Alternate Chapter Divisions in the Pentateuch in the Light of the Masoretic Sections

There are a number of cases in the Pentateuch when chapters in both Hebrew and non-Hebrew printed editions start at different places within one verse of each other. Masoretic sectional divisions of a petuḥah, a setumah, or a seder sometimes coincide with the standard chapter division, sometimes with the alternate chapter division, and sometimes with both. There are also cases where Masoretic sectional divisions are found within two or three verses of the differing chapter divisions. The existence of these alternate chapter divisions has practical consequences for modern students of the Bible. One is the obvious fact that since different chapter divisions will produce different enumeration of verses, the different division can lead to confusion in citing references. Another is the fact that by starting the chapter at a different place, the parameters of the text are then changed and so a different hermeneutic may be produced. In this paper, we shall survey these alternate chapter divisions and see how they correspond with adjacent Masoretic paragraph divisions.