Alkitab

1.

Penulis dan perkiraan tahun penulisan[sunting]

Halaman Alkitab yang memuat Injil Yohanes pasal 3 dan 4.

Sumber: Phillips, 2007.^[15]

Nama kitab	Penulis	Perkiraan Tahun Penulisan
Kitab Kejadian	Musa	1445 SM
Kitab Keluaran	Musa	1444 SM
Kitab Imamat	Musa	1443 SM
Kitab Bilangan	Musa	1443-1405 SM
Kitab Ulangan	Musa	1405 SM
Kitab Yosua	Yosua	1375 SM
Kitab Hakim-Hakim	Samuel	1375-1075 SM
Kitab Rut	Samuel	Selama masa Hakim-hakim
Kitab 1 Samuel	Tidak dikenal	1000 SM
Kitab 2 Samuel	Tidak dikenal	960 SM
Kitab 1 Raja-raja	Tidak dikenal	Abad keenam SM
Kitab 2 Raja-raja	Tidak dikenal	Abad keenam SM
Kitab 1 Tawarikh	Ezra	Abad kelima SM
Kitab 2 Tawarikh	Ezra	Abad kelima SM
Kitab Ezra	Ezra	535-475 SM
Kitab Nehemia	Ezra dan Nehemia	445-433 SM
Kitab Ester	Tidak dikenal	483-474 SM
Kitab Ayub	Tidak dikenal	1800 SM
Kitab Mazmur	Daud, Asaf, dan beberapa penulis lain	1440-580 SM
Kitab Amsal	Salomo dan penulis lain	950 SM
Kitab Pengkotbah	Salomo	935 SM
Kitab Kidung Agung	Salomo	960 SM
Kitab Yesaya	Yesaya	739-700 SM
Kitab Yeremia	Yeremia	627-560 SM
Kitab Ratapan	Yeremia	586 SM
Kitab Yehezkiel	Yehezkiel	593-571 SM
Kitab Daniel	Daniel	606-534 SM
Kitab Hosea	Hosea	760-725 SM
Kitab Yoel	Yoel	838 SM
Kitab Amos	Amos	760 SM
Kitab Obaja	Tidak dikenal	845 SM
Kitab Yunus	Yunus	782 SM
Kitab Mikha	Mikha	735 SM
Kitab Nahum	Nahum	650 SM
Kitab Habakuk	Habakuk	609-599 SM
Kitab Zefanya	Zefanya	640 SM
Kitab Hagai	Hagai	520 SM
Kitab Zakharia	Zakharia	520 SM
Kitab Maleakhi	Maleakhi	500 SM
Injil Matius	Matius	60 M
Injil Markus	Markus	60 M
Injil Lukas	Lukas	60 M
Injil Yohanes	Yohanes	60 M
Kisah Para Rasul	Lukas	64 M
Surat Paulus kepada Jemaat di Roma	Paulus	58 M
Surat Paulus yang Pertama kepada Jemaat di Korintus	Paulus	56 M
Surat Paulus yang Kedua kepada Jemaat di Korintus	Paulus	57 M
Surat Paulus kepada Jemaat di Galatia	Paulus	56 M
Surat Paulus kepada Jemaat di Efesus	Paulus	62 M
Surat Paulus kepada Jemaat di Filipi	Paulus	62 M
Surat Paulus kepada Jemaat di Kolose	Paulus	62 M
Surat Paulus yang Pertama kepada Jemaat di Tesalonika	Paulus	52 M
Surat Paulus yang Kedua kepada Jemaat di Tesalonika	Paulus	52 M
Surat Paulus yang Pertama kepada Timotius	Paulus	64 M
Surat Paulus yang Kedua kepada Timotius	Paulus	66 M
Surat Paulus kepada Titus	Paulus	64 M
Surat Paulus kepada Filemon	Paulus	62 M
Surat kepada Orang Ibrani	Tidak dikenal	70 M
Surat Yakobus	Yakobus	60 M
Surat Petrus yang Pertama	Petrus	63 M
Surat Petrus yang Kedua	Petrus	68 M
Surat Yohanes yang Pertama	Yohanes	85-90 M
Surat Yohanes yang Kedua	Yohanes	85-90 M
Surat Yohanes yang Ketiga	Yohanes	85-90 M
Surat Yudas	Yudas	65-90 M
Wahyu kepada Yohanes	Yohanes	90-96 M

2.

