נֵר-לְרַגְלִי דְבָרֶךָ; וְאוֹר, לִנְתִיבָתִי. --Psalm 119:105*
The Old Testament originated with our Father in heaven. God breathed His words to Moses and the other prophets so they could write it down for future generations. It is believed that over 20 authors were inspired to write the Old Testament. Scholars believe these authors wrote mostly in ancient Hebrew on scrolls.
Jewish rabbis and scholars decided which books were regarded as Scripture. All of the books of the Old Testament were completed by 500 BC. They were translated into Greek (called the Septuagint or LXX) in 200 BC.
God closely guarded His Word through the process of being written by prophets, replicated by scribes, and translated into other languages. There are a couple of ways we sure of this. First, Jesus confirmed its authenticity when He quoted from the Old Testament. Second, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls in 1947 confirms Old Testament accuracy. The ancient Old Testament scrolls found in caves and the modern-day Old Testament we study today are astoundingly similar!
*Thanks to God's preservation of His Word, we can still say with confidence, Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path (Psalm 119:105).
If you are interested in the sources I reviewed to write this blog, you can check them out here
- http://www.greatsite.com/timeline-english-bible-history/
- http://www.gotquestions.org/canon-Bible.html
- http://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/learn-about-the-scrolls/discovery-and-publication