Dating the Bible

The Bible is a compilation of various texts or "books" of different ages. The dates of many of the texts of the Hebrew Bible are difficult to establish. Textual criticism places all of them within the 1st millennium BC, although there is considerable uncertainty as to the century in some cases. The oldest surviving Hebrew Bible manuscripts date to about the 2nd century BC, the oldest record of the complete text survives in Greek translation, dating to the 4th century and the oldest extant manuscripts of the vocalized Masoretic text upon which modern editions are based date to the 9th century. The individual books of the New Testament may be dated with some confidence to the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. The earliest fragment of the New Testament is the Rylands Library Papyrus P52, a piece of the Gospel of John dated to the first half of the 2nd century. For this reason, dating the composition of the texts relies on textual criticism, philological and linguistic evidence, as well as direct references to historical events in the texts instead of dating the physical manuscripts.

Klappentext

The Bible is a compilation of various texts or "books" of different ages. The dates of many of the texts of the Hebrew Bible are difficult to establish. Textual criticism places all of them within the 1st millennium BC, although there is considerable uncertainty as to the century in some cases. The oldest surviving Hebrew Bible manuscripts date to about the 2nd century BC, the oldest record of the complete text survives in Greek translation, dating to the 4th century and the oldest extant manuscripts of the vocalized Masoretic text upon which modern editions are based date to the 9th century. The individual books of the New Testament may be dated with some confidence to the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. The earliest fragment of the New Testament is the Rylands Library Papyrus P52, a piece of the Gospel of John dated to the first half of the 2nd century. For this reason, dating the composition of the texts relies on textual criticism, philological and linguistic evidence, as well as direct references to historical events in the texts instead of dating the physical manuscripts.