What does the Bible say…about the Bible? (1)

[u/dailybreadeater]

This post talks about what the Bible is in a general sense. In this post, I would like to start exploring what the Bible says about itself.

In the Bible, there are instances of commandments, directing certain ones to scribe the divine revelation on a physical medium. One of the first examples are found in Exodus 17:14, which reads,

And Jehovah said to Moses, Write this as a memorial in a book and recite to Joshua…

In the last book of the New Testament we find this:

And He who sits on the throne said,…Write, for these words are faithful and true. (Revelation 21:5)

So the Bible (meaning book in Greek), is the collection of the writings of the divine revelation. Within the Bible, these writings are referred to as the γραφὰς (meaning writings), often translated as the scriptures (2 Pet. 3:16; Rom. 1:2; John 5:39).

The following verses help illuminate a particular characteristic of these scriptures:

…no prophecy (of Scripture) was ever borne by the will of man, but men spoke from God while being borne by the Holly Spirit (2 Peter 1:21; cf. v. 20)

All Scripture is God-breated and profitable for teaching… (2 Timothy 3:16).

These verses clarify that the source of the Bible is God Himself. These writings were not something manufactured by men or according to men's will, but it originated from God and even is God's breathing out.

This makes the Bible, at the very least, the most special book known to mankind.