Verses in the ‘Wrong’ Chapter : When Chapter Division and Structural Segmentation in the Old Testament Do Not Match

Abstract

In Old Testament books, the places where traditionally a new chapter is made to begin are not always in line with the places where the biblical text divides itself into segments according to the structural coherence and syntactic discontinuities in the text itself. Some individual verses appear to be in the ‘wrong’ chapter. Starting with less controversial examples and moving on to more controversial ones, it is argued that translators (and readers) can and should be guided from the start by the segmentation on the basis of structural and syntactic discontinuities in the text itself, rather than being influenced by the tradtional chapter division. For each verse that is discussed, recommendations are given about its position in the segmentation of the text. Comparisons are made with the segmentation of the text according to the Codex Leningradensis, Codex Aleppo and Codex Cairensis, as well as the Rabbinic Bibles of 1525 and 1548 and a number of exegetical commentaries. The article closes with some implications for the practice of Bible translation. Even without altering the traditional chapter numbering as such, it is still recommended to show the segmentation in the text itself with the help of paragraph divisions, blank lines and section titles in what the translation team considers to be the right places in the text.