The norman conquest checked for a time all the vernacular literature of england, including the translations of the bible. And the verse at the very center of the bible is psalms 118. The middle chapter and middle verse of the holy bible. In our bible study group last thursday night, one of our ladies brought up the shrinking middle class in america. You cannot have a middle verse with an even number of verses. Somewhere along history, teachers of the bible began to preach that psalms 118. Bless the lord, o my soul, and forget not all his benefits. The king james bible has 31,174 verses an even number so there is no one center verse. These would be verses 15,551 and 15,552 psalms 103. Similarly, verse references based on the hebrew version of the book of psalms will often be one verse higher than the equivalent reference to an english bible, because many of the psalms have short headings or superscriptions that are numbered as verse 1 in hebrew bibles but are skipped when numbering the verses in english bibles. Since the early th century, most copies and editions of the bible present all but the shortest of these books with divisions into chapters, generally a page or so in length. And i saw a beast rising out of the sea, with ten horns and seven heads, with ten diadems on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads. What does the bible say about peace in the middle east.
We cannot have a middle verse with an even number of verses. Therefore, we take psalm 103 verses 1 and 2, which fall within 15,551 and 15,552, to be the two m. One of which was the escalating war in the middle east. Since the bible king james version has 31,102 verses, there is no single middle verse. There are two middle verses, since the kjv has an even number of verses.
Perhaps it was a reverend who miscalculated, perhaps it was because they didnt have calculators or computers back then, or perhaps it simply boils down to a difference in translationbible version issue. Together, the two testaments are made up of 66 books. He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities. From grandparents to high school students, from biologists to recording artists, our lesson designers are committed to and passionate about providing excellent courses to engage your students minds, broaden their knowledge, develop them into leaders, and draw them closer to their creator. What is the middle verse of the bible, halfway between. Many contemporary bible versions have improved on the translation of this verse from hebrew into english.
There are 789,314 words in the bible counting the psalm introductions. In the king james version of the holy bible, the middle books. If you take the middle section chapters 5254, and the middle verse of the middle chapter of that middle section, you come to the key verse in the book. Why and how are bible chapters and verses numbered. It is better to trust in the lord than to put confidence in man. Thus, it is 117, not 118, that is the center chapter of the bible.
Now in the second year of their coming to the house of god at jerusalem in the second month, zerubbabel the son of shealtiel and jeshua the son of jozadak and the rest of their brothers the priests and the levites, and all who came from the captivity to jerusalem, began the work and appointed the levites from twenty years and older to oversee the work of the house of the lord. According to independent research, the king james version kjv of the holy bible contains 1189 chapters. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the spirit of god was hovering over the waters. Using bible verses has become a popular and effective way to apply gods will to practical living. The middle bar in the center of the boards shall pass through from end to end. The truth is there are 31,102 verses in the king james bible. Now look deeper and notice the middle words of the bible the verse has an even number of words so we take the middle two. The middle chapter is psalm 117, which also happens to be the shortest chapter. He said to the woman, did god really say, you must not eat from any tree in the garden. Its just not fair that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, she said.
If we were to count the number of verses in the bible which i am not willing to do at this point and find a middle verse or middle two verses, the chapter thereof could loosely be called the middle chapter. Not only was the middle east the cradle of civilization, it was the birthplace of the bible and the home of its prophets. What is the middle book of the bible, and what is the. The center chapter and the center verse of the bible psalms 118. Bible prophecy is heavily focused on the middle east. It is destined to be the focal point of endtime conflictand of the kingdom of god beyond. Since the count is an even number, there is no single middle verse of the bible. The summer of 2006 brought many trials to people all over the world. Generally, in english printings of the common protestant canon either the middle verse ranges from ps 102. How many chapters, verses, and words are in the bible. What is the verse in the bible which is at the center. The kjv has an even number of verses 31,102 and, thus, does not have a single middle verse. The middle verse of the old testament is 2 chronicles 10. There is in fact no center verse of the biblethe kjv bible has an even number of verses.
What the bible says about war in the middle east bible. I cannot prove that psalm 118 verse 8 is the middle verse of the bible. But as demonstrated below the claim is incontestably false. There are exactly 594 chapters before psalm 118, and exactly 594 chapters after it. Asked in tanakh and talmud, bible statistics and history, old testament. The bible predicts wars and tribulation in the last days pastors bud and betty miller on war in the middle east. The shortest chapter of the bible falls just after this center chapter psalm 117. One of the first signs of its revival was the production of the ormulum, a poem which embodies metrical versions of the gospels and acts, written about the end of the twelfth century. Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the holy bible. The middle verse of the old testament is 2 chronicles 20.
The appearance of the wheeles, and their worke was like vnto the colour of a berill. What is the middle verse in the king james version of the. Praise the lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits psalm 103. The center of the bible the truth group the truth about. If it is not the middle verse of the bible, it should be, in the way it speaks to me. As snippets of gods word, bible verses form the basis of church.
The bible is a compilation of many shorter books written at different times by a variety of authors, and later assembled into the biblical canon. What is the middle word and middle letter of the bible. The middle chapter in the bible is psalm 117, but since chapters have varying numbers of verses, the middle verses do not fall in the middle chapter. The answer to this question depends on how many verses constitute the body of your bible. The following analysis was done using the king james version of the holy bible. The beginning in the beginning god created the heavens and the earth.
That there are 594 chapters each before and following psalms 117. Since the mid16th century editors have further subdivided each chapter into. Most sources are based on 31 174 verses in the kjv. This verse is placed in such a way to bridge the two halves of the bible together, and that bridge is the lord.
The two middle verses would be verses 15,551 and 15,552 psalms 103. One thing that is real ironic about all this is that the new king james version has kept this verse intact as it is written in the king james bible. Since the mid16th century editors have further subdivided each chapter into verses each consisting of a few short lines or sentences. When you add the number of chapters before psalms 118 and those after, the sum is 1,118. The longest verse in the bible contains 90 words kjv esther 8. Is the king james version the best translation of this verse. The middle chapter of the old testament is job 29 and the middle chapter of the new testament is romans. And he made the middle bar to shoot through the boards from the one end to the other. What does the bible say about the shrinking middle class. Thus, it is 117, not 118, that is the center chapter of. Web sites, emails, and regrettably even some bibles 1 assert that ps 118.