The Bible
The Bible is a collection of sacred texts that are central to Judaism and Christianity, composed over approximately 1,500 years across multiple languages, literary genres, and historical contexts. It is divided into two major sections: the Old Testament (also known as the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh) and the New Testament. The Old Testament traces the history, laws, and prophecies of ancient Israel, while the New Testament records the life, teachings, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the formation of the early Christian church.[^c1] The Bible comprises diverse literary genres including law, historical narrative, wisdom literature, poetry, prophecy, gospels, epistles, and apocalyptic writings, each requiring careful interpretation within its original context.[^c2]
The Old Testament was written primarily in Biblical Hebrew, with portions in Aramaic, spanning from approximately the 12th century BCE to the 2nd century BCE. The Hebrew Bible contains 24 books, organized into the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings. The Protestant Old Testament contains the same content divided into 39 books, while the Catholic and Orthodox canons include additional deuterocanonical books.[^c3][^c10][^c11] The New Testament was written in Koine Greek during the first century CE and contains 27 books, including four Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, epistles, and the Book of Revelation. The relationship between the two testaments involves both continuity and discontinuity, with the New Testament presenting the life of Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies while also establishing a new covenant that extends God's promises to all nations.[^c4]
The theological framework of the Bible centers on God's relationship with humanity through covenants. Key covenants include the Abrahamic covenant, the Mosaic covenant, the Davidic covenant, and the New Covenant prophesied by Jeremiah and fulfilled in Jesus Christ.[^c5] These covenants form the backbone of the biblical storyline, tracing God's plan for creation, redemption, and restoration. Major themes that run throughout the Bible include monotheism, sin and atonement, justice and mercy, faith and obedience, and the coming kingdom of God.
The Bible's interpretation has been a subject of careful study throughout history. Hermeneutics, the art and science of biblical interpretation, provides principles such as attention to historical and literary context, authorial intent, and the unity of Scripture.[^c6] Different Christian traditions vary in their understanding of the canon, with Catholic and Orthodox canons including deuterocanonical books not found in the Protestant canon.[^c7] The Bible has profoundly influenced Western art, literature, law, and moral philosophy, and continues to be the most widely read and translated text in human history. It has also been engaged by Islam, whose scripture, the Quran, references the Bible frequently, acknowledging it as a significant revelation from God while offering a distinct perspective on its contents and authenticity.[^c17]
Ongoing scholarship and archaeological discovery continue to illuminate the biblical world. In 2026, multispectral imaging recovered 42 lost pages from [[Codex H]], a 6th-century Greek manuscript of Paul's Letters, revealing the earliest known chapter divisions for the Pauline corpus.[^c8] Excavations at Judahite sites such as Tel Arad, Lachish, and Tel 'Eton have provided material evidence for religious reforms described in the books of Kings, demonstrating the interplay between textual and archaeological evidence.[^c9] The Dead Sea Scrolls, first found in 1947 by a Bedouin shepherd near Qumran,[^c15] include the oldest Hebrew manuscripts of the books of the Hebrew Bible[^c14] and have reshaped understanding of the biblical text's history. The Gospel of Thomas, rediscovered at Nag Hammadi in 1945, has prompted renewed scholarly debate about the earliest forms of Jesus' teaching.[^c16] Dead Sea Scrolls research has also advanced: radiocarbon dating and AI-assisted handwriting analysis have refined the dating of scrolls such as the Daniel manuscript 4Q114,[^c12] and the cryptic Qumran script known as Cryptic B was deciphered for the first time in a 2026 study.[^c13] Recent research has also focused on the Assyrian invasion of Judah in 701 BCE: the ancient historian Stephen Compton has identified Sennacherib's siege camp outside Lachish[^c18] and has proposed that a scene carved into the throne-room wall of the Assyrian king Sennacherib preserves the earliest known depiction of Jerusalem.[^c19] Epigraphic finds—the Mesha Stele and the inscribed altar from the Khirbat Ataruz temple—have corroborated the Moabite king Mesha's conquest of Ataroth as recounted in his own inscription.[^c20] Historical Jesus studies continue to evolve, with new methodological approaches moving beyond traditional criteria of authenticity toward interdisciplinary engagement with social history, memory studies, and ancient media.