasts that as Sennacherib's army approached Judea, out of fear, King Hezekiah sent a tribute payment. This tribute included gold and silver, precious stones, ivory and a variety of other gifts. The prism records that Hezekiah did not submit to Assyrian authority. Forty-six fortified cities and many smaller towns were captured. The people and their domestic animals were taken as plunder. Pictorial descriptions of this campaign were carved into the walls of Sennacherib's palace in Nineveh. The prism records that coastal cities were also conquered. Jerusalem was, thereby, surrounded by the Assyrian army and Sennacherib boasted that Hezekiah was shut in like a caged bird. There is, however, no record of Jerusalem being captured or of Hezekiah being defeated.

The parallel record in II Kings admits that Hezekiah paid tribute in silver and gold to Sennacherib. The Bible also records that the walled cities of Judea were captured. Hezekiah, however, placed his faith in God and Jerusalem was spared. The Bible further states that Sennacherib had to retreat after many of his soldiers died during the night.

Nebuchadnezzar ruled the world for forty years beginning in 604 B.C. His personality and style of rule demanded he be in total control. He was a brilliant military strategist, an astute administrator and personally, extremely proud.

He has become one of the legendary rulers of antiquity primarily because his kingdom was involved with the tiny state of Judah. Because of this we have some of the best character insights into any ancient king, recorded for us in the Bible. Early in his career he conquered Judah and destroyed the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. Then he had a dream.

Great importance was attached to dreams in Babylon, the same was true of astrology. The Bible record tells us that the king's mind was troubled by this dream and he could not sleep. He called in his advisors, who were a collection of magicians, enchanters, sorcerers and astrologers, to tell him what he had dreamed and to provide an interpretation. We pick up the record from the second chapter of the Prophecy of Daniel. "Then the astrologers answered the king in Aramaic, "O king, live forever! Tell your servants the dream, and we will interpret it." The king replied to the astrologers, "This is what I have firmly decided: If you do not tell me what my dream was and interpret it, I will have you cut into pieces and your houses turned into piles of rubble. But if you tell me the dream and explain it, you will receive from me gifts and rewards and great honor. So tell me the dream and interpret it for me." Daniel 2:4-6 (NIV)

Then the astrologers offended the king. Again, back to the record. The astrologers answered the king, "There is not a man on earth who can do what the king asks! No king, however great and mighty, has ever asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or astrologer. What the king asks is too difficult. No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men." Daniel 2:10-11(NIV)

Well the king was furious and ordered the execution of all the advisors in his kingdom. However, there was a young prince who had been taken captive from Judah; his name was Daniel. Daniel intervened on behalf of the wise men of Babylon and asked for time to make a presentation to the king.

A God In Heaven

He was given the opportunity. But Daniel carefully prefaced his explanation to the king by saying that it was not by his own wisdom that he could provide the king with the answer... but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries. He has shown King Nebuchadnezzar what will happen in days to come. Your dream and the visions that passed through your mind as you lay on your bed are these: As you were lying there, O king, your mind turned to things to come, and the revealer of mysteries showed you what is going to happen. As for me, this mystery has been revealed to me, not because I have greater wisdom than other living men, but so that you, O king, may know the interpretation and that you may understand what went through your mind. You looked, O king, and there before you stood a large statue -- an enormous, dazzling statue, awesome in appearance.

The head of the statue was made of pure gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of baked clay.

While you were watching, a rock was cut out, but not by human hands. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay and smashed them. Then the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold were broken to pieces at the same time and became like chaff on a threshing floor in the summer. The wind swept them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain and filled the whole earth. Daniel 2:28-35(NIV)

The explanation God provided for this great king, through the mouth of his servant was simple but profound. The four metals represented four kingdoms that would arise on the earth. The first portrayed was Nebuchadnezzar's own kingdom, Babylon, the head of gold. After him was to arise another kingdom that would be inferior -- represented by the chest and arms of silver. Following this empire, another of brass then another represented by iron. All the metals were to represent some aspect of each succeeding empire that would arise on the earth. Then, in the end, a time would come when the nations would be like iron mixed with clay.... Just as you saw that the feet and toes were partly of baked clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom; yet it will have some of the strength of iron in it, even as you saw iron mixed with clay. As the toes were partly iron and partly clay, so this kingdom will be partly strong and partly brittle. And just as you saw the iron mixed with baked clay, so the people will be a mixture and will not remain united, any more than iron mixes with clay. In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever. This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands -- a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces. "The great God has shown the king what will take place in the future. The dream is true and the interpretation is trustworthy." Daniel 2:41-45 (NIV)

Mother of all prophecies

It could easily be said that this is indeed the 'mother of all Bible prophecies'. The meaning of this dream became the basis of all future prophecies that related to the future of the world but especially to the people of Israel, Daniel's people. As it will be shown later, all of these prophecies were given primarily as they related to the Jews.

The historical context is obvious and well understood by all serious students of the Bible. It displayed four world kingdoms that were to arise causing the dream to run parallel to history. The Babylonian kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar was taken over by the Medes and Persians. They, in turn, were conquered by the Greeks under the brilliant leadership of Alexander the Great. The Greek Empire collapsed, after the death of Alexander into four separate kingdoms ruled by four of Alexanders Generals. This divided state finally gave way to the fourth empire, Rome. This is all a matter of ancient history. Most of the interpretation, however, was given long before most of the events took place.

A great cataclysm

But the vision was not given to Nebuchadnezzar so much to show the succession of empires that would come as to show the great cataclysm that will usher in the Kingdom of God and to define the world situation at that time. It should have also been a lesson to this proud king that all kingdoms of men will eventually be displaced by the Kingdom of God that will be established on earth.

