Imagine holding a scroll in your hands, old, fragile, precious. That scroll is God’s Word, breathed out by Him, handed down to us across thousands of years. The Bible isn’t just ink on paper; it’s the living voice of God, carried through time by faithful men, and sometimes, imperfect men.
The very first word we’ll look at is Hebrew, from the Hebrew ʿIvri (עברי). This word means “one who crosses over.” It comes from the root verb ʿavar (עָבַר), which means to cross over, to pass through, or to go beyond. Abram, later Abraham, was called a Hebrew in Genesis 14:13:
“Then one who had escaped came and told Abram the Hebrew (Abram ha-ʿIvri,אַבְרָם הָעִבְרִי).”
Abram was a traveler, a man who literally crossed over from Ur of the Chaldeans into the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:1-5). That crossing wasn’t just geography; it was a step of faith into God’s promise. The name ʿIvri wasn’t just an ethnic label; it was a description of a journey of trust, of moving beyond what was comfortable into what God called him to.
And it’s not just Abram. He descended from Eber, or ʿEver (עֵבֶר), whose very name also means “one who crosses over” (Genesis 10:21; 11:14-17). So the Hebrews were the descendants of this line, a family marked by crossing boundaries, physically, spiritually, and culturally.
Now, jump to the word Jew, from the Hebrew Yehudi (יהודי), which means “one belonging to Judah” (Yehudah, יהודה), one of Jacob’s sons and the founder of the tribe of Judah. When Israel split after Solomon’s reign, the southern kingdom was called Judah. Its people became known as Jews.
In the Greek New Testament, the word is Ἰουδαῖος (Ioudaios), carrying the same meaning. So while Hebrew points to a people defined by faith and journey, Jew is tied more specifically to a tribal and national identity that became prominent after the exile.
But here’s the thing, the Bible we hold has a long and complex history.
Thousands of years ago, the Scriptures were written on scrolls, copied by hand, no printing presses, no computers, just Very. Careful. Scribes.
And here’s a miraculous part: God preserved His Word through this process, despite human errors, mistakes, and even some intentional changes.
For example, some passages you might know, like John 5:3b-4, which talks about an angel stirring the waters at the Pool of Bethesda, are missing in the earliest manuscripts, such as Papyrus 66 and 75 (from around AD 200), Codex Sinaiticus (א) and Vaticanus (B) (4th century). This means the original Gospel of John probably did not include this verse.
Why? Scholars believe this was a marginal note added later to explain why so many people waited by the pool. Later scribes “accidentally” copied it into the text. However the text after that IS in the original.
Another famous example is the story of the woman caught in adultery (John 7:53–8:11). This beautiful story, where Jesus says,
“Let the one who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her,”
(Ho anamartētos hymōn prōtos ton lithon ep’ autēn baletō, Ὁ ἀναμάρτητος ὑμῶν πρῶτος τὸν λίθον ἐπ’ αὐτὴν βαλέτω)does not appear in the oldest manuscripts either.
Ancient scribes debated where this story belonged. Some put it after Luke 21:38. The language and style don’t match the rest of John’s Gospel. But the story was well-known in very early Christian oral tradition and eventually included in later copies because it so powerfully reflects Jesus’ mercy. It may be that some people actually were there and saw the event but kept it as only an oral telling.
You might wonder: “If there are these insertions and omissions, can I trust my Bible?”
The answer is yes. God’s hand has been on the preservation of His Word.
To see this, we turn to the incredible manuscripts discovered over the last two centuries.
In 1947, in the caves near Qumran by the Dead Sea, scholars found the Dead Sea Scrolls, ancient Jewish manuscripts dating from the 3rd century BCE to the 1st century CE. These included copies of almost every book of the Hebrew Bible, written hundreds of years before Jesus.
When scholars compared these scrolls with the Masoretic Text (the Hebrew Bible text used today), they found remarkable agreement. This proved that God’s Word had been preserved with astonishing faithfulness over a millennium.
In the 4th century, two of the most important Greek manuscripts were copied: Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus. They contain nearly the entire Bible in Greek and are some of the oldest complete Bible manuscripts.
Despite some differences and minor textual variants, the heart of the message remains unchanged. These manuscripts help scholars reconstruct the earliest, most reliable text.
So, here’s the real, raw truth:
God warned us not to add or take away from His Word. But human hands have, through error or intent, done both.
Deuteronomy 4:2 commands,
“You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it.”
Proverbs 30:5-6 declares,
“Every word of God is flawless;
He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him.
Do not add to His words,
or He will rebuke you and prove you a liar.”
And Revelation 22:18-19 gives the final warning,
“If anyone adds to the words of this book, God will add to him the plagues described;
and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy,
God will take away his share in the tree of life and the holy city.”
These warnings are fierce but loving. God’s Word is holy, and He guards it jealously.
So, when you read your Bible, know this:
You hold in your hands a treasure guarded through the centuries, carried by imperfect humans but protected by the perfect God. When you see verses like John 5:3b-4 or the woman caught in adultery, know the story of how they got there and that they reflect God’s mercy and care, even if they weren’t part of the original text.
It’s a beautiful picture of grace and faithfulness.
God’s Word crosses boundaries just like Abraham did, passing through generations, languages, and cultures, always faithful, always true.
And we are invited to prayerfully walk that journey with Him, trusting His perfect Word.
And THAT is…
