Page 6 - Advanced OT Survey Revised

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
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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 use 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 line) 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
v
found in 2 Clement. 14.2., which states “the books (biblia)… has existed from the beginning.”

Understanding 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? Thus, we need to pay attention to what can be called the plotline of
the Old Testament. The plotline 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

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