bi·ble /ˈbaɪbəl/
 聖經


 Bi·ble n.
 1. A book. [Obs.]
 2. The Book by way of eminence, -- that is, the book which is made up of the writings accepted by Christians as of divine origin and authority, whether such writings be in the original language, or translated; the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments; -- sometimes in a restricted sense, the Old Testament; as, King James's Bible; Douay Bible; Luther's Bible. Also, the book which is made up of writings similarly accepted by the Jews; as, a rabbinical Bible.
 3. A book containing the sacred writings belonging to any religion; as, the Koran is often called the Muslim Bible.
 Bible Society, an association for securing the multiplication and wide distribution of the Bible.
 Douay Bible. See Douay Bible.
 Geneva Bible. See under Geneva.

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 Bible
      n 1: the sacred writings of the Christian religions; "he went to
           carry the Word to the heathen" [syn: Christian Bible,
           Book, Good Book, Holy Scripture, Holy Writ, Scripture,
            Word of God, Word]
      2: a book regarded as authoritative in its field


 Bible
    Bible, the English form of the Greek name _Biblia_, meaning
    "books," the name which in the fifth century began to be given
    to the entire collection of sacred books, the "Library of Divine
    Revelation." The name Bible was adopted by Wickliffe, and came
    gradually into use in our English language. The Bible consists
    of sixty-six different books, composed by many different
    writers, in three different languages, under different
    circumstances; writers of almost every social rank, statesmen
    and peasants, kings, herdsmen, fishermen, priests,
    tax-gatherers, tentmakers; educated and uneducated, Jews and
    Gentiles; most of them unknown to each other, and writing at
    various periods during the space of about 1600 years: and yet,
    after all, it is only one book dealing with only one subject in
    its numberless aspects and relations, the subject of man's
    redemption.

      It is divided into the Old Testament, containing thirty-nine
    books, and the New Testament, containing twenty-seven books. The
    names given to the Old in the writings of the New are "the
    scriptures" (Matt. 21:42), "scripture" (2 Pet. 1:20), "the holy
    scriptures" (Rom. 1:2), "the law" (John 12:34), "the law of
    Moses, the prophets, and the psalms" (Luke 24:44), "the law and
    the prophets" (Matt. 5:17), "the old covenant" (2 Cor. 3:14,
    R.V.). There is a break of 400 years between the Old Testament
    and the New. (See APOCRYPHA.)

      The Old Testament is divided into three parts:, 1. The Law
    (Torah), consisting of the Pentateuch, or five books of Moses.
    2. The Prophets, consisting of (1) the former, namely, Joshua,
    Judges, the Books of Samuel, and the Books of Kings; (2) the
    latter, namely, the greater prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and
    Ezekiel, and the twelve minor prophets. 3. The Hagiographa, or
    holy writings, including the rest of the books. These were
    ranked in three divisions:, (1) The Psalms, Proverbs, and Job,
    distinguished by the Hebrew name, a word formed of the initial
    letters of these books, _emeth_, meaning truth. (2) Canticles,
    Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther, called the five
    rolls, as being written for the synagogue use on five separate
    rolls. (3) Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and 1 and 2 Chronicles.
    Between the Old and the New Testament no addition was made to
    the revelation God had already given. The period of New
    Testament revelation, extending over a century, began with the
    appearance of John the Baptist.

      The New Testament consists of (1) the historical books, viz.,
    the Gospels, and the Acts of the Apostles; (2) the Epistles; and
    (3) the book of prophecy, the Revelation.

      The division of the Bible into chapters and verses is
    altogether of human invention, designed to facilitate reference
    to it. The ancient Jews divided the Old Testament into certain
    sections for use in the synagogue service, and then at a later
    period, in the ninth century A.D., into verses. Our modern
    system of chapters for all the books of the Bible was introduced
    by Cardinal Hugo about the middle of the thirteenth century (he
    died 1263). The system of verses for the New Testament was
    introduced by Stephens in 1551, and generally adopted, although
    neither Tyndale's nor Coverdale's English translation of the
    Bible has verses. The division is not always wisely made, yet it
    is very useful. (See VERSION.)