Text - Lay Christian

# Text _Respecting the composition and translation history of the Bible lays a firm foundation upon which to build an understanding of its message._ ## Canon Investigating the text of the Bible raises questions about which writings should be included in our Bibles. Texts respected by a particular community form a "canon" of writings that members of the group consider authoritative. Different communities assign authority to texts in different ways. ![[text-canon.svg]] Authority and interpretation both had to be addressed by the early Christian community. Paul, writing to both Timothy in Ephesus and Titus in Crete, was keen for believers to avoid idle speculations which did not result in faithful action: > [!bible] > "...instruct \[people\] not to occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies that promote speculations rather than the divine training..." - 1 Timothy 1:3b-4a (NRSV) The specific nature of these "myths and endless genealogies" is lost to us, though Hellenistic-Jewish precursors to Gnostic thought are possible candidates. The Hebrew Bible (Tanakh) today contains 24 books which have a measure of support in antiquity.[^j22][^jcanon] These match the 39 "protocanonical" books recognised by the early Christian church.[^1] Christian Bibles also contain 27 books of the New Testament which eventually gained widespread acceptance. ### Formation Key documents relevant to the formation of the Christian canon include: - #### Marcion's Canon (130-140CE) Marcion was first to establish a canon. After being excommunicated from the Roman church for his views on the nature of God he formed his own collection of authoritative writings that were used in the churches he led. It was the formation of this "heretical canon" that galvanised the early church to explicitly address the issue of which texts were considered authoritative. - #### The Muratorian Fragment (circa 170CE) This manuscript contains a list of canonical New Testament books and appears to be a later translation (7th-8th century CE) of a far earlier Greek text, containing the line "Hermas wrote The Shepherd most recently in our time", alluding to the reign of Pius I of Rome. This suggests a date of around 170 CE. The canon list includes the Wisdom of Solomon, alongside comments that the Apocalypse of Peter is debated. It omits Hebrews, James, and 1-2 Peter. Though it includes 2 letters of John, it is not clear which of John's 3 letters are intended. Finally, while it does not attest Matthew and Mark (the start of the fragment is lost) it begins by stating "Luke the third". - #### The Lost Lucian Recension (circa 300CE) An early copy of the Old and New Testament is attributed to Lucian of Antioch. This work does not survive, though references to it do. It is suggested that Lucian was responsible for a critical edition (the "Lucian Recension") formed the basis of the Greek New Testament, the _Textus Receptus_. The form and content of this work is unknown. - #### Athanasius Easter Letter (367CE) The Bishop of Alexandria announced the date of Easter each year in a letter, based on astronomical observations. The 39th of these letters contains a list of books considered "canon", which includes the 27 books of the New Testament widely recognised today. The same letter includes 22 books of the Hebrew Old Testament, excluding Esther and counting Jeremiah, Lamentations, the Letter of Jeremiah, and Baruch as one book. Esther, Solomon, Sirach, Tobit and Judith were deemed worthy to be read in church. - #### The Decree of the Council of Rome (382CE) Produced in the reign of Pope Damascus I, this list contains a list of both Old and New Testament books. While the New Testament contains the familiar 27 books, its Old Testament book list is more expansive than that of the Protestant canon. ### Apocrypha Texts considered to be of uncertain origin may be deemed "apocryphal" by a community. Despite this apparently inferior status, such texts may still be valued by different groups. Catholics describe such books as deuterocanonical[^4] (a second canon), holding lesser authority but potentially still worthy to be read in community.[^5] Jewish writings from the intertestamental period typically fall into this category. Both ancient and modern Bible editions include apocryphal and deuterocanonical books.