Portal:Bible
The Bible Portal
The Bible (from Koine Greek τὰ βιβλία, tà biblía, 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures, some, all, or a variant of which are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, Islam, the Baha'i Faith, and many other Abrahamic religions. The Bible is an anthology, a compilation of texts of a variety of forms, originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Koine Greek. These texts include instructions, stories, poetry, and prophecies, among other genres. The collection of materials that are accepted as part of the Bible by a particular religious tradition or community is called a biblical canon. Believers in the Bible generally consider it to be a product of divine inspiration, but the way they understand what that means and interpret the text varies.
The religious texts were compiled by different religious communities into various official collections. The earliest contained the first five books of the Bible, called the Torah in Hebrew and the Pentateuch (meaning five books) in Greek. The second oldest part was a collection of narrative histories and prophecies (the Nevi'im). The third collection (the Ketuvim) contains psalms, proverbs, and narrative histories. "Tanakh" is an alternate term for the Hebrew Bible composed of the first letters of those three parts of the Hebrew scriptures: the Torah ("Teaching"), the Nevi'im ("Prophets"), and the Ketuvim ("Writings"). The Masoretic Text is the medieval version of the Tanakh, in Hebrew and Aramaic, that is considered the authoritative text of the Hebrew Bible by modern Rabbinic Judaism. The Septuagint is a Koine Greek translation of the Tanakh from the third and second centuries BC; it largely overlaps with the Hebrew Bible.
Christianity began as an outgrowth of Second Temple Judaism, using the Septuagint as the basis of the Old Testament. The early Church continued the Jewish tradition of writing and incorporating what it saw as inspired, authoritative religious books. The gospels, Pauline epistles, and other texts quickly coalesced into the New Testament.
With estimated total sales of over five billion copies, the Bible is the best-selling publication of all time. It has had a profound influence both on Western culture and history and on cultures around the globe. The study of it through biblical criticism has indirectly impacted culture and history as well. The Bible is currently translated or is being translated into about half of the world's languages. (Full article...)
Selected article -
Samson (/ˈsæmsən/; Hebrew: שִׁמְשׁוֹן Šīmšōn "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution of the monarchy. He is sometimes considered as an Israelite version of the popular Near Eastern folk hero also embodied by the Sumerian Gilgamesh and Enkidu, as well as the Greek Heracles. Samson was given superhuman powers by God in the form of extreme strength.
The biblical account states that Samson was a Nazirite and that he was given immense strength to aid him against his enemies and allow him to perform superhuman feats, including slaying a lion with his bare hands and (after offending groomsmen at his wedding to a Philistine), massacring a Philistine army with a donkey's jawbone. The cutting of Samson's long hair would violate his Nazirite vow and nullify his ability. (Full article...)Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that Chninkel, a Franco-Belgian comic mixing Tolkien-like fantasy with Biblical themes, has been translated into several languages?
- ... that Elizabeth Mburu's book African Hermeneutics seeks to bring a uniquely African approach to interpreting the Bible?
- ... that based on the biblical principle of omnia sunt communia, Thomas Aquinas argued that theft is not a sin if the thief genuinely needs what they are stealing?
- ... that in 1752, Samuel Kneeland and his partner produced the first Bible in the English language ever printed in America?
- ... that the first New Testament in English was printed by Peter Schöffer the Younger in Worms?
- ... that in 1929, the world press proclaimed Teleilat el Ghassul to be the biblical Sodom and Gomorrah, but Father Alexis Mallon, the site's excavator, disagreed?
List articles
- List of animals in the Bible
- Biblical canon
- List of capital crimes in the Torah
- Prophets of Christianity
- List of English Bible translations
- List of films based on the Bible
- List of minor Old Testament figures, A–K
- List of minor Old Testament figures, L–Z
- List of minor biblical tribes
- List of biblical names
- List of New Testament pericopes
- List of New Testament papyri
- List of New Testament uncials
- Lists of New Testament minuscules
- List of New Testament lectionaries
- List of New Testament verses not included in modern English translations
- List of Hebrew Bible events
- List of Jewish biblical figures
- List of biblical places
- List of plants in the Bible
Related portals
Selected quote -
"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love." – 1 John 4:18
Categories
WikiProjects
Web resources
- Audio Bible Online
- Bible Hub
- Bible Portal
- BibleGateway.com
- BibleStudyTools.com
- Biblia.com
- Blue Letter Bible
- Free Bible Images
- Multilingual Online Bible
- The Holy Bible ,a Standard works of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures A jw.org Jehovah Witnesses portal of New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures.
Topics
More did you know -
- ... that the name "Hashub", mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in the Book of Nehemiah, was found on a piece of pottery contemporary to Nehemiah at the archaeological site of Tel Zeton, Israel?
- ... that a Presbyterian–Catholic New Testament in Taiwanese Hokkien was confiscated by the government in 1975 for using the Latin alphabet instead of Chinese characters?
- ... that after its sale to Western Bible College, radio station KJOL toned down its protests against abortion clinics and grocery stores that sold pornographic materials?
Selected chapters
Genesis - Exodus - Leviticus - Numbers - Deuteronomy - Joshua - Judges - Ruth - 1 Samuel - 2 Samuel - 1 Kings - 2 Kings - 1 Chronicles - 2 Chronicles - Ezra - Nehemiah - Esther - Job - Psalms - Proverbs - Ecclesiastes - Song of Solomon - Isaiah