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Books of the Bible

Brief Facts about the Books of the Bible

– The Jewish Bible contains 24 different books which are divided into three
sections called the Law (Torah), the Prophets (Nevi‘im) and the Writings
(Ketuvim). There are 5 book of the Law, 8 books of the Prophets, and 11 books of
the Writings.

– The Christian Bible comes in three major versions. The Protestant Bible
traditionally has 66 books in total, the Catholic Bible includes 73 different books,
while the Eastern Orthodox Bible usually contains 78 total books in their particular
version of Scriptures.

– Every Christian Bible has exactly 27 books included in the New Testament.
Therefore, the differences in number of total books comes from the Old Testament.
Thus, the Protestant Bible has 39 Old Testament books (39 + 27 = 66 books), the
Catholic Bible includes 46 Old Testament books (46 + 27 = 73 books), and the
Eastern Orthodox Old Testament has 54 different books (51 + 27 = 78 books).

– The Bible‘s longest book is Psalms, the shortest is 3 John, while the middle
book(s) are Micah and Nahum.

– The Old Testament‘s middle book is Proverbs, the largest book is Psalms, and
the smallest book is Obadiah.

The shortest book in the New Testament is 3 John, if counting by words. If

counting verses, the shortest is 2 John instead. The longest New Testament book is
the Gospel of Luke, and the New Testament‘s middle book is 2 Thessalonians

New Testament References to Old Testament Prophets

- Isaiah: mentioned 419 times in twenty-three New Testament books.

- Psalms: mentioned 414 times in twenty-three New Testament books.

- Genesis: mentioned 260 times in twenty-one New Testament books.

- Exodus: mentioned 250 times in nineteen New Testament books.

- Deuteronomy: mentioned 208 times in twenty-one New Testament books.

- Ezekiel: mentioned 141 times in fifteen New Testament books.

- Daniel: mentioned 133 times in seventeen New Testament books.

- Jeremiah: mentioned 125 times in seventeen New Testament books.

- Leviticus: mentioned 107 times in fifteen New Testament books.

- Numbers: mentioned 73 times in four New Testament books.

The Recent Origins of Biblical Chapters and Verses

– Until a few hundred years ago, the Bible contained no chapters or verses at all.

– It wasn‘t until the 16th Century, many years after it‘s first printing (even more
since it was compiled) that the Bible was divided into the chapters and verses we
use today. They were designed for ease of reference and are a tool organised by
man, not put there by God.

– The whole Bible, divided into chapters and verses, first appeared in 1560 in what
is known as the ‗Geneva Bible.‘ It was so called because it was prepared by the
Reformers in Geneva. It is also called the ‗Breeches Bible,‘ because Genesis 3:7 is
translated: ‗They sewed fig leaves together and made themselves breeches.‘

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Chapters of the Bible

– The Bible was divided into chapters by Cardinal Hugo in 1250.

Brief Facts about the Chapters of the Bible

– The King James translation has 1,189 chapters. If you read three chapters a day,
six days a week, and four chapters on Sunday, you will read the entire Bible in less
than one year‘s time.

– The Old Testament has 929 chapters and the New Testament has 260 chapters.

– The longest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119, which consists of 176 verses.

– In terms of the entire Bible, the middle chapter and the shortest is Psalms 117. It
contains only two verses

– The middle chapter of the Old Testment is Job 29.

– The middle chapter in the New Testament is between Romans 13 and 14.

– The longest New Testament Chapter is Luke 1.

– Psalms 117, 118 and 119 are chapters with special significance in the Bible.
Apparently, Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 118 is the central
chapter of the Bible and Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible.

– There is one chapter that is repeated twice in the Bible: (Psalms 14 and Psalms
53) ‗The fool says in his heart, ―there is no God.‖ They are corrupt, their deeds are
vile; there is no one who does good.‘ However, they are not mirror images of each
other.

– Psalm 37 is one of the few that are acrostic – but not in English!

– The LORD God‘s Blessing and Cursing Passage, where He gives mankind the
choice whether to be obedient to God, is in Deuteronomy Chapter 28.
– The nineteenth chapter of 2 Kings and the thirty-seventh chapter of Isaiah are
nearly identical.

