Scrolling through the Bible

The Bible is bound up with history in many ways. One of them is the basic way that the Bible has come down to us.

The most prominent medium by which the Scriptures were recorded for us was on papyrus, which is largely unique to the Nile Delta in Egypt and began to be used for writing books as far back as the third millennium BC.

Making the papyrus scroll

Papyrus is a reed that grows between seven and 16 feet in height and has a long three-sided stalk without joints, which is roughly the thickness of the human wrist. It is amazing to think that someone in the third millennium looked at this plant and thought, ‘I could use that for writing’. Due to its vital use in recording the Scriptures, one can see the providential hand of God at work in its discovery as a medium for writing.