Over the years has anyone ever altered the Bible?

Answer 1

The Bible was written over a period of hundreds of years, by many authors, many of whom are anonymous. And almost every book in the Bible has been added to and altered. Moreover, in the days when books were laborously copied by hand on to scrolls, many inadvertent errors crept in and were often copied in turn, becoming part of the received text. Some examples of the evolution of the Bible's text:

• Some scholars say that the Pentateuch is based on the writings of at least four sources, now known as the Yahwist ('J' source), Elohist ('E' source), Deuteronomist ('D' source) and the Priestly source ('P' source). The First five books of the Bible were prepared in the seventh century BCE, when the Deuteronomist collated input from the Yahwist and the Elohist and then added further material of his own. The Priestly source added further material, and the Redactor finally redacted the books more or less into the form we see today.
• The Book of Isaiah is really a composite book by two authors, First Isaiah and Second Isaiah. As described in Isaiah 1:1, the original author lived during the late monarchic period, in the reigns of Kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. The anonymous author now known as Second Isaiah is believed to have added additional material over a hundred years later, during the Babylonian Exile.
• Several of the books attributed to Paul are generally recognised as having been written much later, by anaonmous authors. These include Colossians, Ephesians, 2 Thessalonians, 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus, and possibly Philippians and 1 Thessalonians.
• Many minor addititions believed by some scholars to have been made to the various books have been documented. Scholars have long known that Mark's Gospel originally ended at verse 16:8, with no mention of the resurrection. Another minor addition (1 John 5:7) is known as the 'Johannine Comma', and is the only time the Holy Trinity is actually mentioned in the Bible as we have it today.

Translation has also altered the Bible. The first translation of the Hebrew Bible into Greek, known as the Septuagint, is problematic for its errors. However, the early Christians could read Greek, so the Septuagint became the authorative version ofthe Old Testament. Later translations into English and other languages brought further errors, sometimes errors of translation and sometimes to suit the times in which the translations took place.