The Masoretic Text

Bibliografi
Artikel ini diambil dari :   Milis sword-devel, 11 Juni 2002. Oleh Daniel Freedman.http://shamash.org/listarchives/mail-jewish/volume11/v11n40

OT = Old Testament 
NT = New Testament 

BCE = Before Common Era (BC) 
CE = Common Era (AD)

(in reference to the text below, the term "vowel pointers" includes punctuation marks, and cantillation forms (which are really extensions of the use of vowel pointers).

Firstly, Hebrew as a language (as all languages in the world) have vowels.

If Hebrew had no vowels it would be unpronuncable. Period. If any language is unpronuncable, not only is it impossible to understand anyone, it becomes obselete very quickly because no-one can speak it.

Ever since Hebrew has been around (as a development from Northern Semitic - Canaanite language grouping), it has had vowels.

The question over vowels is a misnomer in scholarly circles. Nobody disputes that Hebrew has vowels...Hebrew has vowels... The question is how vowels ARE REPRESENTED IN THE TEXT. These are what scholars call: Vowel pointers.

There are three Vowel-pointing systems. These systems were developed much much later than Hebrew (obviously), because as Hebrew became less used (supplanted by Aramaic as the Lingua Franca of the Ancient World, and later Ancient Greek), the general population began to forget the pronunciation of the text. This means that the average LITERATE population was forgetting, gradually. It does not mean that suddenly everyone forgot, but gradually, over time, people lost touch with the language (much like Latin fell into disuse). Thus three major systems were developed to counteract this problem. The three systems were an (older) Jerusalem/Palestinian system, the Tiberian system, and the Babylonian system (the later).

These systems were used concurrently by Jews in both the Diaspora and in Palestine.

by the 8th Century, the Palestinian system lost favour, and out of it developed the Tiberian system, from which Ben Asher and the ben Asher family come into prominance. Meanwhile in Babylon (the largest population of Jews in the Diaspora) had their own system, that was also based on an old Jerusalem style system, which was used to read the text, was also gaining prominence.

What is remarkable, is that by the 10th Century, the Masoretes - the Ben Ashers (mainly), had completed their analysis of the three different vowel pointing systems, and had developed a standard vowel pointing system which essentially included all three major systems that were known, and had carefully mapped out each individual changes in the vowel system.

This is entirely separate from the actual text (letters themselves).

During the same time as the Ben Asher family, another person (whether he was from another school or the same school of ben Asher, is difficult to ascertain) - but this school again, became a later deviance, and has been incorporated into the text.

The question is of course, what did they actually do, and what happened between the 10th century and the 15 th Century?

Masorah means "transmission", and the implication of "transmitting tradition" is obvious. The Masoretes were entirely concerned with preserving the text and ensuring that it would continually maintained and standardised.

This is what they did. They standardised the pointing system, so that the various systems would be conglomerated into a single system, that would be both understandable, easy to teach, and above all, preserve the original pronunciation of the text. Of course this is stylised. In reality, they preserved it so well, the three different systems were reproduced and can be found in the Sephardic, Ashkenazic, and Yeminite communities, the different prounciations, all based on a single system.

This is only in reference to the vowels.

They also saw that over time, the text (through the natural process of copying) began to recede, and deviences, (however slight) were unavoidable. Over a period of 1500 years, copying in the text were going to produce mistakes, human beings are fallible. The question is, firstly, how to stop the process, and secondly, how to ensure that when there are mistakes, they only apply to vowels and not the actual meaning and letter order and number.

Firstly you make a note of every single letter, the number, the occurance, and the odd peculiarities in the text (such as repeated words/letters).

Secondly, any obvious devience, you note on the side, indicate what they held to be the correct pronunciation (qere), and leave the text as is.

Thirdly where a doubt occurs you make a note of that doubt, indicate the alternatives, and ensure that the reader is aware of the differences with a footnote indicating such.

Fourthly, you standardise rules of copying such that the copyist is accutely aware of mistakes, and that he may not erase the work, but restart it completely. The copyist maynot work for more than a designated time, and he must use specific materials.

