Vernon,
Determining the central chapter and central verse in the Bible is
dependent on which version you use. Most modern translations omit some
verses found in the KJV because they have been found to be later additions
and not part of the original inspired scripture. Furthermore, some
non-English versions have the books in a different order. For the Old
Testament we use the order found in the Septuagint. This differs
significantly from the order in the Hebrew Bible. The book of Psalms
occurs quite a bit later in the Hebrew Bible than it does in our English
Bible.
Gordon Brown
Department of Mathematics
University of Colorado
Boulder, CO 80309-0395
On Fri, 14 Sep 2001, Vernon Jenkins wrote:
> 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
>
> http://www.otherbiblecode.com
>
>
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