KING JAMES BIBLE STATISTICS
There are many websites that are listing inaccurate facts and statistics on the King James Bible. The number of books (66) and chapters (1,189) are fairly easy to count. However when it comes to verses, words and letters, there are a wide variety of numbers floating around. Here are some examples, when it comes to verses depending on which website you are you may find there are 31,000 verses, 31,101 verses, 31,102 verses, 31,170 verses and 31,175 verses.
Some use the number 31,175 and then continue telling you the middle verse is Psalm 118:8. Which reads as follows: "It is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man." Then they tell you to count the words in this middle verse. There are fourteen. That's seven plus seven. That's the number of completeness and spiritual perfection doubled. Then they direct you to the middle two words and they read "the Lord". So the King James Bible has the words "the Lord" right in the center of it.
I have read this on several websites. I have also received e-mails containing this information. Here's the problem. They started off with a faulty statistic. They were taught there were 31,175 verses in the King James Bible and that's not true.
But it gets even worse. If there were 31,175 verses the middle verse would not be Psalm 118:8. It would be Psalm 104:16. This is the 15,588th verse in the King James Bible. It reads as follows: "The trees of the LORD are full of sap; the cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted;" - In order for Psalm 118:8 (the 15,968th verse in the KJB) to be the middle verse there would have to be 31,935 verses in the King James Bible, which is simply not the case.
Another thing about all this is that the New King James Version has kept this verse intact as it is written in the King James Bible. However they did not hesitate to make changes to the previous seven verses in Psalm 118. Apparently some one on that committee was aware of all this stuff going on in the center of the Bible.
The truth is there are 31,102 verses in the King James Bible. Therefore there is no single middle verse. You cannot have a middle verse with an even number of verses. However there are two middle verses. These would be verses 15,551 and 15,552 (Psalms 103:1-2.)
PSALM 103:1,2: "BLESS the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:"
These are the middle two verses of the King James Bible. Both verses start with "Bless the LORD, O my soul". Verse 1 continues - and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Verse 2 concludes with - and forget not all his benefits. These are powerful words coming from the two center verses of the Book.
Count the words in these two middle verses. There are twenty-eight. That's twice as many as in the incorrect middle we discussed earlier. That's seven times four (7 times 4) instead of seven doubled (7 times 2.) Here we have seven compounded twice as much. The truth is always better than fiction. Any one that knows their Bible knows that God loves the number seven.
Now let's see if we can find some middle words in the center of God's middle verses. Yes, I see four (bless his holy name.) There are twelve words on one side of this phrase and twelve words on the other side. So the King James Bible has bless his holy name right in the center of the two middle verses! Once again that's twice as many words as in the incorrect center.
This phrase also has exactly twice as many words (12) on each side of it. God also loves the number twelve. Next to the number seven, it is His favorite number. He uses it a lot in his word. For example there were twelve apostles and twelve tribes of Israel. There are twelve manner of fruits bared by the tree of life. It is the number of authority and power. What else would you expect in the center of God's Holy Bible? "Bless his holy name."
In conclusion to all this middle of the King James Bible stuff consider this verse of scripture, PSALM 138:2... "I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name."
We see here God thinks quite a bit about his holy name and his word has been magnified above it! So if the Bible is the word of God, and it is, and the King James Bible is the Bible, and it is, then how do you think we should treat it? The answer should be obvious: with honour and respect.
Total Books in the King James
Bible - 66
Total Chapters in the King James Bible - 1,189
Total verses in the King James Bible - 31,102
Total Books in the Old Testament - 39
Total Chapters in the Old Testament - 929
Total verses in the Old Testament - 23,145
Total Books in the New Testament - 27
Total Chapters in the New Testament - 260
Total verses in the New Testament - 7,957
Middle Book in the King James Bible - None – There are 2 – Micah & Nahum
Longest Book in the King James Bible - Psalms
Shortest Book in the King James Bible - 2 John (verses) & 3 John (words)
Middle Chapter in the King James Bible - Psalm 117
Longest Chapter in the King James Bible - Psalm 119
Shortest Chapter in the King James Bible - Psalm 117
Middle verse in the King James Bible - None – There are 2 – Psalm 103:1
& Psalm 103:2
Longest verse in the King James Bible - Esther 8:9
Shortest verse in the King James Bible - John 11:35
Note: Total verses: 31,102. 3+1+1+0+2 = 7
(completeness, spiritual perfection, pure)
SUMMARY OF KING JAMES BIBLE STATISTICS:
Total Books - 66 Total Chapters
1,189 Total Verses...31,102
Total words in the 31,102 verses - 788,258 (not including the Hebrew Alphabet in
Psalm 119 or the superscriptions listed in some of the Psalms)
Total words in the Hebrew Alphabet in Psalm 119 - 22
Total words on the cover - 2 (HOLY BIBLE)
Total words in the Book Titles - 85 (the full titles as written in the 1611
edition - 374)
Total times the word "CHAPTER" is listed - 1,034 (in 5 books the word
is not listed because they only have one chapter)
Total times the word "PSALM" is listed - 150
Total words in superscriptions (sub-titles) of Psalms - 1,034
Total words in subscriptions (concluding remarks) in the epistles of Paul - 186
Total words in Testament dividers - 6 (The Old Testament, The New Testament)
Total words in Table of Contents - 94 (the Book Titles, the Testament dividers
plus the phrase Table of Contents) If you use the full titles as in the 1611
edition - 383
Total words either on the cover or the first page explaining which Bible you
have:
A) Authorized Version - 2 or
B) King James version - 3 or
C) King James Bible - 3
Can you see now why there are so many word counts floating around?
I pledge allegiance to
the Bible, God's Holy Word,
I will make it a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path
and will hide its words in my heart that I might not sin against God.