Fifthly, you gather as much manuscript evidence and sort out the correct, from the incorrect by favouring a majority of two out of three, if there is a 51% majority, it must be footnoted. and the 49% noted.

What you get out of this process (remarkably) is three major Hebrew texts: the Leningrad Codex, (of which the BHS is based), the Aleppo Codex (the text favoured by Bruener, and is used by most Jews today) And the Venice 1525 text (favoured by Christian Ginsburg).

Each of these three different texts differ by a fraction of about 97%. And that is only as a result of marginal vowel errors. The texts matches to about 98.9% to that of the Qumran Dead Sea Scrolls.

But what about prior to 250 BCE texts. For reference lets look at the Pentateuch section of the Septuagint (the oldest Greek translation, and very reliable and is amongst the best of translations of the period). In the legitmately old parts, the text matches again to about 99.2 %.

Thats an average of 98.4 % the remaining 1.6 % is deviance (based on the entire Tanakh (Hebrew Scriptures)) and that devience is all about vowels. Regarding the letters? well we know of the recensions. The Masoretes did their job so well, we know of the variances and we can compare them. In fact, that is just what Paul Kahle, and Rudolph Kittel did, and they formulated the BHS one of the best textually critical texts available prior to this decade.

And what about today? We have one of the oldest complete manuscripts, because of research made by scholars, discoveries in Qumran, Masada, and Cairo and Archaeological discoveries of the Biblical period, we can say that the BHS is accurate, but the Aleppo Codex is by far one of the best, if not the best manuscript evidence, for the text of ben Asher. It compares to Qumran so much so, that it is now argued that ben Asher represents a much earlier tradition, dating back to 250 BCE. Comparisons to the Greek Septuagint, confirm that the Masoretic text can be traced to an original masorete of 500 CE. Interestingly, the Mishnah (Jewish Oral Law and tradition) states the original masorete - Ezra - the last head of the Men of the Great Assembly, for which we owe the entire Tanakh, and its preservation.

So then, the question comes: firstly, is there a way to work out the original masoretic text? and secondly, are there other non-Masoretic texts.

As I have noted: the Masoretic tradition represents many traditions...three main ones are deciphered, but there are hundreds more representing deviences, different understandings, that go back to the time of Moses. There is no one masoretic tradition, and there is no one masoretic text, all have masoretic influence, Every Bible ever made, has got the masoretic tradition at its core. Even the Septuagint and Vulgate. What has changed is the way people interpret, understand and utitilise the Masoretic text, and how, over time, the translations have deviated from the original as a result of interpolation, recension etc. There probably are pre-masoretic texts, we do not have them, and we certainly have very little knowledge about them. The nature of Masoretic textual criticism is more absorption rather than specific rejection. Thus, you will find that three or four separate notes exist on the text, because of the different traditions they represent.

Thus I hand it to anyone who tries to read the Hebrew text firstly, without vowels, secondly without the Masoretic text, and thirdly, I'd be interested in the text he/she uses, since all have masoretic components and elements. He/she will be at pains to read anything at all.

The next question applies to where does this idea that the text itself is problematic?

There are two strands. Firstly the basis of the Protestant movement (NOT THE REFORMATION), is the base of itself solely on the bible. At the time of the protestant assertion of this doctrinal creed, there were a number of bibles available, some more accurate than others. The need for making a bible both accurate and in the common tongue was paramount for Protestantism to spread.

in the 16th Century, Printing became, a somewhat expensive, but more widely accessible affair, and through the work of a "Jacob Ben Chayyim", who gathered manuscripts and a Masoretic commentary, printed the first of what became "Mikraot Gedolot". from this original of 1525, a number of subsequent printings made in 1527 and 1529, were used, by christians, as the authentic Jewsish Bible. By 1611, the King James Version of the Bible was authorized and completed, amidst fervour, rebellion and religious turmoil was raging Europe. However, the Geneva Bible, and the later Tyndale Bible became circular, as well as Challoner's Douay-Rheims Bible (later).

These translations had an origin based on Jewish text (that of ben Chayyim's 1525 text), with editing based on a incorrect Septuagint, and the Latin Vulgate by Jerome (which underwent recensions).

