Bible Facts

 

Here are some truly interesting and cool facts about the Bible. Have fun sharing them with your family.

  • The word Bible comes for the Greek word Biblia, which literally means "books." So, reading the Bible is like reading 66 books. Think about it...the Bible was written by over 40 different authors.
  • The Bible contains about 773, 692 words! It would take you approximately 70 hours to read the whole Bible out loud.
  • The Old Testament was written in Hebrew. The New Testament was written in Greek. Now the Bible has been written in over 6,000 different languages around the world!
  • The Star of Bethlehem was reported by Matthew, but at the same time Chinese astronomers recorded it, too. To the Chinese it was a bright, unknown star.
  • A shepherd boy discovered old clay jars in a cave by the Dead Sea. The old jars contained dusty scrolls, which turned out to be ancient copies of the Old Testament.
  • The shortest Old Testament book is Obadiah. It has 1 chapter with 21 verses.
  • The shortest verse in the Old Testament is 1 Chronicles 1:25.
  • The oldest parable in the Bible is in Judges 9:8-15.
  • The Old Testament has more than 60 references to Jesus.
  • The New Testament contains more than 260 Old Testament quotations.
  • The shortest book in the New Testament is 2 John with 13 verses.
  • The longest book in the New Testament is Acts. It has 28 chapters. Matthew also has 28 chapters, but it is shorter.
  • The New Testament has 7,959 verses.
  • Paul wrote four of his letters in the Bible while in prison. They are Ephesians 3:1, Philippians 1:7, Colossians 4:3, and Philemon.
  • Abraham is the first person in the Bible to be called a Hebrew.
  • Pharaohs ruled Egypt for 3,000 years.
  • The word Christian is first mentioned in the Bible in Acts 11:26. The word Christian is found in only two other places in the Bible: Acts 26:28 and 1 Peter 4:16.
  • The oldest person in the Bible was Methuselah. He died when he was 969 years old.
  • Two men in the Bible never died. They were Enoch and Elijah. God brought them right up to heaven.
  • Isaiah prophesied most about the coming of Jesus. Isaiah 52:13-53:12 lists more than 20 things about Jesus, all of which are true.
  • The strongest man in the Bible is Samson.
  • The wisest man in the Bible is Solomon.
  • The greatest warrior in the Bible is Gideon. With 300 men, 300 trumpets, and God, He defeated 135,000 Midianites.
  • King Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines.
  • The biggest and tallest villain in the Bible is Goliath at over 9-1/2 feet tall.
  • The number 7 appears many times in the Bible. It is often linked to perfection or completion.
  • There were 12 tribes of Israel and 12 disciples.
  • The number 40 is used many times in the Bible. It often means God is about to usher in a new event or era. For instances, rain during the flood lasted 40 days, spies explored Canaan for 40 days, Jonah warned Nineveh for 40 days, and Jesus fasted in the wilderness for 40 days.
  • The first book of the Bible tells of a serpent tempting Eve. The last book of the Bible calls Satan "that serpent of old, who is the Devil." (Genesis 3; Revelation 20:2).
  • "Do not be afraid" appears 365 times in the Bible. Hmm, same amount of days in a year!
  • A raven was the first animal out of the ark.