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The Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Third-day, August 20, 1867

FromReview and Herald, Vol. XXX, No. 10

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THE BIBLE—SOME STATISTICS.

A “READER” of Zion’s Herald sums up the statistics of the Bible thus:
The Scriptures have been translated into 148 languages and dialects, of which 121 had prior to the formation of the British Foreign Bible Society never appeared.—And 25 of those languages existed without an alphabet, in an oral form. Upwards of 45,000,000 of God’s word are circulated among not less than 600,000,000 of people.
The first division of the Divine orders into chapters and verses, is attributed to Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, who, in the reign of King John in the latter part of the 12th century, or middle of the 13th century, divided the Old Testament into chapters as they stand in our translation. In 1561 Athias, a Jew of Amsterdam, divided the section of Hugo into verses—a French printer had previously (1561) divided the New Testament into verses as they now are.
The Old Testament contains 39 books, 229 chapters, 23,214 verses, 592,439 words, 2,730,100 letters.
The New Testament contains 27 books, 260 chapters, 7,950 verses, 182,253 words, 933,880 letters.
The entire Bible contains 66 books, 1,189 chapters, 31,175 verses, 774,692 words, 8,566,480 letters.
The name Jehovah, or Lord, occurs 6,855 times in the Old Testament.
The word “and” occurs in the Old Testament 84,542 times.
The middle book of the Old Testament is Proverbs.
The middle chapter is the 29th of Job.
The middle verse is 2nd Chronicles, 20th chapter, 17th verse.
The middle book of the New Testament is 2nd Thessalonians.
The middle chapters are Romans 13 and 14.
The middle verse is Acts xi, 7.
The middle chapter, and the least in the Bible is Psalm 117.
The middle verse in the Bible is Psalm cxviii, 7.
The least verse in the Old Testament is 1st Chronicles i, 1.
The least verse in the Bible is John xi, 35.
The 19th chapter of 2nd Kings and Isaiah 36th, are the same.
In the 21st verse of the 7th of Ezra are all the letters of the alphabet, I and J considered as one.
The Apocrypha (not inspired, but sometimes bound between the Old Testament and the New) contains 14 books, 183 chapters, 15,081 verses, 152,185 words.
The preceding were ascertained by a gentleman in 1718. Also by an Englishman residing at Amsterdam, 1772, and is said to have taken each gentleman nearly three years in the investigation. There is a Bible in the University of Göttingen written on 5,474 palm leaves.
A day’s journey was about 33 and 1-5 miles.
A Sabbath day’s journey was about an English mile.
Ezekiel’s reed was eleven feet, nearly.
A cubit is 22 inches, nearly.
A hand’s breadth is equal to three and five-eighths inches.
A finger’s breadth is equal to one inch.
A shekel of silver was worth about fifty cents.
A shekel of gold was $1.09.
A talent of silver was $516.23.
A talent of gold was $13,809.
A piece of silver or a penny was thirteen cents.
A farthing was three cents.
A gerah was one cent.
A mite was one and a half cents.
A homer contains seventy-five gallons and five pints.
A nepha or bath contains seven gallons and five pints.
A hin was two gallons and one pint.
A firkin was seven pints.
An omer was six pints.
A cab was three pints.
The divisions of the Old Testament are four.
1. The Pentateuch, or the five books of Moses.
2. The historical books, comprising Joshua to Esther, inclusive.
3. Poetical or doctrinal books, from Job to Songs of Solomon, inclusive.
4. Prophetical books, from Isaiah to Malachi.
The New Testament is usually divided into three parts.
1. Historical, containing the four gospels and Acts.
2. Doctrinal comprising all the epistles from Romans to Jude.
3. Prophetical, being the book of the Revelation.
Commemorative ordinances of the Jews were:
Circumcision, the seal of the covenant with Abraham.
The passover, to commemorate the protection of the Israelites, when all the first-born of the Egyptians were destroyed.
The feast of Tabernacles, instituted to perpetuate the sojourning of the Israelites for forty years in the wilderness.
The feast of pentecost, which was appointed fifty years after the passover, to commemorate the delivery of the law from Mount Sinai.
Feast of Purim, kept in memory of the deliverance of the Jews from the wicked machinations of Haman.