[^6] Discussion of authoritative texts can focus on which _parts_ of books are authoritative. Examples include additions to Daniel and Esther which are considered apocryphal in the Protestant canon. In the New Testament the longer ending of Mark's gospel is usually included in Bibles alongside explanatory notes, though not considered apocryphal. ## Composition The Bible was composed by different writers over an extended period of time. Evidence of editors is clear in the text itself, which contains narrative interpretations and explanations intended for a then-contemporary audience: > [!bible] > "(Formerly in Israel, anyone who went to inquire of God would say, “Come, let us go to the seer”; for the one who is now called a prophet was formerly called a seer)" - 1 Samuel 9:9 (NRSV) ### The Lost Books Our Bibles contain many references to works which have not survived to the present day: | Book | Reference | | ----------------------------------- | --------- | | The Book of the Wars of the Lord | Num 21:14 | | The Book of Jashar | Jos 10:13 | | Acts of Solomon | 1Ki 11:41 | | Annals of King David | 1Ch 27:24 | | The Book of Nathan | 2Ch 9:29 | | The Prophecy of Ahijah | 2Ch 9:29 | | The Book of Iddo the Seer | 2Ch 12:15 | | The Records of Shemaiah the Prophet | 2Ch 12:15 | | The Book of Jehu | 2Ch 20:34 | | Book of Gad | 1Ch 29:29 | | Sayings of the Seers | 2Ch 33:19 | How ancient religious communities treated these texts is unknown. They simply demonstrate that our Bibles are part of a broad written tradition stretching back thousands of years. ### The Documentary Hypothesis In 1753 Jean Astruc laid the foundation of the Documentary Hypothesis, positing that the first five books of the Bible were formed of several sources rather than assumed to be the work of a single author: Moses. While no single solution to the evidence for multiple authorship has gained widespread acceptance, four sources (denoted J, E, D, and P) form a common foundation which has withstood the test of time[^7]. - #### Yahwist Source (J) So named due to use of Yahweh as the divine name. This source is written in an early form of Hebrew and is dated to about 950BCE. A focus on stories, tribes, and places in the southern kingdom suggests that this source is Judean, from the south of the country. Knowledge of specific events suggests a composition date in the 8th and 9th century BCE. **J** has a strong connection to court history (particularly 2 Samuel). - #### Elohist Source (E) Using El as the divine name up to the time of Moses, the Elohist source includes narratives oriented around the tribes and interests of Northern Israel. Like **J**, it uses an early form of Hebrew. After the Assyrian invasion in 722BCE the border separating the northern and southern kingdoms was removed. Around this time a historian or editor (sometimes referred to as **R**, a Redactor) appears to have combined J and E into a single source. As a result, the combined **J** and **E** narrative has a continuous narrative flow with few breaks. - #### Deuteronomist Source (D) The **D** tradition is the latest of the sources, using a later form of the Hebrew language. **D** shares considerable affinity with Jeremiah, with many terms and phrases common to both. - #### Priestly Source (P) **P** is renown for a focus on numbers, order, and instructions. Dates, ages, and measurements are a signature characteristic of **P** material, as are "sacred objects". The Tabernacle is referred to over 200 times in **P**, but never in **J** or **D**, and only 3 times in **E**. In **P**, the priesthood is instrumental to communication with God, whereas in **J**, **E**, and **D** God speaks through angels, animals, and prophets. The book of Ezekiel appears to draw heavily from **P** sources, as though there may have been an independent work comprising **P** in his time<a id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9">n</a>. The phenomenon of composition shows that our Bible text has complex origins and a history far older than the text we know today. The earliest texts of the Bible appear to have existed as oral traditions before they were recorded. Both the *Song of Deborah* (Jdg 5) and the *Song of the Sea* (Exo 15) use a very early form of Hebrew, with strong linguistic connections to the Akkadian language. Although we cannot unequivocally date or reconstruct the composition history of these early books, the evidence suggests that accounts in our Bible were in oral circulation and had at least one unknown written form predating the texts we now recognise as scripture. > [!image] > ![[text-jedp.svg]] > A commonly proposed genealogy of the sources involved in the Documentary Hypothesis. Based on A. Y. Reed, Wabash Center, 'The Five Books of Moses' ([Link](https://www.wabashcenter.wabash.edu/syllabi/r/reed/20050210C/3.pdf)) ### Multiple authorship Further evidence of composition can be seen in how some books of the Bible are structured, narrated, and attributed. Several books traditionally attributed to a single author are likely to be pseudonymous: the product of an author or "school" continuing the prophetic tradition of a prophet.