In order to legitimise the text to catholic audiences, and to woo Protestants, the Jewish origins and Latin origins were hidden, but the Authors - Wycliffe and Tyndale both knew full well the problem of translation and how an original-language source was so imperative to a translation's accuracy and posterity. Their knowledge of Hebrew was problematic (since they were well before any meaningful discoveries), and sources were scarce, so above all, their work today has little accurate value but, they revolutionised translation.

Catholics based their text on the Latin Vulgate which has been held as sacrosant ever since the church made it the Latin official bible. Jerome went to Jewish scholas (who based their text on a work similar to that of the Masoretic text, and has a strong connection to Origen. I would say that the Leningrad Codex is similar to that Hebrew text perhaps 99.97 % the same.

Where there is a dispute is between Christians in the 1st & 2nd Centturies over the Greek translation - the Septuagint, and subsequent Greek translations made - Aquilla, Theodotion and Symmachus are three of many, Jewish Greek translations made in response the growing need of a Greek translation in Judaea, in response to the growing deviences of the Septuagint, and to act as a counter translation, since christians were favouring the Septuagint. Scholars have suggested that the Septuagint represents an alternative to the Masoretic text, based on this assumption. This is inaccurate. The Masoretic text by definition has represented varying traditions, including the tradition that the Septuagint was originally based on. There is little dispute prior to the christian movement over the Septuagint. It has always been maintained that the Hebrew (what ever tradition) was the authoritative text.

By the 11th Century, the Masoretes and the process was known throughout the Jewish world. However, this is the same time that the Crusades ravaged Europe and the Moorish lands. Jews often fell victim to burnings at the stake, and it is unfortunate, but many who did not understand the Talmudic process began to seize copies of the Talmud and other Jewish texts, and both burn them, and censor them for 'perceived anti-Jesus' statements. Ironically, it is the very Talmud that supported the Masoretes, from which all bibles are based was burned, the very acknowledgement that the OT the Christians used was to a large extent, mostly accurate was burned. However, the Talmud was not lost, but the myth that the Jews were changing the Hebrew text (by Jewish-christians who misinterpreted and mistranslated the Talmud).

The wealth of Jewish learning spread to Muslim lands, and with that, the Masoretes also moved. When the inquisitions began (mainly in Spain), again, antisemitic misunderstandings of the Masoretic tradition continued.

It was only during the age of the Enlightenment, and on other works of literature, that textual criticism entered into scholarly circles. By the end of the 19th Century, all christian biblical scholars, basing their (seemingly newfound) ideas on translation, and textual criticism began to return to the masoretic tradition. The ideas however were based on a methodology that denied both the divine nature of the text and also G-d Himself. Textual criticism became infused with ideas of language evolution and social darwinism.

Again when antisemitism again ravaged Europe, the Biblical text once again came under scrutiny, and scholars became divided over those that rejected the Masoretic text and those that accepted it.

When Kittel and later Kahle proved to the world that the Leningrad codex was authorative, it seemed as though the Masoretic debate was finally closed.

It was 1937, the evening of World War II.

Just ten years later, the discovery that would stun the Biblical world, would revolutionise Biblical scholarship was born.

Today, the notion that the masoretic tradition is in fact a plot to change the meaning of the text has firstly been discredited, and secondly has been shown to be based on ignorance, antisemitism and fear.

Today, all scholars are in agreement that the Masoretic tradition represents an ancient tradition that dates at least to 300 BCE.

Today it is possible to choose between the Babylonian system of vowel pointing, and the Tiberian system. However, the former is still in its infancy and a manuscript copy of the alternative is not available, it is all locked in the Masoretic notes, and pointing. Also the pointing difference is so slight and indistinguishable, it would take an expert scholar about 4 lifetimes of continual work to find it in the entire text.

And the meaning? The meaning is the same, the spelling is just different and so is the pronuncation, much like the American: favor versus the English favour.

A more real example is Shakespearean English spelling - Thyne as apposed to Thine. or nyht as opposed to night

To summarise :

1.      The Masoretic text is a text representing hundreds of variations, of which 3 major ones are obvious.

2.      There is no single Masoretic tradition, and there never will be.

3.      The Masoretes did not change the text, but noted copyist errors, deviances, and alternative readings.

4.      There are vowels and pronunciation in Hebrew, its just that vowels are not part of the meaning, they merely aid pronunciation, and flow of the language.

