Swartzentrover.com |McGarvey |A Guide to Bible Study

A Guide to Bible Study

By J. W. McGarvey

Appendix

Numbers within [ ] indicates original page numbers

I. Early Translations of the Scriptures.

II. Translations of the Scriptures into English.

III. Extra Canonical Books.

IV. Outline of the History of Israel.

V. Leading Prophets of the Old Testament.

VI. Important Events in the Life of Christ.

VII. Outline of the Journeys and Labors of Paul.

VIII. Chronological Order of New Testament Books.

The following material is added for convenient reference on the part of the reader. It is purely outline in character, treating in brief terms of subjects on which every Bible student desires hints. Much other material might have been added, but it was thought desirable to widen the bounds of this part of the book.--W.

I. EARLY TRANSLATIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES.

1.	The Septuagint (LXX) translation of the Old Testament into Greek. Begun about 250 B. C.
2.	Translations of portions of the Old Testament into Greek by Aquila and Theodotian, 2nd century A. D.
3.	The Targums, free translations of the Old Testament into the popular language, the Aramaic, 2nd century A. D.
4.	The Old Latin Bible, Old and New Testaments (2nd century A. D.) out of which came the Vulgate of Jerome, the text used in the Roman Catholic Church.
5.	An Ancient Syriac Version, 2nd century.
6.	Two Egyptian Versions in different dialects, 3rd century. [150]
7.	Peshito-Syriac, 4th century.
8.	Gothic Version, 4th century.
9.	Ethiopic Version, 4th century.
10.	Armenian Version, 5th century.

II. TRANSLATIONS OF THE SCRIPTURES INTO ENGLISH.

1.	A paraphrase in poetry by Cædmon of Whitby, 680 A. D.
2.	Two versifications of the Psalms, about 700 A. D.
3.	The Gospel of John by Venerable Bede, finished May 27, 735 A. D.
4.	Exodus and the Psalms, Alfred the Great, 901 A. D.
5.	Two interlinear translations of portions of the Scriptures from the Latin Vulgate, about 950 A. D.
6.	A translation of the greater part of the Bible into Norman French, 1260.
7.	Four versions of the Psalms, and parts of the New Testament, 1350.
8.	John Wyclif; the first complete translation into English from the Vulgate; New Testament completed in 1380, the Old Testament in 1384.
9.	Tyndale; the first translation from the original Hebrew and Greek, 1525-1536.
10.	Coverdale; the first complete Bible ever printed. It was based on the Vulgate, Luther's German Bible, and Tyndale, 1535.
11.	Matthew's (really Roger's) Bible. The first authorized version, 1537.
12.	Crammer's, or the Great Bible, 1539. [151]
13.	The Geneva Bible, published by the English exiles in Geneva, the first Bible with chapter and verse divisions, based on the Vulgate, 1557-1560.
14.	The Bishop's Bible, 1564-1568.
15.	The Authorized, or King James Version, 1611.
16.	The Revised Version; New Testament, 1881; Old Testament, 1884.

III. EXTRA CANONICAL BOOKS.

In addition to the books that have been generally recognized among Protestants as worthy of a place in the Canon, or collection of Sacred books, which taken as a whole makes up the Bible, there are certain other books which had their origin in the period beginning after the time of Malachi, and closing with the Christian century. They are called the apocryphal books of the Old Testament, and while regarded by the Roman Catholic Church as having a place in the Canon, and by many Protestants as containing much profitable reading, their value is clearly below that of the books included in our Canon. They are as follows:

I Maccabees.
II Maccabees.
Judith.
Tobit.
Psalms of Solomon.
Esdras.
Baruch.
Ecclesiasticus, or the Wisdom

of Jesus the Son

of Sirach.

Prayer of the Three Children,

Susanna, and Bel and

the Dragon, apocryphal

additions to the

Book of Daniel.

The Prayer of Manasseh.
The Wisdom of Solomon.
The Epistle of Jeremiah. [152]

A similar class of literature grew up subsequently to the writings of the New Testament and connected with it. Among books of this class may be named the following:

The Apocryphal Gospels.
The Shepherd of Hermes.
The Epistles of Clement to the Corinthians.
Epistle of Barnabas.
Paul and Thecala.

IV. OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF ISRAEL.

The purpose of this outline is to give only the general features of the History of Israel and their dates as nearly as they can be ascertained.

