The Bible did not appear all at once.

It developed over many centuries, through many different writers, languages and historical settings.

For Christians, the Bible is also understood as inspired by God. But even if you are simply curious about its history, there is a fascinating human story behind how these ancient texts were written, copied, collected and translated.

Here is a simple overview.

Who wrote the Bible?

The Bible has many human authors.

Traditionally, these include people such as:

• Moses
• David
• Solomon
• Isaiah
• Jeremiah
• Matthew
• John
• Paul
• Luke

Some books name their author directly.

Others are anonymous or have authorship that has been debated by scholars.

So rather than imagining the Bible as one person writing one long book, it is better to think of it as a collection that grew over time.

What languages was the Bible written in?

The Bible was originally written mainly in three languages:

• Hebrew
  Most of the Old Testament.
• Aramaic
  Used in smaller sections of the Old Testament.
• Greek
  The language of the New Testament.

That matters because every English Bible is a translation from these ancient languages.

Different Bible versions sometimes use different wording because translators are making careful decisions about how best to express an ancient phrase in modern English.

If that interests you, our guide to Bible translations explains why versions such as the NIV, NLT and ESV can read differently.

How was the Old Testament written?

The Old Testament developed over a long period.

Its books include:

• accounts of Israel’s history;
• laws;
• poetry and songs;
• wisdom literature;
• prophetic writing.

These texts were written, edited and preserved across generations.

The precise dates of individual books are sometimes debated, but many were composed centuries before the time of Jesus.

The Old Testament was written mainly in Hebrew, with some Aramaic.

Before printing existed, texts were copied by hand onto materials such as papyrus and parchment.

How was the New Testament written?

The New Testament was written in the first century AD.

Its books include:

• the four Gospels;
• Acts;
• letters to early Christian communities;
• Revelation.

The Gospels tell the story of Jesus’ life, teaching, death and resurrection.

The letters address real churches and individuals, often responding to practical questions, disputes and matters of belief.

Most scholars date the New Testament books to the decades after Jesus’ death.

They were written in Koine Greek, the widely used form of Greek in the eastern Roman world.

How were the books chosen?

The word canon refers to the collection of books recognised as Scripture.

This did not happen in one meeting where a group simply chose which books they liked.

It was a gradual process.

Early Christian communities already read and circulated particular texts. Over time, church leaders recognised a group of writings as authoritative.

Important considerations included:

• whether a text had a strong connection with the apostles;
• whether it was widely used by Christian communities;
• whether its teaching was consistent with the faith those communities had received.

By the fourth century, the 27 books now found in the New Testament were widely recognised across the church.

Are all Bibles exactly the same?

Not quite.

Most Protestant Bibles contain 66 books.

Catholic and Orthodox Bibles include additional Old Testament books or sections, often referred to as the Deuterocanonical books or Apocrypha.

The New Testament is the same 27-book collection across the major Christian traditions.

This difference is historical rather than evidence that entirely different Christian Bibles exist.

What do Christians mean when they say the Bible is inspired?

Christians traditionally believe that Scripture is inspired by God.

2 Timothy 3:16 says:

“All Scripture is God-breathed.”

That does not mean Christians believe the human writers all wrote in exactly the same style.

Quite the opposite.

Different books clearly reflect different personalities, vocabulary, historical circumstances and types of writing.

Christian belief holds these two ideas together:

real human authors wrote the texts, and God worked through that process.

That is a statement of faith rather than something history alone can prove.

How do we know what the ancient texts said?

The original handwritten documents have not survived.

Instead, scholars work from thousands of ancient manuscript copies and fragments.

Because texts were copied by hand, small differences between manuscripts exist.

Most are things such as spelling differences, word order or accidental omissions.

Scholars compare the surviving manuscripts to work out the earliest recoverable wording of the text, a process known as textual criticism.

Modern Bible translations are based on this ongoing study of the ancient manuscripts rather than simply being translations of another English Bible.

Why are there so many Bible translations?

Because translating ancient languages is not always a matter of replacing one word with another.

A phrase that sounds natural in Greek or Hebrew may sound awkward in English.

So translators have to balance questions such as:

• How closely should we follow the original sentence structure?
• How much should we prioritise natural modern English?
• How should we translate an ancient expression that has no exact English equivalent?

That is why two reliable translations can use slightly different wording while communicating the same underlying idea.

For example:

NIV aims for a balance between accuracy and readability.

Explore NIV Bibles at Eden

NLT uses especially natural, accessible English.

Explore NLT Bibles at Eden

You can explore more options in our Bible translations guide.

Does this history make the Bible less reliable?

Learning that the Bible has a long history of writing, copying and translation can initially make it sound less straightforward.

But it can also make the process easier to understand.

The Bible was not produced in secret.

Its texts were copied, circulated, discussed and preserved across many communities.

There are genuine historical questions scholars continue to explore, including authorship and dating of some books.

That does not automatically settle the question of whether someone should believe the Bible.

It does mean that its origins can be investigated rather than simply accepted without question.

Where should I go next?

If the history has made you curious about how the Bible you can buy today relates to those ancient texts, the next useful step is understanding Bible translations.

Start with our Bible translations guide to see why different English versions exist and how they compare.

If you already know roughly what kind of translation you would like, the Eden Bible Finder can then help you narrow the choice by translation, text size, features and binding.