5.      Modern Hebrew speakers don't use vowel pointers because they know the system, and its easy to remember once it is known (they learn it from birth)

6.      The basis that the Masoretic text is in someway satanistic or changed to favour one group over another, shows ignorance, and fear, and is based on antisemitism.

7.      All Bibles have a masoretic base.

8.      The Aleppo Codex is the most accurate, and oldest extant manuscript of the Hebrew text we have.

9.      No text is 100% accurate, the nature of copying and time makes it so, but we have a text that is nearly 100% accurate - 98%, and thats good enough for me, when it means that 2% is merely differences of vowels, and of the sentence. (i.e. the meaning remains the same).

10.     There is no alternative to a Masoretic Text, it is the most accurate Hebrew text.

11.     If G-d has made sure His Chosen People (the Jews), have ensured its survival, and they have maintained its accuracy up to this point, then its good enough for me.

Daniel Freedman

Sources :

Encarta Encylopedia 2001 (Microsoft).
Ginsburg, C. "Masoretes and Masoretic Tradition".
Breuer, M. "Ta'amei Ha-mikra", 2nd Ed. Yerushalayim, Horev, 1989.
Ginsburg, Christian D. (Christian David), 
Introduction to the Massoretico-critical edition of the Hebrew Bible, by Christian D. Ginsburg.
With a prolegomenon by Harry M. Orlinsky: The Masoretic text; a critical evaluation.
Kahle, P. "The Cairo Geniza", 2nd Ed. Oxford B. Blackwell, 1959.
Diringer, D. "The Alphabet: A Key To The History Of Mankind", 3rd Ed.
London: Hutchinson, 1968.
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/society/A0832114.html
http://shamash.org/listarchives/mail-jewish/volume11/v11n40

3.

Asal-Usul dan Perkembangan Alkitab Bahasa Inggris

  

Bagian-bagian dari buku: The New Chain Reference Bible §  Garis Besar Studi Alkitab, Tujuh Edisi Hukum Ilahi §  Asal-Usul dan Perkembangan Alkitab Bahasa Inggris §  Ringkasan PL dan PB §  Garis Besar Alkitab

Sejarah Alkitab di Indonesia Sejarah Alkitab Daerah Indonesia Sejarah Alkitab di Luar Indonesia §  Agama Protestan Calvinis di Belanda §  Harga Alkitab Bahasa Inggris §  Kitab Suci yang Terlalu Diagungkan §  Alkitab: Bagi Semua Orang §  Asal-Usul dan Perkembangan Alkitab Bahasa Inggris §  Naskah-naskah Kitab Suci §  Sejarah Dunia di Zaman Perjanjian Baru §  Teks Kitab Suci §  Qumran §  Dua Perjanjian dan Beberapa Judul Lain §  Perkembangan Gereja Itu di Bawah Pekabaran Injil §  Penerjemahan Alkitab §  Sejarah dan Pentingnya Alkitab Geneva §  Sejarah Terbentuknya Kitab-kitab Perjanjian Lama §  The Masoretic Text §  Alkitab Terjemahan dan Kanonisasi Biblika Doktrin Alkitab Pengantar dan Garis Besar Kitab Studi Kata Alkitab

Sukar bagi kita untuk menyadari bahwa ketika kitab-kitab dalam Alkitab mula-mula ditulis, saat itu tidak ada percetakan untuk menggandakannya.

Setiap kopi/salinan harus dibuat dengan lambat karena dikerjakan dengan tangan. Dengan kondisi seperti ini, maka tak dapat dihindarkan lagi kalau ada banyak kitab yang hilang. Kenyataan inilah yang menyebabkan semua manuskrip asli dari Alkitab telah lenyap. (manuskrip = naskah yang berisi tulisan tangan penulis asli)

Pertanyaan muncul, jadi apakah yang kita punyai sebagai landasan literatur Alkitab ?

1.    Kita mempunyai salinan yang paling kuno dari manuskrip asli.Kita hanya menyebutkan tiga yang pokok.

1.      Codex Sinaiticus, 
semula adalah sebuah codex (naskah kuno dalam bentuk buku berhalaman) dari Alkitab bahasa Yunani abad keempat. Dibeli dari Republik Soviet Rusia pada tahun 1933 oleh Inggris dan sekarang berada di Museum Inggris.