'In the days of these kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed (when all others before have been)' is critical to our understanding today. When the other various parts of the prophecy have been fulfilled, we can be confident in the certain fulfilment of the balance. What kind of world is here described? A world that is integrated. A mix of weak and strong nations that are holding together as a unit, but supported by the instability of feet of iron and clay.

The key words in the prophecy are "stood" and "broken to pieces at the same time". When the God of Heaven sets up his kingdom that will never be destroyed the world will be integrated and functioning with all the diverse forms of economics, religion and government that existed throughout the histories of all the empires.

Man will erect such an image in the end of time and it will be, as far as the Bible is concerned, essentially Babylon (the head of gold). But the world will also be fragmented. The key words here are "mixture" and "will not remain united". These words aptly describe the world today. In recent years there has been a virtual avalanche of small nations reasserting their independence. Our world is fragmented, mixed and will not be united.

It might be important to mention that the word "mixed" that is used in the prophecy is the same word that is used for "Arab." Arab in the Hebrew means "mixed." It might be an appropriate bit of detail - to make the prophecy come alive in the last days. A world that is standing on feet that are "mixed" or "Arab." Considering the influence the Arab nation have on every aspect of world affairs, it is not a big step to see the Arabs in the divine plan...

Integrated and fragmented. This describes precisely the incongruity of the image. Consider an image with a head of pure gold (the heaviest of the four metals) standing on "mixed" feet made of iron and clay. The New World Order of man will exist as a marvel and will, according to the Bible, be worshipped by all mankind for the wonder of its existence. This world order will stand on the fragile and flamable issues in the Middle East as we see the transition to the Kingdom of God on earth and the redemption of the Nation of Israel.

What is to come

Nebuchadnezzar began a succession of empires that would have a profound affect on Israel and the city of Jerusalem. He destroyed the city at the zenith of his reign and took most of the educated and royalty to serve as captives in Babylon. Under the rule of the Medes and Persians the Nation of Israel was encouraged to return and rebuild the city of Jerusalem and re-inhabit the land. While Alexander the Great had been favourable to Israel, the kingdoms of the Selucids and Ptolemies that followed treated Israel and the Jews with extreme brutality. The temple was desecrated under one of the Selucids, Antiochus IV Epiphanes. The Roman Empire played host to the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, the Jewish Messiah. The Roman Legions also destroyed the city of Jerusalem and the temple in AD. 70. The Jews were scattered throughout the world to suffer persecution for the next 1800 years.

The modern world, represented by the standing image, will likewise affect the fortunes of God's eternal people Israel. As it continues to integrate, including all the powers, economics, ideologies and political control of the historical empires, it will be standing on feet of clay - as the prophet Daniel predicted. It is my firm believe that it is standing today and will soon, like all empires before, cross the path of the Nation of Israel. When it touches the 'apple of God's eye' (Deut. 32:10) it will be destroyed.

"In those days and at that time, when I restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem, I will gather all nations and bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat. There I will enter into judgment against them concerning my inheritance, my people Israel, for they scattered my people among the nations and divided up my land... Then you will know that I, the LORD your God, dwell in Zion, my holy hill. Jerusalem will be holy; never again will foreigners invade her." Joel 3:1-2;17(NIV)

This is synonymous to the time spoken of by Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar - 'to the days of these kings'. Our integrated, fragmented world depicted so long ago in the dream will soon give way to the Kingdom of God that will fill the whole earth and last forever... 'This is the meaning of the vision of the rock cut out of the mountain, but NOT BY HUMAN HANDS - a rock that broke the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold to pieces... The dream is true and the interpretation has proven trustworthy.

The Cyrus Cylinder was discovered in Nineveh in 1879 and is now in the British Museum. It describes the conquest of Babylon by the Persian King Cyrus and the reorganization that he instituted to consolidate his authority.

The cylinder describes the Babylonian king that Cyrus overthrew as a weakling who caused the daily offering to stop, was hostile to his subjects and brought ruin to Babylonian society. As a result of this mismanagement, the gods became furious and left. Marduk, the chief god, searched for a righteous king and found Cyrus. He took Cyrus by the hand and appointed him lord over the whole world.

The cylinder continues that Marduk, the great Lord, was pleased with the way Cyrus cared for the people and also with his 'righteous heart'. Marduk accompanied Cyrus to Babylon 'as a friend' and permitted him to enter Babylon without opposition. The Babylonians rejoiced because Cyrus was now their king.

The cylinder records that Cyrus caused the gods to return to their homelands and dwell in their residences for all time. Cyrus permitted all to live in peace.

The confirmation of the Bible comes at this point in the cylinder record. The Bible tells us that the Jewish people applied to the King of Persia to have these resettlement policies applied to them. The King of Persia then allowed the Jewish people to return to their homeland from captivity in Babylon. They were also assisted in rebuilding their Temple. The record is at the end of Kings and in the book of Ezra.

Codex Sinaiticus (London, Brit. Libr., Add. 43725; Gregory-Aland no. à (Aleph) or 01) is a 4th century uncial manuscript of the Greek Bible, written between 330–350. Originally containing the whole of both Testaments, only portions of the Greek Old Testament or Septuagint survive along with a complete New Testament, the Epistle of Barnabas and portions of The Shepherd of Hermas (suggesting that the latter two may have been considered part of Biblical canon by the editors of the codex). Along with Codex Vaticanus, Codex Sinaiticus is one of the most valuable manuscripts for Textual criticism of the Greek New Testament, as well as the Septuagint. For most of the New Testament, Codex Sinaiticus is in general agreement with Codex Vaticanus and Codex Ephraemi Rescriptus, attesting an Alexandrian texttype, but in John 1:1-8:38 Codex Sinaiticus is in closer agreement with Codex Bezae in support of a Western text-type.

