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In general, the conventional division of the books of Tanach into chapters is not based on Jewish tradition but on Christian invention. However, there are some books of Tanach in which various practices that I've seen seem to take the conventional chapter divisions into account, such as:

  • Reading a Psalm (i.e. chapter of Tehillim) as a unit, either as part of formal liturgy or as informal prayer.

  • In public readings of all five Megillot, singing a concluding flourish at the ends of chapters.

Are the conventional chapter breaks in Tehillim, any of the Megillot, or any other complete book of Tanach entirely consistent with a Jewish tradition for breaking up that book?

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Isaac Moses
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    related http://judaism.stackexchange.com/q/36805/4940 – magicker72 Dec 14 '16 at 15:17
  • Some old editions of Eikha have four chapters (the latter two are put together) FWIW. It's clear the 5 chapters of Eikha are distinct units. Is that enough? What do you need to prove that those are "Jewish stops"? – Double AA Dec 14 '16 at 15:28
  • Some editions of Tehillim have 147 chapters http://judaism.stackexchange.com/a/4684/759 . Does this answer the question, or are you wondering if the 150 is a Jewish tradition too, even if not universal? – Double AA Dec 14 '16 at 15:29
  • @DoubleAA A write-up of that whole issue (along the lines of Tehillim: according to some, yes; according to some, almost, ...) would be constitute great answer. – Isaac Moses Dec 14 '16 at 15:32
  • @DoubleAA Do you have a reference for 4-chapter Eikha? – magicker72 Dec 14 '16 at 15:32
  • I believe the chapter divisions come from when Christian printers were in charge of printing Jewish seferim – ezra Dec 15 '16 at 15:56
  • @EzraHoerster that information is part of the basis for this question. – Isaac Moses Dec 15 '16 at 15:57
  • @IsaacMoses - that's why it's a comment and not an answer :) – ezra Dec 15 '16 at 15:58
  • There are cases in which the christians who invented the chapter numbers happened to get it right. Many times they did not. – sabbahillel Dec 15 '16 at 18:20
  • No sources, but I believe Eichah and Tehillim were originally divided into five and 150 perakim respectively. – DonielF Dec 20 '16 at 18:33
  • @magicker72 Try https://archive.org/stream/The_Second_Rabbinic_Bible_Vol_1/1#page/n9/mode/2up on page 10, though later in volume 4 he does print a 5th chapter heading. Maybe he changed his mind? – Double AA Mar 20 '17 at 17:09

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The book of Obadiah has one chapter. I haven't seen anyone break it into multiple chapters.

DanF
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