Center of the Bible

Bible Statistics

This study includes referenced and independent research work to answer the question: "What is the center of the Bible?"

by Fran Corpier

VALID DATA:

I have included, below, the web version of my excel workbook. The values were hand entered into the Excel spreadsheet, while a macro in the spreadsheet summed columns for totals and cumulative totals. The spreadsheet was then converted to HTML, and then styled.

This leaves the possible inaccuracies on my part to 0% for Chapter and Verse figures, as all sums for these were created by the Excel spreadsheet, and figures hand-entered agreed with the three resources.

Since only one resource provided a word count, the possibility for error in hand-entering the number of words per chapter is higher, since there was nothing to check against, other than the original source document, itself, which was double-checked. The cumulative total for words was summed by the Excel macro, just as for Chapter and Verse; and not by hand.

SOURCES:

Three sources were used to establish a basis. Each claimed to independently research the number of chapter and verses of the Bible. One had tabulated the words in each Chapter. It was determined that each of these three resources used the King James Version of the Bible, in the English text.

RE-VERIFICATION:

Where the 3 resources differed in number of verses for a book, I independently verified the correct number of verses, myself. I used the online King James Version at biblegate.com to verify. The spreadsheet of independent verification of discrepancies is also included further below.

REFERENCES:

see references

DATA:

Chapter, Verse, and Word Count Reference
Book Chapters Verses Words marsh deaf- bible
      (1) commentary mission desk
Genesis 50 1533 38267 √ √ √
Exodus 40 1213 32692 √ √ √
Leviticus 27 859 24546 √ √ √
Numbers 36 1288 32092 √ √ √
Deuteronomy 34 959 28461 √ √ √
Joshua 24 658 18858 √ √ 685
Judges 21 618 18976 √ √ √
Ruth 4 85 2578 √ √ √
1 Samuel 31 810 25061 √ √ √
2 Samuel 24 695 20512 √ √ √
1 Kings 22 816 24524 √ √ √
2 Kings 25 719 23532 √ √ √
1 Chronicles 29 942 20369 √ √ √
2 Chronicles 36 822 26074 √ √ √
Ezra 10 280 7441 √ √ √
Nehemiah 13 406 10483 √ √ √
Esther 10 167 5637 √ √ √
Job 42 1070 10102 √ √ √
Psalms 150 2461 43743 √ √ √
Proverbs 31 915 15043 √ √ √
Ecclesiastes 12 222 5584 √ √ √
Song of Songs(2) 8 117 2661 √ √ √
Isaiah 66 1292 37044 √ √ √
Jeremiah 52 1364 42659 √ √ √
Lamenntations 5 154 3415 √ √ √
Ezekiel 48 1273 39407 √ √ √
Daniel 12 357 11606 √ √ √
Hosea 14 197 5175 √ √ √
Joel 3 73 2034 √ √ √
Amos 9 146 4217 √ √ √
Obadiah 1 21 670 √ √ √
Jonah 4 48 1321 √ √ √
Micah 7 105 3153 √ √ √
Nahum 3 47 1285 √ √ √
Habakkuk 3 56 1474 √ √ √
Zephaniah 3 53 1617 √ √ √
Haggai 2 38 1131 √ √ √
Zechariah 14 211 6444 √ √ √
Malach 4 55 1782 √ √ √
Book Chapters Verses Words Cuml.Tot Cuml.Tot Cuml.Tot
      (1) Chapters Verses Words
Matthew 28 1071 23684 √ √ √
Mark 16 678 15171 √ √ √
Luke 24 1151 25944 √ √ √
John 21 879 19099 √ √ 878
Acts 28 1007 24250 √ √ √
Romans 16 433 9447 √ √ √
1 Corinthians 16 437 9489 √ √ √
2 Corinthians 13 257 6092 √ √ √
Galations 6 149 3098 √ √ √
Ephesians 6 155 3039 √ √ √
Pilippians 4 104 2003 √ √ √
Colossians 4 95 1998 √ √ √
1 Thessalonians 5 89 1857 √ √ √
2 Thessalonians 3 47 1042 √ √ √
1 Timothy 6 113 2269 √ √ √
2 Timothy 4 83 1703 √ √ √
Titus 3 46 921 √ √ √
Philemon 1 25 445 √ √ √
Hebrews 13 303 6913 √ √ √
James 5 108 2309 √ √ √
1 Peter 5 105 2482 √ √ √
2 Peter 3 61 1559 √ √ √
1 John 5 105 2523 √ √ √
2 John 1 13 303 √ √ √
3 John 1 14 299 √ 15 √
Jude 1 25 613 √ √ √
Revelation 22 404 12000 √ √ √
             