Description

The entire codex consists of 346½ folios, written in four columns. Of these, 199 belong to the Old Testament and 147½ belong to the New Testament, along with two other books, the Epistle of Barnabas and part of The Shepherd of Hermas. The books of the New Testament are arranged in this order: the four Gospels, the epistles of Paul, the Acts of the Apostles, the General Epistles, Revelation.

Of its prior history, little is known. It is speculated to have been written in Egypt and is sometimes associated with the 50 copies of the scriptures commissioned by Roman Emperor Constantine after his conversion to Christianity.

A paleographical study at the British Museum in 1938 found that the text had undergone several corrections. The first corrections were done by several scribes before the manuscript left the scriptorium. In the sixth or seventh century many alterations were made, which, according to a colophon at the end of the book of Esdras and Esther states, that the source of these alterations was "a very ancient manuscript that had been corrected by the hand of the holy martyr Pamphylus" (martyred AD 309). From this is concluded, that it had been in Caesarea Palaestina in the 6th or 7th centuries. Uncorrected is the pervasive iotacism, especially of the ει diphthong.

Discovery

The Codex Sinaiticus was found by Constantin von Tischendorf on his third visit to the Monastery of Saint Catherine, on Mount Sinai in Egypt, in 1859. The first two trips had yielded parts of the Old Testament, some found in a basket of manuscript pieces, which Tischendorf was told by a librarian "were rubbish which was to be destroyed by burning in the ovens of the monastery".

Tischendorf had been sent to search for manuscripts by Russia's Tsar Alexander II, who was convinced there were still manuscripts to be found at the Sinai monastery. In May 1875, during restoration work, the monks of St. Catherine's monastery discovered a room beneath the St. George Chapel which contained many parchment fragments. Among these fragments were twelve missing leaves from the Sinaiticus Old Testament.

The story of how von Tischendorf found the manuscript, which contained most of the Old Testament and all of the New Testament, has all the interest of a romance. Von Tischendorf reached the monastery on January 31; but his inquiries appeared to be fruitless. On February 4, he had resolved to return home without having gained his object.

"On the afternoon of this day I was taking a walk with the steward of the convent in the neighbourhood, and as we returned, towards sunset, he begged me to take some refreshment with him in his cell. Scarcely had he entered the room, when, resuming our former subject of conversation, he said: "And I, too, have read a Septuagint"--i.e. a copy of the Greek translation made by the Seventy. And so saying, he took down from the corner of the room a bulky kind of volume, wrapped up in a red cloth, and laid it before me. I unrolled the cover, and discovered, to my great surprise, not only those very fragments which, fifteen years before, I had taken out of the basket, but also other parts of the Old Testament, the New Testament complete, and, in addition, the Epistle of Barnabas and a part of the Pastor of Hermas."

After some negotiations, he obtained possession of this precious fragment, and conveyed it to Tsar Alexander, who appreciated its importance and had it published as nearly as possible in facsimile, so as to exhibit correctly the ancient handwriting. The Tsar sent the monastery 9,000 rubles by way of compensation. Regarding Tischendorf's role in the transfer to Saint Petersburg, there are several views. Although when parts of Genesis and the Book of Numbers were later found in the bindings of other books, they were amicably sent to Tischendorf, the Codex is currently regarded by the monastery as having been stolen, a view hotly contested by several scholars in Europe.

In a more neutral spirit, New Testament scholar Bruce Metzger writes: "Certain aspects of the negotiations leading to the transfer of the codex to the Czar's possession are open to an interpretation that reflects adversely on Tischendorf's candour and good faith with the monks at St. Catherine's." For a recent account intended to exculpate him of blame, see Erhard Lauch's article 'Nichts gegen Tischendorf' in Bekenntnis zur Kirche: Festgabe für Ernst Sommerlath zum 70. Geburtstag (Berlin, c. 1961); for an account that includes a hitherto unknown receipt given by Tischendorf to the authorities at the monastery promising to return the manuscript from St. Petersburg 'to the Holy Confraternity of Sinai at its earliest request'.

For many decades, it was preserved in the Russian National Library. In 1933, the Soviet Union sold the Codex to the British Library for £100,000.

Present Location

The Codex is now split into four unequal portions: 347 leaves in the British Library in London, 12 leaves and 14 fragments in St. Catherine's Monastery of Sinai, 43 leaves in the Leipzig University Library, and fragments of 3 leaves in the Russian National Library in St Petersburg.

In June 2005, a joint project to produce a new digital edition of the manuscript (involving all four holding libraries) and a series of other studies was announced. This will include the use of hyperspectral imaging to photograph the manuscripts to look for hidden information such as erased or faded text. This is to be done in cooperation with the British Library.

A large collection of scrolls was discovered on the shores of the Dead Sea beginning in 1947. More than 900 different manuscripts have been identified from this collection, although many are fragmentary. Several copies of some compositions have been found, e.g. there are 33 copies of Deuteronomy. It has been estimated that the Qumran library housed multiple copies of up to 350 different texts. By ancient standards this was a considerable library. The non-biblical scrolls offer interesting insights into the personal values and social structure of the Qumran community. They also provide a wealth of information about Jewish literature around the time of the Gospels and show that many words, phrases and literary constructions used in the Gospels were also well known to the Qumran community.