[^school] One example of this phenomenon is the book of Isaiah. Isaiah is widely recognised as formed of three parts:[^isaiah] - #### Proto-Isaiah (1-39) First Isaiah was likely written by the original Isaiah, writing before the Babylonian exile in the 8th century BCE. References to a coming invasion make this clear (Isa 10:12, 39:6). - #### Deutero-Isaiah (40-55) Second Isaiah appear to be a continuation of the Isaiah tradition written from the perspective of the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BCE. Its language shows judgement has passed (Isa 40:1-2, 42:24-25). - #### Trito-Isaiah (55-66) Third Isaiah contains a collection oracles written during the return from exile in the 5th century BCE. Themes of regathering are apparent (Isa 56:8), and the Temple is portrayed as both needing repair and in operation (Isa 64:11 c.f. Isa 66:20). The Dead Sea Scrolls contain a unified Isaiah dated 150-100 BCE, showing that the form we recognise today was already established by this period. Another debated example is Zechariah, whose vocabulary and literary style is markedly different in later chapters (1-8 vs 9-14). After the initial reference to both the prophet and dates, the prophet is no longer mentioned after Zech 7:8. Finally, Ecclesiastes' wise, jaded, "Qohelet" remains anonymous. While some elements evoke parallels to Solomon (Ecc 1:1, 2:4-5), others suggest a later, perhaps idealised writer (Ecc 1:16). A shift between the first and third person (Ecc 1:12 vs. Ecc 12:9) marks the comments of a narrator. ### Literary references Alongside evidence of composition the Bible contains references to other literary traditions. Comparative studies between the Genesis flood narrative and ancient myths are popularly available and widely debated. An example of this from the Old Testament is the similarity between Proverbs 22:17-24:22 and the Egyptian _Instruction of Amenemope_. Discovered in Thebes in 1888, _Amenemope_ has a similar prologue and epilogue structure to Proverbs, containing thirty wisdom sayings that have parallels to the Bible text. These similarities have led some modern translations to resolve textual ambiguities in Proverbs 22:20 by seeing them a direct allusion to _Amenemope_: > [!bible] > "Have I not written for you _thirty sayings_ of admonition and knowledge?" - Proverbs 22:20 (NRSV) Portions of _Amenemope_ were also found written on pottery shards dated to around ~1000BCE. These were part of school texts, showing that they were already recognised, copied, and studied by this date. This discovery favours a conclusion of Egyptian priority (i.e. the Egyptian text came first), and that either _Amenemope_ or another source predates Solomon's reign. The New Testament contains several references to contemporary works. Paul explicitly quotes famous poets[^zeus] to support his characterisation of the divine as an accessible father, rather than a distant and uninterested pantheon. One of the most famous New Testament quotes is from the _Book of Enoch_ (~165-65BCE), quoted by Jude. While _Enoch_ is known in both Greek and Aramaic forms, it is not clear which Jude is quoting from. | Enoch 1:9 (Ethiopic/Greek) | Jude 1:14b-15 (NRSV) | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Behold, \[God\] will arrive with ten million of the holy ones in order to execute judgment upon all. He will destroy the wicked ones and \[rebuke\] all flesh on account of everything that they have done, that which sinners and the wicked ones committed against him. | See, the Lord is coming with ten thousands of his holy ones, to execute judgment on all, and to convict everyone of all the deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him. | These examples demonstrate that the Bible was not written in a vacuum, but participates in the literary culture of its writers and audience. ## Manuscripts While our Bibles are available in many different languages and formats today, the very oldest copies available to us are rare and valuable. They provide a window into textual transmission from antiquity to the present day, occasionally allowing us to correct errors of transcription and translation. Some of the most famous manuscripts of our Bibles are the _Four Great Uncial Codices_ which originally contained complete texts of the Old and New Testaments. They are written in an uppercase (majuscule) style called _uncial_, with digitised copies available online. | Name | GA ref | Date | Location | | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | :------------------: | -------------- | :-------------------: | | [Codex Sinaiticus](https://codexsinaiticus.org/en/manuscript.aspx) | א (Aleph) / 01 | 4th century CE | St Catherine's, Sinai | | [Codex Alexandrinus](http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Royal_MS_1_d_viii) | A / 02 | 5th century CE | Egypt | | [Codex Vaticanus](http://digi.vatlib.it/view/MSS_Vat.gr.1209) | B / 03 | 4th century CE | Unknown | | [Codex Ephraemi](https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b8470433r) | C / 04 | 5th century CE | Unknown | ### Old Testament Until the discovery of Dead Sea Scrolls the oldest surviving Hebrew copies of the Old Testament dated from nearly a thousand years after Jesus. This text was preserved as part of the Masoretic Text family (<abbr title="Masoretic Text">MT</abbr>). The