I was interested to read at T.C. Robinson's blog about Gordon Fee's reasons for revising his commentary on First Corinthians (the revised NICNT, published this year). The third of his reasons is as follows:
The damage was done in 1551, with the small Stephanus edition printed in Geneva: ἅπαντα τα τῆς καινῆς διαθήκης. Nouum Iesu Christi D. N. Testamentum: cum duplici interpretatione, D. Erasmi, & Veteris interpretis: harmonia item evangelica, & copioso indice (for the two volumes online see here). In this edition each verse is separated out into a whole paragraph, as can be seen below:
![http://books.google.be/books?id=jYg8AAAAcAAJ&hl=nl&pg=PT15#v=onepage&q&f=true]()
The verse references were needed for the seriously copious indices (103 pages of three columns each), which now provided a transferable (and henceforth indispensable) system of reference (chapter and verse references were also used in the gospel harmony). Here is the first page of the index:
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The point is that something can be excellent and essential for reference, but not necessarily helpful for reading with understanding. It can also become a rather in-house method of communicating, similar to this or even this:
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A third, probably less significant, change from the first edition is related to another passion engendered from many years of teaching, writing, and listening to sermons—namely, to eliminate the language of “chapter and verse,” a system of numbers absolutely essential for “finding things” but otherwise totally foreign to the first-century author. Paul wrote words put into sentences, which in the present written culture also require paragraphs. But he did not write “verses,” language that has inherently, but not purposefully, created a misguided use of Scripture that would be foreign to the original authors. So I have tried to relegate the numbers to parentheses, rather than use such language in the text of the commentary itself. This in itself required a third and final reading of the text in an attempt to be faithful to Paul, while still trying to help the reader “find things” regarding the rest of the biblical revelation.It seems to me that this would be a very helpful discipline for all students and commentators - to eliminate the language of 'chapter and verse' from exegetical discussions. It would also be a helpful discipline for editors and translators of the New Testament.
The damage was done in 1551, with the small Stephanus edition printed in Geneva: ἅπαντα τα τῆς καινῆς διαθήκης. Nouum Iesu Christi D. N. Testamentum: cum duplici interpretatione, D. Erasmi, & Veteris interpretis: harmonia item evangelica, & copioso indice (for the two volumes online see here). In this edition each verse is separated out into a whole paragraph, as can be seen below:
The verse references were needed for the seriously copious indices (103 pages of three columns each), which now provided a transferable (and henceforth indispensable) system of reference (chapter and verse references were also used in the gospel harmony). Here is the first page of the index:
The point is that something can be excellent and essential for reference, but not necessarily helpful for reading with understanding. It can also become a rather in-house method of communicating, similar to this or even this:
