John,
Having just returned from holiday I would like to pick up one of the
threads that you began before I left. You wrote:
>
> I got this this morning from a friend. It seems to be somewhat along
> the line of Vernon's claim. I think the analysis is flawed (the
> "facts" are wrong mathematically) but the main problem with it is that
> verses did not come along until way after the texts were written.
>
> > > What is the shortest chapter in the Bible?
> > > Answer - Psalms 117
> > >
> > > What is the longest chapter in the Bible?
> > > Answer - Psalms 119
> > >
> > > Which chapter is in the center of the Bible?
> > > Answer - Psalms 118
> > >
> > > Fact: There are 594 chapters before Psalms 118
> > > Fact: There are 594 chapters after Psalms 118
> > > Add these numbers up and you get 1188
> > >
> > > What is the center verse in the Bible?
> > > Answer - Psalms 118:8
> > >
> > > Does this verse say something significant about God's
> > > perfect will for our lives? The next time someone says
> > > they would like to find God's perfect will for their lives
> > > and that they want to be in the center of His will,
> > > just send them to the center of His Word!
> > >
> > > Psalms 118:8 (NKJV) "It is better to trust in the LORD
> > > than to put confidence in man."
I have now carefully examined these interesting claims and conclude - as
you have - that the analysis is seriously flawed. However, the truth of
the matter still presents a major problem for people of your persuasion
- as the following details reveal:
1) The Bible has 1189 chapters; the central chapter is therefore
numbered 595; this happens to be Psalm 117 - the shortest of all the
chapters which takes the form of the powerful exhortation, "O PRAISE the
LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. For his merciful
kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the LORD endureth for
ever. Praise ye the LORD." This psalm is part of the sequence known to
Jews as the 'Hallel' (Psalms 113 - 118, inclusive) which features
prominently in their festivals.
How remarkable, therefore: the middle chapter is also the shortest! -
and its base 10 ordinal position is a numerical palindrome! Its content
also is not insignificant!
2) These 1189 chapters comprise 31102 verses; the central pair are
numbered 15551 (another paindrome!) and 15552, respectively. These are
verses 1 and 2 of the beautiful Psalm 103 (and nowhere near the 8th
verse of 118!). Here we read another exhortation, viz "Bless the LORD, O
my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD,
O my soul, and forget not all his benefits."
There appears to be evidence of purposeful design here. But how can this
be possible when the history of the chapter/verse divisions is
considered? Here is a short extract from Daniel P.Fuller's "Chapters and
Verses - Late Comers":
"The present chapter divisions in our Bibles were invented in 1205 by
Stephen Langton, a professor in Paris (he later became Archbishop of
Canterbury), who put these into a Vulgate edition of the Bible. These
chapter divisions were first used by the Jews in 1330 for the Hebrew Old
Testament in a manuscript and for a printed edition in 1516. This system
of chapter divisions likewise came into the Greek manuscripts of the New
Testament in the 1400s.
"It was Robert Stephanus, a Parisian book printer, whose versification
of the Bible has prevailed to the present. He took over the verse
divisions already indicated in the Hebrew Bible by the soph pasuq and
assigned numbers to them within the chapter divisions already assigned
by Stephan Langton. While riding on horseback from Paris to Lyons he
affixed his own verse divisions to the New Testament and numbered them
within Langton's chapter divisions. Consequently the quality of his work
was not the best. Von Soden complained,
The verse divisions of Stephanus which he, according to an incidental
remark by his son, made during a trip from Paris to Lyons, frequently
do not do service to the sense of the text. There is no consistent
method at work in this system. The verses sometimes coincide with a
single sentence, and sometimes they include several sentences;
sometimes a single sentence is divided into two verses, with the
result that the reader is led to consider the second verse while
forgetting the point of view of the first verse. Especially
objectionable is the way in which words introducing a direct quotation
sometimes belong to the preceding verse and sometimes to the verse in
which the quotation is found.
"But through Stephanus the versification of the Old Testament found its
way into the Hebrew Bible printed first in 1571. Then Theodor Beza's use
of Stephanus' verse and chapter divisions in his edition of the textus
receptus of the New Testament (1565) assured them the permanence that
they enjoy in our Bibles today."
(for further details: http://www.fuller.edu/ministry/berean/chs_vss.htm)
John, I suggest that these facts are completely in keeping with my own
findings, and with Richard's 'BibleWheel'. They are further evidence of
the Creator's direct involvement in clothing his word with a series of
independent phenomena that confirm (a) its integrity, and (b) his being
and sovereignty.
[For those who may be interested in confirming the foregoing details for
themselves, I will gladly make available the chapter- and verse-count
data on request.]
Concerning the other matters you have raised in connection with my
thesis, I shall be responding soon.
Regards,
Vernon
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