books we now recognise as the Old Testament reached their final form between the period of the Babylonian exile through to the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE. After this period rabbinic scholars worked to create a more uniform text with less variation, and from around the 8th century CE the text became more standard. Soon after, a group of Jews called the Masoretes developed their own edition of the text, accompanied by stringent copying practises and letter standards. This endeavour resulted in the production of two key texts which became the foundation for later English translations of the Old Testament: - Aleppo Codex (925CE) - Leningrad Codex (1008CE) Of these, only the Leningrad Codex is complete; parts of the Aleppo Codex were lost during the Syrian anti-Jewish riots of 1947. Despite generations of care there is evidence that minor transcription errors were introduced into the text during this period: > [!bible] > "He will take your male and female slaves, and the best of your _cattle_ (MT: \"young men\") and donkeys, and put them to his work." - 1 Samuel 8:16 (NRSV) Here, the Septuagint translation "cattle" is preferred. The variation "young men" is the result of a scribe copying a single Hebrew letter incorrectly at some point after the Septuagint was written. The newer NIV and NRSV correct this error, whereas the KJV (and more surprisingly the NKJV) repeat it. The discovery of the [Dead Sea Scrolls](http://dss.collections.imj.org.il) (<abbr title="Dead Sea Scrolls">DSS</abbr>) in 1946 provided a treasure trove of manuscripts dating from 300BCE-70CE which could be used to compare with texts that have survived to the present day. While the Dead Sea Scrolls contain only a partial witness to most Bible books, there is plenty that we can learn from them: - They show a remarkable consistency with the surviving Masoretic Text family. - They contain all Old Testament protocanonical books apart from Esther and Nehemiah. - They also contain many books outside the Hebrew protocanon. - Differences between the Septuagint translation and the MT were found to have a common Hebrew source. The Dead Sea Scrolls demonstrate that there were several Bible texts circulating in the second Temple period, with considerable variation in the order of some books (particularly Psalms). However, the differences between these texts and those of the MT family are small. ### New Testament The official catalogue of New Testament manuscripts is maintained in what is known as the _Liste_ by the <abbr title="Institute for New Testament Textual Research">INTF</abbr>. Almost all modern Bibles are translated from these texts. Each text or manuscript is categorised according to the Gregory-Aland (<abbr title="Gregory-Aland">GA</abbr>) scheme as follows: * #### Papyri Manuscripts that are written on papyrus, denoted by the prefix P or 𝔓 followed by a superscript identifier, e.g. P100. * #### Majuscule Manuscripts written in "capital" or upper case letters. Identifiers are prefixed with a zero, e.g. 049. * #### Minuscule Manuscripts written in lower case letters, a style developed in the 9th and 10th century. Identifiers are plain numbers with no zero prefix e.g. 174. * #### Lectionaries Manuscripts containing portions of the Bible to be read on appointed days, denoted by a lowercase l or ℓ e.g. l132. The scheme is not without its flaws. A lectionary written in majescule script on papyrus falls into multiple categories, which can lead to inconsistencies and confusion. Further difficulties arise when trying to assess the total number of manuscripts. Although simply counting entries in the _Liste_ seems an intuitive solution, several factors make this a potentially misleading figure: - A manuscript with the complete New Testament text or with just a few words visible are both counted as a single entry. - Some manuscripts counted separately may later be found to be from a single source, and vice versa. - Multiple manuscripts may have been bound together in a single codex. In this case the manuscripts are counted individually. - Manuscripts may contain later additions, with partially complete texts being augmented by later scribes. - Some manuscripts in the _Liste_ have been lost (and occasionally found again in different museums). - Some manuscripts in the _Liste_ have been destroyed, e.g. during the WWII bombing of Dresden. It's reasonably safe to say that there are over 5000 Greek New Testament manuscripts available today, and new ones are continually being discovered. ### Assessing quality Weighing the value of ancient manuscripts is a non trivial problem. * #### Survival bias Manuscripts from the hot, dry climate of Egypt are much more likely to be preserved than those from cooler, wetter environments. Our oldest and most numerous manuscripts are typically a result of geography rather than intentional preservation. Age and quantity are not necessarily good indicators of