“All scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…” (2 Timothy 3:16). This is the main thing that everyone can take from the Bible, but there are additional things about the Bible that you should know.
Here are 5 additional facts about the best-selling book of all time:
1. Origins of the Word "Bible"
The word “Bible” comes from the Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία (ta biblia – “the books”). The late biblical scholar F.F. Bruce mentioned that Chrysostom in Homilies on Matthew (between A.D. 386 and 388) shows the first Greek phrase ta biblia which describes both the Old and New Testaments as one. The Christian use of the word Bible can be traced back to around A.D. 223.
2. Chapters and Verses
In the 13th century Stephen Langton, an Archbishop of Canterbury was the first to practice divvying up the Bible into chapters. The classical scholar in Paris, 16th-century printer Robert Estienne was the first person to print the Bible into standardized numbered verses.
3. Eliot Indian Bible
The “Eliot Indian Bible” was the first complete Bible printed in the Western Hemisphere. Published between 1660 and 1663 in Cambridge, Massachusetts the book was translated into the Natick dialect of the Algonquin tribe of indigenous Americans. It was only until the late 1700s that English language Bibles were printed in America. This was because it was cheaper to import from England until the embargo of the Revolutionary War.
4. The Best-Seller
Every year, the Bible is the best-selling book of the year. It’s not just the best-selling book of all-time. In 1907, the New York Times stated that the daily sales of the Bible were 40,000 copies which far exceeds the annual sales of most popular novels. There are an estimated 25 million copies sold in the US every year. This equates to one new Bible for every 12 Americans every year.
5. Old and New
In the New Testament, all the books of the Old Testament except the Song of Solomon, Esther, and Ecclesiastes are quoted or referenced. Jesus has made references or quoted Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Psalms, Proverbs, 1 Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Amos, Jonah, Micah, Zechariah, and Malachi.