Most of the Dead Sea manuscripts, especially biblical texts, were written on parchment, which was probably prepared from ritually pure animals. Of the 900 different Dead Sea scrolls, 222 are biblical texts. The most famous is the Isaiah scroll, which was copied about 125 BC. It was found essentially complete and the text generally agrees with the Masoretic text in use today. The only Old Testament book not found at Qumran is Esther. All the others are present. Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy, The Psalms and Isaiah are the books most frequently found. Only one copy of Chronicles and Ezra were found. In the traditional Hebrew Bible, Nehemiah and Ezra are a single book. It cannot be said for certain whether Nehemiah was part of the Qumran library because only three fragments from a manuscript of Ezra have been found.

The oldest manuscript of the Dead Sea Scrolls has been dated to the Third Century BC and the most recent to the first century AD. The text of the Dead Sea Scrolls show that the Old Testament books existed as we know them at least as early as the first century BC. There are some interesting variant readings, some expand and explain passages in our Old Testament. A few scrolls are a different length than the Bible text familiar to us. Jeremiah, for instance, exists in both a long and a shortened version.

The Rosetta Stone was discovered in 1799 in a small Egyptian village in the Nile Delta. It was realized, almost at once, that the three distinct inscriptions were all the same story. The last of the three inscriptions was in Greek and could therefore be read in the 19th Century. Neither of the two Egyptian scripts, demotic and hieroglyphic, could be understood at that time.

The first steps in deciphering the Egyptian scripts were made by comparing the most frequent Greek words with a group of signs in the demotic script that occurred about the same number of times. The next step came because a cartouche (an elongated oval) was assumed to contain the symbols for a royal name. The name of Ptolemy was included in the Greek text on the Rosetta stone. Furthermore, the names of both Ptolemy and Cleopatra were presumed to be on another commemorative Greek and hieroglyphic inscription. Four letters are the same in each name.

These could then be equated to Egyptian symbols in the cartouche.

Starting with the symbols in the cartouche and comparing each new letter back to the Greek text, gradually the alphabet in both Egyptian scripts was deciphered.

The final step came when partially translated words from the hieroglyphic script were compared to the Coptic language.

Ancient Egyptian texts could now be understood. An enormous library of Egyptian texts could now be translated and interactions between the Hebrews and the Egyptians read from an Egyptian point of view. These could now be compared with Old Testament records.

At the time of the Gospels, the Temple in Jerusalem was much more than a place for worship. Herod the Great, who ruled from 37-4 BC, conceived the idea of rebuilding the Temple. At first he met considerable resistance but after he proposed to prefabricate everything off site, to use priests trained as craftsmen to work within the sacred areas and not disrupt the regular Temple schedule, the Jews agreed to proceed. The platform on which the Temple itself stood, was almost doubled in size, making this the largest open area in the city. It was, therefore, the place where a great many people congregated. A variety of shops and financial traders were in a colonnade (stoa) on the southern edge of the platform. The Sanhedrin, the parliament of that day, met in the eastern end of this stoa. Shops were also along the outside of the southern and western walls. Cloth, wool, shoes, dates and other foodstuffs were sold from these shops. Municipal offices or council chambers, as they were referred to by Josephus, were close by.

Priests taught every day except the Sabbath from the raised platform, which bounded the Temple itself to the south, the west and the north. The audience was free to ask questions and comment at this outdoor school. The treasury was also housed in the Temple precincts. The Temple was, therefore, the religious, administrative, financial, commercial and social centre for Jerusalem at the time of the Gospels.

Herod the Great had raised the Temple portico to its original height in Solomon's day and gilded the exterior, making this a most impressive structure. He had promoted the construction of an upscale suburb to the west of the Temple and enlarged the cities water supply sufficient for both industrial and personal uses. Herod and others had built large palaces in Jerusalem. The city walls had been strengthened and extended, several defensive towers had been included. At the time of the Gospels, Herod the Great had transformed a small struggling city into a sophisticated metropolis, which became the setting for many of the events recorded in New Testament Gospels.

From the earliest days of Christianity in England, the gospel stories were told in the language of ordinary people.

By the seventh century, Bible stories were depicted in carvings and wall paintings in churches. Later, stained glass windows related significant Bible stories.

Early in the eighth century Bede, a monk from Jarrow, tells of Caedmon, a farm laborer who composed a series of songs of Bible stories. The musical metre would help people remember the details of each story.

About the year 700, Aldhelm, Bishop of Sherbourne is said to have translated the Psalms into Old English.

When Bede died in 735, he was working on a translation of the Gospel of John.

About the year 900, King Alfred had the Ten Commandments and part of Exodus translated into Old English. He also had parts of the New Testament and Psalms translated.

In the 9th and 10th Centuries, interlinear translations 'glosses' were made on the Latin handwritten manuscripts in monasteries.

At the end of the 10th Century the 'Wessex Gospels' were translated and Abbot Aelfric translated parts of the Old Testament.

Poetic versions of the Gospels and parts of the Old Testament appeared in the 12th and 13th Centuries and English versions of much of the New Testament towards the end of the 14th Century.

Most modern translations of the Old Testament are based upon the Leningrad Codex. This manuscript was written about 1008 AD and is the earliest complete example of the Masoretic Text. Another, even earlier copy of the Masoretic text exists, the Aleppo Codex. It was copied about 925 AD. Unfortunately, a substantial portion of this manuscript has been lost.

