3 ms·

I think my point, though, that the unit of thought in the scriptures is not the atomic verse, still stands. If you'd like to emend "collected works of Jane Aust

by wcarey 6y ago

I think my point, though, that the unit of thought in the scriptures is not the atomic verse, still stands. If you'd like to emend "collected works of Jane Austen" to "collected works of 19th century authors", feel free.

goto11 6y ago
I argue that in some cases the "units of thoughts" are verses (proverbs, laws), in other cases they are longer like psalms, sermons, chapters, letters or books. I totally agree taking a single verse out of a longer narrative rarely makes sense. But the bible is not like a novel or a collection of novels, although some of the books (like Job) is kind of like a novel.
- wcarey 6y ago
  Proverbs is certainly the book most amenable to division into verses.
RobertRoberts 6y ago
A few things to consider: 1. Many of the writings are letters, and therefore short. 2. Many of the writings, though grouped together by books, their chapters really are often distinct documents written at different times. (some are even historical logs like Kings and Chronicles) 3. There are _many_ sections that really do break down by lines and sections. The best examples are Proverbs and Psalms. 4. It's a huge document, and much of it is useful to reference later, and having a system in place for this (of any kind) is helpful for many reasons. Last, I agree with your general sentiment. The first time I read sections of the bible without the artificial breaks and numbers getting in the way gave me a completely different perspective on the _content_. So I make a point to read like this when I feel the numbers may be in the way of comprehension.
hajile 6y ago
Single sentences commonly span multiple verses which alone is enough to imply that cannot be true. I think very few who have read a Bible would come to the conclusion that verses are intended to be atomic.

3 ms·

I think my point, though, that the unit of thought in the scriptures is not the atomic verse, still stands. If you'd like to emend "collected works of Jane Aust

by wcarey 6y ago

goto11 6y ago
I argue that in some cases the "units of thoughts" are verses (proverbs, laws), in other cases they are longer like psalms, sermons, chapters, letters or books. I totally agree taking a single verse out of a longer narrative rarely makes sense. But the bible is not like a novel or a collection of novels, although some of the books (like Job) is kind of like a novel.
- wcarey 6y ago
  Proverbs is certainly the book most amenable to division into verses.
RobertRoberts 6y ago
A few things to consider: 1. Many of the writings are letters, and therefore short. 2. Many of the writings, though grouped together by books, their chapters really are often distinct documents written at different times. (some are even historical logs like Kings and Chronicles) 3. There are _many_ sections that really do break down by lines and sections. The best examples are Proverbs and Psalms. 4. It's a huge document, and much of it is useful to reference later, and having a system in place for this (of any kind) is helpful for many reasons. Last, I agree with your general sentiment. The first time I read sections of the bible without the artificial breaks and numbers getting in the way gave me a completely different perspective on the _content_. So I make a point to read like this when I feel the numbers may be in the way of comprehension.
hajile 6y ago
Single sentences commonly span multiple verses which alone is enough to imply that cannot be true. I think very few who have read a Bible would come to the conclusion that verses are intended to be atomic.