Interesting Facts About The Bible

Here some fascinating, surprising, and lesser-known facts about the Bible:

1. The Bible is the best-selling book of all time – estimated at over 5–7 billion copies distributed worldwide.

2. The shortest verse in the Bible (in the original Greek) is John 11:35: “Jesus wept” – only two words.

3. The longest verse is Esther 8:9 (78 words in English).

4. The Bible was written by approximately 40 different authors over a span of about 1,500–1,600 years.

5. The oldest person in the Bible is Methuselah, who lived 969 years (Genesis 5:27).

6. The word “God” appears 4,370 times in the Old Testament (KJV), but only 4 times in the original Hebrew of Genesis 1 (all as “Elohim”).

7. The Bible contains two books named after women: Ruth and Esther.

8. Esther is the only book in the Bible that never mentions God directly.

9. The middle chapter of the Bible is Psalm 117 – the shortest chapter (2 verses).

10. Psalm 118 is the middle chapter by position; Psalm 117 is the shortest, and Psalm 119 is the longest (176 verses).

11. There are exactly 594 chapters before Psalm 118 and 594 chapters after it – 1188 total in the middle.

12. The Bible has been translated into over 3,700 languages (as of 2024), but still only covers about half the world’s languages.

13. The first complete English Bible (Wycliffe Bible) was translated in the 1380s – from Latin, not the original languages.

14. William Tyndale was strangled and burned at the stake in 1536 for translating the Bible into English.

15. About 90% of the New Testament in the 1611 King James Bible comes directly from Tyndale’s earlier work.

16. The chapter divisions we use today were created in 1205 by Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury.

17. Verse divisions were added in 1551 by French printer Robert Estienne (Stephanus) – while riding on horseback, according to legend.

18. The oldest complete manuscript of the New Testament we have dates to about AD 325 (Codex Sinaiticus).

19. The Dead Sea Scrolls (discovered 1947–1956) contain parts of every Old Testament book except Esther.

20. The Bible mentions dinosaurs – most scholars believe “behemoth” (Job 40:15) and “leviathan” (Job 41, Psalm 104:24-26) describe large creatures that sound dinosaur-like.

21. There are over 1,200 different species of animals, plants, and insects mentioned in the Bible.

22. The only domestic animal not mentioned in the Bible is the cat.

23. The word “grandmother” appears only once (2 Timothy 1:5, referring to Lois).

24. The Bible records at least three people who never died: Enoch, Elijah, and Jesus after resurrection.

25. The last word in the Old Testament (in Hebrew order) is “curse” (Malachi 4:6); the New Testament ends with “Amen.”

26. Obadiah is the shortest book in the Old Testament (21 verses).

27. 3 John is the shortest book in the New Testament (by word count in Greek).

28. The Bible contains around 773,692 words in the King James Version.

29. There are approximately 1,189 chapters and 31,102 verses in the Protestant Bible.

30. The name “Lucifer” appears only once in the KJV (Isaiah 14:12) – it’s a Latin translation of the Hebrew “morning star.”

31. The four most common names in the Bible: David (1,118 times), Jesus/Yeshua (about 1,000), Moses (800+), Jacob (over 350).

32. The only Bible verse that mentions “Bible” is 2 Timothy 3:16 in some translations – the original Greek says “Scripture.”

33. The raven was the first animal to leave Noah’s ark (Genesis 8:7), not the dove.

34. The phrase “Do not be afraid” appears 365 times in the Bible (according to some counts – exact number varies by translation).

35. King Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines (1 Kings 11:3).

36. The only two books that contain the full name “Jehovah” in the original KJV (1611) are Exodus 6:3 and Psalm 83:18.

37. The Bible was the first book ever printed on a printing press (Gutenberg Bible, 1455).

38. The longest word in the Bible is “Mahershalalhashbaz” (Isaiah 8:1, 3) – the name of Isaiah’s son, meaning “quick to the plunder, swift to the spoil.”

