The Bible is a collection of sixty-six books written by around forty known authors in three languages over a period of approximately fifteen hundred years. That means that the first audiences of these books were equally diverse. The thirty-nine books in the Old Testament were written primarily for the ancient Jewish people. Some were intended for ancient Jews in modern-day Israel/Palestine while others were written while the Jews were in captivity in Babylon. The twenty-seven books of the New Testament were written to the earliest Christians, but some, like 1 Corinthians, were written to specific churches. Others, like Philemon, were addressed to individual Christians. Others, like Jude, name no intended audience. The New Testament audiences were scattered throughout the ancient Roman Empire from the Middle East, to Greece, to Italy.
Who was the Bible written for? It was written to a diverse group of ancient people two thousand or more years ago. Does that mean that the Bible was not intended for modern-day people like you and me? The answer is clear. To quote the Bible Project, “The Bible was written for us, not to us.”[1]
The Bible was written to various ancient peoples but was written for everyone. Here are three reasons why:
- God wants all people to know him.
When Jesus commissioned his disciples, he told them to go to people all around the world. In Matthew 28:19, Jesus says, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”
To state it plainly, 1 Timothy 2:4 says, “[God] wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”
When the Apostle John had a vision of heaven, he wrote, “There before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9). Because God wants all people to know him, we know that one day people from around the world will be with him in heaven.
- The Bible makes promises to all believers.
Psalm 1:1-3 says, “Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither – whatever they do prospers.”
2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”
- The earliest Bible translations were clearly intended for all people.
The first translation of the Bible was the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. This translation was completed by Jews living in Egypt fewer than three hundred years before the life of Jesus. They chose to translate into the Koine Greek dialect, which was commonly spoken at the time. The translators wanted the Old Testament to be accessible to average people who did not speak Hebrew.
One of the first translations of the full Bible was the Vulgate. This version of the Bible was translated into Vulgar Latin by a man named Jerome. Like Koine Greek, Vulgar Latin was the dialect commonly spoken at that time. Once again, the Bible was intentionally translated into a language that was understood by normal people.
I’m not much of a music guy. (I’m boring. I know.) My wife, on the other hand, loves listening to music. She regularly listens to the song, “What a Wonderful World,” by Louis Armstrong. She likes that song so much that we danced to it at our wedding.
Did Louis Armstrong write that song for Kayla? No. The song was written many years before Kayla was born. However, that does not mean that Kayla cannot enjoy this song. It’s the same with the Bible. This book was compiled many years before each of us was born, but it’s still a fountain of wisdom, comfort, and purpose for all who believe.
[1] https://bibleproject.com/podcast/how-not-read-bible/