Comments on: Versification Complications

By: Dr. Platypus » Blog Archive » Biblical Studies Carnival XXXIX

Dr. Platypus » Blog Archive » Biblical Studies Carnival XXXIX — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 11:03:53 +0000

[...] and translators sometimes muck up our Bibles through “Dissection Headings” and “Versification Complications.” You can find the details at the always-worth-a-look Better Bibles [...]

By: Mike Sangrey

Mike Sangrey — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 13:39:23 +0000

Regarding chiasm in Philippians. Phil. 2:1-18 is the big one. Though many would probably be more comfortable limiting it to just 6-11.

And speaking of verse breaks, this highlights another awkward case where a verse break would actually be helpful (I thought I would never say that). It’s 2:8. The θανάτου δὲ σταυροῦ (“–a cross kind of death”) should be by itself. 2:8 is the exact center of the chiasm.

By: David Ker

David Ker — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 13:12:32 +0000

Thanks, Mike. God has given us such peace despite the car breaking down. We’re trusting him to get us down the road!

I didn’t see this chiasm noted by any of the commentaries I have access to. Makes me want to search for more in Philippians.

By: David Ker

David Ker — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 13:07:05 +0000

I hadn’t noticed that!

After I posted this I re-read Philippians and Paul mentions the Lord’s return a lot. And always at the end of a section. So, though I like viewing this as spatial it seems more likely that it is temporal. This also reminded me of James 5:9, “Don’t grumble against each other, brothers or you will be judged The Judge is standing at the door!”

By: Mike Sangrey

Mike Sangrey — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 13:05:41 +0000

I think J.K. Gayle is onto something. This text is somewhat chiastic with the key phrase ὁ κύριος ἐγγύς right in the middle. The A-B-C-B’-A’ structure can be expressed as:

A: Rejoice!

B: Do not attack others, but deal with them in a forbearing and gracious manner (see use of ἐπιεικής in Titus 3.2)

C: The Lord is near

B’: When attacked (or facing any danger), don’t be anxious, pray with thanksgiving

A’: God’s peace will be yours.

Keep in mind the paragraph immediately follows the instruction to Euodia and Syntyche. The “Lord is near” speaks to both sides of whatever that argument was–it’s rebuke and comfort. Sort of reminds me of Isa. 7-12 where Emmanuel means both disaster AND blessing depending whether one is rebellious or submissive.

David, I’ve prayed for your situation. The beautiful thing about a chiastic structure is the central concept is the most important. It is put there for the sole purpose of getting us to focus on it. The Lord is near!

By: David Ker

David Ker — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 13:01:33 +0000

Jake, thanks for showing these punctuation options. Certainly punctuation and the lack of a capital letter in a verse are ways of trying to make a more explicit link despite verse numbers.

The capitalized words BECAUSE and THEREFORE are meant to show logical relations between these passages. The Greek doesn’t have an explicit word showing this relation which is what makes this puzzle interesting!

By: J. K. Gayle

J. K. Gayle — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 12:33:13 +0000

Seems Paul’s using ὁ κύριος ἐγγύς (“the Master’s near”) as a way to connect two similar commands with a common reward. And as you suggest, the verse break loses the beauty of his Hebrewish-Greek poetic, parallel structure:

4 χαίρετε ἐν κυρίῳ πάντοτε
πάλιν ἐρῶ χαίρετε
5 τὸ ἐπιεικὲς ὑμῶν γνωσθήτω πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις

ὁ κύριος ἐγγύς

6 μηδὲν μεριμνᾶτε ἀλλ’ ἐν παντὶ τῇ προσευχῇ
καὶ τῇ δεήσει μετὰ εὐχαριστίας
τὰ αἰτήματα ὑμῶν γνωριζέσθω πρὸς τὸν θεόν

7 καὶ ἡ εἰρήνη τοῦ θεοῦ ἡ ὑπερέχουσα πάντα νοῦν φρουρήσει τὰς καρδίας ὑμῶν καὶ τὰ νοήματα ὑμῶν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ

4 Express enjoyment in Master always
I say again, Express enjoyment.
5 Make your calmness known to all humans.

The Master’s near.

6 Don’t worry; instead in all prayers
and petitions with favored blessings
make your requests known to God

7 And God’s peace…

(Whether in California or in Mozambique)

By: Jake

Jake — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 12:00:24 +0000

I was just reading this passage last night. I actually read “The Lord is near” combined with verse 6 (I’m not sure if I had before now that I think about it). The ESV that I was reading the passage in used a semicolon but still put the phrase with the next sentence. This isn’t the best way, but I prefer it to breaking into a new sentence, as I do believe the two go together:

“The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything…”

So I checked out another few translations. From what I looked at, I liked the ISV best, which used a colon after verse 5. YLT also used a semi. No translations I reviewed seemed to do anything like you suggest.

However, I do agree that verses can really mess up how people read text. I think that the verses are put in some really strange places occasionally that changes the meaning of the text.