What is the Bible?

The Bible is a collection of books composed of 66 books, with 1,189 chapters and 31,102 verses. It was written over a period of about 1,500 years by approximately 40 writers in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. The Bible is the most-sold book in world history, with over 5 billion copies sold, and is also the most stolen and banned book globally.

 Composition

Two testaments: The Bible consists of 66 books divided between the Old and New Testaments.

Old Testament: Contains 39 books, with the longest book being Psalms (150 chapters). The original text was written primarily in Hebrew. The Old Testament is also known by the names Hebrew Bible and TaNaKh, which is a Hebrew acronym for the three sections: Torah (Teachings), Nevi'im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings). Jesus also referred to the collection as "the Law and the Prophets,".

Hebrew Bible: A common and accurate term, especially in Jewish contexts. 

TaNaKh: This is the Hebrew acronym for the three parts of the Hebrew Bible:

Torah: (Teachings) 

Nevi'im: (Prophets) 

Ketuvim: (Writings) 

 "The Law and the Prophets": This was a term Jesus used to refer to the collection Matthew 5:17-20

 New Testament: Contains 27 books. The New Testament was written in Koine Greek.

Structure and content

Books: 66 total (39 in the Old Testament, 27 in the New Testament)

Chapters: 1,189 total (929 in the Old Testament, 260 in the New Testament)

Verses: 31,102 total (23,145 in the Old Testament, 7,957 in the New Testament)

Writers: Approximately 40 different writers

Author: God Himself

Languages: Originally written in Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic

Longest verse: Esther 8:9

Shortest verse: John 11:35 ("Jesus wept.")

Longest name: Mahershalalhashbaz

Production and distribution

Copies sold: Over 5 billion, making it the best-selling book in world history

Daily sales/giveaways (US): About 168,000 Bibles are sold or given away each day

Languages: Translated into over 700 languages

Popular English translations: The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association releases annual sales rankings for Bible translations. As of late 2022, the top-selling versions included:

New International Version (NIV)

English Standard Version (ESV)

New Living Translation (NLT)

Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

King James Version (KJV) 

Historical development

Writing period: Roughly 1,500 years

Old Testament writing period: Approximately 1,000 years 

New Testament writing period: Approximately 50–75 years

Modern chapters and verses: Chapter divisions were added in the 13th century by Stephen Langton, and verse divisions were added in the 16th century. There is no punctuation in the Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic, so it was added where it seemed appropriate when translated to English.