Monday, August 5, 2024

The Importance of Section Headings in the Bible

I hate to say it, but sometimes the section headings in the UBS Greek New Testament are unnecessarily ambiguous. For example, "Paul's Prayer for the Philippians" for 1:3-11 is misleading on two counts: first, there are actually two units of discourse in this section of the letter (1:3-8 and 1:9-11); and second, Paul's prayer is found only in the latter unit (1:9-11). I might entitle these two paragraphs as follows:

1:3-8: "Thanksgiving for the Philippians' Partnership in the Spread of the Gospel"

1:9-11: "Prayer for Increasing Love among the Philippians"

Remember: paragraphing focuses on the shape of a discourse, while headings elucidate its message. Good section headings are therefore a handy framework for understanding individual verses and paragraphs in their wider context.

Just a quick observation!