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Daily Devotions

1 John

1 John 
Day 
Day 26

"You have known the Father."

Text: 1 John 2:13c

CHAPTER AND VERSE DIVISION IN THE BIBLE

When the original Books of the Bible were written, there were no “chapter and verse”. There were a number of scholars who attempted to divide the New Testament into “chapter and verse”. The most prominent was a Roman Catholic bishop.

1. Cardinal Stephen Langton in 1205 created the chapter and verse.

2. His system was widely adopted.

3. Our English Bible has followed this tradition.

4. Modern day scholars have been critical of some of the divisions of chapter and verse.

The following text is one example.

“I write to you, little children,
Because you have known the Father.”
1 John 2:13c

LOOKING AT THE PARAGRAPH

If we look at the above text in its context, we would actually have a clear pattern:

1. John writes to three groups of people

a) Children
b) Fathers
c) Young men (1 John 2:12-13b)

2. He does this twice over with the same pattern (1 John 2:13c-14)

a) Children
b) Fathers
c) Young men (1 John 2:13c-14)

3. However in our NKJV text

a) John’s word to the children was part of 1 John 2:13.
b) This appears to break the pattern.
c) It would seem clearer to have included 1 John 2:13c as the beginning of 1 John 2:14.
d) This would appear to have been more consistent.

4. This is not a textual error

a) We are just puzzled by Langton’s division.
b) However, the meaning of the text does not change in any way.