Recovering the Original Text
Is the text of the Bible the same as the original?
The current text is essentially the same as the original.
Do we possess the original text of the scriptures?
We do not possess the original documents for any part of the scriptures.
We do possess many ancient manuscripts of the scriptures. Every manuscript that exists is a copy, not an original. The original manuscripts are currently lost.
What happened to the original documents?
Writing materials usually decay over time. War, persecution, moisture, and use destroy them.
It is not surprising that we do not possess the originals. We do not possess an original from any ancient literature.
We do have some ancient original writings. They are from ordinary texts, not any important works of literature. They include personal letters, accounting materials, grave markers, and the like.
A byzantine Greek manuscript.
How many ancient copies of the scriptures exist?
Thousands of ancient manuscripts of the scriptures exist. These manuscripts were copied by hand.
The Jewish section of the Bible was written mostly in Hebrew. Some parts were written in Aramaic, a similar language to Hebrew.
There are thousands of ancient manuscripts of the Jewish scriptures. There are also thousands of translations of the Jewish scriptures. This includes Greek, Aramaic, Syriac, Latin, and others.
The Christian section of the Bible was originally written in Greek. It was eventually translated into other languages. This includes Latin, Syriac, Coptic, Armenian, Ethiopic, and others.
Almost 6,000 Greek manuscripts of the New Testament exist. Almost 20,000 manuscript translations exist. There are also thousands of ancient biblical quotations contained in other writings.
Look at the next Section.