Will The Real Middle Verse Of The King James Version Stand Up!
Many books and websites list faulty statistics on the King James Bible. Of course the number of books (66) and chapters (1,189) are fairly easy to count. However when it comes to verses, words and letters, there are a wide variety of numbers floating around. For example when it comes to verses I have read and heard preachers and teachers say there are 31,000 verses, 31,101 verses, 31,102 verses, 31,170 verses and 31,175 verses.
Many use the latter number and then proceed to tell you the middle verse is Psalm 118:8. It reads as follows: It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. Wow, what a verse to be right in the middle of your Bible. Then they tell you to count the words in this middle verse. There are fourteen. That's seven plus seven. That's the number of completeness and spiritual perfection doubled. Then they direct you to the middle two words and they read "the Lord". So the King James Bible has the words "the Lord" right in the center of it.
I have read this in numerous books and on several websites. I have heard it on tapes. I have also received e-mails informing me of this information. On top of all this I have heard my two most favorite preachers proclaim it from the pulpit. It's funny how people copy from one another. Here's the problem. They started off with a faulty statistic. They were taught there were 31,175 verses in the King James Bible and that's not true.
Hey but it gets even worse. If there were 31,175 verses the middle verse would not be Psalm 118:8. It would be Psalm 104:16. This is the 15,588th verse in the King James Bible. It reads as follows: The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted; - hey nothing very astounding there that jumps off the page and slaps you in the face and makes you say wow! In order for Psalm 118:8 (the 15,968th verse in the KJB) to be the middle verse there would have to be 31,935 verses in the King James Bible, which is simply not the case.
One thing that is real ironic about all this is that the New King James Version has kept this verse intact as it is written in the King James Bible. Nevertheless they did not hesitate to tamper with the previous seven verses in Psalm 118. Apparently some one on that committee was aware of all this stuff going on in the center of the Bible. It makes me laugh just to think about it.
The truth is there are 31,102 verses in the King James Bible. Therefore there is no single middle verse. You cannot have a middle verse with an even number of verses. However there are two middle verses. These would be verses 15,551 and 15,552 (Psalms 103:1-2.)
PSALM 103
BLESS the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
These are the middle two verses of the King James Bible. Both verses start with "Bless the LORD, O my soul". Verse 1 continues - and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Verse 2 concludes with - and forget not all his benefits. These are powerful words coming from the two center verses of the Book.
Now let's count the words in these two middle verses. There are twenty-eight. That's twice as many as in the imaginary middle we discussed earlier. That's seven quadrupled (7 times 4) instead of seven doubled (7 times 2.) Here we have seven compounded twice as much. The truth is always better than fiction. Any one that knows their Bible knows that God loves the number seven.
Now let's see if we can find some middle words in the center of God's middle verses. Yes, I see four (bless his holy name.) There are twelve words on one side of this phrase and twelve words on the other side. So the King James Bible has bless his holy name right in the center of the two middle verses! Once again that's twice as many words as in the imaginary center.
This phrase also has exactly twice as many words (12) on each side of it. God loves the number twelve also. Next to the number seven, it is his favorite number. He uses it a lot in his word. For example there were twelve apostles and twelve tribes of Israel. There are twelve manner of fruits bared by the tree of life. It is the number of authority and power. What else would you expect in the center of God's Holy Bible? Bless his holy name.
In conclusion to all this middle of the King James Bible stuff consider this verse of scripture, PSALM 138:2...I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
We see here God thinks quite a bit about his holy name and his word has been magnified above it! So if the Bible is the word of God, and it is, and the King James Bible is the Bible, and it is, then how do you think we should treat it? The answer should be obvious: with honour and respect.
Many use the latter number and then proceed to tell you the middle verse is Psalm 118:8. It reads as follows: It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man. Wow, what a verse to be right in the middle of your Bible. Then they tell you to count the words in this middle verse. There are fourteen. That's seven plus seven. That's the number of completeness and spiritual perfection doubled. Then they direct you to the middle two words and they read "the Lord". So the King James Bible has the words "the Lord" right in the center of it.
I have read this in numerous books and on several websites. I have heard it on tapes. I have also received e-mails informing me of this information. On top of all this I have heard my two most favorite preachers proclaim it from the pulpit. It's funny how people copy from one another. Here's the problem. They started off with a faulty statistic. They were taught there were 31,175 verses in the King James Bible and that's not true.
Hey but it gets even worse. If there were 31,175 verses the middle verse would not be Psalm 118:8. It would be Psalm 104:16. This is the 15,588th verse in the King James Bible. It reads as follows: The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted; - hey nothing very astounding there that jumps off the page and slaps you in the face and makes you say wow! In order for Psalm 118:8 (the 15,968th verse in the KJB) to be the middle verse there would have to be 31,935 verses in the King James Bible, which is simply not the case.
One thing that is real ironic about all this is that the New King James Version has kept this verse intact as it is written in the King James Bible. Nevertheless they did not hesitate to tamper with the previous seven verses in Psalm 118. Apparently some one on that committee was aware of all this stuff going on in the center of the Bible. It makes me laugh just to think about it.
The truth is there are 31,102 verses in the King James Bible. Therefore there is no single middle verse. You cannot have a middle verse with an even number of verses. However there are two middle verses. These would be verses 15,551 and 15,552 (Psalms 103:1-2.)
PSALM 103
BLESS the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. 2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:
These are the middle two verses of the King James Bible. Both verses start with "Bless the LORD, O my soul". Verse 1 continues - and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Verse 2 concludes with - and forget not all his benefits. These are powerful words coming from the two center verses of the Book.
Now let's count the words in these two middle verses. There are twenty-eight. That's twice as many as in the imaginary middle we discussed earlier. That's seven quadrupled (7 times 4) instead of seven doubled (7 times 2.) Here we have seven compounded twice as much. The truth is always better than fiction. Any one that knows their Bible knows that God loves the number seven.
Now let's see if we can find some middle words in the center of God's middle verses. Yes, I see four (bless his holy name.) There are twelve words on one side of this phrase and twelve words on the other side. So the King James Bible has bless his holy name right in the center of the two middle verses! Once again that's twice as many words as in the imaginary center.
This phrase also has exactly twice as many words (12) on each side of it. God loves the number twelve also. Next to the number seven, it is his favorite number. He uses it a lot in his word. For example there were twelve apostles and twelve tribes of Israel. There are twelve manner of fruits bared by the tree of life. It is the number of authority and power. What else would you expect in the center of God's Holy Bible? Bless his holy name.
In conclusion to all this middle of the King James Bible stuff consider this verse of scripture, PSALM 138:2...I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy loving kindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.
We see here God thinks quite a bit about his holy name and his word has been magnified above it! So if the Bible is the word of God, and it is, and the King James Bible is the Bible, and it is, then how do you think we should treat it? The answer should be obvious: with honour and respect.
This article is © Copyrighted by Theological Research, a department of The Believers Organization. Permission is granted to copy and distribute this article, or any portion of it, as long as it's not for profit and not edited in any manner whatsoever. If you wish to use this article in a profit making capacity then permission must be granted by the author. Contact Nic Kizziah, President, The Believers Organization, P. O. Box 40862, Tuscaloosa, AL 35404, phone: (205) 462-1873, email:TheBelievers@charter.net, visit their website: www.thebelieversorganization.org.