– The Most Comforting Chapters – Psalms 23, John 14, Love Chapter – 1
Corinthians 13, Faith Chapter – Hebrews 11, New Testament Formation Acts 2,
Alike Chapters — 2 Kings 19 and Isaiah 37

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Verses of the Bible

– The New Testament was divided into verses by Sir Robert Stephens in 1551.

Brief Facts about the Verses of the Bible

– The Holy Bible contains 31,173 verses.

– The longest verse in the Bible is Esther 8:9 which contains 90 words.

– The shortest verse in the NIV Bible is not ‗Jesus wept‘ in John 11:35, but ‗He
said‘ from Job 3:2.

– The middle verse in the Bible is Psalms 118:8.

– 2 John and 3 John have the same number of verses, 13 of them. However, John 3
wins the title of the shortest book due to its fewer number of words.

– A number of verses in the Bible (KJV) contain every single letter of the 26-letter
alphabet except for one specific letter of the alphabet. Ezra 7:21 contains all but the
letter ‗J‘.

– Joshua 7:24, 1 Kings 1:9, 1 Chronicles 12:40, 2 Chronicles 36:10, Ezekiel 28:13,
Daniel 4:37, and Haggai 1:1 all contain every single letter except ‗Q‘.
– 2 Kings 16:15 and 1 Chronicles 4:10 contain all letters except ‗Z‘.

– Galatians 1:14 contains all letters with the exception of ‗K‘.

– According to popular opinion, the most precious verse is John 3:16, the saddest
verse is Mark 15:34, and the grandest verse is Romans 8:11. \

– The 8th, 15th, 21st, 31st verses of the 107th Psalm are alike.

– Every verse in the 136th Psalm has the same ending.

– The middle verse of the Old Testament is 2 Chronicles 20:13. The shortest verse
in the Old Testament is 1 Chronicles 1:25 and the longest verse is Esther 8:9.

– The middle verse in the New Testament is Acts 17:17. The shortest verse is 1st
Thessalonians 5:16, while the longest verse is Revelation 20:4, with 68 words

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Words of the Bible

Brief Facts about the Words of the Bible

– The entire Judeo-Christian Bible contains approximately 773,692 words, with

around 592,439 words in the Old Testament and about 181,253 words in the New
Testament.

– There are approximately 8,000 different words in the Holy Bible

– The longest single word in the Bible is ‗Mahershalalhashbaz‘ (Isaiah 8:1)

– The very last word in the Old testament is the word ‗Curse‘, just as the last word
in the New testament is the word ‗Amen‘

– The Book of Esther and the Song of Solomon are the only two books that do not
contain the word ‗God‘.
Words for Different Weights and Measures in the Bible

Bath = about 9 gallons

Bekah = ¼ of an ounce

Cab = 2 quarts

Cubit = about 18 inches

Day‘s journey = 20-25 miles

Ephah = about 1 bushel

Farthing = ¼ cent

Fathom = 6 feet

Finger = ¾ of an inch

Firkin = 9 gallons

Furlong = fraction of a mile

Gerah = .4 ounces

Handbreadth = about 3¾ inches

Hin = 6 quarts

Homer = 90 gallons liquid or 11 bushels dry

Log = 1 pint

Mite = of a cent

Omer = 7 pints

Pound = about $16 in money

Reed = about 11 feet

Sabbath Day Journey = 1 mile

Shekel = .5 ounces weight worth $5 in gold or 64 cents silver

Span = about 9 inches

Talent = $1000 worth of metal 75 lbs. weight

Word Repetition in the Bible

– The word ‗And': occurs 46,277 times

– The word ‗God': mentioned 3,358 times

– The word, ‗LORD': appears 7,736 times.

– The words ‗Do not be afraid': appears 365 times in the Bible, the same number of
days in a year.

– The words ‗baptize, baptized, baptizest, baptizeth, baptizing‘ are cited in the
Bible 77 times.

– The word ‗Lion‘ happens 55 times

– The word ‗Salt': occurs more than 30 times in the Bible.

