A few days ago I came across an e-book copy of A History of the Bible (Central Compilation & Translation Press, Nov. 2013). By every measure, it’s a good book — provided the reader has an interest in this particular kind of history. It’s not about the history or stories told within the Bible, but about the story of how the Bible itself was written, transmitted, and translated. You could say it’s a history of a history.

The book lists in detail the various popular Bible translations, and answered many of my questions about biblical denominations. On page 714, it says:

  • There are many English translations of the Bible — upwards of a hundred — and more keep appearing. Each translation has its own particular leanings and purpose; many have a clear theological bent, aimed at evangelical Protestants, Catholics, Eastern Orthodox believers, or Jewish readers. Some translations target readers of different levels: scholars, general readers, children, and adults learning English as a new language. Others are translated for English speakers in different regions of the world, using the vocabulary distinctive to that region — Britain, America, Australia, and so on.

Most Bibles share at least one common goal — to keep pace with the changes in the English language. Words that were common a generation ago have since fallen out of use, or taken on entirely different meanings, while new words keep emerging. Because of this, many popular (English) translations are updated on a regular basis. Yet I suspect Chinese-language Bibles can’t really evolve in the same way — otherwise they wouldn’t read as awkwardly as they do :)

Beyond the dense, complex history and textual scholarship, the book also has some lighter material — for instance, the “Bible Trivia and Curiosities” section (page 936) mentions:

  • At a normal speaking pace, a person can read the entire Bible aloud in about 100 hours, or a bit less.

  • The word “Bible” doesn’t actually appear in the Bible itself. It comes from the Greek word biblos, named after the Phoenician city of Byblos, an important source of the papyrus used to make books. At the time, biblos simply meant “book” — so the Bible was simply called, well, “the Book.”

If you’re interested too, you can download the epub preview edition to sample it.