{"id":9282,"date":"2023-09-08T04:20:26","date_gmt":"2023-09-08T04:20:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/?p=9282"},"modified":"2025-09-18T04:39:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-18T04:39:09","slug":"when-was-the-first-bible-written","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bartehrman.com\/when-was-the-first-bible-written\/","title":{"rendered":"When Was The First Bible Written? Tracing the Biblical Origins"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Was The First Bible Written? THE COMPLETE “ORIGIN STORY” (WITH TIMELINE)<\/h2>\n

\"Marko<\/span><\/p>\n

Written by Marko Marina, Ph.D.<\/a><\/p>\n

Author |  Historian<\/p>\n

Author |  Historian |  BE Contributor<\/p>\n

Verified!  See our guidelines<\/a><\/p>\n

Verified!  See our editorial guidelines<\/a><\/p>\n

\nDate written: September 8th, 2023<\/p>\n

Edited by Laura Robinson, Ph.D.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\nDate written: September 8th, 2023\n

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily match my own. – Dr. Bart D. Ehrman<\/p>\n

“When was the first Bible written?” This seemingly straightforward question unravels a journey through the corridors of time, leading us into the intricate and captivating history of the Christian Bible.<\/p>\n

From the oral transmissions and the earliest manuscripts that have withstood the passage of ages, to the momentous influence of the printing press and the King James Version, every facet of the Bible’s origins has left an indelible mark on the trajectory of faith, scholarship, and tradition.<\/p>\n

\"When<\/span><\/p>\n

A COMPLETE TIMELINE OF THE BIBLE’S “ORIGIN STORY” AND SIGNIFICANT EVENTS<\/h2>\n

Bible History Timeline<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Key Event<\/th>\nDate or Approximate Date<\/th>\nSignificance<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Oldest Texts Written (Isaiah, Amos)<\/td>\n8th Century B.C.E.<\/td>\nEarliest Biblical Texts<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Book of Daniel Penned<\/td>\n2nd Century B.C.E.<\/td>\nRecent Hebrew Bible Entry<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pauline Letters Written<\/td>\n49 – 62 C.E.<\/td>\nEarly Christian Literature<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gospels Composed<\/td>\n70 – 95 C.E.<\/td>\nAccounts of Jesus’ Life<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Last Books of the Bible Written<\/td>\nEarly 2nd Century C.E.<\/td>\nFinal Biblical Texts<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
First New Testament Fragment (P52) Dates<\/td>\n2nd Century C.E.<\/td>\nOldest NT Fragment<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
First Use of Codices<\/td>\n1st and 2nd Century C.E.<\/td>\nShift from Scrolls to Books<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Earliest Complete Bible Manuscripts<\/td>\n4th Century C.E.<\/td>\nMost Complete Bible<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Invention of the Printing Press<\/td>\n15th Century<\/td>\nMass Production Begins<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
King James Version Published<\/td>\n1611<\/td>\nInfluential English Translation<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The Birth of the Christian Bible<\/h2>\n

Before we answer the question, \u201cwhen was the first Bible written,\u201d we must define what we mean by \u201cBible.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is not a trick. <\/p>\n

As mentioned in my previous article<\/a>, the Christian Bible<\/strong> consists of the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) and the New Testament<\/strong>. The Hebrew Bible on its own, however, is the religious cornerstone of the Jewish people. It was composed over several centuries.<\/p>\n

The oldest texts, Isaiah and Amos, trace back to the 8th century B.C.E. On the other end, the Book of Daniel penned in the 2nd century B.C.E., marks one of the more recent entries in the Hebrew Bible.<\/p>\n

However, the contemporary notion of the “Bible” encompasses the broader compilation of 66 books<\/a>, now commonly associated with the inclusion of the New Testament.  This Christian Bible is the \u201cBible\u201d we will focus on in this article.<\/p>\n

Join me as we delve into the origins of the Bible by looking more closely at the formation of the Christian Bible. Don\u2019t worry. <\/em>We will deal with the Old Testament in another article<\/em><\/a>!<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

To understand how old the Christian Bible is, we have to consider the formation of the New Testament.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Understanding the genesis of the New Testament requires us to delve into the backdrop of a divided 1st-century Judaism. To unravel this convoluted process, we must contrast the circumstances surrounding the creation of the earliest Christian literature with the origins of the Torah (Hebrew Bible).<\/p>\n

Hebrew vs. Christian Bible: Looking at the Development Differences<\/h2>\n

#1 – Short Timeframe for the New Testament Writing<\/h3>\n

In contrast to centuries of community life in Ancient Israel, Christianity produced its formative literature within roughly 70 years.<\/p>\n