Earlier texts of the Old Testament had been copied by scribes. Their efforts to preserve the text accurately can be seen on the Dead Sea Scrolls. An interesting example is on a scroll of Jeremiah, where a second scribe added an omission by writing between the lines, then down the side and finished the omitted text upside down on the bottom of the column. Before the Masoretes standardized the text, it had consisted of Hebrew consonants only. Without the vowels, many words could be read in more than one way. Consequently, in some places, the text could be understood in more than one way.

The Masoretes were a group of Jewish scholars who, from the eighth century onward, established and maintained traditions for copying the old Testament text precisely. They standardized the text of the Old Testament in a form, which they believed was true to the scriptures as revealed by God in ancient times. This standardized text was prepared complete with vowel signs and liturgical markings. From the eighth century onward, the text has been transmitted with almost complete uniformity.

The published version of the Leningrad Codex is known as the Biblia Hebraica.

John Wycliffe is credited with producing the first translation of the complete Bible into English, although he was probably assisted with the translation of the Old Testament. It was produced between 1380 and 1384 and was a very literal and word for word translation of the 4th Century Latin text that was used by the church throughout Europe at that time.

Wycliffe had propounded a theory of 'Dominion by Grace'.Accordingly, each person was individually responsible to God and his Law. Therefore, everyone should be able to read God's Law in his native English. John Wycliffe urged all men, 'great and small, learned and unlearned', to make themselves acquainted with God's Law by reading the Bible. He was a keen Bible student, a scholarly commentator and an intense preacher. His principles were spread throughout England by a group of traveling preachers who also increased the use of this new translation. After Wycliffe's death, a second version of his Bible was completed by John Purvey late in the 14th Century. The English in this second version was much easier to read, which greatly increased its demand.

Even though written by hand, both versions of Wycliffe's Bible were copied many times and distributed throughout England. They remained in use for a great many years and are probably the Bibles referred to by Sir Thomas More in 1528. He had seen 'Bibles fair and old written in English in laymen's and women's hands'. Wycliffe's followers, known as the Lollards, 'poor preachers', took his Bible far and wide throughout England. This was the beginning of the Reformation in England.

The Pope was so enraged at the success of these heretics that he ordered Wycliffe's body disinterred, burnt and the ashes tossed into the river. It has been said, 'his ashes flowed into the seas of the world, spreading the Gospel to all the world'.

The first mass produced printed book was the Bible, a version based on the Latin edition from about 380 AD. The Bible was printed at Mainz, Germany by Johannes Gutenberg from 1452 -1455. Although German bibliographers claim that it may also have been finished and perfected by Johann Fust, a wealthy financier who gained Gutenberg's share of the business in a lawsuit; and Peter Schöffer, Gutenberg's assistant.

The first copy that attracted attention was discovered about 1760 among the books of the French statesman Cardinal Jules Mazarin. The book is the first volume known to have been printed with movable metal type. At least one book of the Bible has been published in 1,808 languages since the Bible was first printed. The history of the printed Bible with movable type is the subject of considerable scholarly debate. Fragments of earlier bibles have also been found - they are differentiated by the number of lines of text on a page. Scholars have identified several variants and attempted to work out the sequence of development on the basis of the quality of the individual pieces of type.

The oldest surviving Bible printed with movable type is often called the Gutenberg Bible (named after its printer Johannes Gutenberg), or the 42-line Bible (so called because with few exceptions, each page has 42 lines of print), or the Mazarin Bible (because the first copy to recapture attention in 1760 was found in the library of Cardinal Jules Mazarin, in Paris).

In 1440, German inventor Johannes Gutenberg invented a printing press process that, with refinements and increased mechanization, remained the principal means of printing until the late 20th century. The inventor's method of printing from movable type, including the use of metal molds and alloys, a special press, and oil-based inks, allowed for the first time the mass production of printed books.

The Bible, printed at Mainz, probably required several years of work; it began in 1452 and was completed not later than 1455 and printed in an edition of about 180 copies. The text of the Bible is Latin. Colored initials and other illuminations were hand drawn after the pages were printed. The Gutenberg Bible lacks many print features that modern readers are accustomed to, such as pagination, word spacing, indentations, and paragraph breaks.

The Bible was large comprising over 1280 pages, and the text was laid out in two columns. The German Gothic type-style was modeled on manuscripts of the period. The columns of text are tightly justified right and left. This is possible because Latin words can be abbreviated by replacing letters with symbols. The printed text was black, with red and blue headers and initials being added later by an illuminator. The edition includes both vellum and paper copies. In design and workmanship, the Gutenberg Bible holds its place as one of the finest of all printed books.

The very first pages Gutenberg printed had only 40 lines per column. Later in the course of printing, Gutenberg realized the paper could accommodate 42 lines and so the pages were reset and printed again in the new format. The original pages of 40 lines were included in the very first issue of the Gutenberg Bible.

As of 2003, the Gutenberg Bible census includes 11 complete copies on vellum, 1 copy of the New Testament only on vellum, 48 substantially complete integral copies on paper, with another divided copy on paper, and an illuminated page (the Bagford fragment).

One of the stimuli for the reformation had been Paul's letter to the Church at Rome. Luther's understanding of Romans emphasized the importance of gaining understanding of the scriptures and then accepting personal responsibility for ones own salvation. As a result, it was essential, in the eyes of the reformers, that the Bible should be available in each person's native language. People should be permitted to own, read or listen to the Bible in their own language. Martin Luther was one of the strongest voices in the Reformation for the freedom to own and read the Bible. The Bible was not the only book available. The printing press had made it possible to produce large numbers of volumes and the desire for books and learning was growing.