1.	Patriarchal Period: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, The Bondage (2000-1500 B. C. are the approximate limits of this period.)
2.	Exodus, Conquest and Establishment in Canaan: Moses, Joshua, the Judges, Samuel (1500-1050 B. C.)
3.	The United Kingdom: Saul, David, Solomon (1050-937 B. C.)
4.	Israel and Judah
	a. Revolt of the Ten Tribes (937 B. C.)
	b. Reformation under Jehu (842 B. C.)
	c. Destruction of Samaria (721 B. C.)
	d. Captivity of Judah (586 B. C.)
5.	The Exile in Babylon (586-534 B. C.)
6.	The Restoration: Zerubbabel, Jeshua, Ezra, Nehemiah [153] (534-400 B. C.)
	a. Temple founded (534 B. C.)
	b. Work stopped (522 B. C.)
	c. Temple completed (515 B. C.)
	d. Ezra's arrival (459 B. C.)
	e. Arrival of Nehemiah (433 B. C.)
	f. His second arrival (425 B. C.)
7.	Greek and Syrian rule (333-166 B. C.)
	a. Greek rule, Alexander (333-320 B. C.)
	b. Egyptian rule, the Ptolemies (320-314 B. C.)
	c. Syrian rule, the Selucidae (314-166 B. C.)
8.	The Maccabees; the struggle for liberty; Judas Maccabaeus, Jonathan, Simon, John Hyrcanus, Aristobulus, Alexander Jannaeus, Alexandra (166-63 B. C.)
9.	Roman Dominion (63 B. C.-70 A. D.)
	a. Jerusalem taken by Pompey (63 B. C.)
	b. Maccabean governors (63-47 B. C.)
	c. Antipater, Roman Procurator (46-41 B. C.)
	d. Herod the Great, his son, tributary king (40-4 B. C.)
	e. Herods and Procurators (4 B. C.-70 A. D.)
	f. Destruction of Jerusalem by Romans and end of Jewish state (70 A. D.)

V. LEADING PROPHETS OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.

The approximate dates at which they lived are as follows: Moses (1500 B. C.); Samuel (1050); Elijah (875); Elisha (850); Jonah (770); Amos (760); Hosea (740); Isaiah (725); Micah (715); Nahum (660); [154] Zephaniah (640); Habakkuk (610); Jeremiah (600); Obadiah (586); Ezekiel (585); Daniel (550); Haggai (525); Zechariah (525); Malachi (475); Joel (400?).

VI. IMPORTANT EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF CHRIST.

1.	Preparatory Period (4 B. C.-26 A. D.)
	a. Birth of Jesus (4 B. C.)
	b. Jesus in the Temple (8 A. D.)
	c. Life in Nazareth (8-26 A. D.)
2.	Early Ministry, Judea (26-27 A. D.)
	a. Baptism, Temptation, First Disciples.
	b. Visit to Cana and Capernaum.
	c. First Passover, Nicodemus.
3.	Period of popular favor; Galilee (27-29 A. D.)
	a. John imprisoned; Samaria; Galilee.
	b. Rejection at Nazareth.
	c. Twelve chosen.
	d. Sermon on the Mount.
	e. Tours through Galilee; Parables and Miracles.
	(6) Five thousand fed. The Bread of Life.
4.	Period of Opposition; Galilee, Judea and Perea (29-30 A. D.)
	a. The Great Confession; the Transfiguration.
	b. Departure from Galilee; the Seventy sent out.
	c. Lazarus raised; retirement to Perea. [155]
	d. Return to Jerusalem; teachings on the way; Jericho, Zacchaeus; arrival at Bethany.
5.	The Final Week; Jerusalem (30 A. D.)
	a. Triumphal entry.
	b. Teaching and controversies in the Temple.
	c. Greeks at the feast; Discourse on the Last Days.
	d. The Passover; the Last Supper; Gethsemane.
	e. Arrest; examination; crucifixion; burial.
6.	Resurrection and Ascension (30 A. D.)
	a. Resurrection; appearances to the Disciples.
	b. Meetings with the Disciples in Galilee; forty days.
	c. The Ascension.