39. The only person in the Bible explicitly said to have red hair is Esau (Genesis 25:25) – “red, all over like a hairy garment”).

40. Goliath, the giant, was about 9 feet 9 inches tall (6 cubits and a span, (1 Samuel 17:4).

41. The Bible mentions unicorns 9 times in the KJV (e.g., Numbers 23:22) – the Hebrew word “re’em” likely refers to a wild ox or aurochs.

42. There are at least 21 different types of musical instruments named in the Bible (e.g., harp, lyre, trumpet, cymbals).

43. The first murderer in the Bible was Cain, and the first person to build a city was also Cain (Genesis 4:17).

44. Abraham was originally named Abram until God changed it at age 99 (Genesis 17:5).

45. The Bible records the only approved case of polygamy involving a woman: the two sisters Leah and Rachel both married to Jacob.

46. Moses was 80 years old when he first spoke to Pharaoh (Exodus 7:7).

47. The Israelites carried Joseph’s bones with them for 40 years in the wilderness (Exodus 13:19; Joshua 24:32).

48. The only left-handed warrior specifically named in battle is Ehud, who assassinated King Eglon (Judges 3:15–21).

49. Samson killed 1,000 Philistines with the jawbone of a donkey (Judges 15:16).

50. The prophet Ezekiel was commanded to lie on his left side for 390 days and his right side for 40 days as a prophetic act (Ezekiel 4:4–6).

51. Daniel in Babylon refused to eat the king’s rich, unhealthy food and wine, surviving instead on vegetables and water (Daniel 1).

52. Paul wrote at least 13 New Testament books; some scholars argue 14 if Hebrews is included.

53. The apostle John is the only one of the 12 disciples believed to have died of old age – the rest were martyred.

54. The first Christian martyr was Stephen (Acts 7); Saul (later Paul) approved of his execution.

55. The Bible contains the longest recorded prayer – Nehemiah 9 (over 1,200 words in Hebrew).

56. The shortest prayer is Peter’s cry: “Lord, save me!” while sinking in the water (Matthew 14:30).

57. The only book of the Bible that contains all the letters of the English alphabet (in the King James Version) is Ezra (specifically Ezra 7:21 contains every letter except “J,” but the whole book covers them all when combined).

58. The only miracle recorded in all four Gospels is the feeding of the 5,000.

59. Jesus performed 37 recorded miracles in the Gospels – 3 of them involved raising the dead.

60. Jesus spoke more about money than about heaven and hell combined.

61. The word “Christian” only appears 3 times in the entire Bible (Acts 11:26, Acts 26:28, 1 Peter 4:16).

62. The first Gentile convert to Christianity was Cornelius, a Roman centurion (Acts 10).

63. The Bible mentions four different Herods – all part of the same family dynasty.

64. Herod the Great (who tried to kill baby Jesus) died in 4 BC – meaning Jesus was likely born between 6–4 BC.

65. The wise men (Magi) never rode camels in the Bible – that’s a tradition, not Scripture.

66. There were likely more than three wise men – the Bible never gives a number.

67. The name “Mary” appears 54 times in the New Testament – more than any other woman.

68. Lazarus is the only person Jesus raised from the dead who is named – others are anonymous (e.g., the widow’s son, Jairus’ daughter).

69. The first person to see the risen Jesus was Mary Magdalene (John 20:11–18).

70. Thomas was not the only disciple to doubt, – all of them did until they saw Jesus.

71. The last recorded words of Jesus on the cross in Mark’s Gospel are “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34).

72. The Book of Psalms has 150 chapters, but the oldest Hebrew manuscripts divide it into 5 books internally.

73. Psalm 119 is an acrostic poem – each section of 8 verses begins with successive letters of the Hebrew alphabet.

74. The Bible mentions giants (Nephilim) before and after the flood (Genesis 6:4; Numbers 13:33).

75. The city of Tyre is mentioned over 50 times and prophesied to be destroyed – today it’s a fishing village with ruins underwater.

76. The Bible ends with the last command: “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20–21).