– The word ‗Dog': occurs 14 times in the Bible

– The word ‗Christian': appears only three times in the Bible (Acts 11:26, 26:28
and 1 Peter 4:16).

– The words ‗Boy‘ and ‗Boys': are mentioned 3 times.

– The words ‗Girl‘ and ‗Girls': are mentioned 2 times.

– The word ‗Reverend': one time (Psalms 111:9)

– The word ‗Eternity': one time (Isaiah 57:15)

– The word ‗Grandmother': one time (2 Timothy 1:5)

– The word ‗God': appears in every book except the Book of Esther and Song of
Solomon.

– The word ‗Cat': is totally absent from the Bible.

Words and Phrases with Biblical Origins

A thorn in the side (2 Corinthians 12:7)

The Powers that be (Romans 13:1)

The handwriting on the wall (Daniel 5)

Can a leopard change its spots (Jeremiah 13:23)

Holier than thou (Isaiah 65:5)

A drop in the bucket (Isaiah 40:15)

Woe is me! (Isaiah 6:5)

Like a lamb to slaughter (Isaiah 53:7)

Do not throw pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6)

Fire and brimstone (Genesis 19:24, Revelation 21:8)

The forbidden fruit (Genesis 2:17)

Eat, drink and be merry (Luke 12)

Money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10)

The skin of our teeth (Job 19:20)

A land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:8)

Feet of Clay (Daniel 2:33-34)

Taking a Sabbatical (Leviticus 25:1-7, Deuteronomy 15:1-11)

Spare the rod, spoil the child (Proverbs 13:24)

By the sweat of your brow (Genesis 3:17,19)

It is better to give than to receive. (Acts. 20:35)

A leopard cannot change its spots. (Jeremiah 13:23)

The love of money is the root of all evil. (Timothy 6:10)

Nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9)

Let he who is without sin cast the first stone. (John 8:7)

Fly in the ointment. (Ecclesiastes 10:1)

Salt of the earth. (Matthew 5:13)

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Names of the Bible

Brief Facts about the Names of the Bible

– Naming children after famous Biblical characters such as Abraham, Jacob,

Jonathan, or Samuel has been a Judeo-Christian tradition for thousands of years
and continues to be practiced even today throughout the entire Judeo-Christian
world.

– Because of innate differences in language and dialect among Judeo-Christian

believers from different continents and nations, the same Biblical name may differ
greatly in terms of spelling and pronunciation. For example, Ivan in Russian, Juan
in Spanish, and Johann in Swedish, all mean John in the English language.

– Some of the most popular names in history all originate from the Bible. This
includes the names Adam, David, John, Jacob, Elizabeth, Sarah,and Mary.

Male Name Repetition in the Bible

- David: mentioned 1118 times

- Moses: mentioned 740 times

- Aaron: mentioned 339 times

- Saul: mentioned 338 times

- Abraham: mentioned 306 times

- Solomon: mentioned 295 times

- Jacob: mentioned 270 times

- Joseph: mentioned 208 times

- Joshua: mentioned 197 times

- Paul: mentioned 185 times

- Peter: mentioned 166 times

- Joab: mentioned 137 times

- Jeremiah: mentioned 136 times

- Samuel: mentioned 135 times

- Isaac: mentioned 127 times

Jesus Christ is mentioned 973 times, second only to David

Female Name Repetition in the Bible

- Sarah, Abraham‘s wife: mentioned 57 times

- Rachel, Jacob‘s second wife: 47 times

- Leah, Jacob‘s first wife: 34 times

- Rebekah, Isaac‘s wife; 31 times

- Jezebel, wicked queen: 23 times

- Mary, Jesus‘ mother: 19 times

- Abigail: 15 times

- Miriam: 15 times

- Mary Magdalene: 14 times

- Hagar, Abraham‘s concubine: 14 times

- Eve: mentioned only 4 times

Names of the Most Unique Biblical Characters

- The Earliest: Adam, world‘s first human being. (Genesis 2:7)

- The Oldest: Methuselah, son of Enoch, who lived to be 969. (Genesis 5:27)

- The Strongest: Samson, carnal Nazarite whom God used to deliver Israel from
the Philistines. (Judges 14:6, 15:5)