Martin Luther's translation into German, printed in 1522, was based on the Greek text prepared by Erasmus, which had been printed in 1516. Erasmus had collated one complete Greek New Testament from six partial manuscripts. Manuscripts of the Bible in Greek had become available in Europe after Greek scholars migrated to Western Europe following the capture of Constantinople by the Turks in 1453. Comparisons between these Greek manuscripts and the Latin Vulgate, which was the standard text throughout Europe at that time, were in part the stimulation for a renewed study of Biblical texts in the 16th Century.

Starting in 1506, the Pope had authorized indulgences to pay for the costs to build the new St. Peter's church in Rome. This practice was in stark contrast to the conclusions that Luther had reached on personal responsibility. His conclusions seem obvious today and Luther seems to have intended to stimulate an academic debate, but the 95 theses that he expounded and nailed to the door of Wittenburg church had far reaching effects.

The 1546 Version is the last edition of Luther's Bible prior to his death in 1546. Luther's translation is still being published in Germany today.

Martin Luther provided a refuge to William Tyndale for a time after Tyndale had left England for the Continent. Luther's influence on Tyndale was considerable. The prologue to William Tyndale's New Testament obviously has a heart warming evangelical tone, which is based upon Luther's discussions. Tyndale's comments on the relation between law and the gospel were obviously Lutheran and must have sounded threatening to the church authorities of that day.

Many of Luther's marginal notes and his references to parallel verses are used by Tyndale in his New Testament. Also, much of Tyndale's commentary is based on Luther, although by no means as fierce in tone.

In 1408, the Constitutions of Oxford were passed which forbade anyone from translating or reading the Bible in English without the approval of his Bishop. Because of this prohibition, William Tyndale was not able to get permission to translate the Bible in England. He travelled to Germany in 1524 spent some time with Martin Luther and completed the translation of the New Testament in two years. Permission to print an English Bible in England was practically impossible, even though William Caxton had set up a printing press in Westminster in 1456. His press was certainly capable of printing large numbers of Bibles. As a result, the printed version of Tyndale's New Testament was published in Cologne, Germany in 1526.

In this version Tyndale promised 'to endeavour to revise his translation'.

The demand for Bibles in England at this time encouraged the production of pirate copies of Tyndale's translation, many of which contained changes to the text, which were not improved translations. These deliberate and unfortunate changes to the text prompted Tyndale to complete his revised text, which was printed in 1534. 'The New Testament diligently corrected and compared with the Greek by William Tyndale'. A further revision was printed in 1535. Tyndale then turned his attention to the Old Testament. He was working on this translation even in prison but did not complete it.

In 1546, a proclamation by Henry VIII ordered that 'no man or woman of what condition, estate or degree was to receive, have, take or keep Tyndale's or Coverdale's New Testaments'. This resulted in many copies of Tyndale's Bibles being burnt. Cuthbert Tonstall, Bishop of London, purchased large numbers of these Bibles to burn them. However, his money was used to print even more copies. On the continent, William Tyndale was imprisoned, found guilty of heresy, executed and his body burnt.

Tyndale left a significant legacy. His translation has been the basis for several later texts including The Great Bible, 1539, The Authorized Version, 1611, Revised Version, 1881 and Revised Standard Version, 1946.

Myles Coverdale (1488 - 1569) produced the first complete printed English Bible in 1535. the preface to this Bible states that the text was translated from Latin and German sources. He also credits five other interpreters, one of which was certainly William Tyndale and a second, no doubt Martin Luther.

Coverdale was the first translator to include chapter summaries into the text. He was also the first to separate the Apocrypha from the other Old Testament books and include them as an appendix to the Old Testament.

In 1534, Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, petitioned the King to translate the Bible into English. The petition received little support from the Bishops and when Coverdale's translation appeared, the effort died. Coverdale's Bible was the favourite translation of Anne Bolyn. After her death, it lost popularity and never regained official acceptance, even though it was reprinted in 1537 and a second edition in 1550 and 1553. Coverdale had greater influence on the development of the English Bible than any other translator. He edited the Great Bible of 1539 and had a part in the preparation of the Geneva Bible of 1560.

The first edition of Coverdale's Bible had to be printed on the Continent.

However, a royal license was obtained to print the second edition in England in 1537. Even so, Coverdale's Bibles were collected and burnt due to Henry VIII's proclamation in 1546. His translation of the Psalms, which he revised for the Great Bible of 1539, has been used in The Church of England prayer book until very recently.

With the ebb and flow of politics during his lifetime, Myles Coverdale had to leave England for the continent three times. He narrowly missed being burnt at the stake in Mary Tudor's reign. When many biblical scholars were executed for their beliefs, he survived because of his family connections, to complete his work.

The Matthew-Tyndale Bible was printed in 1537. A royal license had been obtained from Henry VIII to print this Bible, which allowed it to be sold and read. It was largely Tyndale's version of the first five books and also his translation of the historical books, which he had never been able to print during his lifetime. Coverdale's version of the remaining books and the Apocrypha completed the Old Testament. Tyndale's version of the New Testament, 1535, completed the Bible. Thus, his dying wish, that the King of England's eyes should be opened was granted.

This Bible is, therefore, the first complete English Bible translated mainly from Hebrew and Greek sources. John Rogers edited the text under the pen name of Thomas Matthew. He included many marginal notes and parallel references, a practice which was continued in later editions of the English Bible.

Even though the Matthew-Tyndale Bible had been printed with 'the Kinges most gracious lycence', many copies were collected and burnt after 1546. John Rogers, who had been a former associate of William Tyndale was the first of the Marian martyrs to be burnt at the stake in 1555. He was a commoner and did not have the influential family connections that saved Myles Coverdale from the same fate.