That is, from the death of Jesus in the 30s, through the Pauline letters written between 49 and 62 C.E. and the Gospels composed between 70 and 95 CE, to the last books of the Bible written at the beginning of the 2nd century.<\/p>\n

Did you know most historians believe that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John didn\u2019t write the Gospels in the New Testament? Are you curious to delve into a deeper understanding of the Gospel authorship? Join a free 50-minute lecture by Dr. Bart Ehrman<\/a>.<\/p>\n

#2 – Widespread Literature of the New Testament<\/h3>\n

In opposition to the literature formed within a specific nation of people (Israelites), the New Testament emerged from the religious claims of a tiny Jewish sect and scattered Gentile converts who lived across the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n

#3 – Written in Greek<\/h3>\n

Thirdly, unlike the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament was written entirely in Greek<\/strong>. Moreover, the first Christians used as Scripture the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible<\/strong> called Septuagint.<\/p>\n

The prime example of how translation can influence the development of the Bible is the story of the virgin birth in the Gospel of Matthew.<\/em><\/p>\n

In The Birth of Messiah<\/a>, Raymond Brown explains how it was partly based on a misreading of Isaiah 7:14. As it turns out, the author of Matthew misread it because he used the Greek translation of Isaiah, not the Hebrew original.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

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Did Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John Actually Write the Gospels?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The New Testament Gospels are anonymous. So why did early Christians say they were written by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John? And what’s the evidence that they actually did?<\/p>\n

__CONFIG_colors_palette__{“active_palette”:0,”config”:{“colors”:{“62516”:{“name”:”Main Accent”,”parent”:-1}},”gradients”:[]},”palettes”:[{“name”:”Default Palette”,”value”:{“colors”:{“62516”:{“val”:”rgb(255, 133, 34)”,”hsl”:{“h”:26,”s”:0.99,”l”:0.5667}}},”gradients”:[]}}]}__CONFIG_colors_palette__ <\/span> GET THE FREE WEBINAR<\/strong><\/span><\/span> <\/a> <\/p>\n

Early Manuscripts and Fragments: Origins of the Bible<\/h2>\n

There are also some points of similarities to the development of the Hebrew Bible<\/strong>. Take, for instance, the fact that both the oral and scribal activities were involved in the composition of the New Testament and the Hebrew Bible. <\/p>\n

However, it is not always possible to distinguish them clearly. In the ancient world, both activities went together. <\/p>\n

There is, for example, evidence that Paul\u2019s letters originated within the oral practice<\/strong>. Namely, Paul dictated his letter to a scribe who wrote it. After his letter reached a community, it would have been read out loud to the gathered believers. <\/p>\n

How many years ago was the Bible written? The earliest New Testament fragment (P52) dates to the 2nd century C.E. As you can see in the picture below, the fragment is the size of a credit card and it contains several lines from the 18th chapter of John. <\/p>\n

The question of who wrote the original Bible leads us to a more careful examination of the surviving manuscripts of the New Testament. The earliest are usually fragmentary and contain only small parts of the New Testament. Take, for instance, P15 – an early Greek manuscript that contains only portions of 1 Corinthians. Most scholars date it to the 3rd century C.E.<\/p>\n

These manuscripts were written on papyrus<\/strong>. Papyrus sheets were then joined together horizontally to form scrolls. However, Christians soon changed their habits and precipitated a revolution in writing style.<\/p>\n

From Scroll to Codex: The History of the Bible<\/h2>\n

To explore the origins of the Bible is to enter into the world of late antique codices<\/strong>. As decades went by, Christians decided to write Scripture on the codex rather than the scroll.<\/p>\n

Scrolls had several practical disadvantages. You could write only on one side, and texts were limited by the length of the scroll. Furthermore, specific passages could be found only by \u201cunscrolling\u201d. <\/p>\n

Did you know that the Latin word explicare<\/strong> (\u201cto explain\u201d) derives from a verb that means \u201cto unfold\u201d? Explaining something was intrinsically related to the act of unfolding a scroll! <\/p>\n

The codex, on the other hand, is a compilation of \u201cpages\u201d (usually of papyrus), but folded and stitched together in quires to form a \u201cbook\u201d<\/strong> in the modern sense. The codex was cheaper, more mobile, could contain more text, and allowed easier access to specific passages in a composition. <\/p>\n

The codices appeared for the first time in the 1st and 2nd centuries C.E. and they quickly became particularly associated with Christian literature.<\/p>\n

The Database of Ancient Books<\/a> reveals captivating insights: <\/p>\n