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Recently I was sent (again) a mathematical analysis of the verses in the English Bible. This analysis has been around for as long as he can remember but it nonetheless is an interesting story and whether there is anything "theologically" more to it that this, I cannot say.
The mathematical centre verse in the English Bible is Psalm 118 verse 8:
"It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man."
This is the mathematics to formulate Psalm 118 verse 8 as the centre verse of the Bible.
(1) Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible
(2) Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible
(3) Centre chapter in the Bible is Psalm 118
(4) 594 Bible chapters before Psalm 118
(5) 594 Bible Chapters after Psalm 118
(6) 594 viz 594 = 118
(7) The centre verse in the Bible is Psalm 118 verse 8
"It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man."
This all sounds rather enticing that Psalm 118 verse 8, is 'meant to be' the centre verse of the Bible, using these formulae.
The reality is, however, something that may not be quite as 'real' as mathematics might indicate.
Both the Hebrew and Greek (Old and New Testaments) originally had no chapters and verses. The nature of those language text is that the text itself becomes self-explanatory as one read along.
It was England's Stephen Langton (1150-1228) who initially set up the Chapters of the Bible. His story is typical of church politics where he rose and fell from grace a number of times; but his influence in the structure of the Bible remained.
Four hundred years later, it is England's William Whittingham (1524-1597) who is credited with dividing the chapters into verses, with the first English Bible printed to do this, being the Geneva Bible. This was the primary Bible of the 16th century's Protestant Reformation, first published in 1557, 60 years before the publication of the 1611 King James Bible.
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Story
However, this accreditation may not be all it seems. There is an interesting story as to how agreement was reached as to where each verse ended, and before the next verse started.
In 1535 the French scholar Pierre Robert Olivetan, a cousin of John Calvin, produced the Neuchatel Bible, sponsored by the early reformists, the Waldensians. This Neuchatel Bible was a direct forerunner of the Geneva Bible,
Pierre Robert Olivetan was on his horse with manuscript and pencil in hand, and marking off the separation of the verses. Occasionally the horse jolted, as a horse surely does, and the pencil slipped and marked "other than where" Olivetan intended. That is why today, we still ponder upon why an occasional verse seems to end in the wrong place.
The Geneva Bible came to England with these chapters and verses set in place, which every translation since has followed 'religiously' including the King James Bible, from which this pseudo mathematics was gleaned to find the centre verse of the English Bible:
Psalm 118 verse 8: "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man."
And what a centre (or central) verse it is - whatever the reasons for thinking so! And maybe, just maybe...
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Dr Mark Tronson is a Baptist minister (retired) who served as the Australian cricket team chaplain for 17 years (2000 ret) and established Life After Cricket in 2001. He was recognised by the Olympic Ministry Medal in 2009 presented by Carl Lewis Olympian of the Century. He mentors young writers and has written 24 books, and enjoys writing. He is married to Delma, with four adult children and grand-children. Dr Tronson writes a daily article for Christian Today Australia (since 2008) and in November 2016 established Christian Today New Zealand.
Mark Tronson's archive of articles can be viewed at http://www.pressserviceinternational.org/mark-tronson.html
Dr Mark Tronson - a 4 min video
Chairman – Well-Being Australia
Baptist Minister 45 years
- 1984 - Australian cricket team chaplain 17 years (Ret)
- 2001 - Life After Cricket (18 years Ret)
- 2009 - Olympic Ministry Medal – presented by Carl Lewis
- 2019 - The Gutenberg - (ARPA Christian Media premier award)
Gutenberg video - 2min 14sec
Married to Delma for 45 years with 4 children and 6 grand children