Preservation

Preservation

Preservation of the Bible refers to God keeping the original media on which they were originally recorded and copied or written down as well as God maintaining the scripture currently. Preservation extends to translation work, too. God did promise to preserve his word -- however he did not promise to preserve it in every language.

Isaiah 40:3-8

[3] The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
[4] Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:
[5] And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it.
[6] The voice said, Cry. And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field:
[7] The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: because the spirit of the LORD bloweth upon it: surely the people is grass.
[8] The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever.

Matt. 5:18

[18] For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Jer. 36:21-32

[21] So the king sent Jehudi to fetch the roll: and he took it out of Elishama the scribe's chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside the king.
[22] Now the king sat in the winterhouse in the ninth month: and there was a fire on the hearth burning before him.
[23] And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was consumed in the fire that was on the hearth.
[24] Yet they were not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor any of his servants that heard all these words.
[25] Nevertheless Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made intercession to the king that he would not burn the roll: but he would not hear them.
[26] But the king commanded Jerahmeel the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and Jeremiah the prophet: but the LORD hid them.
[27] Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, after that the king had burned the roll, and the words which Baruch wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying,
[28] Take thee again another roll, and write in it all the former words that were in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath burned.
[29] And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim the king of Judah, Thus saith the LORD; Thou hast burned this roll, saying, Why hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to cease from thence man and beast?
[30] Therefore thus saith the LORD of Jehoiakim king of Judah; He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David: and his dead body shall be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the frost.
[31] And I will punish him and his seed and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them; but they hearkened not.
[32] Then took Jeremiah another roll, and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah; who wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire: and there were added besides unto them many like words.

During the time of the second temple which included the time of the life of Jesus and his disciples, the universal written language was common Greek. The most common spoken language was Aramaic. Hebrew was still spoken but it was not common.  

Even in Judah and Jerusalem the synagogues would have contained Scrolls of the Hebrew scriptures in the Greek language. When the New Testament authors quote Old Testament scriptures most of the time it matches the reading from the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament).

God will preserve his word even when men try to burn it and he will preserve his word when it is translated into different languages.

The apostles and early Christians adopted the Greek translation of the Old Testament. Common Greek was a language that they knew and understood and it was worldwide. Of course, the New Testament was written in Greek as well.

In more recent history, English became the predominant international language. Beginning in the 17th century, "the Bible" became almost universally synonymous with the authorized King James Version.

Revelation   |   Inspiration   |   Preservation   |   Illumination   |   Interpretation   |   Application   |   Publication

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