The Bible, with more than 5 billion copies sold, is the best-selling book in history. I want to share some basic information about the greatest book ever written, so the next several articles I post will be about the Bible.

I’m not a Biblical expert, but I’ve read the entire book a dozen or more times and feel it has a lot of value for anyone who reads it. Hopefully, when I finish this series, you’ll understand it a little better.

What exactly is the Bible?

1. It’s the written Word of God. 
2. The word Bible means “book, or scroll.”
3. It is one book with two major sections.
   • Old Testament, 39 books, and 
   • New Testament, 27 books.
   • The word “testament” means covenant, or agreement.
4. Each book is further divided into chapters and verses.

What’s the Bible about?

1. It’s about God’s relationship with people on the earth.
2. The Bible reveals God’s master plan of making sure that as many people as possible spend eternity with him in heaven.
3. It contains truths to believe, promises, commands to obey, and examples to follow. 
4. The Bible tells us about God, ourselves, and how we should live. 
5. Its teachings help us to know, love, and follow God.

When was it written?

1. The Bible was written over a period of about 1,500 years by more than 40 authors.
   • Some of its writers wrote more than one book.
   • They wrote in three different languages: 
     • The Old Testament was written primarily in Hebrew with some Aramaic. 
     • The New Testament was written in Greek.
2. The earliest writings in the Old Testament were around 1400 B.C. 
3. The Old Testament writings end about 400 B.C. 
4. The New Testament writings end in 95 A.D.

Who wrote the Bible?

1. Biblical authors came from different cultures. 
   • They were Jews, and Gentiles (non-Jews). 
   • Some were kings, and others were paupers. 
   • Some were highly educated, and some had little formal education. 
   • There were religious and political leaders.
   • Some were prophets, and others were ordinary people.
2. Even with this much disparity in the background of the writers, the Bible has one continuing, unifying message throughout. 
3. No other religious book shares the uniqueness of the Bible.
4. Some of the writers wrote exactly what God said.
5. Others wrote from personal experience or recorded what God revealed to them. 

How is it organized?

1. The Bible is organized by genre. More about that later.
2. The chapter divisions used today were developed by Stephen Langton, an archbishop of Canterbury. Langton put the modern chapter divisions into place in around A.D. 1227. 
3. The Wycliffe English Bible of A.D. 1382 was the first Bible to use chapters. 
4. Since the Wycliffe Bible, nearly all Bible translations have used Langton’s chapter divisions.
5. The Hebrew Old Testament was divided into verses by a Jewish rabbi by the name of Nathan in A.D. 1448. 
6. Robert Estienne, also known as Stephanus, was the first to divide the New Testament into standard numbered verses in A.D. 1555.

The next post will be about the Old Testament.