Bible Question:
I am asking for both, becouse in the Spanish traslation of the Holy Bible ,We use the same divisions of chapters and verses. Thank You, Brad. |
Bible Answer: Greetings Brad! According to http://www.blueletterbible.org/faq/nbi/273.html: "How did the Bible become separated into chapters and verses? "When the books of the Bible were originally written there were no such things as chapters or verses. Each book was written without any breaks from the beginning to the end. "They Have Been Divided For Convenience "The chapter and verse divisions were added to the Bible for the sake of convenience. There is no authoritative basis for the divisions we now find. "The Chapters Added In The Thirteenth Century A man named Stephen Langton divided the Bible into chapters in the year A.D. 1227. Langton was a professor at the University of Paris and later he became the Archbishop of Canterbury. "The Verses Were Added In The Sixteenth Century Robert Stephanus (Stephens), a French printer, divided the verses for his Greek New Testament. It was published in 1551. "The First Bible With Chapter And Verse Divisions The first entire Bible in which these chapter and verse divisions were used was Stephen’s edition of the Latin Vulgate (1555). The first English New Testament to have both chapter and verse divisions was the Geneva Bible (1560). "Fortunately Jewish scholars have followed the way of dividing the Hebrew Scripture into chapters and verses. ... "This Is Not What the Authors Intended "The original authors of Scripture did not intend that their writings be divided up into chapters or verses. They intended that the books be read straight through from the beginning. A number of the books of Scripture can be read through in one sitting. This is the best way to discover what the author is trying to say. Dividing up the Scripture into chapters and verses encourages people to read only small parts at a time. This is not always helpful. "Summary "In the original text of the various books of the Bible there are no such things as chapter and verse divisions. They were added later for the sake of convenience. While they are helpful, they are not authoritative in any sense of the term. In fact, they can cause a number of problems. Chapter and verse divisions give the impression that the Scripture should be read and studied in bits and pieces. This is not what the original authors intended. The entire context must always be considered. Consequently the chapter and verse divisions should be ignored when one attempts to properly interpret the entire message of Scripture." Blessings to you, Makarios |