The
Orthodox Study Bible has been prepared as a lay- and clergy oriented resource
for personal Bible reading, group study, and the preparation of sermons and
lessons. The Psalms have been included
for Orthodox morning and evening prayers, which also appear in this
volume. Other study and devotional
helps include:
1. "Introducing the Orthodox
Church" sets in historical context the development of the Church from her
birth on the day of Pentecost, through the apostolic and post-apostolic eras,
into the years of the Church Fathers and the seven Great Councils, down to the
dawning of the twenty-first century.
2.
"How to Read the Bible" by noted author Bishop
KALLISTOS (Timothy) Ware provides help for all both in understanding the
message of the New Testament and in gaining personal edification through its
reading.
3. Morning and Evening Prayers. The text of these prayers can be traced back
to the earliest centuries of the church.
4. "How to read the New Testament in
a Year" is a systematic plan
designed to guide readers into a
more comprehensive reading of the New Testament Scriptures from beginning to
end. Daily prayer and the reading of
the Holy Scriptures are a part of the spiritual discipline of Orthodox
Christians. In preparing The Orthodox
Study Bible, all involved have maintained the hope and prayer that those who
use this book will commit themselves to a life of prayer and Bible reading.
5. The Concordance, while not exhaustive,
will be of significant help in locating passages for study reference.
6. The Glossary has been prepared by
Orthodox scholars to assist those who love the Church and those who want to
better understand her doctrines and practices.
The words defined in the Glossary include both biblical and extra
biblical terms. In most entries, you
will find one or more biblical references.
In addition to these study aids, each book follows a consistent pattern
of annotation.
The Annotations
An Introduction: Before reading a
particular book, you have the opportunity to get a thorough overview of what
you will read.
Each introduction includes:
·
Author
·
Date
·
Major Theme(s)
·
Background Information
·
Outline of the Book
The New
King James Version
The text
of The Orthodox Study Bible is the New King James Version. The translators and editors, while sensitive
to English idiom, believe in the divine inspiration of Scripture and have
adhered faithfully to the Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek texts. The Koine Greek of the New Testament is
influenced by the Hebrew background of the writers, for whom even the gospel
narratives were not merely flat utterance but were often sung in various
degrees of rhythm.
The style
of the New King James Version is therefore designed to enhance the vividness
and devotional quality of the Holy Scriptures: Words or phrases in italics
indicate expressions in the original language which require clarification by
additional English words; textual notes which will assist the reader to observe
the variations between the different manuscript traditions of the New
Testament; oblique type in the New Testament indicates a quotation from the Old
Testament; verse numbers in bold type indicate the beginning of a paragraph;
prose divided into paragraphs indicates the structure of thought; poetry
structured as contemporary verse reflects the poetic form and beauty of the
passage in the original language; and whenever the covenant name of God is
quoted in the New Testament from a passage in the Old Testament, it has been
translated from the Hebrew as LORD or GOD.
The text
of the New Testament has more manuscript support than any other body of ancient
literature. More than five thousand
Greek, eight thousand Latin, and many more manuscripts in other languages
attest the integrity of the New Testament.
There is only one basic New Testament used by Protestants, Roman
Catholics, and Orthodox, by conservatives and liberals. The traditional text of the Greek-speaking
churches was first published in 1516, and later called the Textus Receptus or
Received Text. Although based on the
relatively few available manuscripts, these were representative of many more
which existed at the time but only became known later. Those readings in the Textus Receptus which
have weak support are indicated in the center reference column as being
opposed- by both Critical and Majority Texts.
Since the
1880s most contemporary translations of the New Testament have relied upon a
relatively few manuscripts discovered chiefly in the late nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries. Such translations
depend primarily on two manuscripts, Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus,
because of their greater age. The Greek
text obtained by using these sources and the related papyri (our most ancient
manuscripts) is known as the Alexandrian Text.
However, some scholars have grounds for doubting the faithfulness of Vaticanus
and Sinaiticus, since they often disagree with one another, and Sinaiticus
exhibits excessive omission.
