Versification

Versification is the process by which a text such as the Bible is divided into chapters and verses. The Bible was originally written without these, and thus versification forms part of the Bible's paratext.

History

The verses in the Hebrew Bible were added by the Masoretes, while verse numbering came later when Robert Estienne introduced them into his 1551 edition of the Greek New Testament and then into his French translation of the whole Bible.

Implications

Versification makes particular sections of the Bible easier to find and to memorise. However, the division into verses does sometimes affect the way a reader interprets it.