# Bible

**The Bible**, sometimes ca'd **The Guid Beuk** is the name gien tae the gaitherin o scrievins hauden as haly bi Christians. The first pairt o it, cried the *Auld Testament* is hauden tae be haly bi the Jews an aw. The Bible wis written bi mony scrievers (aiblins aboot fowery) ower a lang period o time (no kenned for certain, but atween the 6t century BC tae the end o the first century AD is the ordinar time-frame).

## Pairts an Beuks o the Bible

The Bible is skailed in twa - the first thirty-nine beuks is cried *The Auld Testament*, an the twinty-sieven ithers is cried *The New Testament*. The twa Testaments is furder skailed intae beuks, syne chaipters, an thir is syne dividit intae verses. Sae the reference *John 3:16*, for exemplar, means *Gospel o John, chaipter three, verse saxteen.* It shoud be merkit that the diveesion intil chaipters an verses isna oreeginal tae the texts, or o ony releegious importance - it is alanerly a reference seestem for tae mak findin verses easier.

### The Auld Testament

*The Auld Testament* is hauden as haly bi Jews forby Christians. It haes mony kynds o leeteratur in it; fowklair, law, history, musardry, weirdins etc. It is lmaistlins anent the Jewish fowk - their laws, history an releegious warsels. It stairts wi an acoont o the makkin o the yird an ends some time in the fowert century BC efter the Jewish retour frae exile in Persie. Christians jalouses that *The Auld Testament* haes weirdins anent Jesus thet he foufillt - sic as the steid o his birth, the mainer o his daith an yirdin etc.

### The New Testament

*The New Testament* haes the twinty-sieven screivins hauden as haly bi Christians but no bi Jews. The first fower beuks is cryed *The Gospels* an tells o the life an lair o Jesus. Forby the Gospels, the New Testament haes *The Acts o the Apostles* - an acoont o the first thirty year or sae o the Kirk's history; mony letters tae the kirks an indiveeduals bi arrly kirk leaders sic as Saunt Paul an Saunt Jeems. The last beuk o the New Testament is *The Beuk o Revelation* that is a weirdin anent the end o the warld.

## Leids

### Oreeginal Leids

*The Auld Testament* wis oreeginally scrieven in the Ebreu leid, wi a tait passages in the Aramaic. It wis pitten ower intil Koine Greek atween the third an first century BC bi Jewish scholars in Alexandria, Egypt; syne the Jewish fowk there spakna Ebrua at that time. This translate, cried the Septuagint (or juist LXX) micht hae been the version o the screepturs uised bi some o the screivers o *The New Testament*.

Maist scholars jalouse that *The New Testament* wis first scrieven in Koine Greek, the *lingua franca* o the Mediterranean warld at the time. This wis sae that fowk that warna Jews an coudna unnerstaund Ebreu coud hae access tae the new releegion o Christianity that cam intil bein an growed wi the scrievin o the documents that maks up *The New Testament.* Gin the documents wis screiven in Koine Greek, they are amang the gey few lang documents in that leid. This is acause eddicated fowk (i.e. the fowk maist like tae scrieve lang prose) tendit tae uise Clessical Greek, jalousin that Koine wis ower common an no suitit for formal scrievin. Some fowk, housome'er, threap that at least some o *The New Testament* wis composed in Aramaic at first an syne pitten ower intil Greek, syne Jesus an his follaers is for ordinar jaloused tae hae uised Aramaic as their ilka day leid. An auld document bi an early Kirk Faither cried Papias scrieved that Matthew scrieved his Gospel in aither Ebrue or Aramaic, but this is disputit bi maist modren scholars. It is possible, housome'er that syne the early kirk wis multi-lingual, a twa-three versions o the documents in deeferent leids - sic as Greek, Aramaic an Laitin micht hae been patent at the time, an influenced the oncome o ilk ither.

### Translates intil Scots

As yet, nae translate o the hail Bible in Scots haes been setten furth. *The New Testament* haes been pitten ower three tymes. The first wis bi Murdoch Nisbet, wha pit it ower frae John Purvey's Inglis reveesion o Wyclif. This wis duin aboot 1520, but wisna patent until the airly 20t century. Nisbet's translate is the maist muckle o aw the *New Testament* translators syne haed pitten ower some pairts o the *Auld Testament* an aw.

William Wye Smith's last reveesion o his wark wis in 1924. It is a guid translate, but again wis frae the Ingles raither nor the Greek.

The maist kenspeckle translate o *The New Testament*, housome'er, wis bi William Laughton Lorimer. His wark wis pitten ower straucht frae the Greek an is for ordinar hailed as ane o the maist important warks o Scots prose in mony centuries.

Forby thon, there haes been twa translates o *Ruth*, *The Saums* an *Matthew*; ane o *Genesis*, *Proverbs* an *Isaiah* an nae less nor five o *The Sang o Solomon* an ae *Selection frae the Gospels* Thon's o varyin quality wi maist bein taen frae ithir translates intil Inglis an no frae the oreeginal leids.

## Fremmit airtins

* Worship in Scots: "The following worship materials are written in the Scots language and can be used in regular worship, private devotions, Scots language services and bilingual worship." (frae the Kirk o Scotland)