Bede and the Bible

Although best known for his work as a church historian, the Venerable Bede also spent many hours of his life studying God’s Word in great detail. Today, Dr. Stephen Nichols tells us about Bede’s contributions as a Bible commentator.

Welcome back to another episode of 5 Minutes in Church History. On this episode, we are talking about Bede. We’ve discussed him before. He is the church historian. He is the first to write in English a church history. In fact, he’s considered the father of all English history, but we’re not talking about Bede the church historian. Let’s talk about Bede in the Bible, as in Bede in the Bible producer, and Bede as in the Bible commentator. Bede received a tradition, the tradition from the early church, and he also was committed to his studies. Like the Bereans in the book of Acts. He would hold that teaching that he received up to the standard of the Word of God. And the result of all of that studying, well, Bede saw it as his role to pass it on, to write it out, to give it to his fellow students there in the monastery, and to pass it on to the next generation. And who knows, maybe generations to come.

So, what were some of the actual works that Bede did as a Bible commentator and as a man of Bible study? The first thing was his involvement with the Codex Amiatinus. Now, there are only three copies of this Codex that exist. It is a translation of the Vulgate that Bede very carefully prepared. He was a student of Latin, also he studied Greek and Hebrew, and he was meticulous in preparing this particular edition of the Bible because he knew how important it was, and he knew the role that it would play. He also was involved in its publication. Let’s talk about that for a moment. The Codex Amiatinus consists of 2,060 pages. So, front and back that is 1,030 folio leaves. And these leaves were actually made of calf skin and there was one leaf per calf. So, 1,030 calves were necessary for the production of this Bible.

Its pages measured 27 and a half inches by 20 and a half inches. When the final copy was bound together, it stood 10 inches tall, and with its binding, it weighed in at 90 pounds. So, that was the Bible that Bede factored significantly in producing, and to making available for these monks in the 600s and into the 700s. Secondly, Bede was a very prolific Bible commentator. Now, he started with the collected commentaries of the church fathers, and these were amassed there in the library, and he would use many of their notes and simply pass them on and sort of repackage them in his commentaries. But he also recognized that many of the canonical books didn’t have any commentary on them. So, he had to write his own after much careful study. And then thirdly, in addition to the Bible and in addition to the Bible commentaries, we also have his biblical sermons, especially on the gospels.

And here enters Paul the Deacon. Have you ever heard of Paul the Deacon? Well, he was a Benedictine monk in the 700s. He collected the homilies of Bede, most of them on the gospels. He collected them and distributed them to the various monasteries to be studied and also to be repreached. Well, speaking of the gospels, at the time of his death, Bede was working on translating the Gospel of John into English. And just about the time of his death, he was once asked, ‘What book should I read if I have seven days?’ In other words, ‘What biblical book should I take and spend a week with?’ And he immediately said, ‘John.’ And then he said, ‘In fact, I've written such a plan.’ Breaking John down into seven sections, or what Bede called ‘gatherings.’ Well, at the end of his church history book, this is what Bede had to say. ‘I beseech you, good Jesus, that to whom you have graciously granted sweetly to drink in the words of your knowledge, you will also vouchsafe in your loving-kindness that he may one day come to you, the Fountain of all wisdom, and appear forever before your face.’ Well, that's the work of Bede, church historian, Bible publisher, Bible commentator, and a 600s monk from England. And I'm Steve Nichols and thanks for listening to 5 Minutes in Church History.