2.      Codex Alexandrus, 
mungkin ditulis pada abad kelima, sekarang di Museum Inggris. Codex ini berisi keseluruhan Alkitab bahasa Yunani kecuali empat puluh lembar yang hilang.

3.      Codex Vaticanus,
berada di perpustakaan Vatikan di Roma, semula berisi keseluruhan Alkitab, tetapi ada bagian-bagian yang hilang. Ditulis sekitar abad keempat.

2.    VERSI YANG KUNO

1.      Versi Septuaginta. 
Terjemahan Perjanjian Lama bahasa Ibrani ke bahasa Yunani, dibuat di Aleksandria sekitar 285 S.M.

2.      Pentateukh Samaria, 
Tidak secara tegas dianggap sebagai sebuah versi, tetapi teks bahasa Ibrani yang diabadikan dalam huruf Samaria.

3.      Pesyita atau Siria. 
Keseluruhan Alkitab, tanggalnya tidak pasti (abad pertama atau kedua?) secara jelas merupakan terjemahan kedalam bahasa umum dari sebagian bahasa Siria.

§  Vulgata. 
Keseluruhan Alkitab yang diterjemahkan kedalam bahasa Latin oleh Jerome di Betlehem. Selesai sekitar 400 M. Selama seribu tahun Vulgata ini merupakan Alkitab Standar dalam Gereja Katolik.

3.    VERSI BAHASA INGGRIS
Selama jaman kegelapan sangat sedikit terjemahan Alkitab yang dikerjakan. Hanya ada sedikit terjemahan yang dibuat dari bagian-bagian tertentu Alkitab saja.

Firman Allah terkunci dalam bahasa Latin yang tidak diketahui oleh orang umum.

1.      1320-1324, J. Wycliffe, seorang sarjana Inggris yang besar dan seorang pelajar Alkitab, memikirkan rencana untuk menerjemahkan keseluruhan Alkitab kedalam bahasa Inggris yang umum.

Pertama ia menerjemahkan Perjanjian Baru sekitar tahun 1830. Tepatnya berapa banyak lebihnya yang telah ia kerjakan sebelum kematiannya tidaklah pasti. Teman-temannya melanjutkan pekerjaannya sesudah kematiannya.

Pekerjaannya bersandar pada Vulgata bahasa Latin

2.      William Tyndale adalah Penterjemah Bahasa Inggris yang besar lainnya.

Ia adalah seorang reformator mula-mula yang berani dan bertekad supaya rakyat Inggris umum mempunyai Alkitab dalam bahasanya sendiri.

Penganiayaan tidak memungkinkan baginya untuk mengerjakan pekerjaannya di Inggris, maka ia menyeberang ke Eropa dimana Terjemahan Perjanjian Barunya diterbitkan pada tahun 1525 dan Pentateukh (kelima kitab pertama dalam Perjanjian Lama) pada tahun 1530.

Versinya tidak bersandar sepenuhnya pada Vulgata Latin seperti kepunyaan Wycliffe. Tyndale adalah seorang sarjana bahasa yunani yang matang dan mempunyai kesempatan untuk menggunakan teks bahasa Yunani Erasmus dan bantuan-bantuan yang lainnya yang tidak dimiliki oleh Wycliffe.

Lebih dari itu, ia mempunyai penguasaan Bahasa Inggris yang benar/akurat yang terlihat pada semua versinya kemudian.

Dia mati sebagai martir sebelum ia menyelesaikan Perjanjian Lama tetapi ada amggapan umum bahwa ia telah meninggalkan bahan yang muncul kemudian dalam versi Matthew/Matius.

3.      Miles Coverdale. Seorang teman Tyndale, mempersiapkan dan menerbitkan sebuah Alkitab yang dipersembahkan kepada Henry ke VIII pada tahun 1535. Perjanjian Baru-nya Coverdale sebagian besar berdasarkan pada kepunyaan Tyndale. Ia secara terus terang menyangkal keasliannya tetapi menggunakan bahasa Latin, dan versi-versi sebagai penolong, termasuk juga versi Tyndale.

