MANUSCRIPTS:
How were they made?

The art of making books is different now than what is was in the days of the Bible. In the days of the Bible, the scribes were responsible for making copies of the “sacred writings.”

The early Scribes would use parchments made of vellums (animal skins) or papyrus and would use a quill pen and ink to copy down the words of the Bible. Today we do not have any of the original copies of the Bible but the scribes paid very close attention to their task and made sure that good copies of the scripture made it from one generation to the next. When a scroll would become old and worn out the scribes would make new copies from the old. After the copy was finished the old scroll would be buried.

To ensure that the copy was as accurate as the previous copy the chief scribe would dictate the words to a copyist who would write down every word. This method ensured that there were very few mistakes. If a mistake was found it is believed one of two things were done. Some say that if a mistake was found that is was just corrected. Others say that if a mistake was found, the scribes destroyed that scroll and started all over in making a new one. Either way, the scribes made sure that good copies of the scripture made it to the next generation. It is also believed that the scribes would also count the letters in the previous manuscript to make sure that they had the same amount of letters in the new manuscript.

These manuscripts were very expensive and usually the only copies were found in churches or sometimes you could find a group of people that owned a copy. It is believed that some of the scrolls used by the scribes measured up to 40 feet in length.

The first writings of the New Testament were accomplished in the traditional matter, they were written on animal skins and papyrus.

This would change late in the first century at the development of a new way of copying scriptures. Instead of scrolls the animal skins or papyrus would be made into sheets and folded. After they were folded, the spines would be sewn together to make a book that was called a codex. This new book form would allow the copyist to write on both sides of each page of the book. This would be a welcomed change to the long scrolls previously used. This would also make the Bible, specifically the New Testament, the first printed book.

Lawrence Robinson
Travis Air Force Base, Ca.

Works Cited

Overby, Coleman (1937), Scriptural Surveys (Austin,
                TX: Firm Foundation Publishing House).

Jackson, Wayne (1986), Background Bible Study
                (Montgomery, AL: Apologetics Press, Inc.).

Jackson, Wayne (1974), Fortify Your Faith
                (Montgomery, AL: Apologetics Press, Inc.).