Bible Facts
A short, browsable page of Bible facts — the kind of small details many readers wonder about but rarely stop to look up.
How many books are in the Bible?
Protestant Bibles contain 66 books — 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. Roman Catholic Bibles include additional books known as the deuterocanonical (or apocryphal) writings; Orthodox Bibles include still more. This page focuses on the 66 books shared across Protestant traditions.
How many chapters and verses?
The Bible has approximately 1,189 chapters and around 31,000 verses. Chapter and verse divisions were added long after the biblical books were written — chapters mostly in the 13th century, verses in the 16th — and are helpful tools rather than inspired parts of the text.
What languages was the Bible written in?
The Old Testament was written mostly in Hebrew, with a few short sections in Aramaic. The New Testament was written in Koine Greek, the common trade language of the eastern Mediterranean in the first century.
Who wrote the Bible?
The Bible was written by roughly forty different authors — kings, prophets, farmers, shepherds, fishermen, physicians, and tax collectors — over a period of about 1,500 years. Christian tradition holds that God inspired the writers while leaving their unique voices, styles, and vocabularies intact.
What is the shortest verse in the Bible?
In most English translations, John 11:35 — “Jesus wept.” Two words in English, three in Greek. Small, and enormous.
What is the longest chapter?
Psalm 119, with 176 verses. It is a long acrostic poem in praise of God’s word, with each section beginning with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
What is the shortest chapter?
Psalm 117, with only two verses. It is the middle chapter of the Bible and a compact call to praise God.
What is the longest book?
The book of Psalms, with 150 chapters. The longest single-narrative book is the book of Jeremiah when counted by word count in the original Hebrew.
What is the middle chapter of the Bible?
Traditionally cited as Psalm 117, though of course this depends on the version and how you count.
How many genres are in the Bible?
Scripture contains history, law, poetry, prophecy, wisdom literature, letters (epistles), gospels, and apocalyptic writing. Recognizing genre is one of the most useful skills in Bible reading. A psalm is not read the same way as a legal code, and a parable is not read the same way as a genealogy.
What is a "Testament"?
“Testament” means covenant. The Old Testament centers on God’s covenant with Israel; the New Testament centers on the covenant made through Jesus. They are two parts of one connected story, not two separate books.
How was the Bible transmitted?
Before the printing press, the Bible was copied by hand for centuries. Jewish scribes developed extraordinarily careful systems of copying. Christian communities preserved thousands of Greek New Testament manuscripts — more manuscripts, and earlier ones, than for any other ancient book. See the Dead Sea Scrolls discussion for one striking example.
What are the four Gospels?
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John — four accounts of the life, teaching, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Matthew, Mark, and Luke are called the “Synoptic” Gospels because they share much of the same material, arranged in similar ways. John tells a complementary, more reflective account.
Where should a new reader begin?
A gentle recommendation for anyone new to Scripture: start with the Gospel of Mark (short and lively), then read Philippians, and dip into the Psalms along the way. Our Bible Study page offers a fuller plan.
Where does the name "Bible" come from?
From the Greek ta biblia, meaning “the books.” The Bible is, technically, a small library bound as one volume.
Continue with Bible History, our Bible Timeline, or the Bible Quiz.