Bibliography

The First Edition of the New Testament

by David Trobisch argues that all Greek manuscripts share a common ancestor which David refers to as "the first edition of the New Testament."

The argument goes that nearly every single Greek manuscript in existence today, whether full or fragmentary, display a common book order. For this to be the case they all must be copied from or modeled on an original or first edition that set the book order.

David does not suggest when the first edition was made, though he argues it was probably earlier than later in the scheme of things since every subsequent copy derives from it. He also does not suggest where it was produced or who published the work or set the book order. He also does not ask whether an earlier Aramaic New Testament might stand behind the Greek. These areas of inquiry are outside the scope of his book.

However, after arguing for a first edition David argues for a return to the book order of that first edition in printed English Bibles. The difference between that book order and the one traditionally used in English Bibles is a shift in the order of the New Testament letters. Paul's writings, instead of coming first, follow the books of James, First Peter, Second Peter, First John, Second John and Third John in the Greek book order. This makes sense because they were apostles before Paul.

Of interest to me is the fact that David uses scripture itself to strengthen his call to return to this order in printed Bibles. In general he attempts to show that context runs across the New Testament better in the Greek book order than the English.

I read this book and was convinced that the Greek order is superior to the English. However, it was the lesson that the Bible's book order has not always been the same that prepared me to even think about a different book order when I found myself puzzling around in Isaiah. For that I am profoundly grateful.

A Dictionary of Scripture Proper Names

by J.B. Jackson is one of the several Bible Names Dictionaries consulted while translating the book names in the Title Sentences research. Other than a Preface and a short pronunciation guide (one page long) the book just lists out the names of people in the Bible in alphabetic order with a meaning or translation next to their name. A rather small and simple book that can't easily be audited but provides one persons' opinion on the meaning of names.

Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary

by Roswell D. Hitchcock is similar to the dictionary by J.B. Jackson in that it's a list of names of people from the Bible, sorted alphabetically, with the translation or meaning of their name. It's also hard to audit since it does not provide the original language spelling. It's also the opinion of one person.

What's especially cool about Hithcock's is the fact that it's in the Public Domain. You can easily acquire a digital copy for yourself as a download in pdf, html or text form for use on your own website or project.

Jones Dictionary of Old Testament Proper Names

by Alfred Jones is the best Bible Names Dictionary in this short list. Although it's limited to the names of the Old Testament it provides the Hebrew spelling so you can personally audit the work. Each entry also reads more like a normal dictionary definition, typically with a few possible meanings, rather than the simplified (name = meaning) style in Hitchcock and Jackson.

The Mystery of the Menorah ...and the Hebrew Alphabet

by J.R. Church and Gary Stearman are really two books in one. The second half of the book is of interest to this project and lays out a map between the 22 letters of the Hebrew alphabet and the books of the New Testament. To cover all 27 books of the New Testament the 5 Hebrew letters that have "final forms" are used twice.

The thought behind maping the Hebrew letters to the books of the New Testament comes from the understanding that the Hebrew letters, as they were drawn in ancient times, were each a picture of some object that has inherent characteristics and therefore meaning. By mapping the letters to the books the authors are looking for a meaning map between the ancient pictographic meaning of the letter and the main theme or stories in the matched book.

I first heard about this book in an informal classroom setting where I was learning the pictographic meaning of the ancient Hebrew script. The book was of interest to the instructor because the authors had done something novel with the picture meaning of the alphabet.

The instructor did not know I was studying Isaiah and beginning to see a new book order emerge from that work. I had to read the book and understand if the authors had mapped the Hebrew letters to the English book order. Turns out they did. It also turns out there was a Jewish scribal group in Alexandria who apparently mapped the Old Testament books to the letters of the alphabet by combining a few books to make a 22 book canon instead of the standard 24 book canon. This is most likely where the idea comes from to map the letters to the New Testament books.

I realized that if the Hebrew alphabet has 22 letters and the Bible has 66 books, we only need to span the alphabet 3 times to cover the Bible. I also realized a more compelling letter to book map in Isaiah's book order than otherwise is another way to confirm the legitimacy of Isaiah's book order.