一些重要的历史
当我们要解圣经的发展及其翻译时，我们需要先認識教会历史中的一些基本事件以及世界历史。
對教会历史，我们应该注意一些非常重要的事件：
- 公元 70 年，在提图斯的领导下，平息猶太人的動亂，耶路撒冷被毁，聖殿被焚。
- 132-135年 第二次犹太人反罗马起义（Bar Kochba Revolt），犹太人被禁止在耶路撒冷居住
- 早期教会屢受到迫害，基督徒殉道，手稿被焚毁。 （新约的原本基本上不可能保存下来。）
君士坦丁时代：
- 312年 米尔维安桥之战； 君士坦丁信基督。
- 313年 米兰敕令：“授予基督徒和每个人遵循他们选择的宗教的自由权力……”
- 324年 拜占庭古城改名为“新罗马”，君士坦丁宣布其为罗马帝国的新都
- 325年 尼西亚议会
- 394年 狄奥多西一世将帝国分给他的两个儿子，形成西罗马帝国（476 年沦亡）和东罗马帝国（即拜占庭，1453 年沦亡）。 基本上将帝国分为讲拉丁语的西方和讲希腊语的东方。
- 公元 7 世纪 中东和埃及的大部分地区沦入伊斯兰统治之下。 东羅馬版圖大縮。
- 1054年 罗马教会和拜占庭教会之间的大分裂
- 1204年 第四次十字军东征洗劫君士坦丁堡，东罗马国力从此大弱
- 1382-1395年 约翰威克里夫(John Wycliffe)制作了完整英文譯本。
- 1455年 古腾堡印刷了圣经（那是Vulgate，拉丁文圣经）
- 1516 年 伊拉斯谟(Erasmus)出版了希腊新约
- 1517年 马丁路德发表了他的九十五篇论文，标志着宗教改革的开始
- 1526 年 丁道爾(Tyndale) 开始将新约从希腊语翻译成英语並出版
- 1534 年 路德出版完整德文圣经。
- 1611 年 欽定本圣经出版，其主要来源是根據丁道爾。
- 1844 年 蒂申多夫（Konstantin von Tischendorf） 发现了西奈抄本
- 1882 年 Westcott 和 Hort 推出了新版本的希腊新約圣经
- 1919年 和合本出版
概括地说，从 4 世纪，东罗马帝国和西罗马帝国的分裂，到1054年 东正教从罗马天主教分出，都是重大的事件。
自 4 世纪以来，拉丁文武加大圣经 (Vulgate) 成为教会的主流圣经。
7世纪以后，中东和埃及都处于伊斯兰教的统治之下。随着 1054 年东正教教堂从罗马天主教分离，希腊手抄本只局限在讲希腊语的拜占庭中使用。西方教会使用拉丁文武加大圣经，直到宗教改革之前，很少关注希伯来文或希腊文手抄本。留存至今的拉丁文新约手抄本的总数几乎是希腊文的两倍（10,000 对 5,800）
希腊手抄本仅在希腊语地区有效使用，即东罗马（又名拜占庭）帝国。
在那个年代，抄写圣经是一项繁重的工作，文士（通常是僧侣）献身于这项繁琐的工作，而羊皮纸是用动物的皮制而成，为了书籍而专门制作的。这些书太贵了，以至于他们没有复制超过他们需要的数量。一个教会需要多少本？一本便足已。直到该抄本被使用并恶化到损坏状态，然后才会从中复制一个新抄本。中古期没有大规模生产书籍的方法，也实际上没有这个需要。
这就是为什么大量手稿（80-90%）的年代相对较晚，从 12 世纪到 14 世纪。估计它们都是拜占庭教堂的手抄本，在拜占庭帝国灭亡后，这些手抄本才传到了西方。
Some Important History
When we want to understand the development of the Bible and its translation, we need to recognize some basic events in church history and world history.
There are some very important events in church history that we should note:
- In AD 70, under the command of Titus, to quell the Jewish unrest, Jerusalem was destroyed and the temple burned.
- 132-135 Second Jewish uprising against Rome (Bar Kochba Revolt), Jews banned from living in Jerusalem
- The early church was repeatedly persecuted, Christians were martyred, and manuscripts were burned. (The original of the New Testament is basically impossible to preserve.)
Era of Constantine:
- 312 Battle of Milvian Bridge; Constantine believes in Christ.
- 313 Edict of Milan: "To grant Christians and everyone the right to follow the religion of their choice..."
- In 324, the ancient city of Byzantium was renamed "New Rome", and Constantine declared it the new capital of the Roman Empire.
- 325 Council of Nicaea
- 394 Theodosius I divides the empire between his two sons, forming the Western Roman Empire (fall 476) and the Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium, fall 1453). Basically divide the empire into Latin-speaking West and Greek-speaking East.
- In the 7th century AD, much of the Middle East and Egypt was under Islamic rule. The map of Eastern Rome was greatly reduced.
- 1054 Great Schism between the Church of Rome and the Byzantine Church.
- In 1204, the Fourth Crusade sacked Constantinople, and the Eastern Roman Empire was weakened from then on.
- In 1382-1395 John Wycliffe and his followers produced English versions
- 1455 Gutenberg printed the Bible (Vulgate, Bible in Latin)
- 1516 Erasmus publishes the Greek New Testament
- In 1517 Martin Luther published his ninety-five essays, marking the beginning of the Reformation
- 1526 Tyndale begins translating and publishing the New Testament from Greek into English
- 1534 Luther publishes the complete German Bible.
- The King James Version was published in 1611, and its primary source was based on Tyndale.
- 1844 Konstantin von Tischendorf discovers the Codex Sinaiticus
- 1882 Westcott and Hort published a new version of the Greek New Testament
- 1919 Chinese Union Version is being published
In a nutshell, from the split of the Eastern and Western Roman Empires in the 4th century to the separation of the Orthodox Church from the Roman Catholic Church in 1054, these were major events that we might not be aware of.
Since the 4th century, the Vulgate, the Latin Bible, has been the dominant bible of the church.
After the 7th century, both the Middle East and Egypt were under the rule of Islam. With the separation of the Orthodox Church from Roman Catholicism in 1054, Greek manuscripts were restricted to Greek-speaking Byzantine languages. The Western Church used the Latin Vulgate Bible with little attention to Hebrew or Greek manuscripts until the Reformation. The total number of surviving Latin New Testament manuscripts is almost twice that of Greek (10,000 versus 5,800)
The Greek manuscripts are used only in the Greek-speaking region, the Eastern Roman (aka Byzantine) Empire.
In those days, copying the Bible was a laborious task to which scribes (usually monks) devoted their lives, and parchment was made from animal skins and was specially treated for making books. The books were so expensive that they didn't copy more than they needed. How many copies does a church need? One copy is sufficient. when copy was been used and deteriorated to a poor state, then a new copy would be commissioned. There was no way of mass-producing books in the Ancient or the Medieval Ages. On the other hand, there was virtually no need for it.
This is one reason why a large number of manuscripts (80-90%) are dated relatively late, from the 12th to the 14th centuries. It is estimated that they are all manuscripts of the Byzantine church. After the fall of the Byzantine Empire, these manuscripts eventually made their way to the West
