Chapter and verse is how we make reference to what is in the Bible.
The title of the book comes first (John). The chapter is next, followed by the verse number or numbers (3:16). We call a particular book/chapter/verse combination a “reference”. The chapter divisions and verse numbers were assigned by editors long after the words were written to make it easier for one person to tell another person where, exactly, to find a a statement or a story. So John 3:16 is a verse reference. It is a street address.
Let me give you an example.
If you were to assign numbers to every sentence in this post, it would help you tell someone else, “In 300wordsaday 455:1, Jon says, ‘Chapter and verse is how we make reference to what is in the Bible.'” That statement directs you to this blog, this post and the opening sentence. But notice that I said you assigned those sentence numbers. I didn’t. I don’t write in numbered sentences. I write for thoughts, and those thoughts end up in words and sentences and paragraphs and posts.
In order to speak meaningfully about that sentence, you may need to think about the sentence before, the post before, the paragraph after. Those other sentences may not help you understand what I say, but they may.
In that same way, when we are reading the Bible and we are talking about particular verses or chapters, we need to be cautious about treating them as distinct, separate, discrete thought units. Instead, we are best served by reading the whole story, the whole argument, the whole paragraph and then using the reference to point to specific parts of the story so other people can see where we are pointing.
Make sense?
(Come back tomorrow to see why this post follows yesterday’s.)
300 words a day 
Chris Bowser
Jon,
I liked todays 300 words. I believe that we should read and interpret the Bible as a whole, each verse in light of all the other verses. Knowing what’s in there and where I can find it helps get me through each day. Odd thing is that while the core message doesn’t change, God speaks to me through His word in a dynamic way, tailored to what I am going through now. How DOES He do that when the words/cconcepts are “static”? Thanks for being you. Chris Bowser
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Jon Swanson
of course, while words are static, we aren’t And there is the possibility that the author is consistently having seminars and meet and greets to give fresh perspective. Thank you friend.
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Frank Reed
Jon –
Bingo! I learned some tough lessons as a result of what I call “verse-ology”.
We need to take everything in the Bible in context on a local level (in a chapter) and a universal level (how it fits in the whole story, which the Bible is – an entire story from Genesis 1:1 to the end of Revelation.
For today though, I need to at least consider one verse. One other thing that we need to take into context is how we are receiving the Word. What I mean is that if I step away for a period of time (which I am completely guilty of) I will hear or receive the Word in the context of where I am at the time. That is usually not good when I have ‘stepped back” (like I have recently).
Context is critical in every aspect of life but never more critical than in God’s Word.
Thanks, Jon. You have helped me to hang on at a critical time.
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Jon Swanson
Thanks Frank. I like the local and universal contexts you are highlighting.
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Marcus Goodyear
This is one of my favorite things about The Message. It has lots of issues, but I appreciate what Eugene Peterson did to make the text feel like a text again.
As I often say, the Bible isn’t a magic book. It is a book. God chose that form and worked within the rules of the form. When we treat it differently than we treat other books, we’re missing the point.
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Marcus Goodyear
I mean, we do treat it a little differently because the author is different. But we still approach the form like other books. We still have to read it. We still have to think about literary elements like metaphor, simile, tools of rhetoric, etc.
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Jon Swanson
Marcus, I love this: God chose that form and worked within the rules of the form.
The more I immerse myself in the book, in the story it is telling, the deeper my understanding. I move from “list of rules” or “wise sayings” or “wall plaques” to stories of interactions and authorial intent in shaping understanding. And I see the intricacies of the writing and the imagery.
Thanks
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