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Heidegger's Bible Handbook: New Testament in General: Divisions in External Form

Updated: Feb 27, 2020

3. Those Books are divided with respect to their external form according to sections, or headings, chapters, and verses.



Just as we divided the books of the Old Testament with respect to external form and material: the same is to be done with the books of the New Testament. Now, just as the Hebrews divided the individual books of the Old Testament with respect to external form according to פרשות/Parashot,[1] פרקים/ Pirkim/chapters, and פסוקים/Passukim/verses: so also the Christians divided the books of the New Testament with respect to external form according to περικοπὰς/sections, or τίτλους/titles/headings, κεφάλαια/chapters, or, as Robertus Stephanus[2] preferred to designate them, Tmemata, and στίχους, verses or Tmematia. Concerning which we treat briefly here, but at greater length elsewhere, Lord willing.

[1] פרש signifies to separate or divide. The Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Old Testament is divided into Parashot/sections, around which a year’s worth of weekly public readings is organized.


[2] Robertus Stephanus, or Robert Estienne (1503-1559), was a printer in Paris, with skill in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. He employed his considerable talents in the production of multiple editions of the Bible in each language. His work on the Greek text of the New Testament was particularly important in the formation of the Textus Receptus, and he did important critical work on the Vulgate.


Dr. Dilday's Lecture: "The Authorship of the New Testament"



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