3719 — Numbering of Chapters and Verses
Have other letters besides the Roman been used in numbering the chapters and verses of the Bible? If so, please give some account of them. J. N. M. The Bible was not divided into chapters and verses until later than Roman times. In the days when the Bible was written, there was no numbering of chapters or verses. As stated in our little Bible Band Booklet, on page 9, the Bible was divided into chapters by Hugo de Sancto Caro, about 1236. The Old Testament was divided into verses by Rabbi Mordecai Nathan; and the New Testament, in 1544, by R. Stephens, a French printer. This was adopted by the Latin Vulgate to facilitate reference to the text; and in the sixteenth century the Massoretic division into verses made by the Jews was combined with this division of chapters, and it passed from the Latin Vulgate to the English translation at Geneva in 1560. Of course if the Bible were translated into Hebrew for Hebrews, Hebrew letters would be used in numbering the chapters, and doubtless the verses. But none of the original Scriptures were divided into chapters and verses.