value. * #### Content Only around 60 New Testament manuscripts contain the full New Testament text, or around 1% of the total available. Those with more content provide more insights into a particular text tradition or manuscript lineage. * #### Date Bible texts range from around 200CE onwards, with more manuscripts dating from around the 10th and 11th centuries. These newer copies can help trace changes between text families, providing data on intermediate copies and helping reconstruct the genealogies of different manuscripts. ## Translations Today we rely on a complex network of specialist disciplines working together to make ancient documents available in our own language: > [!image] > ![[text-disciplines.svg]] Affordable mass production methods have made translated texts more accessible than ever before[^wales]. As a result, a modern reader often experiences scripture in a very different way to an ancient audience. | Modern audience | Ancient audience | |:---------------:|:-----------------:| | Mostly literate | Mostly illiterate | | Learn by reading (written tradition) | Learn by hearing (oral tradition) | | Personal copy of texts | Community copy of texts | | Bible as a single volume | Collection of scrolls | Our relationship with religious texts can be subtly influenced as a result. Modern readers tend to experience the Bible as an individual mental exercise, rather than as a diverse oral community tradition. ## Units of meaning Written communication is formed of many constituent parts which work together to convey meaning. Studying smaller written units like words, clauses, sentences, and paragraphs is essential, but it is the _passage_ (or _"pericope"_) which best represents the rhetorical unit: the meaning intended by an author. Understanding how the building blocks of language each shape meaning is important. This knowledge forms a valuable and necessary interpretive constraint, limiting fanciful interpretations which defy the rules of language. > [!warning] > **Concordances versus lexicons** > A _concordance_ lists when a word is used, a _lexicon_ explains its meaning in different contexts. > > The _gloss_ accompanying a word in a concordance is not a pick-list of meanings. Each sense is valid in a particular context, but not all occurrences can have that specific sense. A lexicon shows which occurrences have which sense. > > To avoid similar interpretive mistakes, see Carson's invaluable _Exegetical Fallacies (details in <a href="#bibliography">Bibliography</a>). - #### Word Although words are the smallest unit of meaning, word-based study is of surprisingly limited use. In different contexts a single word can have wildly different meanings, and these meanings change over time. - #### Clause Words combine according to rules of grammar, with meaning conveyed by the interplay between tense, modifiers, and objects. - #### Sentence Main and subordinate clauses are brought together to form sentences—complete units of thought. Sentence Diagramming can be used to trace a train of thought through a complex series of clauses. - #### Passage A passage is an extract containing several paragraphs of text (sometimes referred to as "pericopes") which form a unit of meaning for reading and study. - #### Section Passages may be arranged into sections (and subsections), grouped by theme, author, timeline, etc. These may help identify and highlight a range of editorial concerns. - #### Book A book may have an overarching author or authorship school, with its own composition history, key time periods, and a wider social context that underpins its message. ## Summary 1. Christian traditions accept a common core of authoritative texts, with considerable diversity in treatment of additional Jewish and pre-Christian writings. 2. Evidence of composition throughout the Bible demonstrates a literary heritage that is both ancient and complex. Although details of composition history are hard to establish with certainty, but provide valuable context. 3. Modern readers benefit from centuries of interpretive scholarship and specialist investigation which must be respected when studying units of text. Beyond the text a wider literary context moves into focus: structure and genre bring new insights, further shaping how we engage with our Bibles. These concepts are explored in the next section: [[Form]]. ## Appendix ### Bibliography - Carson, D. (1996). _Exegetical Fallacies (2nd ed)_. Baker Academic. (Amazon [UK](https://www.google.com/) | [US](https://www.google.com/), [Baker](http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/exegetical-fallacies-2nd-edition/132832), [Logos](https://www.logos.com/product/6874/exegetical-fallacies-2nd-ed)). - Sandy, B. & Walton, J. (2014). _The Lost World of Scripture: Ancient Literary Culture and Biblical Authority_. IVP USA. (Amazon [UK](https://www.amazon.co.uk/World-Scripture-Brent-Sandy-Walton/dp/083084032X) | [US](https://www.amazon.com/Lost-World-Scripture-Literary-Authority-ebook/dp/B00H7HAN74), [IVP](https://www.ivpress.com/the-lost-world-of-scripture), [Logos](https://www.logos.com/product/166145/the-lost-world-series)). - Baden, J. (2012). _The Composition of the Pentateuch: Renewing the Documentary Hypothesis_. Yale University Press. (Amazon [UK](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Composition-Pentateuch-Documentary-Hypothesis-Reference/dp/0300152639) | [US](https://www.bibleops.com/en/text/), [Logos](https://www.logos.com/product/50224/the-composition-of-the-pentateuch-renewing-the-documentary-hypothesis), [Yale](https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300152630/composition-pentateuch)). - Friedman, R. (2005). _The Bible with Sources Revealed_. HarperCollins. (Amazon [UK](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sources-Revealed-Richard-Elliott-Friedman/dp/006073065X) | [US](https://www.amazon.com/Sources-Revealed-Richard-Elliott-Friedman/dp/006073065X), [HarperCollins](https://www.harpercollins.com/products/the-bible-with-sources-revealed-richard-elliott-friedman?variant=32207487926306)). - Friedman, R. (1997). _Who Wrote the Bible?_. HarperCollins. (Amazon [UK](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wrote-Bible-Richard-Elliott-Friedman/dp/0060630353) | [US](https://www.amazon.com/Wrote-Bible-Richard-Elliott-Friedman-ebook/dp/B07M7S79BT)). - Hixson, E. (2019). _Myths and mistakes in New Testament Textual Criticism_. IVP Academic. (Amazon [UK](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Myths-Mistakes-Testament-Textual-Criticism/dp/0830852573) | [US](https://www.amazon.com/Myths-Mistakes-Testament-Textual-Criticism/dp/0830852573), [Logos](https://www.logos.com/product/175039/myths-and-mistakes-in-new-testament-textual-criticism)). ### Notes [^j22]: "For we have not an innumerable multitude of books among us, disagreeing from and contradicting one another \[as the greeks\] but only twenty-two books..." - Josephus, _Against Apion_. [^jcanon]: In contrast to the Christian 39-book scheme, the 24-book Hebrew account is achieved by counting as single books the 12 minor prophets, Ezra-Nehemiah, Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles. The first-century historian Josephus details a 22-book scheme which may count Ruth as part of Judges and Lamentations as part Jeremiah, or omit Esther and Ecclesiastes as not yet canonical. See also: _Josephus, F., & Whiston, W. (1987). The works of Josephus: complete and unabridged (p. 776). Hendrickson._ [^3]: Josephus was here [^4]: The term _"Deuterocanonical"_, meaning _"Second Canon"_ was coined in 1566 by Sixtus Senensis to describe books appearing in the Septuagint and Catholic Bibles which were not accepted as canonical by Jews or Protestant Christians. [^5]: Article IV of the 39 Articles of Anglican Communion (finalized 1571) accepts the books _"for instruction in life and manners, but not for the establishment of doctrine"_. The Eastern Orthodox Church refers to these books as _"Anagignoskomena"_ or _"profitable reading"_ (per the Synod of Jerusalem in 1672). The Protestant _"Westminster Confession"_ of 1647 excluded Apocryphal writings from their canon as _"human writings"_. [^6]: Septuagint, KJV included until 1825, NRSV. [^7]: Baden, J. (2012). The Composition of the Pentateuch: Renewing the Documentary Hypothesis. Yale University Press. [^8]: Friedman, R. (1997). Who Wrote the Bible? HarperCollins. [^9]: Propp, W. (1996). [The Priestly Source Recovered Intact?](https://www.jstor.org/stable/1584959) Vetus Testamentum, 46. Brill. Propp suggests that Ezekiel 20:5-9 quotes from a theoretical P-source in which Exodus 2:23b-25 and Exodus 6:2-9 were once a single document. [^wales]: The tale of [Mary Jones and her Bible](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Jones_and_her_Bible) perhaps epitomises the shift to personal ownership of Bibles. Her story led to the founding of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and the distribution of millions of copies around the world. [^school]: The Bible contains several references to groups of a particular prophetic tradition, e.g. 1Sa 19:20, 2Ki 4:38, Isa 8:16. [^isaiah]: Rabbi Ibn Ezra, writing in the 12th Century CE, noted the distinction between Proto and Deutero Isaiah (M. Friedlander, The Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah (1873), 169-171.), an observation extended by Johann Gottfried Eichhorn in 1803. Trito-Isaiah was recognised by Bernhard Duhm (1892) and remains the consensus position. See also _Clifford, R. (1992). Isaiah, Book of: Second Isaiah (p. 491). The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary. Yale University Press._ [^zeus]: Paul may be quoting Cleanthes' poem _“Hymn to Zeus"_, Aratus' _“Phaenomena”_, or both. Each includes the line "we also are his offspring". Both Arastus and Paul hailed from Cilicia, so Paul may have been familiar with his work.