4.      Alkitab Matthews, 1537. Sekitar waktu yang sama dengan terbitnya edisi kedua dari Alitab Coverdale, munculah terjemahan yang lain. Asal-usulnya agak tidak jelas,tetapi meskipun terjemahan itu memakai nama Matthews, umumnya dipercaya bahwa pembuatnya adalah John Rogers, teman dan rekan sekerja Tyndale. Sarjana ini, menurut perkiraan, memiliki terjemahan Tyndale yang belum diterbitkan yaitu kitab-kitab sejarah dari Alkitab. Terjemahan itu berisi terjemahan Tyndale dalam bentuknya yang terbaru dan juga memberi bukti-bukti tentang hasil kerja Coverdale.

5.      Alkitab Besar. 1539. Alkitab ini terkenal sebagai terjemahan yang berdasarkan Alkitabnya Matthews, Coverdale dan Tyndale.

Edisi pertama ini disiapkan oleh Miles Coverdale dan diperintahkan untuk digunakan di setiap gereja jemaat. Alkitab ini adalah volume dengan ukuran yang besar dan dirantai pada meja baca di gereja-gereja, dimana orang-orang berkumpul untuk membaca Firman Allah.

6.      Alkitab Genewa. 1560. Terjemahan ini dibuat di Genewa oleh sarjana- sarjana yang melarikan diri dari Inggris selama masa penganiayaan Ratu Mary.

Alkitab ini merupakan revisi dari Alkitab Besar yang disusun dengan terjemahan-terjemahan bahasa Inggris lainnya. Alkitab ini adalah versi yang sangat ilmiah dan ukurannya mudah untuk dibawa dengan tangan. Alkitab ini selama bertahun-tahun merupakan Alkitab yang populer di Inggris.

7.      Alkitab Bishop. 1568. Dipersiapkan dibawah arahan uskup agung dari Canterbury selama masa pemerintahan Elizabeth. Alkitab ini sebagian besar merupakan revisi dari Alkitab Besar meskipun agak tergantung pada Versi Genewa. Alkitab ini terutama digunakan oleh kaum rohaniwan, tidak populer di kalangan orang awam.

8.      Alkitab Douay. Sebuah Versi Katolik Roma dibuat dari Latin Vulgata. Perjanjian Baru terbit di Rheims pada tahun 1582. Perjanjian Lama terbit di Douay pada sekitar tahun 1609-1610.

Alkitab ini berisi catatan-catatan yang kontroversial/bertentangan. Alkitab ini secara umum menerima Versi bahasa Inggris dari Gereja Roma.

9.      King James atau Auhtorized Version. 1611.

Terjemahan ini sekarang umumnya digunakan oleh penutur bahasa Inggris. Dibuat oleh empatpuluh tujuh sarjana dibawah wewenang Raja James I dari Inggris.

10.     Alkitab Bishop adalah dasar dari versi baru ini tetapi teks bahasa Ibrani dan Yunani dipelajari dan dicari keterangan dari terjemahan-terjemahan bahasa Inggris yang lainnya untuk memperoleh hasil yang terbaik. Alkitab ini mendapat tempat pertama pada penutur bahasa Inggris di seluruh dunia selama lebih dari tiga abad.

11.     Revised Version/Versi yang Direvisi. 1881-1884. Dibuat oleh sekelompok sarjana Inggris dan Amerika.

Alkitab ini, walaupun disangka sebagai revisi dari Authorized Version, mempunyai keunggulan-keunggulan yang jelas dibanding pendahulu-pendahulunya. Alkitab ini menggunakan salinan-salinan yang paling kuno dari kitab suci asli/orisinil. Beberapa dari codex-codex kuno ini tidak tersedia pada saat penerjemahan Authorized Version.

12.     American Standard Version. 1900-1901. Versi ini tergabung ke dalam teks, dengan bahan bacaan dipilih oleh Anggota Comite Revisi Amerika tahun 1881- 1885.

Bibliografi

Artikel ini diambil dari: D D., Frank Charles Thompson, Ph.D. 1934. The New Chain Reference Bible. B. B. Kirkbride Bible Co., Inc.?CD SABDA-Topik 04222