When someone says "John 3:16", every Christian knows where to look. Chapter and verse numbers make it easy to find any passage in seconds. But the original books of the Bible had no such numbers. They were added much later to help readers.
How the Bible was first written
The books of the Bible were written as continuous texts — letters, histories, poems and prophecies. Paul's letter to the Romans, for example, was a single letter meant to be read aloud from beginning to end. Early Hebrew scrolls had some paragraph breaks and divisions for reading in the synagogue, but nothing like our modern chapter and verse system.
Chapters: Stephen Langton (around 1227)
The chapter divisions used in most Bibles today are generally credited to Stephen Langton, a scholar who later became Archbishop of Canterbury. Around the early 13th century, he divided the Latin Vulgate into chapters. His system spread throughout Europe and was later adopted in Hebrew and Greek printed editions as well.
Verses: Old and New Testament
- Old Testament: Jewish scribes had long marked verse divisions in the Hebrew text. Verse numbers were added to printed Hebrew Bibles in the 16th century.
- New Testament: the printer and scholar Robert Estienne (also known as Stephanus) introduced numbered verses in his Greek New Testament published in 1551.
The first English Bible with chapters and verses
The Geneva Bible of 1560 was the first English Bible to use numbered verses throughout. The King James Version of 1611 followed the same system, and almost all English Bibles since have used it.
How many chapters and verses are there?
In the 66-book Protestant Bible there are 1,189 chapters. The number of verses is a little over 31,000 (just over 31,100 in the KJV). Counts differ slightly between translations because some modern versions place a few verses in footnotes.
Interesting facts
- Longest chapter: Psalm 119, with 176 verses.
- Shortest chapter: Psalm 117, with only 2 verses.
- Shortest verse in English: John 11:35 — "Jesus wept." (KJV)
- Some psalms count their title as verse 1 in Hebrew Bibles but not in English Bibles, so verse numbers can differ by one.
Using chapter and verse numbers wisely
Numbers are wonderful tools, but they come with a risk: we can read a single verse on its own and miss its meaning. Remember:
- Chapter breaks are not always natural breaks. Sometimes a new chapter begins in the middle of a thought. For example, 1 Corinthians 13, the famous "love chapter", continues an argument that begins in chapter 12.
- Read the surrounding verses. Before quoting a verse, read the paragraph or the whole chapter.
- Use headings with care. Many Bibles add section headings; these are helpful but are not part of the original text.
- Read whole books. Try reading short books such as Philippians or James in one sitting, as their first readers did.
How to look up a reference
A reference like Romans 8:28 means the book of Romans, chapter 8, verse 28. Read our step-by-step guide on how to look up a Bible verse, and our list of Bible book abbreviations.
Also see how to interpret the Bible in context.