First Century Bible

Welcome to First Century Bible

This is a new Bible translation in English, still in the earliest stages of preparation, and presented here as an ongoing project. It is based upon the Greek and Slavonic Bibles of eastern tradition. The Old Testament is therefore derived from the most ancient Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, begun in the early third century BC, and known as the Septuagint; and this is accompanied by the traditional Byzantine New Testament.

After beginning as a sect of Judaism, Christianity spread very quickly throughout the Mediterranean world, which was predominantly Greek speaking. The early Church therefore quite naturally adopted the Greek scriptures as its Bible, to which were later added the books of the New Testament. The Septuagint was received as the inspired word of God and became an integral part of Christian tradition. It is the version that was known to the New Testament writers, and to all the early Fathers of the first few centuries. To the churches of the Orthodox east its use continues unchanged, but in the post-Reformation west, it is now virtually unknown to the ordinary Bible reader, although it is extremely well known to the world of professional scholarship. As a basis for modern Bible translation it has no place, being apparently regarded as having academic interest only; and since the Reformation it has been supplanted by the Masoretic Hebrew text of Rabbinical Judaism. Modern biblical scholarship in the west is predominantly Protestant, for whom the Masoretic has become exclusively the textus receptus for the Old Testament.

But the Septuagint has a richness and beauty of its own. Its real value is that it is derived from a much earlier, pre-Masoretic Hebrew text to which it is now virtually the only complete witness. In the late first, and early second centuries, following the Jewish wars and the destruction of Jerusalem with its temple cult, the only form of Judaism allowed by the Romans was the sect of the Pharisees, from which sprang the Rabbinical Judaism that has continued to the present. Since the Christians were using the Septuagint to prove the Messiahship of Jesus, the Rabbis effectively disowned it. The Hebrew scriptures were substantially revised, and the proto-Masoretic text finally fixed; as was also, for the first time, the authorised canon of Hebrew scripture. The Masoretic scribes would later develop a system which would meticulously safeguard the text from error through many centuries of transmission and copying. All earlier versions and copies were suppressed and removed from synagogues. But prior to this, considerably more freedom was exercised in copying, and Hebrew manuscripts circulated with many variants; including not only minor scribal errors, but often apparently deliberate alterations and rearranging of content; as witnessed not only by the Septuagint, but also, since 1947, the Dead Sea Scrolls collection, which includes many biblical manuscripts, most very fragmentary, of which some agree with the Masoretic, some agree with the Septuagint, and some agree with neither.

The Septuagint itself exists in many versions, and has gone through much revision and adaptation to Christian understanding and liturgical settings. There is no single standardised text, nor is there a single universally accepted canon of Old Testament scripture. The canonical books have been listed, with many variations, in different places at different times. The Septuagint therefore includes several books which, although recognised by Orthodox as canonical, are regarded by Catholics as deuterocanonical, and by Protestants as apocryphal. The version presented here is based primarily upon the standard Bible of the Orthodox Church of Greece. It has two additions which are found in the Slavonic Bible but no longer in the Greek, namely the Prayer of Manasseh and 3 Ezra. Its intention is to present the scriptures of both Old and New Testaments as fully and completely as possible, just as they were received by the early Church, incorporated into Christian life and liturgy, and preserved through two millenia of living tradition. All the books of the Septuagint are accepted with no debate as to their canonicity or otherwise. The chosen text is that which belongs to Orthodox tradition, rather than academic scholarship. It is hoped that the evidence of its inspiration will be internal, and perceived by the reader, rather than external, and dictated by dogma.

This translation is prepared by one who has no qualification or expertise other than an amateur interest in biblical languages and a heart for the word of God. It is presented as perceived through the eyes of the ordinary Bible reader, rather than the professional scholar. It may not meet with scholarly approval, but nor does it seek to. It is not in any sense a definitive translation. Its style will not please everyone. It does, however, represent a serious effort to make available to the ordinary English reader the scriptures that inspired the early Church, but have for so long in the west been of interest to academics only. It is true that the Septuagint has seen a considerable revival of popular interest in recent years, but often it is seen only as a tool to get closer to the inspired 'original', rather than as the word of God itself.

This edition is offered humbly, in a spirit of deep reverence, and with an emphasis on the devotional rather then the theological or scholarly. It is not simply a translation of a translation, but seeks always to look beyond the Greek text and to discover, not necessarily the letter, but the true spirit and sense of the underlying Hebrew original; which is not 'the' original, but will often be closer to it than the revised Hebrew version that became the Masoretic. But holy tradition is living and dynamic. The Hebrew scriptures were translated for Greek speaking Jews, but became adapted and incorporated into the life and worship of the early Church. We recognise the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit within the life and community of the whole people of God, shaping and developing not only the textual tradition of holy scripture, but also the liturgical tradition that springs from it. May the reader be blessed, and may God be honoured.