Bible Trivia

The Bible is a collection of sixty-six books composed under inspiration of the Holy Spirit written by over 44 authors over a period of about 1500 years throughout the Middle East. Authors include adopted Egyptian nobility (Moses), a shepherd (David), a Babylonian official (Daniel), a tax collector (Matthew), a doctor (Luke), a philosopher/rabbi (Paul), and a fisherman (Peter). The Bible includes poetry, history, government records, prophecy, dialogue, parables, sermons, letters, and religious instructions. The Bible is written in three languages, Hebrew (Old Testament), Aramaic (part of Daniel), and Greek (New Testament). Despite this diversity, the Bible has been remarkably preserved, contains no contradictions, and is widely supported by history, archaeology, science, and philosophy.

The Bible was divided into chapters by Stephen Langton about A.D. 1228. The Old Testament was divided into verses by R. Nathan in A.D. 1448 and the New Testament by Robert Stephanus in A. D. 1551. The first complete English Bible divided into chapters and verses first appeared in the Geneva Bible of 1560.

The Bible has been translated, in whole or in part, into more than 1,100 languages and dialects. About 30,000,000 copies of the complete text of the Bible, or of its principle parts, are distributed annually. The first book printed with movable metal type was the Gutenberg Bible, printed by Johannes Gutenberg, before August 15, 1456, in Mainz, Germany. The first printed Bible divided into verses was a Latin edition by Pagninus, printed in 1528. The Bible was written by some 50 men, only one of whom (Luke) was a Gentile.

Here are some interesting tidbits of facts and trivia specifically in regards to the King James Version of the Bible.

Books:
Books of the Bible - 66
Books in Old Testament - 39
Books in New Testament - 27
Shortest Book - 2 John (13 verses)
Longest book: Psalms (150 chapters)
Middle book of Old Testament - Proverbs
Middle book of New Testament - 2 Thessalonians

Chapters:
Entire Bible - 1189 Chapters
Old Testament - 929 Chapters
New Testament - 260 Chapters
Middle chapter of Old Testament - Job 29
Middle chapter of New Testament - Romans 13
Middle and shortest chapter of Bible - Psalm 117
Shortest chapter: Psalm 117
Longest chapter - Psalm 119
Chapters that are alike - 2 Kings 19 and Isaiah 37

Verses:
Entire Bible - 31,173
Old Testament - 23,214 Verses
New Testament - 7,959 Verses
Middle verse of the Bible - Psalm 118:8 ( Psalm 97:8?)
Middle verse of the Old Testament - 2 Chronicles 20;17
Middle verse of the New Testament - Acts 17:17
Shortest verse of the Old Testament - 1Chronicles 1:25
Shortest verse of the New Testament - John 11:35
Longest verse in the bible - Esther 8:9
Verse containing all letters of the alphabet except J - Ezra 7:21
Verse containing all letters of the alphabet except Q - Daniel 4:37
Verses alike - Psalm 107:8,15, 21, 31

Words:
Entire Bible - 773,692
In the Old Testament - 592,439 words
In the New Testament - 181,253 words
Longest word in the Bible (18 letters) - Maher-shalal-hash-baz - Isaiah 8:1,3
The word "God" appears in every book of the Bible except Esther and Song of Solomon
Words occurring only once in the Bible:
Eternity - Isaiah - 57:15
Grandmother - 2 Timothy 1:5
Gnat - Matthew 23:24

Letters:
Entire Bible: 3,566,480
In the Old Testament - 2,728,100
In the New Testament - 838,380

The Four Gospels:

The gospels present four portraits of Jesus, each in its own characteristic manner. Matthew, the Hebrew tax collector, writes for the Hebrew mind. Mark, the travel companion of Paul and Peter, writes for the Roman mind. Luke, Paul's physician-missionary, writes with the Greek mentality in view. John's gospel is different by nature from the other three; it is an interpretation of the fact of Jesus' life rather than a presentation of its facts in historical sequence.