When Was the Bible Really Written?

Foxnews ^ | Jan 9, 2010 | foxnews

[driftdiver]

By decoding the inscription on a 3,000-year-old piece of pottery, an Israeli professor has concluded that parts of the bible were written hundreds of years earlier than suspected.

The pottery shard was discovered at excavations at Khirbet Qeiyafa near the Elah valley in Israel -- about 18 miles west of Jerusalem. Carbon-dating places it in the 10th century BC, making the shard about 1,000 years older than the Dead Sea scrolls.

......

English translation of the deciphered text:

1' you shall not do [it], but worship the [Lord]. 2' Judge the sla[ve] and the wid[ow] / Judge the orph[an] 3' [and] the stranger. [Pl]ead for the infant / plead for the po[or and] 4' the widow. Rehabilitate [the poor] at the hands of the king. 5' Protect the po[or and] the slave / [supp]ort the stranger.

[muawiyah]

There are two different "when was the Bible really written" questions. One is about when the materials in the Bible were reduced to written form ~ the assumption being that earlier they were strictly oral and passed on from learned sage to learned sage. The other question is about the age of the oldest written documents ~ or reasonable facsimiles thereof.

What this finding does is reset the clock concerning when writing in a particular alphabet appeared in a setting wherein we might find Hebrew priests. This discovery resets the clock back another thousand years or so.

I would imagine that eventually something will be found that's signed by Abram ~ most likely it will be in Sumerian in Sumerian hieroglyphic text. That'll kick the clock back another 3,000 years.

About that time it will be recognized that the ancient stories told in stone petroglyphs on the Kola Peninsula (in Scanderhoovia) were also included in the Hebrew texts ~ and that'll reset the clock again, but this time back to 7,000 BC or thereabouts ~ as far as the "written form" goes. Some of the materials may well have been inspired during the last glaciation ~ hence the interest in destroyed planes of existence and great floods.

[pnh102]

I hate how an article that discusses The Bible uses the term “B.C.E.” to describe a date.

[magritte]

It’s an Israeli professor’s story...obviously, he’s going to use BCE...magritte

[Uncle Miltie]

Gee, that translation proves how evil Jews are!

< / islam >

[Trod Upon]

Just tell people who use B.C.E. that B.C.E. = Before Christ’s Era. Makes the lefties crap six shades.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Fascinating...been working on Jared Diamond’s book. `

[Walkenfree]

You might be interested in this website:
Blue Letter Bible: http://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/authors.cfm

[Godzilla]

The various books of the Bible were written over the course of 1500-2000 years. The Jews pretty well had their canon (OT) nailed down by the time of Jesus and finalized it around AD 90. The books of the new testament were written starting within 15-20 years of Jesus’ resurrection with most completed by about AD70, with some, like the books of John (Gospel, 1-3 Jhn & Revelation) were written near the end of the first century.

[dangus]

I’m confused...

“Judge the wi[dow] and the sla[ve]?”

They translated it from Ancient Hebrew, but there certain English letters missing?

[dangus]

Five out of six uses of the word, “Scandihoovia” in all the internet are yours. (The sixth probably is, too, but it’s not FR.) So you’ve invented a word, and expect people to know what you’re referring to? I’m guessing (since you reference Kola) you’re meaning Scandinavia?

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Ernest, bfl. Which Jared Diamond book?

• when was the bible really written? (Amazon search)
• jared diamond (Amazon search)

earlier topics about this interesting find:

• Archaeologists claim discovery of oldest Hebrew writing
• King David Era Pottery Shard Supports Biblical Narrative

[Hamilcar_Barca]

"Just tell people who use B.C.E. that B.C.E. = Before Christ’s Era. Makes the lefties crap six shades." I love it! Thank you.

[driftdiver]

“The Bible uses the term “B.C.E.” to describe a date.”

Good point, kinda gives us a clue as to his agenda.

[muawiyah]

"Scanderhoovia" is pretty much a "kinda local word known only to Minnesotans, South Dakotans, and Wisconsonites and maybe UPs" ~ in short, I didn't invent it ~ it's pretty colloquial and I've heard it used by many others in that region.

Early in the period of settlement of the Dakotas it finally occurred to someone that although the weather was bad it wasn't Scandinavia, still, there were those Polish and Irish people in St. Paul that had to be dealt with, so someone came up with "Scanderhoovian" to describe the non-Irish, non-Polish, non-native American people then coming to dominate the area.

I think you might spell it several different ways to get more hits.

It is possible I've invented a SHORTER SPELLING.

[muawiyah]

Just checking my spelling there, and I did it correctly ~ Scanderhoovia ~ and I used it in reference to part of the Fenno-Scandian peninsula ~ but not to the Indo-European/Ugric dominated parts ~

The Sapmi is as much "Scandinavian" in the sense of ethnicity as is downtown Bloomington MN when you get right down to it (which is, none at all 'cause it's an evil college town), hence the use of the more applicable term "Scanderhoovia".

[Swordmaker]

They translated it from Ancient Hebrew, but there certain English letters missing?

usually, when they parenthetically quote something like this from pottery, the whole letters are missing from the pottery sherd and they are filling in the gaps with assumptions of what is most logically missing. Sometimes it is because we have other documents with equivalent writings.

[Salvation]

Some additional information to help answer the posted question.

Bible Reading is Central in Conversions to Catholicism in Shangai, Reports Organization
Verses (in Scripture) I Never Saw
5 Myths about 7 Books

Lectionary Statistics - How much of the Bible is included in the Lectionary for Mass? (Popquiz!)
Pope calls Catholics to daily meditation on the Bible
What Are the "Apocrypha?"
The Accuracy of Scripture
US Conference of Catholic Bishops recommendations for Bible study

CNA unveils resource to help Catholics understand the Scriptures
The Dos and Don’ts of Reading the Bible [Ecumenical]
Pope to lead marathon Bible reading on Italian TV
The Complete Bible: Why Catholics Have Seven More Books [Ecumenical]
Beginning Catholic: Books of the Catholic Bible: The Complete Scriptures [Ecumenical]

Beginning Catholic: When Was The Bible Written? [Ecumenical]
The Complete Bible: Why Catholics Have Seven More Books [Ecumenical]
U.S. among most Bible-literate nations: poll
Bible Lovers Not Defined by Denomination, Politics
Dei Verbum (Catholics and the Bible)

Vatican Offers Rich Online Source of Bible Commentary
Clergy Congregation Takes Bible Online
Knowing Mary Through the Bible: Mary's Last Words
A Bible Teaser For You... (for everyone :-)
Knowing Mary Through the Bible: New Wine, New Eve

Return of Devil's Bible to Prague draws crowds
Doctrinal Concordance of the Bible [What Catholics Believe from the Bible] Catholic Caucus
Should We Take the Bible Literally or Figuratively?
Glimpsing Words, Practices, or Beliefs Unique to Catholicism [Bible Trivia]
Catholic and Protestant Bibles: What is the Difference?

Church and the Bible(Caatholic Caucus)
Pope Urges Prayerful Reading of Bible
Catholic Caucus: It's the Church's Bible
How Tradition Gave Us the Bible
The Church or the Bible

[driftdiver]

Thanks, I posted the article as I thought it interesting. Interesting that this one professor thought his discovery proved thousands of others wrong.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Which Jared Diamond book?

Guns, Germs, and Steel.