This is a brief history of the evolution of Bible and some of its various translations. The Christian Bible has the honor of being the first book every published in volume, and the most published book in history to this date. It has been written in almost every spoken language in the world today.

Like many ancient works, the oldest parts of the Bible were passed along orally before they were ever written down. Many devout Jewish people today believe that the full text of what Christians call "The Old Testament" Bible was given to Moses by God on Mount Sinai. The Bible’s earliest origin may always be a matter of faith, but it still remains a fact that after the Bible was first recorded, many different versions existed in several different languages. It was not until the first century B.C.E. (Before the Common Era, aka B.C.) that Jews settled on the canon of their scripture.

The oldest written parts of the Bible found were transcribed in three languages. What scholars call the Hebrew Bible (the same books Jews call the Tanakh or Written Torah, and Christians call the Old Testament) was first written in Hebrew with a few chapters of the books of Ezra and Daniel recorded in Aramaic. Hebrew had long been the language of the Jewish people, so their scriptures were passed down in Hebrew. Some of the books of the Hebrew Bible may have been written as far back as 1,400 B.C, although most of the text was probably written between 900 and 400 B.C.

Aramaic is a Semitic language that was widely spoken from 600 to 200 B.C. in the near Middle East. It was one of the common languages of the region until the 13th century, when Arabic became more prominent. Many people today believe Jesus and his apostles spoke Aramaic. Aramaic was the spoken language in Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion of the Christ" that was subtitled in many languages.

The Christian New Testament was written in the common Greek of the Mediterranean area and parts of the Middle East at the time in the first century C.E. (Common Era, aka A.D.). This form of Greek is called Koine Greek. It developed from classical Greek, and spread by the conquests of Alexander the Great. As different people began to use the tongue, it evolved and changed into Koine Greek between 300 B.C. and 300 A.D. This form many scholars think may have been the second language of Jesus and his apostles -- after all, the gospels of the New Testament portray that Jesus spoke with Pontius Pilate, who would have been more likely to understand Greek than Aramaic. The Books that one day became the New Testament was probably written mostly in Greek because it was the common language around the Mediterranean at the time of its inception.

In 312 A.D. right before a major battle, the Roman Emperor Constantine the Great said that "Jesus appeared to him in a dream, giving him a sign that he will be victorious." He won the battle and Constantine looked upon Jesus as the deliverer of this victory. Constantine then ended the persecution of Christians by issuing the Edict of Milan in 313 A.D. In 325 A.D. Constantine the Great called the First Council of Nicaea, composed of 300 Christian and religious leaders of the time. The council was given the task of separating divinely inspired writings for those of questionable origin. The council then agreed on all the books of their New Testament, and also decided not to accept 15 books of the Greek translations of the Bible because they were not part of the original Hebrew Scriptures. The 15 books that were not accepted by the council became known as the Apocrypha.

It was not until 1545 A.D. at the Council of Trent in Italy that consisted of 255 Christian Catholic leaders which relied heavily on the teachings of Thomas Aquinas, that the edit of The New Testament of the Bible was completed and then called Canon.

After the Roman Empire itself became "Christianized" and Latin becomes the common language, the entire Bible was translated into Latin early in the 5th century. The first Latin version is called the Vulgate. It takes its name from the phrase versio vulgata, i.e., "the translation made public". The Vulgate was designed to be a definitive and officially promulgated translation of the Bible, improving upon several translations then in use. It was the first, and for many centuries the only, Christian Bible with an Old Testament translated directly from the Hebrew rather than from the Greek Septuagint.

In the mid-15th century, when Johannes Gutenberg invented movable type, the Latin Vulgate edition of the Christian Bible was the first work he printed. On September 30, 1452, Johann Guttenberg's Bible was published becoming the first book to be published in volume, of which about 180 were printed. The pages of the books were not bound, and the date 1455 is documented on the spine by the binder for a copy bound in Paris.

In July of 1604 A.D. King James of England wrote to Bishop Bancroft that he had nominated 54 learned men (linguists and biblical scholars) to once again translate the Bible, (but only 47 actually took part) in what became know as The King James Version (KJV) and was published in 1611. Many Christian fundamentalists today feel that this version is on one and only true version of God's Holy Word.

Over the centuries it became increasingly difficult for some people to truly understand the (Old English) vernacular. Hence, a new translation was first made called The New King James Version (NKJV) that had 130 translators in this edition. The New American Standard Bible (NASB) was translated in 1971 by 58 scholars. The NASB has sought to render grammar and terminology in contemporary English. Special attention has been given to the rendering of verb tenses to give the English reader a rendering as close as possible to the sense of the original Greek and Hebrew texts. In 1995, the text of the NASB was updated for greater understanding and smoother reading.

Christians today continue to yearn for a better understanding of the Word, and a closer relationship with God, came The New International Version (NIV). More than 100 scholars from six English-speaking countries, as well as editors and English stylists, worked on the (NIV). The scholars represented more than 20 denominations. It took 10 years to complete the (NIV) translation. The process started in 1968 and finished in 1978. This does not include more than 10 years of planning before 1968. It has since become one of the more popular editions.

For me, the word "BIBLE" stands for; Basic Instructions before Leaving Earth. I truly feel that everyone should read a copy it and gain from the insight and benefit of its words.