Page 15 - Advanced OT Survey Student Textbook

Once a scroll reached a certain size, however, it became awkward to use, as was the case with several of
the larger biblical books. For example, the Isaiah scroll found Qumran measured approximately 23 feet,
about the limit for a scroll. Thus, a new format was necessary to conveniently handle a book as large as
the Old or New Testament. As times past, it was discovered that sheets could be pressed on top of each
other, folded in the middle, and bound, resulting in an easy-to-use book called, a “codex.” David Ewert,
former president of Mennonite Bible College in Winnipeg, Manitoba, explains: “the Latin word codex
originally meant the trunk of a tree, and then a block of wood split up into tablets or leaves. Such
wooden tablets or leaves (perhaps coated with wax) were bound together to make a book. The same
was done with leaves or sheets of papyrus. A codex, then, is a leaf book. The codex was a significant
improvement over scrolls, being easier to manage and easier to use in locating passages. But scrolls
continued to be used in a synagogue even after the second century A.D., when the codex was
introduced for the private use. Christians quickly adopted the codex for its convenience, allowing
multiple books in one codex. Initially codices were made of papyrus, but it was soon found that
parchment (scrapped animal skin that was soaked in lime) could be inscribed on both sides, producing
even less bulky and more durable. As a result, the term biblia evolved again, referring more broadly to
codices or books.

The Septuagint, a Greek translation of the Old Testament produced
probably between 250 and 100 B.C., uses the word biblia, in Daniel 9:2
to refer to Jeremiah’s words, which may have been in form of letters or
collection of prophets. Early Greek-speaking Christians employed the
plural for Biblica to refer to the entire collection of Old and New
Testament books, as explained by F.F Bruce, former professor of New
Testament at the University of Manchester: “Latin-speaking Christians
then borrowed the word biblia but treated it as singular noun, and
from its Latin use the English word ‘Bible’ and similar forms in many
other languages have been derived.

The earliest recorded instance of the term biblia applied to the documents of the Christian church is
found in 2 Clement. 14.2., which states “the books (biblia)… has existed from the beginning.”
16

Understanding to read the Old Testament

The big issue that most people struggle with is, can we understand the Bible or is it just for some highly
trained scholars? In this passage we will look at how we can understand the meaning of the Bible. First
and foremost, since the Old Testament is being understood as God’s revelation of Himself, we cannot be
satisfied to read it for its factual details alone. Those details make up what we can call the storyline of
the text. The storyline is comprised of the people, places, dates, and event---the raw materials of the
history of Israel. The Old Testament is full such details, extent that reader can be overwhelmed trying to
master them.

While the storyline is an essential foundation for understanding the text, it is important to recognize
that the mastery of the details of the storyline is secondary to a more central concern. What is more
significant than an understanding of the people and events is an understanding of God and his plan? We
need to pay attention to what can be called the plotline or theme of the Old Testament. The overall
theme goes beyond the factual content to the message of each book and of the whole. It identifies that
which makes the literature not just narrative history, but Scripture. It is concerned with the theology of
the text, not just the framework; the substance of the meaning, not just the trivia of the medium. A

16 Ibid, P. 30. (Notes on what does the word Bible mean?)
14