The Bible (miniseries)

The opening episode of the series premiered to very high ratings.[25] The miniseries was watched by 13.1 million total viewers, according to Nielsen.[25] In Canada, the premiere was watched by 1.05 million viewers.[26] The second installment saw a ratings slippage, but still brought in 10.8 million viewers, tops in all television for the 8–10 p.m. time period.[16] Week three's installment, meanwhile, garnered 10.9 million total viewers.[8]

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 14% of critics have given the series a positive review based on 14 reviews, with an average rating of 4.63/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "An earnest but shallow take on the Greatest Story ever Told, The Bible suffers from leaden pacing and mediocre special effects."[27] At Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 45 out of 100 based on 13 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[28]

Allan Yuhas of The Guardian compared the series to reality TV, as well as criticizing the lack of ethnic minorities in major roles.[29]

On March 19, 2013, Roma Downey and Mark Burnett offered remarks on the viewership and its anticipated diffusion. He said: "We've realized, on the journey around the country to churches and all over the place, many people cannot afford cable TV. And those people need to see this Bible series. So we're rushing the DVD out April 2nd, also immediately with Spanish subtitles. This is very important. And this is only for America and Canada. Now we're about to start around the world. This will be in every country of the world. More people will see this series than everything we ever made; together, combined. Billions of people will see this series. Billions."[30]

In the introduction to each episode, the message is displayed "This program is an adaptation of Bible stories that changed our world. It endeavors to stay true to the spirit of the Book."[31] Roma Downey stated in an interview, "we had a great team of scholars and theologians helping us, making sure that we told these stories accurately and truthfully".[32] A few of the cases of artistic license that have raised comment include:

• In the Bible, Noah's three sons are fully grown men, whereas in the TV series they are depicted as boys.
• Abraham is depicted as begging his nephew Lot not to part ways with him, whereas in Genesis they part amicably and Abraham is encouraging of Lot's decision.
• In the Book of Genesis, the angelic visitors were approached by Lot who insisted that they stay with him. Then they feasted with Lot in his home. The series shows the angels approaching Lot, begging for help with no hospitality extended to them.[33] (Genesis 19:1-5)
• The text describes a mob gathered outside of Lot's home wanting to rape his two angelic visitors, and Lot offering his daughters instead. The series omits this.[34] (Genesis 19:4-10)
• The series shows Sarah running after Abraham once she realizes he is going to sacrifice Isaac. This is not in the text.[35] (Genesis 22:1-19)
• In the Binding of Isaac, the text describes a ram (adult) caught by its horns in a thicket. The miniseries depicts a juvenile lamb caught by its leg.[36] (Genesis 22:13)
• Moses's sister Miriam is depicted as a slave and as younger than him, while in the biblical story she is significantly older and has been watching out for him since he was a baby.
• The Bible text says that Samson tied torches on 300 foxes' tails causing them to burn the Phillistines' crops and plants. This was because Samson was angry with his father-in-law for giving his wife to another man. When they heard this they burned Samson's wife and her father to death (Judges 15: 4–6). In the series the Philistine commander has Samson's wife and her father put to death as a consequence for marrying Samson, who was an Israelite.
• The incident in which Saul makes an unlawful sacrifice to God before the prophet Samuel arrives takes place before the famous Battle of Michmash. In the Bible, it was when he spared King Agag of the Amalekites that Saul was denounced as king by Samuel and the Lord, several years after King Saul's unlawful sacrifice.
• When the Babylonians destroy Jerusalem, Jeremiah is depicted as escaping unnoticed by the invaders. In the text Jeremiah is captured, bound in chains and later released.[36] (Jeremiah 39:11-40:6)
• The show depicts Daniel and his three compatriots being captured during the siege, when they were deported more than a decade before Jerusalem's destruction.[36] (Daniel 1; 2 Kings 24:10-16)
• The miniseries depicts the prophet Isaiah as a contemporary of Daniel, living during the time of the Babylonian exile. This is a major inconsistency with the text as Isaiah prophesied that Cyrus the Persian would release the captives after a period of time. This prophecy occurred 150 years before Cyrus was born, 180 years before Cyrus performed any of these feats, and 80 years before the Jews were taken into exile.[37] meaning that Isaiah could never have existed contemporaneously—that is, at the same time—as Daniel and Cyrus. (Isaiah 44:28; 45:1; 45:13).
• In the miniseries' depiction of the Temptation of Christ, the Devil took Jesus to a high mountain when he tempted Jesus to throw himself down. In the text, the Devil tempted Jesus to throw himself down from the pinnacle of the temple. The high mountain was where the devil tempted Jesus to worship him.[32][36] (Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13)
• In the Bible, Jesus had the mourners remove the stone, and then he called for Lazarus to come out. In the miniseries, Jesus enters Lazarus' tomb and kisses him on the head, while not even addressing Lazarus, and gives a brand-new monolog. (John 11:38-44) [38]

There have been claims of a resemblance of the actor in the role of Satan (Mohamen Mehdi Ouazanni) to then-U.S. President Barack Obama. The resemblance was first pointed out notably by Glenn Beck ahead of the episode's premiere.[39] This led the History Channel to announce:

History [C]hannel has the highest respect for President Obama. The Bible series was produced with an international and diverse cast of respected actors. It's unfortunate that anyone made this false connection. History’s "The Bible" is meant to enlighten people on its rich stories and deep history."[40]

Burnett and Downey responded in a joint statement that "This is utter nonsense" and that the actor, Mehdi Ouazanni, had previously played Satanic characters long before Barack Obama was elected as president.[40] Downey added separately:

"Both Mark and I have nothing but respect and love for our president, who is a fellow Christian. False statements such as these are just designed as a foolish distraction to try and discredit the beauty of the story of The Bible."[41]

In the film Son of God, all scenes with Satan were deleted. Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter, Roma Downey said,

"It gives me great pleasure to tell you that the devil is on the cutting-room floor. This is now a movie about Jesus, the son of God, and the devil gets no more screen time."

The Bible was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards: Outstanding Miniseries or Movie, Outstanding Sound Editing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special, and Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Miniseries or a Movie.[42] The 44th GMA Dove Awards gave a tribute to the miniseries in October 2013. In 2014, The Bible won the honor of Home Media Magazine's Best Miniseries or TV Movie on Disc for the year.[43]

The series became the biggest-selling miniseries on DVD in its first week of release, and biggest on Blu-ray and Digital HD of all time. In its first week on home video, The Bible series sold 525,000 copies. It was the fastest selling television show on DVD since 2008.[46] A Blu-ray version is also available via 20th Century Fox.

Roma Downey and Mark Burnett have also released a novelization of this miniseries, entitled A Story of God and All of Us: A Novel Based on the Epic TV Miniseries "The Bible." It debuted at No. 27 on the New York Times Best-Seller List.[47]

A CD was released on March 12, 2013, with Christian music singers performing songs inspired by the miniseries:[48]

Mark Burnett announced in April 2013 that a three-hour version was being prepared for global theatrical release. He claimed that he has had no distribution arrangements yet, though he could possibly release it himself.[10] In June 2013, Burnett elaborated that the film, which has already been edited, would focus exclusively on the life of Jesus, and would run at two hours and fifteen minutes.[49] In September 2013, it was announced that 20th Century Fox would partner with Burnett on theatrical distribution, currently titled Son of God.[50][51] In October 2013, it was announced that Son of God would be released on February 28, 2014.[52]