Below is a 500-year–interval overview showing who had access to Scripture, in what form, and how widespread that access was. This frames the Bible as a living textual tradition, not a continuously available book.
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c. 1300–800 BC (Moses → Early Monarchy)
Form: Oral tradition + limited written texts
Access: Extremely restricted
Core laws, songs, and covenant traditions preserved orally
Some written texts (law codes, royal records), but no unified Torah
Access limited to priests, scribes, leadership
General population encountered Scripture through public recitation
👉 Faith existed before Scripture as a book
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c. 800–300 BC (Divided Kingdom → Persian Period)
Form: Scrolls (Torah, Prophets forming)
Access: Limited but expanding
Major prophetic writings composed and preserved
Torah increasingly authoritative
Scrolls kept in Temple and elite circles
Ordinary people still relied on hearing, not reading
👉 Scripture becoming fixed, but not widely accessible
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c. 300 BC–200 AD (Second Temple → Post-70 AD)
Form: Multiple Hebrew & Greek scroll traditions
Access: Moderate (by ancient standards)
Septuagint translated into Greek
Synagogues read Scripture publicly
Dead Sea Scrolls show textual stability
70 AD destroyed Temple but not Scripture
👉 Scripture widespread in communities, not centralized
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c. 200–700 AD (Early Christianity & Rabbinic Judaism)
Form: Scrolls → early codices
Access: Clergy & scholars primarily
Christianity spreads Scripture in Greek & Latin
Rabbinic Judaism emphasizes oral Torah
Literacy low; access mediated by teachers
Texts copied continuously
👉 Scripture survives without mass ownership
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c. 700–1200 AD (Masoretes & Medieval Church)
Form: Masoretic Hebrew text; Latin Vulgate
Access: Highly restricted
Masoretes standardize Hebrew text (not invent it)
Church controls copying and interpretation
Most people illiterate
Scripture encountered via liturgy, sermons, art
👉 Text preserved with extreme care, access limited
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c. 1200–1700 AD (Late Medieval → Reformation)
Form: Manuscripts → printed Bibles
Access: Rapidly expanding
Vernacular translations appear
Printing revolutionizes access
Authority shifts from institution to text
Literacy increases
👉 The Bible becomes a household object for the first time
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Key Takeaway
For over 2,000 years, most believers:
Did not own a Bible
Often never read one
Still practiced faith meaningfully
Understanding this does not weaken Scripture—it reveals that:
> Community, memory, and teaching carried faith long before mass access to texts
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