What does the word Bible mean?
The name on the cover of the book is not a word you will find inside it. It comes from Greek, it is plural, and it carries a claim — that among all the books in the world, this one is the Book.
"The Book"
The title we use every day started as a plain Greek word for a book, and only later became the settled name of the sacred writings.
Walter ScottFrom about the beginning of the fifth century the whole of the sacred writings, as in our English version, was spoken of as The Bible, from the Greek word biblos, meaning book; before that they were spoken of as "The Books." The outstanding dignity of the Word of God as the book of books is signalled in the title, "The Bible." But a word was still needed to mark its divine character, so "The Holy Bible" became the chosen title of the Sacred Scriptures throughout the known world; in England the title has been in general use for about 600 years.
A plural word
Strictly, the name is not singular at all. That grammar carries a practical warning for anyone who reads it.
The Bible TreasuryIt may be mentioned, in conclusion, that the word Bible is really a plural noun, meaning simply the Books — the sacred books, of course. This plural character should never be lost sight of; for we may fall into serious mistakes if we forget the different times, and in part the different purposes, of the several books that make up the Bible.
Not a name the book gives itself
If you search from Genesis to Revelation for the word "Bible," you will not find it. In one writer's account, a teacher presses a class on exactly this point:
C Knapp"'No' is right," said Mr. Grant. "It is not called 'Bible' anywhere except on the title page, which is not, of course, inspired. But what is it called in the Bible itself?"
The answer the class lands on is "the word of God."
Many books, yet one Book
A plural name raises an obvious question: if these are separate books, why treat them as one? Writers point to the way the parts hold together.
A J PollockHow wonderfully Scripture hangs together. Bind together sixty-six books on any subject you like — medicine, astronomy, geology, science — and you bind books that will contradict each other. But in the Bible we have sixty-six books, and yet one Book in unity and testimony. The Book is divinely inspired.
"Scriptures" — the writings
The second common name works the same way as the first: an ordinary word lifted to stand alone.
A J PollockIt is remarkable that the word Bible means in the original THE book, as if there were not another book in the world, just as the word Scriptures means THE writings, as if they were the only writings in the world. How is it that the Bible in its very titles claims to be the only source of divine information? Surely it is that the Book fills the place it claims.
Old and New Testament
The two halves got their labels from a Greek word that can be read two ways.
The Bible TreasuryIt so happens that the same word in Greek expresses both Covenant and Testament. The Old Scriptures are called by Paul, in 2 Corinthians 3:14, The Old Testament, because they contain the old covenant made with Israel. And once this name became fixed to the first volume, it soon became customary to call the second volume, by way of contrast, the New Testament.
The names Scripture gives itself
Alongside "the Bible," the book carries titles drawn from its own pages — and each says something different about it.
Walter Scott"The Oracles of God" (Rom. 3:2); "The Holy Scriptures," or "The Sacred Letters" (2 Tim. 3:15); and "The Word of God" are scriptural and beautifully expressive titles of the Bible as a whole. The first points to its authoritative character; the second expresses its divine origin; while the third refers to its object — God's revelation of Himself to the human race, His voice to the soul of man.
Summary
- Book. "Bible" comes from the Greek word for book, and by the fifth century it named the whole of the sacred writings — the book of books.
- Books. The word is really plural, "the Books," and forgetting that plural leads to serious mistakes about the different times and purposes of its parts.
- Book again. Sixty-six books on any other subject would contradict each other; here they form one Book in unity and testimony.
- Borrowed. The name is not inside the volume — it sits on the title page. "Old Testament" and "New Testament" likewise grew out of one Greek word meaning both covenant and testament.
- Its own names. Scripture calls itself the oracles of God (authority), the Holy Scriptures (divine origin), and the Word of God (God's voice to the soul).