Photographs of the oldest Bible manuscripts in the world — kept at Cambridge University Library in England and the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem, Israel. Under each picture: what the manuscript is, where it is kept, how old it is, the passage it shows, and what the actual words say.
The Great Isaiah Scroll (1QIsa-a)
Kept at: The Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
Date: c. 150–100 BCE — the oldest near-complete biblical book ever found
Passage shown: The whole Book of Isaiah; the opening words visible at the right are Isaiah 1:1
What it says (Isaiah 1:1–2, literal): “The vision of Isaiah son of Amoz, that he has seen concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, [and] Hezekiah, kings of Judah. Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth, for YudHeyVavHey has spoken: ‘I have nourished and brought up sons, and they have transgressed against Me.’”
Credit: Photograph by Ardon Bar Hama. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
The Aleppo Codex (Keter Aram Tzova — "the Crown of Aleppo")
Kept at: The Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
Date: c. 930 CE — the oldest near-complete Hebrew Bible codex
Passage shown: Deuteronomy 1:1–3 (the opening of Devarim)
What it says (Deuteronomy 1:1–3, literal): “These [are] the words which Moses has spoken to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the plain opposite Suph, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab: eleven days’ [journey] from Horeb, by the way of Mount Seir, to Kadesh-Barnea. And it comes to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first of the month, [that] Moses has spoken to the sons of Israel according to all that YudHeyVavHey has commanded him concerning them.”
Credit: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
The War Scroll (1QM — "The War of the Sons of Light Against the Sons of Darkness")
Kept at: The Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
Date: Late 1st century BCE – early 1st century CE
Passage shown: Fragments of 1QM; the scroll as a whole opens with the Rule of the War (individual verses not legible at this photo size — shown for the manuscript itself)
What it says (1QM column 1, the opening — literal): “For the Instructor: the Rule of the War. The first attack of the Sons of Light shall be undertaken against the forces of the Sons of Darkness, the army of Belial.”
Credit: CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Codex Sinaiticus
Kept at: The British Library, London, England
Date: 4th century CE (c. 330–360) — one of the two oldest complete New Testaments
Passage shown: Matthew 6:4–32; clearly readable in the photo is Matthew 6:9–13 — the words Yehoshua taught His disciples to pray
What it says (Matthew 6:9–13, literal): “Our Father in the heavens, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done, as in heaven, also on the earth. Give us our daily bread today, and forgive us our debts, as we also forgave our debtors, and may You not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil [one].”
Credit: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Codex Sinaiticus
Kept at: The British Library, London, England
Date: 4th century CE (c. 330–360)
Passage shown: Matthew 4:19–5:22; clearly readable in the photo are the Beatitudes, Matthew 5:3–6
What it says (Matthew 5:3–6, literal): “Blessed [are] the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of the heavens. Blessed [are] those mourning, for they will be comforted. Blessed [are] the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed [are] those hungering and thirsting for righteousness, for they will be filled.”
Credit: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Codex Bezae (Greek column)
Kept at: Cambridge University Library, Cambridge, England
Date: 5th century CE (c. 400) — the great Greek-Latin bilingual New Testament
Passage shown: Luke 23:47–24:1
What it says (literal): “And the centurion, having seen what had happened, was glorifying Elohim, saying, ‘Truly this Man was righteous.’ … And behold, a man named Joseph, being a council member — a good and righteous man — … and having taken [the body] down, wrapped it in linen, and laid Him in a tomb hewn [out of rock] … And on the first [day] of the week, at deep dawn, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices that they had prepared.”
Credit: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Codex Bezae (Latin column — the facing page)
Kept at: Cambridge University Library, Cambridge, England
Date: 5th century CE (c. 400) — one of the oldest Latin witnesses to the Gospels, before Jerome’s Vulgate
Passage shown: Luke 23:47–24:1 (the same passage as the Greek column, in Latin)
What it says (literal): “And the centurion, seeing what had happened, was magnifying Elohim, saying, ‘Truly this Man was righteous.’ … And on the first [day] of the week, at daybreak, they came to the tomb, bringing the spices which they had prepared.”
Credit: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.