Perhaps this remarkable result is not so much a message from God as
it is a message from the KJV editorial committee.
TG
>Gordon,
>
>Thanks for the additional comments.
>
>It appears that one could now argue for the particular authority of the
>English KJV in that it achieves, (a) the centrality of the shortest
>chapter (Ps.117) - an outward appeal, invoking all to praise God, and
>(b) the centrality (in terms of verses) of a matching inward appeal,
>encouraging the soul to bless the Lord (Ps.103:1,2).
>
>With respect to Bruce Metzger, if the Lord has indicated his approval in
>this particular way (as he has, for example, in respect of Genesis 1:1
>and the Creator's name), then the opinions of generations of 'experts'
>are of little account for, clearly, they had no knowledge of these
>developments.
>
>Vernon
>
>http://www.otherbiblecode.com
>
>
>
>gordon brown wrote:
>>
>> Vernon,
>>
>> I don't have time to compile a complete list of verses missing from recent
>> translations of the Bible, and so let me give just a couple of examples.
>> Mark 9:44 and 46 are missing from the NIV. This is the sort of thing
>> that would change the calculation of the central verse of the Bible.
>>
>> There are also many cases in which a phrase found in the AV is missing
>> from a verse in the recent translations, but this would not affect the
>> counting of the total number of verses in the Bible. There are also a
>> number of verses that are separated from the rest of the text by such
>> devices as including them in brackets to indicate doubt that they were
>> part of the original text. The two long examples of this are Mark 16:9-20
>> and John 7:53-8:11.
>>
>> It is interesting that although there are 150 psalms in the Russian Bible,
>> due to splitting and combining a couple of our psalms, the numbering is
>> different, and their Psalm 117 is actually our Psalm 118.
>>
>> I don't know how you can conclude that the dispute involving Mark 16:9-20
>> has been resolved in favor of its legitimacy. For that to happen
>> plausible explanations would have to be found for the following phenomena.
>> I have taken these from a textual commentary by Bruce Metzger. The long
>> ending of Mark is absent from the two oldest Greek manuscripts (which are
>> considered to be the most reliable) and from many translations into other
>> languages (some in manuscripts as late as the tenth century). Clement of
>> Alexandria and Origen show no knowledge of these verses. Eusebius and
>> Jerome attest that the passage was absent from almost all copies of Mark
>> known to them. Many manuscripts that do contain it have a scribal note
>> stating that the older Greek manuscripts lack it. Others mark it with
>> asterisks or obeli, a conventional way of indicating a spurious addition.
>> Some manuscripts have a different, shorter ending. The connection between
>> vs. 8 and vs. 9 is awkward. The women are the subject of vs. 8, but the
>> verb of the first clause of vs. 9 is third person singular with no subject
>> indicated.
>>
>> Gordon Brown
>> Department of Mathematics
>> University of Colorado
>> Boulder, CO 80309-0395
>>
>> On Sat, 15 Sep 2001, Vernon Jenkins wrote:
>>
>> > Gordon,
>> >
>> > Thanks for these comments. The text I took as the basis of my analysis
>> > was that of the Authorized (King James) Version. However, I observe that
>> > the NIV and NASB display identical chapter/verse structures - each with
>> > a footnote to the effect that some of the older mss do not contain
>> > Mk.16:9-20. It appears that other versions, while omitting these verses
>> > from the main text, nevertheless provide them as a footnote.
>> >
>> > What, then, are we to make of these matters? Here again are the facts:
>> >
>> > 1) The central chapter of all English versions of the Christian Bible is
>> > Psalm 117 - the shortest of all its 1189 chapters, and one that
>> > powerfully exhorts all peoples to praise the Lord.
>> >
>> > 2) For the AV, NIV and NASB (and possibly others), standing at the
>> > centre of the verse structure are the first two of Psalm 103. These also
> > > take the form of an exhortation - but now directed inwardly at the soul
>> > of the individual believer.
>> >
>> > While verses of exhortation are no rare thing in the Book of Psalms, I
>> > suggest, nevertheless, that such common ground between these two
>> > _biblical centres_ can hardly be attributable to blind chance -
>> > particularly in view of the parallel phenomena to which attention has
>> > already been drawn. Indeed, the strong suggestion is that the dispute re
>> > Mk.16:9-20 is now resolved in favour of their legitimacy!
>> >
>> > Would you agree ?
>> >
>> > Vernon
>> >
-- _________________ Terry M. Gray, Ph.D., Computer Support Scientist Chemistry Department, Colorado State University Fort Collins, Colorado 80523 grayt@lamar.colostate.edu http://www.chm.colostate.edu/~grayt/ phone: 970-491-7003 fax: 970-491-1801
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Sep 21 2001 - 18:30:47 EDT