Strange, surprising & fascinating
Counts, records, and surprising passages — interesting things about the Bible as a text. We report what's there.
All curiosity entries
'He has set eternity in the human heart' — what Ecclesiastes 3:11 actually says
Ecclesiastes 3:11 says God set eternity in the human heart — using a Hebrew word (olam) that means 'hidden time' or 'time beyond grasping' more than infinite duration. The verse Pascal was glossing.
Balaam's talking donkey
Numbers 22. A non-Israelite prophet's donkey sees an angel her owner cannot see, and speaks. One of two non-human speakers in the Bible.
Ezekiel chapter 1 — the vision of the four faces, the wheels, and the eyes
Ezekiel 1: four creatures with four faces each, wheels covered in eyes, a sapphire throne. One of the most elaborate visionary descriptions anywhere in the Hebrew Bible.
How many books are in the Bible?
Protestant Bibles: 66 books. Catholic: 73. Eastern Orthodox: 78–81. The New Testament (27 books) is the same across all three.
How many chapters are in the Bible?
The Protestant Bible: 1,189 chapters (929 OT + 260 NT). Chapter divisions are medieval, not original.
How many people named John are in the Bible — and are they the same person?
5-6 distinct people named John in the New Testament. Whether the Gospel, letters, and Revelation share an author has been debated since Eusebius in the 4th century.
How many Psalms are in the Bible?
150 psalms in the Protestant and Catholic Bible. Some Eastern Orthodox traditions include Psalm 151.
How many times are angels mentioned in the Bible?
About 290 mentions of angels across English Bibles. Both Hebrew malach and Greek angelos mean "messenger" — divine or human.
How many times does the Bible mention covenant?
About 320 occurrences. Hebrew berit (286 in OT) and Greek diathēkē (33 in NT) — the central organising concept of biblical theology.
How many times does the Bible mention faith?
About 250 mentions of faith — mostly in the NT (pistis, 243×). The OT vocabulary emunah is closer to "faithfulness, loyalty."
How many times does the Bible mention forgiveness?
Around 150 mentions of forgiveness across the Bible. Hebrew has three main words for it; Greek uses aphiēmi about 142 times.
How many times does the Bible mention God?
About 4,000 occurrences of "God" in major translations. Counting "the LORD" (YHWH) too, the total is closer to 8,000.
How many times does the Bible mention justice?
About 400 occurrences of the justice-vocabulary across the Bible. Hebrew mishpat: 425 in OT; Greek dikaiosynē: 92 in NT.
How many times does the Bible mention love?
Around 550 occurrences of "love" across the Bible — though counts range from ~300 to ~700 depending on the translation.
How many times does the Bible mention money?
More than 800 mentions across the Bible. Silver alone (Hebrew kesef) appears over 400 times in the Old Testament.
How many times does the Bible mention prayer?
Around 110 occurrences of "prayer" or "pray" in major English translations — and many more underlying Hebrew/Greek forms.
How many times does the Bible mention sin?
About 700 mentions of sin across the Bible. Three Hebrew words for it; Greek hamartia means "missing the mark."
How many times does the Bible mention the heart?
About 850 references to the heart across the Bible. In biblical usage, the heart is the seat of thought and will, not just feeling.
How many times does the Bible mention the Sabbath?
About 170 mentions across the Bible. The Sabbath is rooted in the creation account (Genesis 2) and established as the fourth commandment.
How many times does the Bible mention wine?
Approximately 230 mentions of wine and strong drink across the canon (KJV/BSB lemma counts). Word counts vary significantly by translation and search method — all figures here are approximate.
How many times does the Bible mention wisdom?
About 230 mentions across the Bible. Hebrew chokmah (152 in OT) and Greek sophia (51 in NT) — the wisdom literature concentrates them.
How many times does the Bible say "fear not"?
The popular "365 times" claim is folklore. Careful counts give about 100–110 commands not to fear across the Bible.
How many times does the phrase "fear of the LORD" appear?
About 27 occurrences of "fear of the LORD" alone in the KJV. Including related constructions, about 90 across the Bible.
How many times does the word "hell" appear — KJV vs modern translations?
KJV: 54 "hells." Most modern translations: ~13. The KJV used one English word for three distinct biblical terms.
How many times is Jesus mentioned in the Bible?
About 970 mentions of "Jesus" by name in the NT. Adding "Christ" (~540) and titles brings the total much higher.
How many times is the Holy Spirit mentioned in the Bible?
About 280 references to the Spirit of God across the Bible. Concentrated in Luke-Acts and the Pauline epistles.
How many words are in the Bible?
KJV: ~783,000 words (593K OT, 190K NT). Original-language counts: ~305K Hebrew, ~138K Greek.
In how many languages was the Bible originally written?
Three: Hebrew (most of OT), Aramaic (parts of Daniel and Ezra), and koinē Greek (all of NT).
Jesus is never recorded as laughing in any Gospel
The four canonical Gospels record Jesus weeping, grieving, angering, rejoicing — but never laughing. The non-canonical Gospel of Thomas does record him laughing.
King Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines
1 Kings 11:3. The text records the numbers as part of a critical narrative — Solomon's many wives 'turned his heart away' from the LORD — not as a positive achievement.
Matthew 27 and Acts 1 give differing details about Judas's death
Matthew 27 and Acts 1 give different accounts of how Judas died, what happened to the silver, and how the burial field got its name. Both are in the canonical New Testament.
Methuselah may have died in the flood
Methuselah lived 969 years (Gen 5:27) — the longest in the Bible. The genealogy chronology places his death in the year of the flood.
The 9 chapters of temple measurements nobody reads (Ezekiel 40–48)
Nine chapters of detailed temple architecture in Ezekiel — over 100 specific measurements. The temple has never been built.
The Bible never specifies how many wise men there were
Matthew 2 mentions three GIFTS but never specifies the number of Magi. The 'three wise men' tradition is inferred from the gifts. Eastern traditions sometimes count twelve.
The forbidden fruit is never called an apple
Genesis 3 says 'fruit' (Hebrew peri) — never apple. The apple tradition probably comes from a Latin pun: malum means both 'evil' and 'apple' in Latin.
The KJV mentions unicorns nine times
The Hebrew re'em — translated 'unicorn' nine times in the KJV — is now identified with the aurochs (the now-extinct wild ox of the ancient Near East). Modern translations say 'wild ox.'
The longest verse in the Bible
Esther 8:9 — about 90 words in the KJV. The verse describes a single act of writing royal decrees in the Persian court.
The number 666 appears as 616 in some early manuscripts
Some early Greek manuscripts of Revelation read 616 instead of 666 for the number of the beast. Irenaeus noted the variant c. 180 AD.
The only book in the Bible that never mentions God
The book of Esther never mentions God in the Hebrew Bible. The Greek Additions to Esther do. The Song of Solomon is a contested second case.
The shortest verse in the Bible
'Jesus wept.' — John 11:35. Two words in English. The Greek New Testament's shortest verse is 1 Thessalonians 5:16.
The word 'Rapture' is not in the Bible
The English word 'rapture' is not in any major Bible translation. It comes from the Latin rapiemur (Vulgate) translating the Greek harpagēsometha at 1 Thessalonians 4:17.
What is the middle chapter of the Bible?
Psalm 117 — the middle and shortest chapter of the Bible. Two verses, with 594 chapters on either side.