VII. OUTLINE OF THE JOURNEYS AND LABORS OF THE APOSTLE PAUL.

1.	Preparation.
	(1) Birth and Early Life at Tarsus, Acts xxi: 39; xxii: 3.
	(2) Education at Jerusalem, Acts xxii: 3.
	(3) Saul the Persecutor, Acts viii: 1-3; xxii: 4; xxvi: 11; Gal. i: 13, 23; I Cor. xv:9; Phil. iii: 6; I Tim. i: 13.
	(4) The Conversion, Acts ix: 3-19; xx: 6-16; xxvi: 12-18. (35 A. D.)
	(5) Arabia, Gal. i: 17.
	(6) The return to Tarsus (38-43 A. D.) [156]
	(a) Damascus, Acts ix: 19-25. (b) Jerusalem, Acts ix: 26-30. (c) Tarsus, Gal. i: 21; Acts ix: 30 .
2.	The First Period of Missionary Activity (44-51 A. D.)
	(1) Antioch the second center of Christianity, Acts ix: 19-26.
	(2) Famine in Jerusalem, Relief from Antioch, Acts xi: 27-xii: 25.
	(3) The First Missionary Journey, with Barnabas; Cyprus; Antioch of Pisidia; Iconium; Lystra; Derbe; the return, Acts xiii: 1-xiv: 28.
	(4) The Consultation at Jerusalem, Acts xv: 1-35.
3.	The Second Period of Missionary Activity (51-54 A. D.)
	(1) Separation of Paul and Barnabas, Acts xv: 36-40.
	(2) The second Missionary Journey, with Silas; Galatia; Troas; Philippi; Thessalonica; Berea; Athens, Acts xv: 41-xvii: 34.
	(3) Residence at Corinth, eighteen months, Acts xviii: 1-17.
	(4) I Thessalonians and II Thessalonians written during this stay in Corinth (52-53 A. D.)
	(5) Return to Antioch via Ephesus and Jerusalem, Acts xviii: 18-23.
4.	The Third Period of Missionary Activity (54-58 A. D.)
	(1) Return to Ephesus from Antioch, Acts xviii: 23-xix: 1. [157]
	(2) Galatians written (c. 55 A. D.)
	(3) Residence in Ephesus three years, Acts xix: 1-xx: 1.
	(4) I Corinthians written (57 A. D.)
	(5) Journey via Troas to Macedonia, Acts xx: 1, 2; II Cor. ii: 12, 13.
	(6) II Corinthians written (57 A. D.)
	(7) Second visit to Corinth, three months, Acts xx: 2, 3.
	(8) Romans written at Corinth (57 or 58 A. D.)
	(9) Return to Jerusalem via Troas, Miletus, Tyre, Caesarea, Acts xx: 3-xxi: 16.
5.	The Period of Imprisonment (58-63 A. D.)
	(1) Arrest in Jerusalem, Acts xxi: 17-23:35. (Pentecost, 58 A. D.)
	(2) Imprisonment in Cæsarea, Acts xxiv: 1-xxvi: 32. (58-60 A. D.)
	(3) The Voyage to Rome, Acts xxvii: 1-xxviii: 16.
	(4) Imprisoned in Rome, Acts xxviii: 16-31. (61-63 A. D.)
	(5) Epistles of the First Roman Imprisonment; Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, Ephesians (62, 63 A. D.)
6.	The Last Period; Conjectural (63-66 A. D.)
	(1) Probable release; Journey to Spain (?).
	(2) Ephesus, Macedonia, Crete, Troas.
	(3) I Timothy and Titus written.
	(4) Second Arrest, and return to Rome.
	(5) II Timothy written.
	(6) Martyrdom. [158]

VIII. CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER OF THE BOOKS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.

While no arrangement of these books can be made with absolute confidence, the following dates are sufficiently reliable to serve the purpose of the Bible student.

James, 50 A. D.	I Timothy, 65.
I Thessalonians, 52-53.	Titus, 65.
II Thessalonians, 52-53.	II Timothy, 66.
Galatians, 55.	Mark, 66.
I Corinthians, 57.	Matthew, 67.
II Corinthians, 57.	Hebrews, 67.
Romans, 57-58.	I Peter, 67-68.
Philippians, 62-63.	II Peter, 68.
Colossians, 62-63.	Jude, 68.
Philemon, 62-63.	Apocalypse, 68.
Ephesians, 62-63.	John, c. 85.
Luke, 63.	Epistles of John, 90-95. [159]
Acts, 64.

Site Navigation

Free Plug-ins You May Need