Abbreviations and Holy Bible Reference Notations- MMBEC

Basic Elements of Christianity

Abbreviations and Holy Bible Reference NotationsRev. 14 (12/25)

Holy Bible Book Abbreviations | Reference Notations | General Abbreviations

The following is provided so that you can become familiar with some common abbreviations that are used in referring to the books of the Holy Bible. Each author and publisher might have their own set of abbreviations. Do not go through the trouble of memorizing these abbreviations.

OLD TESTAMENT

The Pentateuch (Books of Moses, Law)

Genesis	Gen. Ge. Gn.
Exodus	Exo. Ex.
Leviticus	Lev. Le. Lv.
Numbers	Num. Nm. Nu.
Deuteronomy	Deu. De. Dt.

The Books of History

Joshua	Josh. Jsh.
Judges	Jdg. Jud. Jg.
Ruth	Ruth Rt. Ru.
1 Samuel	1 Sam. 1 Sa. 1 Sm. 1S.
2 Samuel	2 Sam. 2 Sa. 2 Sm. 2S.
1 Kings	1 Kin. 1 Kng. 1 Kgs. 1 Kg. 1 Ki. 1K.
2 Kings	2 Kin. 2 Kng. 2 Kgs. 2 Kg. 2 Ki. 2K.
1 Chronicles	1 Chron. 1 Chr. 1 Chrn. 1 Ch.
2 Chronicles	2 Chron. 2 Chr. 2 Chrn. 2 Ch.
Ezra	Ezra Ezr.
Nehemiah	Neh. Ne. Nhm.
Esther	Est. Es.

The Books of Poetry

Job	Job Jb.
Psalms	Psa. Ps.
Proverbs	Pro. Prb. Prv. Pr.
Ecclesiastes	Ecc. Ecs. Ec.
Song of Solomon¹ aka Canticles	Song Sos. So. Cant. Cnt. Ct. Cts.

The Major Prophets

Isaiah	Isa. Is.
Jeremiah	Jer. Je.
Lamentations	Lam. Lm.
Ezekiel	Ezk. Eze.
Daniel	Dan. Da. Dn.

The Minor Prophets

Hosea	Hos. Ho.
Joel	Joel Jo.
Amos	Amos Am.
Obadiah	Oba. Ob. Obad.
Jonah	Jonah Jona. Jon.
Micah	Mic. Mi.
Nahum	Nah. Na.
Habakkuk	Hab. Hb.
Zephaniah	Zep. Zph. Zp.
Haggai	Hag. Hg.
Zechariah	Zec. Zc.
Malachi	Mal.

NEW TESTAMENT

The Gospels

Matthew	Matt. Mt.
Mark	Mark Mrk. Mk. Mr.
Luke	Luke Lk. Lu.
John	John Jn. Joh.

H i s t o r y

Acts of the Apostles²

Acts Ac.

The Pauline Epistles

Romans	Rom. Rm. Ro.
1 Corinthians	1 Cor. 1 Co.
2 Corinthians	2 Cor. 2 Co.
Galatians	Gal. Ga.
Ephesians	Eph.
Philippians	Php.
Colossians	Col. Co.
1 Thessalonians	1 Thess. 1 Th.
2 Thessalonians	2 Thess. 2 Th.
1 Timothy	1 Tim. 1 Ti. 1 Tm.
2 Timothy	2 Tim. 2 Ti. 2 Tm.
Titus	Tit.
Philemon	Phm.

The General Epistles

Hebrews³	Heb. Hb. He.
James	Jam. Ja. Jm.
1 Peter	1 Pet. 1 Pe.
2 Peter	2 Pet. 2 Pe.
1 John	1 Joh. 1 Jn. 1 Jo.
2 John	2 Joh. 2 Jn. 2 Jo.
3 John	3 Joh. 3 Jn. 3 Jo.
Jude	Jude Jde.

Prophetic

Revelation⁴

Rev. Re. Rv.

N o t e s

   ¹Song of Solomon: This book has also been called "Song of Songs."

   ²Acts: Though commonly called "The Acts of the Apostles," it really should be called "The Acts of the Holy Spirit Through the Apostles."

   ³Hebrews: There is good reason to believe this epistle was written by the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul. However, instead of grouping it with the Pauline epistles, it is most often placed with the general epistles.

   ⁴Revelation: A common error most people make when referring to the book of "The Revelation of Jesus Christ" is to say "Revelations." The singular, "Revelation," is correct.

