Whether one holds on to the Sola Scriptura principle, or to Prima Scriptura, we all agree that Scripture is the best means to interpret Scripture. And using this means of interpretation became easier and more efficient when in the 16th century Christians agreed to divide text of biblical books into chapters and verses. Very soon after that the great-great-grandparents of modern hyperlinks came to be — cross-references (xrefs).

One of the first English Study Bibles — the Geneva Bible (1560) uses xrefs extensively. Since that time xrefs are an indispensable part of many printed and digital Bibles.

By default a basic Bible layout produced by Publishing Assistant will display any footnotes or cross-references at the bottom of the page, with all of the footnotes presented first, followed by the collection of cross-references.