Unlike any other book ever written, the Holy Bible
is compiled of writings that cover a span of about
1400 years and include some 40 writers. Within its
pages are 66 books, yet it is considered one book,
The Book, The Holy Scriptures, The Word of God.
The time period recorded during those 1400 years
covers nearly 4000 years of human history and
God's revelation of Himself to and through man.
The history of the Holy Bible is the history of God's
involvement with mankind.
This 1400-year-period begins with the writings of
Moses, the first five books of the Holy Bible. These
writings include a time recorded prior to Moses'
lifespan. It started out at the actual creation of the
cosmos. By the time Moses completes the teachings
found in Deuteronomy, we learn about the very
beginning of mankind. The final writer was probably
John when he was on the Isle of Patmos and wrote
the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
Between
the days of Moses and John, a time period of about
14 centuries transpired, but the Holy Bible covers
over 4000 years of history. It has been nearly 2000
years since the last of the writers lived. How could
Moses have written about things that occurred
before Adam? The same way the prophets could
write about things that would occur hundreds and
thousands of years later. The writers were penning
God's Word under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
God revealed things to them that would have been
otherwise unknowable.
The Holy Bible is divided into two sections. All that
was recorded prior to the birth of Jesus Christ is
referred to as the Old Testament. A testament is a
written account, proof, evidence, a record of events
that took place. The Old Testament covers 39 books
(in the Protestant Bible). About four hundred years
passed from the writing of the last book in the Old
Testament and the birth of Christ. These are
referred to as the silent years. Four hundred years
in which God did not speak through prophets. Some
of the historical events that occurred during that
period are recording in the Catholic Douay version
of the Bible. These books are referred to as the
Apocrypha. They fill in some of the 400 year period
between the official canon of the Old Testament
and the New Testament. It was the time of the
Maccabees.
The silence was broken by a sudden appearance in
the sky of the heavenly host announcing the birth of
the promised one. The New Testament begins with
the coming of Christ into the world as the
prophesied Emmanuel (God with us) in the form of
the baby of Mary, Jesus. God took on a body of
human flesh. The New Testament is composed of
27 books and ushers in the church age. From the
writings of Moses through the prophets and other
Old Testament books, God worked exclusively
through the children of Israel. Today they are
referred to as the Jewish people. But the church
opened up God's grace to whosoever would come.
This includes non-Jews. It includes Gentiles of all
nations and races.
The Old Testament points to the coming of the
Promised Messiah. Woven through the Old
Testament are prophesies concerning Him. The
tenth chapter of Hebrews gives a good explanation
for how the Old Testament and New Testament are
woven from the same cloth. Both are about Christ.
One testament looks toward His coming and the
other records the fact of His coming into this world,
fulfilling every Old Testament prophecy concerning
His earthly ministry.
The Old Testament remained in Hebrew until
c.280-150 B.C. when it was translated into Greek at
Alexandria, Egypt. This was known as the
Septuagint. The next language change occurred
when Jerome (c. 383-405 A.D) translated the Holy
Bible into the Latin Vulgate. This was used by the
clergy for nearly 1000 years.
The first English translation was completed by John
Wycliffe and soon after, King James authorized the
English version that has come to be known as the
King James Version. This was in 1611.
God has preserved the Bible from the first book of
Genesis to the final book of Revelation. There are
many translations but God has maintained His word
faithfully through all the generations of scribes and
translators. Jesus made this clear as recorded in
Matthew 5:18: "For verily I say unto you, Till heaven
and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise
pass from the law, till all be fulfilled" (KJV). When
He spoke this, the New Testament had not begun to
be written and the Old Testament was all that
existed. He declared that not so much as a stroke of
the pen will be altered until all is fulfilled, referring
to all prophecies recorded in the Old Testament.
The Bible is the only complete history book. All
other history books record only the past. The
history of the Holy Bible records the history of
mankind from the beginning until the day this earth
will pass away and a new heaven and a new earth
will appear. It covers humanity from beginning to
end. No other history book records future events.
Only God possesses such knowledge. He is the
Alpha and Omega. The I AM of eternity. The Bible is
written in "time" from an eternal perspective. Only
the Divine could have created this masterpiece.

If you didn't know all this, you're welcome!

I hope that date stems from James Ussher? the bible lasted up to 1600 year period not 1400. the translations of the bible quoted above is not a reliable chronology of bible translations.

The OT and NT testament division is should be put in quote cos that division is in error.