Someone very important to me pointed out that I needed to explain my “French Printer” comment when I talk about chapters and verses in the Bible. Because these divisions have been with us our whole life it is easy to forget that is not how biblical scrolls and early versions of the Bible were written.

You may have noticed that many times in the Gospels Jesus is quoted as saying “it is written in the scroll”. This will depend on your favorite translation, of course. I will offer Luke 4:17 as an example; Jesus looked through the scroll to find where it was written. (It was a nice study in Bible Gateway to put in the word “written” and follow that thought through the New Testament.) If we did that today, you might get looked down on because of your lack of knowledge for not quoting the book, chapter, and verse.

A quick search yielded these sites (no particle reason for giving them) and many more. Langton and Estienne were not the first, but their work seems to be the foundation and final product of what is used today. Many printing companies are now adding chapter headings and section descriptors, which are also a nice help.

Who divided the Bible into chapters and verses? – BibleAsk

Stephen Langton started in the 13^th century to break the longer books of the Bible into chapters, especially the Old Testament.

Robert Estienne, a French printer, continued the adding of chapters and verses in the 16^th century. The Geneva Bible in 1560 had verses.

Chapters and verses of the Bible – Wikipedia

When and How Was the Bible Split into Chapters and Verses? – Topical Studies (biblestudytools.com)

Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Bible Verses and Chapters  | Bible Gateway News & Knowledge  This one has “fun facts” about chapters and verses.

My fun fact. The first printed version of the King James Bible did not use Chapters and Verses.