Most world religions have some type of religious literature. Religious literature contains lots of interesting information for the religious believer and for the curious scholar. These books, such as the Bible, give us a glimpse of specific belief systems and cultures and snapshots of various historical periods. However, no matter how much a believer or scholar studies these aspects of religious literature and its details, they can never learn it all. Keep reading to learn about three details of the Bible that you may not know.
The Bible’s Organization Has Changed
If you have a Bible nearby, you can easily open it and see organized chapters and verses. However, the first Bibles humanity had were not organized this way! Original books, such as the Old Testament, were on scrolls kept in places of religious worship. While they may have been broken into specific books, they didn’t have chapters and verses like we use to reference them now.
Original New Testament books were mostly circulated letters and weren’t organized into chapters and verses. The chapters and verses organization system didn’t start until around 1200 AD, which is roughly a thousand years after the last book of the Bible, Revelation, came to be.
The Bible Contains Almost 200 Songs
There are many different types of literature within the Bible. In the Old Testament, you’ll find historical narratives, legal books, wisdom literature, poetry, and prophetic books. In the New Testament, you’ll find gospels, Acts of the Apostles, epistles, and Revelation.
Out of all these different types of literature, there are quite a few songs. You’ll find most of these songs in the book of Psalms, often with directions for how to sing them and what instruments should accompany them. However, there are other songs and quoted songs throughout Scripture. The total list is around 180, but some scholars think the number is even higher.
Significance of Color Depends on Translation
The original books of the Bible were in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. Translating the Bible into other languages, including English, means that we sometimes add or lose specific Biblical features. One example of that is color.
Sometimes color has significance in the Bible. That significance depends on the context surrounding the color description, both in that verse and in surrounding verses. However, you must read that color and its supposed significance with a grain of salt. The translation we mentioned above changed some colors. For example, ancient Hebrew didn’t have a specific word for blue, yet the color blue appears throughout the Bible. This was the translators’ choice, and most translators work as faithfully to the original book as they can. However, readers should beware of these changes.
There are many details of the Bible that you may not know. No one can know everything about this ancient, mysterious book or other pieces of religious literature. Believers and scholars should study them to the best of their ability and always try to learn more to further their understanding.
