Definition: bible

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Source: WordNet (r) 1.7 

Bible
     n 1: the sacred writings of the Christian religion; "he went to
          carry the Word to the heathen" [syn: Bible, Good Book,
           Holy Scripture, Holy Writ, Scripture, Word of
          God, Word]
     2: a book regarded as authoritative in its field

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) 

Bible \Bi"ble\ (b[imac]"b'l), n. [F. bible, L. biblia, pl., fr.
   Gr. bibli`a, pl. of bibli`on, dim. of bi`blos, by`blos, book,
   prop. Egyptian papyrus.]
   1. A book. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

   2. The Book by way of eminence, -- that is, the book which
      is made up of the writings accepted by Christians as of
      divine origin and authority, whether such writings be in
      the original language, or translated; the Scriptures of
      the Old and New Testaments; -- sometimes in a restricted
      sense, the Old Testament; as, King James's Bible; Douay
      Bible; Luther's Bible. Also, the book which is made up of
      writings similarly accepted by the Jews; as, a rabbinical
      Bible.

   3. A book containing the sacred writings belonging to any
      religion; as, the Koran is often called the Mohammedan
      Bible.

Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (2003-OCT-10) 

bible

   <publication> The most detailed and authoritative reference
   for a particular language, operating system or other complex
   software system.  It is also used to denote one of a small
   number of such books such as Knuth and K&R.

   [Jargon File]

   (1996-12-03)

Source: Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) 

bible n. 1. One of a small number of fundamental source books such as
   Knuth, K&R, or the Camel Book. 2. The most detailed and
   authoritative reference for a particular language, operating system, or
   other complex software system.

Source: Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary 

Bible
   Bible, the English form of the Greek name _Biblia_, meaning
   "books," the name which in the fifth century began to be given
   to the entire collection of sacred books, the "Library of Divine
   Revelation." The name Bible was adopted by Wickliffe, and came
   gradually into use in our English language. The Bible consists
   of sixty-six different books, composed by many different
   writers, in three different languages, under different
   circumstances; writers of almost every social rank, statesmen
   and peasants, kings, herdsmen, fishermen, priests,
   tax-gatherers, tentmakers; educated and uneducated, Jews and
   Gentiles; most of them unknown to each other, and writing at
   various periods during the space of about 1600 years: and yet,
   after all, it is only one book dealing with only one subject in
   its numberless aspects and relations, the subject of man's
   redemption.
   
     It is divided into the Old Testament, containing thirty-nine
   books, and the New Testament, containing twenty-seven books. The
   names given to the Old in the writings of the New are "the
   scriptures" (Matt. 21:42), "scripture" (2 Pet. 1:20), "the holy
   scriptures" (Rom. 1:2), "the law" (John 12:34), "the law of
   Moses, the prophets, and the psalms" (Luke 24:44), "the law and
   the prophets" (Matt. 5:17), "the old covenant" (2 Cor. 3:14,
   R.V.). There is a break of 400 years between the Old Testament
   and the New. (See APOCRYPHA.)
   
     The Old Testament is divided into three parts:, 1. The Law
   (Torah), consisting of the Pentateuch, or five books of Moses.
   2. The Prophets, consisting of (1) the former, namely, Joshua,
   Judges, the Books of Samuel, and the Books of Kings; (2) the
   latter, namely, the greater prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and
   Ezekiel, and the twelve minor prophets. 3. The Hagiographa, or
   holy writings, including the rest of the books. These were
   ranked in three divisions:, (1) The Psalms, Proverbs, and Job,
   distinguished by the Hebrew name, a word formed of the initial
   letters of these books, _emeth_, meaning truth. (2) Canticles,
   Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, and Esther, called the five
   rolls, as being written for the synagogue use on five separate
   rolls. (3) Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and 1 and 2 Chronicles.
   Between the Old and the New Testament no addition was made to
   the revelation God had already given. The period of New
   Testament revelation, extending over a century, began with the
   appearance of John the Baptist.
   
     The New Testament consists of (1) the historical books, viz.,
   the Gospels, and the Acts of the Apostles; (2) the Epistles; and
   (3) the book of prophecy, the Revelation.
   
     The division of the Bible into chapters and verses is
   altogether of human invention, designed to facilitate reference
   to it. The ancient Jews divided the Old Testament into certain
   sections for use in the synagogue service, and then at a later
   period, in the ninth century A.D., into verses. Our modern
   system of chapters for all the books of the Bible was introduced
   by Cardinal Hugo about the middle of the thirteenth century (he
   died 1263). The system of verses for the New Testament was
   introduced by Stephens in 1551, and generally adopted, although
   neither Tyndale's nor Coverdale's English translation of the
   Bible has verses. The division is not always wisely made, yet it
   is very useful. (See VERSION.)