Lesson 3 | Peeling Back the English
Headings and Paragraph Divisions
This lesson is already full of a lot of information! So glancing at another lengthy step might intimidate you. But it need not. For this step does not add any further disciplines to your practice of studying the Bible. Instead, it simply exists to tell you what you can ignore! So grab a coffee and enjoy the read.
The Function of Headings
The headings you find in your Bible can be helpful, but we must understand that they are not translations from the original. Rather, they are simply editorial additions to aid the reader.
How are they helpful?
- Finding a passage By far, the biggest function of headings is to help you locate a verse whose reference you are unsure of.
- Seeing the flow of a book Headings can also help you see the flow of a book as you skim through.
When are they dangerous?
- When treated authoritatively We must remember that the headings are not a part of God’s inspired Word.
- When they muddle the flow In a modern book, headings provided by the author aid the reader to follow the argument or story. But since Bible headings were not a part of the original, they run the danger of disrupting the continuous flow and giving the false impression that the author has moved to a new subject.
For example, giving too much credence to the ESV headings in Philippians 1 and reading the different sections separately could easily lead you to think Paul is handling two different subjects: the advance of the Gospel first and then the general call for the Christians to live for Christ. But a more careful reading that recognizes that the headings are not original will yield a different understanding. The “deliverance” of verse 19 and the prospect of life or death in verse 20 first and foremost relate to Paul’s present circumstance of sitting in jail awaiting his fate. In fact, verses 14-18 are really serving as a sort of parentheses, with the topic of verses 12-13 being picked up again at the end of verse 18.
So should Christians live for Christ? Of course! But recognizing the continuous flow of this chapter will help you see better what that means. It may mean, as with Paul, that you sit in prison waiting to see if you are released or killed, and wrestle with your church about how to pray in the situation, and what sort of deliverance the Lord might bring.
Exceptions: Headings Translated from the Original
However, there are a few types of headings in the poetic books of the Bible that are, in fact, translated from the original. In these cases, we most definitely do want to take these authoritatively. This includes Psalm titles, along with acrostic and speaker headings.
The Interpretation of Paragraph Divisions
You may recall that there is no punctuation in the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. There are also no paragraphs. That means that the paragraphs you find in your English translations are similar to the headings—they were added to make reading easier, but also add a subtle, unauthoritative layer of interpretation on top of the Scriptures.
This passage comes from Ecclesiastes 9. You can see that verses 7 and 8 are each their own paragraph. And so you might suppose that each could be taken on its own and understood to teach that we should simply make the most of life. But the third paragraph throws a wrench in that simple take-away and shows us (once again) that this book is not about living a full life. Rather this book is about the vanity of life (vs 9) when all you have is what the world can give—because you are going to die (vs 10; “Sheol” means the place of the dead)! We should enjoy the gifts that God has given us, but always with an eye on our mortality and upon God himself, who alone can give eternal life.
Versification Is Also Interpretation
One more type of division not present in the original are the chapter and verse divisions. The caution here is the same as that of paragraph divisions. While chapter and verse divisions were not added by the editors of the different translations, they were added by someone. Their addition is incredibly helpful for finding a spot in the Bible, but also creates the pitfall, once again, of implying a break in subject matter. So remember to ignore the chapter divisions beyond finding your spot!
Note the circled words in this example from James 3-4 and you will plainly see that James has not changed subjects.
Biblearc’s Outline Module
While not a formal part of this course, you should know about a Biblearc module called the Outline module. It exists, in large part, due to the dynamics discussed in this step. The purpose of this module is to allow you to consider a book of the Bible without predetermined headings, paragraph divisions, chapters, and verses. Instead, you are presented with the text of scripture in one continuous flow, as it was originally written. From there, you are able to read carefully and make your own judgment calls as to where paragraph divisions should go while adding various levels of headings where desired. The end result is your own carefully crafted outline of the book which you can then use in further Bible study and to compare with divisions and headings found in the different Bible versions.
Check it out by creating a New Project via the main menu on Biblearc, and then clicking the + button to add a new Outline module.