John Burgeson wrote:
> I was sent the numerology below by a good friend. My response follows.
> I think I was not too skeptical.
>
> Burgy
> ----------------------------------
> >>
> 1 Psalm 118 is the middle chapter of the entire Bible.
> 2 Psalm 117, before Psalm 118, is the shortest chapter in the
> Bible.
> 3 Psalm 119, after Psalm 118, is the longest chapter in the Bible.
> 4 The Bible has 594 chapters before Psalm 118 and 594 chapters
> after Psalm 118.
> 5 If you add up all the chapters except Psalm 118, you get a total
> of 1188 chapters.
> 6 1188 or Psalm 118 verse 8 is the middle verse of the entire
> Bible.
> 7 Should the central verse then not have an important message?
> >>
>
> An interesting interplay of numbers. I wonder if the person who assigned
> verses
> to the scriptures (I think in the Middle Ages) did this on purpose?
>
> Items 4 and 5 are a restatement (quantification) of item 1. No significance
> that I can see to the number 594.
>
> Items 2 and 3 don't seem all that significant. And items 5 and 6 are
> significant only if you use the
> decimal system of counting. Not all civilizations have used that.
>
> Still -- interesting phenomenon. I really think the greatest probability
> lies in attributing it to the verse inventor.
> But I could be wrong.
I believe that the assignments of verse numbers in the Old and New
Testaments were done
at different times, but I too could be wrong.
Perhaps more to the point is the fact that while the books in the
Hebrew canon are the same as those of the protestant Old Testament, their order
is different & more coherent.
& in any case the verse (& in fact often the chapter) divisions are
artificial & sometimes make little sense. I can't see that any argument based
on these numbers could have any real significance.
Shalom,
George
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