Writing the Word

“It took three-and-a-half years writing daily for 45 minutes to an hour each day,” Margurette Robison told The Stand in reference to her recently completed writing journey.

However, the 89-year-old Tupelo, Mississippi, resident was not promoting the release of her latest book.

Instead, she shared her process of copying the Bible – all 66 books, 1,189 chapters, over 750,000 words, and over 3 million characters … by hand!

Robison recently visited the AFA campus and spoke about what led her to begin copying the Scriptures, what she learned along the way, and the benefits of this enormous undertaking.

Passing the time

Robison said she once looked forward to reading the local newspaper early every morning, but over time, she became dissatisfied with the newspaper’s content, and she canceled her subscription.

Robison, an early riser who was widowed in 2015, said she needed something to do during those early morning hours.

“So, I selfishly decided to copy the Bible,” Robison said. “It was [a way] to fill up my time, and I thought there may be some benefit to this as well.”

Robison recalled that author, theologian, and pastor Dr. David Jeremiah recommends writing a word-for-word copy of the book of Romans.

“That’s what I did,” Robison said. “Then, I continued on with all the books of the New Testament.”

After copying the New Testament, Robison moved on to the Old Testament and completely copied it as well.

Overcoming challenges

As one would suspect, such an endeavor is not without its challenges, though Robison explained that she did not really begin to question herself until she came to some of the Old Testament books such as Leviticus and the two books of Chronicles.

“They were testing,” Robison said. “I sometimes felt like, Why are you doing this? But I continued, and I was so blessed by doing it.”

Robison said many of the names were challenging to copy, and writing out all the numbers was difficult too.

“I did cheat a little on numbers,” Robison said jokingly. “I used numerals. At first, I wrote it out … ten thousand … just wrote it out. Then I decided to use numerals, which made it a little easier.”

Another factor Robison said she considered when she began the process was whether she would be able to physically complete the task.

“When I started, I didn’t know if my hand would hold out or not. I have a lot of arthritis,” she explained. “But the Lord just blessed me.”

Reaping benefits

Eventually, Robison’s daily task of copying Scripture became more than just a way to fill the time.

She began to see the benefits and reap the rewards.

“When you write the Scripture, you understand the context more fully than by simply reading it,” said Robison. “And I was convicted of a lot of sin that I wasn’t even aware of. A lot of it [was] in my thinking, but I was convicted.”

Robison said the newfound awareness of sin in her life led her to gratitude.

“It led me to a very thankful heart that Jesus Christ, my Savior, had forgiven me of those sins, even though I hadn’t acknowledged them.

“That is a big benefit, and I enjoyed it,” she continued. “I looked forward to that every morning.”

Robison believes other people would also benefit from copying Scripture.

“Even though I entered into writing this kind of selfishly, to fill in time, God has blessed me so much,” Robison said. “I would advise anyone who has time on their hands to do so.”