Ethan Walker
The oldest complete Bibles we have are the great uncials, which date to the time of the Council of Nicea in the fourth century. The Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, two fourth-century manuscripts, contain the complete New Testament canon, but there are slight variations in the number of books they contain. The Book of Genesis, which is part of the Pentateuch, is believed to be the oldest book in the Bible, with estimates of its composition dating from 1400s or 1200s B.C. to as late as 400 B.C.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date | 4th century |
| Name | Codex Sinaiticus |
| Other Names | Sinai Bible, Codex א, 01 |
| Contents | Majority of the Greek Old Testament, including deuterocanonical books; Greek New Testament, Epistle of Barnabas, Shepherd of Hermas |
| Form | Codex (forerunner to the modern book) |
| Material | Vellum parchment, originally in double sheets |
| Size | Approximately 40 x 70 cm |
| Location | British Library, London |
| Discovery | Saint Catherine's Monastery, Sinai Peninsula, in the 19th century |
| Discovery Date | 1844 |
| Discoverer | Constantin von Tischendorf |
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What You'll Learn
The oldest complete Bibles
The Bible was officially compiled in the late fourth century, and the oldest complete Bibles we have are the great uncials, which date to around the same time as the Council of Nicea. These are the Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, which are considered two of the earliest and most complete Biblical manuscripts. They are written in uncial letters on parchment and are among the four great uncial codices, which originally contained the whole of both the Old and New Testaments.
The Codex Sinaiticus, or the Sinai Bible, was discovered by German Biblical scholar Constantin von Tischendorf in 1844 at Saint Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula. It is now mostly held in the British Library in London, where it is on public display. It is written in Greek and contains the majority of the Greek Old Testament, including the deuterocanonical books, and the Greek New Testament, with the Epistle of Barnabas and the Shepherd of Hermas included. It is one of the most corrected manuscripts in existence, with around 23,000 corrections.
The Codex Vaticanus, meanwhile, is dated to around 300 AD and is the oldest mostly complete Christian Bible. It is missing most of Genesis, Hebrews, and Revelation. It is considered one of the most valuable manuscripts available, as it is likely closer to the original text of the Greek New Testament. It is the only uncial manuscript with the complete text of the New Testament, and the only ancient manuscript of the New Testament written in four columns per page.
While the Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus are the oldest complete Bibles, there are older individual Old Testament scrolls, such as the Book of Genesis, which modern scholars believe was finished around 400 BC. The earliest compiled version of the Bible was the Marcion Bible, written in 144 AD, although this omits the Old Testament and features Gnostic texts.
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The Codex Sinaiticus
Biblical scholarship considers the Codex Sinaiticus to be one of the most important Greek texts of the New Testament. It was discovered by German Biblical scholar Constantin von Tischendorf in 1844 at Saint Catherine's Monastery in the Sinai Peninsula. The Codex came to the attention of scholars in the 19th century, with further material discovered in the 20th and 21st centuries.
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The Codex Vaticanus
The provenance and early history of the codex are uncertain. While some scholars believe it originated in Rome, others attribute it to southern Italy, Alexandria, or Caesarea. It is also unclear when it arrived at the Vatican Library, as it was only catalogued in 1475. However, it is known that the codex became known to Western scholars through correspondence between textual critic Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (Erasmus) and the prefects of the Vatican Library. Erasmus used the Codex Vaticanus as a source document in his work on the "Textus Receptus", but he did not always follow its text when it differed from other Greek texts as he viewed it as erratic.
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The Book of Genesis
The oldest Catholic Bible was made in the late fourth century. This was when the Bible as a whole was officially compiled, with the Catholic Church determining the canon or list of books of the Bible.
Genesis begins with the creation of the world: "In the beginning, God created heaven and earth. Now the earth was a formless void, there was darkness over the deep, with a divine wind sweeping over the waters. God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light.'" The book goes on to tell the story of Joseph, who is sold into slavery in Egypt but rises to power, second only to Pharaoh. Joseph tests his brothers when they come to Egypt seeking help during a famine, and ultimately forgives them for their past hatred. The book ends with the entire family of Jacob/Israel in Egypt, setting the stage for the Book of Exodus.
The stories in Genesis have been the subject of much scholarly debate, with some questioning their historicity. While there is no extra-biblical evidence to confirm or refute these stories, they share similarities with late second-millennium narratives and follow linguistic patterns from the second millennium.
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The Council of Nicea
The Bible as a whole was compiled in the late fourth century, though the individual books that comprise it were written much earlier. The Codex Sinaiticus, a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, is one of the earliest and most complete manuscripts of the Bible. It contains the oldest copy of the New Testament.
The council's purpose was to come to a consensus on whether Jesus was a created being or divine. The Arians, led by Arius, taught that "There was a time when the Son was not," implying that Jesus was not eternal and was, therefore, a created being. This teaching caused an outcry and divided the church. Athanasius and his supporters insisted that Jesus was as truly God as the Father, while others sought a middle ground that maintained a distinction between the Father and the Son without reducing the Son to a mere creature.
The council resulted in the Nicene Creed, which affirmed Jesus's divine nature. The creed declared:
> We believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of all things visible and invisible; And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the only-begotten of the Father, of the substance of the Father; God of God and Light of Light; true God of true God; begotten, not made, of the same substance as the Father, by whom all things were made, in heaven and on earth: who for the sake of us men and our salvation, descended, became incarnate, and was made man, suffered, arose again on the third day, and ascended into the heavens, from where he will come again to judge the living and the dead; And in the Holy Spirit.
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Frequently asked questions
The oldest complete Bibles we have are the great uncials, which date to the time of the Council of Nicea in the fourth century. The Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, which date back to the fourth century, contain the complete New Testament canon.
The Book of Genesis is the oldest book in the Bible, dating back to either the 1400s or 1200s B.C.
The Bible was officially compiled in the late fourth century by the Catholic Church, who determined the canon or list of books included.
The current official version of the Catholic Bible is the Nova Vulgata, a revision of the Vulgate, which was declared the official translation for the Latin Church by the Council of Trent.
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