The Christian Walk

Where Did the Bible Come From?
A Timeline

500 BC: Roughly the time of completion of All Original Hebrew Manuscripts which make up the 39 Books of the Old Testament.

200 BC: Completion of the Septuagint Greek Manuscripts which contain The 39 Old Testament Books and the 14 Apocrypha Books.

100 AD: Completion of All Original Greek Manuscripts which make up the 27 Books of the New Testament.

390 AD: Jerome’s Latin Vulgate Manuscripts Produced which contain All 80 Books (39 Old Test. + 14 Apocrypha + 27 New Test; though the Apocrypha was a cut and paste effort upon pressure by the church, and not by Jerome’s choice (he did not believe the apocryphal books were canonical.).

397 AD: Athanasius heads a council to canonize the Bible as Protestants have it today. 39 Old Testament books and 27 New Testament books without the Apocryphal books.

500 AD: Scriptures have been translated into Over 500 Languages.

600 AD: Latin was the only language allowed for the translation of the Scriptures.

1384 AD: Wycliffe is the first person to produce a hand-written manuscript copy of the complete Bible; All 80 Books; though his translation was from the Latin Vulgate and not from the Greek or Hebrew MSS.

1455 AD: Gutenberg invents the printing press; Books may now be mass-produced instead of individually hand-written. The first book ever printed is Gutenberg’s Bible in Latin.

1516 AD: Erasmus produces a Greek/Latin parallel New Testament.

1522 AD: Martin Luther’s translates the New Testament Scriptures into German.

1525 AD: William Tyndale’s New Testament translated from the Greek MSS; This is the first New Testament to be printed in the English language on the printing press. Tyndale did not finish translating the Old Testament.

1535 AD: Myles Coverdale’s Bible; The first complete Bible to be printed in the English Language (80 Books: Old Testament and New Testament including the Apocryphal books which are non-canonical).

1537 AD: Matthews Bible; The second complete Bible to be printed in English. Done by John “Thomas Matthew” Rogers (80 Books).

1539 AD: The “Great Bible” printed; The first English language Bible to be authorized for public use (80 Books).

1560 AD: The Geneva Bible Printed; The First English Language Bible to add numbered verses to each chapter (80 Books).

1568 AD: The Bishops Bible Printed; The Bible of which the King James was a revision (80 Books, as well as a 20% cut and paste from the Geneva Bible).

1609 AD: The Douay Old Testament is added to the Rheimes New Testament of 1582 (Catholic translation) making the first complete English Catholic Bible; It was translated from the Latin Vulgate (80 Books).

1609 AD: The first printing of the King James Bible; originally with All 80 Books.

1611 AD: The King James Bible revised and printed; all 80 Books. The Apocrypha was Officially Removed in 1885 Leaving Only 66 Books.

1782 AD: Robert Aitken’s Bible; The first English language Bible (a King James Version without Apocrypha) to be Printed in America.

1791 AD: Isaac Collins and Isaiah Thomas respectively produce the first Family Bible and First Illustrated Bible printed in America. Both were King James Versions, with All 80 Books.

1808 AD: Jane Aitken’s Bible (Daughter of Robert Aitken); The First Bible to be printed by a Woman.

1833 AD: Noah Webster’s Bible; After Producing his Famous Dictionary, Webster Printed his Own Revision of the King James Bible.

1841 AD: English Hexapla New Testament; an Early Textual Comparison showing the Greek and 6 Famous English Translations in Parallel Columns. (This is an excellent reference Bible)

1846 AD: The Illuminated Bible; The most lavishly illustrated Bible printed in America. A King James Version, with All 80 Books.

1885 AD: The “Revised Version” Bible; The First Major English Revision of the King James Bible.

1901 AD: The “American Standard Version”; The First Major American Revision of the King James Bible.

1971 AD: The “New American Standard Bible” (NASB) is Published as a “Modern and Accurate Word for Word English Translation” of the Bible from the Greek and Hebrew texts.

1973 AD: The “New International Version” (NIV) is published as a “Modern and Accurate Phrase for Phrase English Translation” of the Bible. (However its accuracy is very much disputed in many places and is often found wanting as a reliable translation. It is categorized as a dynamic equivalent not a translation.)

1982 AD: The “New King James Version” (NKJV) is published as a “Modern English Version maintaining the original style of the King James.”

2001 AD: The English Standard Version Bible is published. An accurate Greek and Hebrews translation in modern English retaining Greek and Hebrew nuances.