A Bible Reader’s Website

NTBF: History of Key Terms

NTBF Index

  • Bible –
    • The term “Bible” was first used in the fourth century by John Chrysostom, a biblical scholar. He used the Greek phrase ta biblia, which means “the books”, to refer to both the Old and New Testaments. The Latin form of ta biblia is biblos.
    • The word “Bible” comes from the Greek word biblion, which means “paper” or “scroll”. It is also the word for “a book as a division of a larger work”. 
    • The word “Bible” comes from the Greek word biblia (βιβλία), which means “books” or “scrolls.” The term was first used to refer to sacred scriptures around the 2nd century AD. The word biblia was originally a general term for books or scrolls. By the early Christian era, it began to be used specifically to refer to the collection of Christian scriptures. The first known use of “the Bible” in reference to the Christian scriptures is believed to be around the late 2nd century, particularly in the writings of early Christian theologians like Origen (circa 185-254 AD). So, while biblia had a more general meaning before, its use as a proper noun referring specifically to the sacred Christian scriptures began to emerge in the 2nd century.
    • The transition from biblia meaning “books” in a broad sense to referring specifically to the Christian sacred scriptures began with the early Christian church. As Christianity began to spread in the Roman Empire, the term biblia started to be used by Christian writers to describe the collection of Christian texts—what we now recognize as the Old and New Testaments.
    •  The shift likely began around the 2nd century AD when Christian texts began to be gathered and circulated more widely. Early Christian theologians and writers such as Irenaeus (c. 130–202 AD) and Origen (c. 185–254 AD) began to use the term biblia in reference to the Christian scriptures. In particular, biblia started to take on a more specific meaning as the Christian church sought to differentiate its own sacred writings from other works of literature. By the time of St. Jerome’s Latin Vulgate translation of the Bible (late 4th century AD), the term biblia had become commonly understood to refer to the canon of Christian holy texts. By the 4th century, as Christianity became more established in the Roman Empire, biblia was firmly associated with the Christian scriptures. The Latin word biblia (also meaning “books”) was used in the Vulgate and became standard in Western Christian traditions. From there, it passed into other languages (e.g., “Bible” in English) and became the common term for the Christian holy scriptures.
  • New Testament
    • The term “New Testament” was given to the New Testament of the Holy Bible by Tertullian in 200 AD. 
    • Tertullian, a prominent Christian writer, is credited with rendering the Greek word “diatheke” (meaning “covenant”) into Latin as “testamentum”.
    • The phrase “New Testament,” referring to the collection of Christian Greek scriptures, began to appear in the writings of Christian writers in the later part of the second century, specifically around 200 AD, with the use of the term by Tertullian in his work “Against Marcion”.
    • Other early Christian writers, like Irenaeus, also used the phrase “New Testament” several times, although not necessarily referring to any specific written text. 
    • “New Testament” comes from the Greek “kainē diatheke” which means “New covenant”, where the Greek word “diatheke” (meaning “covenant”) was translated to “testamentum” in Latin. 
  • Old Testament
    • The first documented use of the term “Old Testament” is attributed to Melito of Sardis, a Christian bishop in the second century CE. Tertullian, another early Christian writer, also used the Latin term “vetus testamentum” (old testament) in his writings during that time.