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How Well Do You Know the Bible?
How Well Do You Know the Bible?
(Complied by Paul R. Blake from multiple sources)
The Bible is actually a library of 66 books, written by 44 authors over a period of about 1500 years. The 39 books of the Old Testament were composed between 1400 and 400 B.C., the 27 books of the New Testament between A.D. 50 and A.D. 100.
When the Bible was first written, there were no chapters or verses. In fact, many of the early, handwritten manuscripts were written without spaces between the words! Stephen Langton divided the Bible into chapters about A.D. 1228. The Old Testament was divided into verses by R. Nathan in A.D. 1448, and Robert Stephanus divided the New Testament into verses in A.D. 1551. The first complete Bible with chapter and verse divisions was the Geneva Bible of A.D. 1560.
The middle book of the Old Testament is Proverbs. The middle book of the New Testament is 2Thessalonians. The Old Testament has 23,214 verses; the New Testament has 7,959 verses; and, the entire Bible has 31,173 verses. The middle verse of the Bible (KJV) is Psalms 103:1-2 (There are two middle verses, since the KJV has an even number of verses). The middle verse of the Old Testament is 2Chronicles 20:17, and the middle verse of the New Testament: Acts 17:17
The shortest verse of the Old Testament is 1Chronicles 1:25 - “Eber, Peleg, Reu,” and the shortest verses of the New Testament is John 11:35 - “Jesus wept,” and 1Thessalonians 5:16 “Rejoice evermore.” The longest verse in the Bible is Esther 8:9
There are 1,189 chapters in the Bible with 929 in the Old Testament, and 260 in the New Testament. The middle chapter of Old Testament is Job 29, and the middle chapter of New Testament is Romans 13. Both the middle and shortest chapter of the Bible is Psalms 117, while the longest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119. The two chapters that are most alike are 2Kings 19 and Isaiah 37.
The Old Testament contains 592,439 words, and the New Testament has 181,253 words, making a total number of words in the Bible to be 773, 692 words. The longest word in the Bible (18 letters) is Maher-shalal-hash-baz (Isaiah 8:1), the son of Isaiah the prophet. And some words only occur once in the whole Bible, for example:
eternity (Isaiah 57:15), grandmother (2Timothy 1:5), and gnat (Matthew 23:24).
Wait just a moment! I submit to you that one can know all of these facts and still not know the Bible. It is a common device of the Adversary to divert our attention with trivia to keep us from giving attention to the substance. Bible facts are fun; Bible knowledge is essential. We would profit greatly if we would give our attention daily to reading and meditating on the word of God. Bookend your daily Bible study with prayers for wisdom; open and close your day thinking about what God has revealed about Himself, His will, and His love for our eternal souls. The Bible is meant to be bread for daily use, not cake for special occasions.
“My eyes are awake through the night watches, That I may meditate on Your word” (Psalm 119:148). “Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine… Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all” (1Tim. 4:13, 15).
#DaysofaChristianWeek
Son Sufficient Sunday
Most Mindful Monday
Total Transformation Tuesday
Wonderful Word Wednesday
Thoroughly Thankful Thursday
Faithful Fellowship Friday
Selfless Sacrifice Saturday
Bible Trivia: Who Said?
1. “My punishment is greater than I can bear!” _____________
2. “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” ______________
3. “Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delights to honor!” ______________
4. “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your Kingdom.” _________________
5. “He has shown you, O man, what is good” _____________
Perfection
By Maurice Dyson
Earth and sea and sky so vast;
Manifest their perfect cast;
Now as in the distant past;
As the Lord has made them.
Creatures dwelling on the earth,
By the Lord who gave them birth,
Shall proclaim His highest worth;
Doing as He bade them.
Sin and death shall not prevail;
Nor shall resurrection fail;
Hell shall be the devil’s jail;
Time has just delayed them.
God so loved us through His Son;
All salvation’s work is done;
All the glories He has won;
Let us not evade them.
He has set His holy laws;
With a just and righteous cause;
Christ was perfect without flaws;
He alone obeyed them.
Songs of praise shall ring abroad;
Hearts and minds with one accord;
Praising our incarnate Lord;
As He well portrayed them.