In 1537, a royal license had been issued by King Henry VIII to print The Coverdale Bible and The Matthew Tyndale Bible in England. In 1538 an injunction, issued in the King's name, stated that a copy of the English Bible should be publicly available in each parish church throughout England. Even though several English Bibles were available, the intention of this injunction was clearly that a new Bible should be prepared under the authority of the Church. None of the earlier translations had church authorization. In these earlier versions, the marginal notes or commentary or choice of English words in the text had offended the church authorities.

Myles Coverdale has had a considerable influence on the early development of the English Bible. In 1537 he was entrusted to prepare a new English Bible that should be available to the churches. He based this new revised text upon Tyndale's translation and its later revisions. The Great Bible was first printed in 1539. Coverdale continued to work on the text and a revision was printed in 1540 and reprinted five times. This second edition was a considerable improvement, especially in the poetical sections of the Old Testament. It became the first version approved for use in the Church of England. These Bibles remained in use until they needed to be replaced, at which time the Bishop's Bible became the replacement.

A few notes were retained in the Great Bible, but only those that made the meaning of words or expressions clearer. This was in response to criticisms of earlier Bible translations. The order of the New Testament books was the same as in Erasmus text and also in the later King James Bible. One interesting mistake in this Bible is the heading to the Apocrypha. It is referred to as the Hagiographa, which means holy writings.

The Great Bible was avidly read aloud in the churches. At times these Bible readings even interrupted the regular church services. Nonetheless, it was continuously available in churches even during the reign of Mary Tudor (1553-1558) despite her reversal of the reforming policies that had made Bibles in English widely available.

Many Protestants were exiled under Mary Tudor in 1553. Several notable Bible scholars took refuge in Geneva from all over Europe. John Knox was among them and he thought he had found "the most perfect school of Christ" since apostolic times. John Calvin was also there at this time. The group of English exiles was lead by William Whittingham who had already revised the New Testament text of the Matthew-Tyndale Bible. Myles Coverdale was also one of this group of English Bible scholars.

New editions of the Latin Vulgate, of Greek and Hebrew texts, of Italian, Spanish and French Bibles and a Jewish version of the Bible were produced in Geneva at this time. This scholarly climate encouraged a thorough revision of both Old and New Testament texts and the production of a Bible in 1560 that enjoyed widespread popularity in England and Scotland for about 100 years. In the Old Testament the Geneva Bible was a thorough revision of the Great Bible, especially for those books that Tyndale had not translated. The Prophets, poetical literature and the books of wisdom were carefully brought into line with the Hebrew text. The New Testament was based on Tyndale's text. It was the marginal notes that irritated James I so much and lead to the publication of the King James Version in 1611. Even so, Matthew Parker, the Archbishop of Canterbury, who was working on the Bishops Bible at the time, said that it was good to have a diversity of translations and readings.

More than 140 editions of the Geneva Bible were printed, most of them in England. The first Bible printed in Scotland was a Geneva Bible in 1579. The soldier's pocket Bible issued by Oliver Cromwell in 1643 was extracts from the Geneva Bible. The last edition was printed in 1644.

This Bible is commonly referred to as the "Breeches Bible" after the phrase in Genesis "Adam and Eve took fig leaves and made themselves breeches". Two hundred years earlier, John Wycliffe had translated this passage in the same way.

The widespread popularity of the Geneva Bible after its publication in 1560 made deficiencies in the text of the Great Bible all too obvious.

This highlighted the need for a version acceptable to the church. With the single exception of the Geneva Bible, the text of available English Bibles had been largely the work of individual translators. Their accompanying notes and commentaries conveyed many individual and often unpopular viewpoints.

During the reign of Henry VIII, an English translation prepared under the supervision of the Bishops was proposed. At that time nothing came of this proposal, but in 1561, three years after Elizabeth I ascended the throne, Archbishop Parker submitted another proposal for a new translation. This time, a group of Bishops were assembled to prepare a new version, which was to have 'no bitter or controversial annotations to the text'. They were not to express any preference for one school of thought and offensive expressions were to be modified. The result was the Bishop's Bible, first printed in 1568. Archbishop Parker edited the text. The list of scholars who worked on the Bishop's Bible was shown to the Queen and her chief minister, Lord Cecil ahead of time. No doubt to make them more diligent and ensure that the outspoken Calvinist tone of the notes in the Geneva Bible was not part of this new version.

The Great Bible was the basis for this new version. Comparisons were made to the Latin texts of the Hebrew Bible prepared by Pagnius, 1528 and Munster, 1539. This method of including the Hebrew text was necessary because none of the Bishops were Hebrew scholars. The second and third editions contained many corrections and revisions. The third edition has a thorough revision of the New Testament. Nineteen editions were published between 1568 and 1606. This number, however, was still less than the Geneva Bible.

The convocation of Canterbury in 1571 ordered that each Archbishop and Bishop 'should place a copy in the dining room of his house, each cathedral and, as far as possible, each church should possess a copy'.

When Elizabeth I died in 1603, James I succeeded to the English throne. At this time the Geneva Bible was very popular throughout both England and Scotland. James welcomed a proposal to prepare another translation because, as he put it, 'I could never yet see a Bible well translated in English; but I think, of all, that the Geneva is the worst'. It appears, however, that the marginal notes offended James the most.

In 1604, the year after he became King of England, James convened the Hampton Conference. At this conference, a resolution was passed 'That a translation be made of the whole Bible, as consonant as can be to the original Hebrew and Greek'.

