YOU CAN UNDERSTAND THE BIBLE

A Book to Be Understood

AVAILABLE TO ALL

For you to understand a book, it must be in a language that you know.  Today it is likely that the Bible is available in a language you can understand, no matter where you live or what your nationality is. Consider what is involved in making that amazing feat possible.

TRANSLATION. The Bible was originally written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.  That naturally limited the scope of its readership.  In order to make the text available in other languages, tireless efforts have been made by sincere translators.  Thanks to their labors, the Bible is now translated, in whole or part, into about 2,700 languages.  This means that over 90 percent of mankind can read at least some part of the Bible in their mother tongue. 

PUBLISHING. The original text of the Bible was written on perishable materials, such as leather and papyrus.  To pass on the message, those writings had to be carefully copied and recopied by hand.   Such copies were expensive, and few people could afford them. But with the invention of Gutenberg's printing press over 550 years ago, circulation of the Bible greatly accelerated.  According to one estimate, more than five billion copies of the Bible, in whole or in part, have been distributed.

No other religious text can compare with the Bible in these respects. Clearly, the Bible is a book to be understood. However, understanding it can be challenging.  But help is available.  Where can you find it?  And how can you benefit?  Find out in the  following article.  

Next time: Finding Help to Understand the Bible 

From the Watchtower magazine