Another viewpoint
of New Testament scholarship holds that the best text is based on the consensus
of the majority of existing Greek manuscripts' This
text is called the Majority Text. Most
of these manuscripts are in substantial agreement. Even though many are late, and none is earlier than the fifth
century, usually their readings are verified by papyri, ancient versions,
quotations from the early Church Fathers, or a combination of these. The Majority Text is similar to the Textus
Receptus, but it corrects those readings which have little or no support in the
Greek manuscript tradition.
Today,
scholars agree that the science of New Testament textual criticism is in a
state of flux. Very few scholars still
favor the Textus Receptus as such, and then often for its historical prestige. For about a century most have followed a
Critical Text which depends heavily upon the Alexandrian type of text, and more
recently many have abandoned this Critical Text for one that is more eclectic. A small but growing number of scholars
prefer the Majority Text, which is close to the traditional text except in the
Revelation. Major Critical and Majority
Text variant readings in the New King James Version are indicated in the center
reference column, but it is most important to emphasize that fully eighty-five
percent of the New Testament text is the same in the Textus Receptus, the
Alexandrian Text, and the Majority Text.
Where
significant variations occur in the New Testament Greek manuscripts, textual
notes are classified as follows: (1) NU-Text: These variations from the
traditional text generally represent the Alexandrian type of text. They are found in the Critical Text
published in the twenty-sixth edition of the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament
(N) and in the United Bible Societies' third edition (U), hence the acronym,
"NU-Text. " (2) M-Text: This
symbol indicates points of variation in the Majority Text from the traditional
text. M stands for whatever reading is
printed in the published Greek New Testament According to the Majority Text,
whether supported by overwhelming, strong, or only a divided majority textual
tradition.
A
Challenge to Learn
Manuscript
differences aside, we believe it is from an Orthodox Christian perspective that
the Scriptures can best be understood.
Here are some suggestions on how
to do biblical study.
1. The
New Testament is the place to begin.
Try to read and under-
stand one book at a time. One method is to read carefully and
systematically, from Matthew to Revelation.
Another strategy is to follow the Lectionary for daily Bible reading,
which may be obtained at any Orthodox parish.
You might choose to follow one method this year, another next year.
2. It is always helpful to study the epistle
and Gospel reading for the coming Sunday as noted in your church calendar.
3. Many people benefit from taking notes in
the margin- of the Bible, and underlining verses which hold special meaning.
4. Set a goal to memorize a verse or more
each week. It is not by accident that
the Fathers of our faith have such a wonderful command of the Holy Scriptures:
most spent long hours reading, memorizing, learning, absorbing,
5. Discuss what you are reading with your
priest or spiritual director. Allow
yourself to be spiritually formed by those who are mature in the faith, being
careful to hold those opinions of the Scripture which are consistent with the
historic creeds and councils of the church.
For we follow not our private interpretations, but those which have been
held by all, in all places at all times.
The
Orthodox Christian faith is the faith revealed in the Bible. We listen to the Fathers because they listen
to the Scriptures. We embrace the Creed
for it distills the Gospel message.
Therefore, it is imperative for us who want to be Orthodox to learn and
live by the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ as it is revealed to us by His holy
apostles in the New Testament.
Let us be
a people who know and love the Word of God.
Footnotes:
As you
read, many passages will be footnoted to clarify meaning, historical context
and other helpful insights. The
footnotes will amplify the biblical text itself and its interpretation,
Orthodox theology, liturgical use of a passage, people in the passage, and how
the passage applies to our lives.
Headings
and Sub-headings: Throughout the text, subject headings will help you follow
the author's train of thought and provide continuity from subject to subject.
Cross-References
in the center column enable you to look up passages that address similar
subjects or contain parallel truths.
Also, the center column will contain more literal translations and
alternate renderings of certain words.
When the subject of a passage is dealt with at some length, the notes are included in a box under a subject heading. These are particularly helpful teaching aids.