King James I took a leading part in organizing the translation, five committees prepared a new text, the Old Testament was entrusted to three and the New Testament to two. A sub-committee selected from the five reviewed the final text. Great care was taken to prepare the text that was majestic and carried a sense of the Divine by its expressiveness.

The basis for this new translation was the Bishop's Bible and the Hebrew and Greek texts available at that time were used extensively.

Rules for translating were similar to those for the Bishop's Bible, i.e. to avoid controversy in both text and reference notes. The names of Bible characters were to correspond as closely as possible to common usage. This was in sharp contrast to the Geneva Bible and the Bishop's Bible that expressed Jewish names in Hebrew form. Old ecclesiastical words were to be kept, for example, church and not congregation. This insistence on approved wording was a reaction to the strong puritan influence of the previous translators, Coverdale, for instance.

The text of the King James Bible, first printed in 1611, became the accepted version of the English Bible until the Revised Version was published; the New Testament in 1881 and the Old Testament in 1885.

This translation has glowing dedication to the King and official sanction but the Geneva Bible continued to be very popular.

The greatest defect of the King James Bible is that the New Testament was translated from an inferior text. This Greek text was made in the Fourth Century and it is now known that it is quite removed from the text of the First Century. Sixteen years after the King James Bible was printed, a Greek manuscript of the Bible was presented to King Charles I. This Fifth Century manuscript is now known as the Alexandrine Codex and is in the British Museum. At that time, this was a much better manuscript than the text prepared by Erasmus and used by the translators of the King James Bible. Unfortunately, it was not available to the translators in 1611.

During the 16th century, Bibles became widely available throughout England and much of Europe. The printing press with removable type had been developed in the 15th Century and several scholars had devoted their lives to producing readable versions of the Bible in English. Bible reading groups had become popular and even had taken precedence over regular church services.

The leaders of the Reformation had encouraged people to read for themselves and be responsible for their own personal relationship with God. After the production of the King James Bible, people were permitted by law to own and read the Bible. As a result, several authors began to publish their ideas on the interpretation of scripture. During the 17th Century, books about the Bible began to be published. Some examples are included in this exhibition:

• Thomas Brightman's volume on the Apocalypse of 1644
• John Diodati's Pious Annotations of 1651
• Joseph Mede's volume on the Apocalypse of 1672

The Douai-Rheims translation was used in the Catholic Church at this time and a few translators produced new versions in the 1700's, which received little more than scholarly interest. 18th Century Bibles exhibit a steady improvement in printing, notably in the use of copper etchings to illustrate Bible stories as in the Universal Family Bible of 1777. Myles Coverdale's version of the Psalms, prepared for the Great Bible of 1539, is used in the Prayer Book and Psalms from 1745.

In the later half of the 18th Century, commentaries, maps and other aids to Bible study were often included with the Bible text, an example is John Brown's 'Self Interpreting Bible'. The Bibles were large compendiums of information about the Middle East as well as theological discussions. Brown's Bible, for instance, has an extensive introduction, which includes ancient history. It also has lists of names, units of measure and lists of phrases and similes many of which are still in common use. These Bibles were study centres and became the focus for family based education. They were responsible for increasing literacy in the society of that day.

Many of the early settlers to North America came to the new world with very few possessions. The Bible was, however, one of the few items that they brought and was highly prized. Most families kept their Bible in a Bible box to protect it.

The practice of including extensive commentaries and other study materials in the Bible was continued through the 19th Century.

Many 19th Century Bibles contained pages for family records and family Bible readings were customary before the evening meal. Of particular interest is the New Testament replica of the Hexapla of 1841, which shows in parallel columns the versions of Wycliffe 1385, Tyndale 1534, The Great Bible 1539, Geneva Bible, Douai-Rheims and King James of 1611.

During the last half of the 19th Century there was a surge of interest in the many ancient scriptural manuscripts available. This wave of public and scholarly interest seems to have been sparked by the discovery of the Codex Sinaiticus. the combination of wide public interest and detailed study of manuscripts enabled the publication and general acceptance of numerous translations, the greatest of which was the Revised Version, first published in 1885. After 1885 and the publication of the Revised version, Bibles were printed with the 1611 version and the 1885 version in parallel columns. In contrast, many smaller pocket sized Bibles were also printed.

In addition to the wide variety of Bibles, many aids to Bible study were also published. Concordances, Bible dictionaries, lexicons and Bible atlases became readily available. Archaeology began to uncover the cities mentioned in the Bible, many of which had been long forgotten.

The production of so many new versions of the Bible in our time is really an encouraging sign. This is an indication of the enduring relevance of the Bible and the desire of many people to present its message in language that will be understood by people from all backgrounds. There are versions for those who speak English as a second language, for children who have a limited vocabulary, for novice readers who need wording that is easy to read, as well as for those who have a mastery of the English language and for those who are very familiar with the Bible.

The first volume of the 20th Century was 'The Twentieth Century New Testament: A Translation into Modern English Made from the Original Greek'. It was the work of a group of about 20 translators and was prepared from Westcott and Hort's text. In 1903, another popular version of the New Testament was published; The New Testament in Modern Speech by Dr. R. F. Weymouth.

As the century continued, many new translations became available. These represent different levels of scholarly and readership interests. The final version published in the 20th Century was the New English Translation released in 1996.

The discovery of the Dead Sea scrolls, in 1946, sparked a renewed interest in the Old Testament text. These scrolls have also provided a useful background to Jewish literature at the time of the Gospels.

The year 1911 was the 300th anniversary of the first printing of the King James Bible. To celebrate this anniversary, the British Museum presented an exhibition of Bible texts and English Bibles. A facsimile of the original 1611 Bible was also printed.