Category Archives: Bible History

The history surrounding the construction of the bible

Daniel’s Messianic Prophecy

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Daniel 9:24-26 contains a prophecy given to Daniel by the angel Gabriel regarding the time when the Messiah would come. It counts off a specific number of years from the start of the restoration of Jerusalem after the exile. This implies the messiah came sometime in the 1st century AD. For someone who believes in the Tanakh but doesn’t believe that Jesus is the Messiah, I challenge them to examine 1st-century Jerusalem and find another figure that matches the description of this prophecy. 

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Authorship of Books in the Bible

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Who wrote the Bible? Did the Bible copy from pagan myths? Are there alterations? Why should we trust it? How was it constructed? Can we trust it as a historical book? This is an exploration of how some of the books in the Bible may have been compiled based on literary design and a comparison with other legends. Some books have specific authors associated with them who write from their perspective, but others do not, as they are compilations. There are many different theories on how the Bible was constructed, but this is how I connect the dots.

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1st Century Roman Marriage Law

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Let’s examine the historical and cultural context of marriage in Rome during the first century to gain a better understanding of the New Testament. In Roman law of the 1st century, it was illegal for a man or woman not to be married between the ages of 25 and 60 (for men) and 20 and 50 (for women). So, for the Romans, celibacy was a crime, and there were restrictions on those who were celibate; this is one of the many issues that put Christians at odds with the Roman Empire. Especially Paul, because he was celibate and encouraged (but did not require) celibacy in 1 Corinthians 7.

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Bible Apocrypha

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Are there other books of the Bible besides the 66 canonical ones? There are various groups of non-canonical books, each with its distinct classification. Today, we will discuss the Bible Apocrypha. Apocrypha is a term for works, usually written, of unknown authorship or doubtful origin.

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Masoretic vs Septuagint

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There are two versions of the Old Testament, a Greek version and a Hebrew version. The Masoretic Text is written in Hebrew and dated around 900-1100 AD. On the other side is the Septuagint (aka the LXX), a Greek translation of the Old Testament that goes back before the time of Jesus to around 300 BC. The Masoretic Text preserved the Hebrew since, for the layman Jews, spoken Hebrew had faded out of use by then and had been replaced by the Aramaic spoken by the empires that ruled Israel since the Babylonian Exile. Some suspect that Jews tampered with the Masoretic Text to cover up messianic prophecies (like Psalms 22:16). In contrast, others suspect that this Septuagint was corrupted by Jews who adopted Greek philosophy and altered the meanings of specific scriptures. Then some see value in both and recognize that when one has errors, the other offers a solution.

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