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Reference Notations

A type of shorthand is used when we refer to a verse or set of verses. For example, if I wanted to write, "Matthew chapter 5 verse 3" it might be written like, "Matt. 5:3" or "Mt. 5:3." For Matthew 5, verses 3 to 9 I would write something like, "Matt. 5:3-9" or "Mt. 5:3-9." There are some books, like Jude, that have no chapters. Vocally, if we want to refer to a verse or set of verses in such a book, we should say something like "Third John verse 4" or "Third John verses 4 to (or through) 6." While it is best simply to write a situation like that as "3 Jn. 4" or "3 Jn. 4-6," there are cases where the reference was written something like "3 Jn. 1:4" or "3 Jn. 1:4-6." When there is series of passages in the same book, the abbreviation for the book is sometimes omitted after the first mention, using only chapter and verse numbers. Example: Rom. 1:16-18, 3:10, 4:12, 10:9-10.

There are some authors and publishers that are doing away with the colon (:) between the chapter number and verse(s), using a period instead. Example: Acts 4:12 would be Acts 4.12.

Regarding the Psalms, although you will see references that look like chapter and verse numbers (like Psa. 19:7), the book of Psalms is not comprised of chapters, but as separate Psalms. For example, say "Psalm 45" and not "Psalms 45" or "Psalm chapter 45."

Reference notations and abbreviations are also used for books that are not part of the Holy Bible. Here are some examples: Tob. 6:3 (a reference point in the book of Tobit); Eno. 5:1-7 (referring to a passage in the book of Enoch).

There will be times that parts of a verse might be referred to by adding a letter, in alphabetical order, to the verse number. For example, if I want to refer to a phrase in Ezekiel 26:14 that specifically states that Tyre, at its location the time the verse was written, would no longer be built, I might note it as Eze. 26:14c. Looking at the structure of Eze. 26:14, we see it could contain four or five segments:
And I will make thee like the top of a rock^a: thou shalt be a place to spread nets upon^b; thou shalt be built no more^c: for I the LORD have spoken it^d, saith the Lord GOD^e.

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General Abbreviations

Below is a list of abbreviations that you might find in a variety of books regarding the Holy Bible and theology. Not all are used by Macinta Ministries, and those marked with an * might be peculiar only to Macinta Ministries. This is not an exhaustive list:

approx.	approximately
A.D.	anno domini (In the year of our Lord)
aka	also known as
Alex.	Alexandrinus, a 5th cen. Greek MS of the NT indicated by "A" in textual criticism
Arab.	Arabic
Aram.	Aramaic
ASV	American Standard Version
AV	Authorized Version (King James Version)
B.C.	Before Christ, although the determination by a monk for the year of His birth was off by at least four years.
c.	circa (about, approximately--used for dates)
cen.	century
CEV	Contemporary English Version
cf	confer (compare) -- Macinta Ministries prefers cp
ch. chs.	chapter, chapters
CP. cp.	compare
DSS	Dead Sea Scrolls
E.	East
e.g.	for example (from exemple gratia)
et al.	"and others"
fem.	feminie
f. ff.	following verse, following verses
Gr.	Greek
Heb.	Hebrew
i.e.	that is (from id est)
Jos	Josephus' "Antiquities"
KJV	King James Version
Kt.	the written words of the Heb. OT preserved by the Masoretes
Lat.	Latin
lit.	literally
LXX	Septuagint--An ancient translation of the Heb. OT into the Greek language
marg.	margin, marginal reading
M	The Majority text
masc.	masculine
ms. MS. mss. MSS.	manuscript, manuscripts
MT	Masoretic Text--The traditional Heb. OT
NASB	New American Standard Bible
NEB	New English Bible
NIV	New International Version
NKJV	New King James Version
NT	New Testament
N.	North
NU	A Critical(in a good sense) Text of the Grk. NT published in the 26th edition of the Nestle Aland Greek NT and in the 3rd edition of the United Bible Society's Greek NT
OT	Old Testament
pl.	plural
p. pp.	page, pages
Qr.	Certain words read aloud, differing from the written words, in the Masoretic tradition of the Heb. OT
q. v.	which see (from quod vide)
RSV	Revised Standard Version
S	south
Sina. or perhaps Sin./ Sn.	The Sinaticus, a 4th cen. Greek MS of the NT--Indicated as the Heb. letter "Aleph" in textual criticism
sic.	an abnormality or error reproduced from an original document
sing.	singular
SR.*	Scripture reading
Syr.	Syriac
TEV	Today's English Version
Tg.	Targum--an Aramaic paraphrase of the OT
TR	Textus Receptus aka the Received Text
v. vv.	verse, verses
vss.	versions
Vat.	Vaticanus, a 4th cen. Greek MS of the NT--indicated as "B" in textual criticism
Vg.	The Vulgate--A Latin version of the Holy Bible translated and edited by Jerome
W.	West
WH	Referring to, or data from, the work of Westcott and Hort, "The New Testament in the Original Greek (1881)
YLT	Young's Literal Translation

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