- The Wisest: Solomon, one of the greatest Kings of Israel and the son of David,
(1 Kings 3:12)

- The Richest: Solomon, who at one time would receive 666 talents of gold every
year until the LORD became angry with him. (1 Kings 10:23)

- The Tallest: Goliath, who was over nine feet tall, but was then killed in battle by
David, the shepherd-boy/King. (1 Samuel 17:4)

- The Shortest: Zacchaeus, who once climbed a sycamore tree just to catch a
glimpse of Jesus. (Luke 19:3-4)

- The Fattest: Eglon, Moabite king who was killed by the Israelite judge named
Ehud. (Judges 3:17)

- The Meekest: Moses, Israel‘s great prophet, judge and author of the first five
books of the Bible (Numbers 12:3)

- The Cruelest: Manasseh, who shed blood from one end of Judea to the other,
but later repented for his violent cruelty. (2 Chronicles 33:1-13)

- The Fastest: Asahel, who was described in the Bible as being ‗light of foot as a
wild roe.‘ (2 Samuel 2:18)

- The Greatest of the Prophets: John the Baptist, a predecessor and family
relative of Jesus of Nazareth. (Matthew 11:11)

- The Guiltiest: Judas, who willingly betrayed Jesus Christ for a mere 30 pieces
of silver. (Matthew 27:3-5)

- The Proudest: Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king who destroyed Jerusalem,

but was later humbled by God himself. (Daniel 4)
- The Most Beautiful: Esther, a Jewish queen who saved her people, the Jews,
from mass-murder at the hands of Haman. (Esther 2:7)

- The Most Traveled: Paul, who proved to be a great theologian and tireless
missionary (Acts 13:4, 15:36, 18:23)

- The Most Sorrowful: Jeremiah, who was persecuted by his own fellow Jews for
preaching against sin and who saw his beloved Jerusalem destroyed as a result.
(Jeremiah 9:1, Lamemtations 1:12)

- The Most Persecuted: Job, who was attacked by Satan, totally misunderstood
by his wife, and then criticized by his best friends. (Job 1-2)

- The Most Lovestruck: Jacob, who agreed to work for Rachel‘s father for a full
seven years just for the hand of Rachel in marriage. (Genesis 29:18-20)

- The Most Frightened: Belshazzar, whose knees trembled when the handwriting
on the wall appeared from out of nowhere. (Daniel 5:6)

- The Most Rash: Jephthah, who vowed to offer a special sacrifice if God aid him
in battle. Tragically, the sacrifice turned out to be his own daughter (Judges 11:30)

- The Most Doubtful: Thomas, who continued to doubt the reality of Christ‘s
resurrection until he saw Jesus with his own two eyes and touched the Savior with
his own two hands. (John 11:16, 20:24-29)

Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ.

– St. Jerome, a 5th century Bible Scholar

Names of the 12 Minor Prophets (Old Testament)

1. Hosea

2. Joel
3. Amos

4. Obadiah

5. Jonah

6. Micah

7. Nahum

8. Habakkuk

9. Zephaniah

10. Haggai

11. Zecariah

12. Malachi

Names of the 8 New Testament Authors

~ The Gospel of Matthew was written by Matthew in 55 A.D.

~ The Gospel of Mark was written by John Mark in 50 A.D.

~ The Gospel of Luke was written by Luke in 60 A.D.

~ The Gospel of John was written by John in 90

~ The Book of Acts was written by Luke in 65 A.D.

~ The Letter to the Romans, 1st Corinthians, 2nd Corinthians, Galatians,

Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st Thessalonians, 2nd Thessalonians, 1st
Timothy, 2nd Timothy, Titus, Philemon were all written by Paul from 50 to 70
A.D.
~ The Letter to the Hebrews was most likely written by Paul, Luke, Barnabas, or
Apollos in 65 A.D.

~ The Letter of James was written by James in 45 A.D.

~ The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Letters of Peter were all written by Peter in 60 A.D.

~ The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Letters of John were all written by John in 90 A.D.

~ The Letter to Jude was written by Jude in 60 A.D.

~ The Book of Revelation was written by John in 90 A.D.