The Bible

Bible Facts:

Where did the Bible get its name?

The word Bible comes from the word biblos (pronounced Biblos) which is the Greek word for book.  So when we say “The Bible” we are saying “The Book.”  It is “The Book” because there is no other like it.  It is “The Holy Bible” because there is no other book that is inspired by God and therefore it is “The Holy Book.”

What are the major sections of the Bible?

The Bible is divided into two major sections: (1) The Old Testament and (2) The New Testament.  Another word for testament is covenant.  The Old Testament or Covenant was a covenant between the people of Israel and God.  The New Testament or Covenant is a covenant between all people and God.  It is the one we follow today.

Interesting facts about the Bible:

The Bible was written over a period of about 1600 years.  

There were about 40 authors involved in the writing.  One of the things that makes The Bible so special is that there could be so many involved in the writing and it still be one unified story.  This is because the writers did not write on their own but, “knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation.  For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:20-21). 

There are 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 books in the New Testament for a total of 66 books.  Those books have been broken down into 1189 chapters (929 in the Old Testament and 260 in the New Testament).  There are a total of 31,173 verses in the Bible (23,214 in the Old Testament and 7,959 in the New Testament).  

The Bible was not originally broken down into chapters and verses.  The New Testament was probably divided into chapters by Cardinal and Archbishop of Canterbury Stephen Langton (1150-1228) during the latter part of his life.  The present verse numbering system was done by Robert Stephens (also identified as Robert Estienne and Robert Stephanus) in his Greco-Latin New Testament, published in 1551.  While there have been various chapter divisions over the years, Robert Stephens is also credited with the present chapter and verse designations of the Old Testament in his Hebrew Bible in 1571.

Trivia:

Longest chapter: Psalm 119

Longest verse: Esther 8:9

Shortest chapter: Psalm 117

Shortest verse: John 11:35 (and 1 Thessalonians 5:16 in some translations)

Middle verse: Psalm 103:1-2

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