Totals: 1189 31102 782222 √ +1v +26v
Old Testament 929 23145 601670 +27v
New Testament 260 7957 180552 +1v -1v
 
 
Notes:
(1) Word Count is from bibledesk.com
(2) Song of Songs = The Song of Solomon
marshal commentary, deafmission, and bibledesk agreed except as noted, following:
deafmission had 15 verses to 3 John, instead of 14. Probably a typo.
bibledesk had several problems, as follows:
It's summary at the top did not agree with its data in the detailed boxes of each book.
Bdk's Detailed account of NT verses = 7956; Summary = 7959
Bdk's Detailed account of OT verses = 23172; Summary = 23214
Bdk's Detailed account of Total verses = 31128; Summary = 31173
Bibledesk (bdk)'s actual total was closer than the summary.
Instead of Joshua's 658 chapters, bibledesk transposed the number to 685.
This made its actual verse total 27 off.
Bibledesk also miscounted verses in KJV for John as 878, whereas 879 is accurate.
The 2 Books with variance between the 3 sites were recounted-by hand and
their columns totaled, below. Joshua does have 658, John does have 879 verses.
Word count is fairly meaningless, considering only KJV, only English, was counted.
Even so, again Bibledesk's summary 773692 didn't match its actual of 782222.
OT Summary=592439, OT Actual=601670. NT Summary=181253, NT Actual=180552
The VARIATION in Bibledesk.com's Summary versus their ACTUAL COUNT
indicates that Bibledesk hand-calculated, rather than using a spreadsheet program.
Unfortunately, their inaccurate Summary numbers are often reused
on the Internet, without revalidation. Many articles are thus inaccurate.
 
RECOUNT
Discrepancies
 John KJV NASB Joshua KJV NASB
Chapter Verses Verses Chapter Verses Verses
1 51 51 1 18 18
2 25 25 2 24 24
3 36 36 3 17 17
4 54 54 4 24 24
5 47 47 5 15 15
6 71 71 6 27 27
7 53 53 7 26 26
8 59 59 8 35 35
9 41 41 9 27 27
10 42 42 10 43 43
11 57 57 11 23 23
12 50 50 12 24 24
13 38 38 13 33 33
14 31 31 14 15 15
15 27 27 15 63 63
16 33 33 16 10 10
17 26 26 17 18 18
18 40 40 18 28 28
19 42 42 19 51 51
20 31 31 20 9 9
21 25 25 21 45 45
879 879 22 34 34
23 16 16
24 33 33
658 658
NASB=New American Standard Bible
 
RESEARCHED BY FRAN CORPIER, OCTOBER 21, 2007
 
References:
King James Version, online, searchable:
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=6&chapter=24&version=9
Marsh Commentary stats:
http://www.marshcommentary.com/stats/
Deaf Mission tally:
http://www.deafmissions.com/tally/bkchptrvrs.html
Bible Desk statistics:
http://www.bibledesk.com/Documents/Bible_Desk/bible_statistics.htm#8-BIBLE%20STATISTICS
Break the Chain - busting the center of the Bible chain letter myth:
http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/midbible.html
Urban Legends - Center Myth doesn't add up:
http://www.snopes.com/religion/center.asp
Other Bible Versions, online and audio:
http://www.biblegateway.com/versions/
 
 
Cumulative Chapter, Verse, and Word Counts
Book Chapters Verses Words Cuml.Tot Cuml.Tot Cuml.Tot
      (1) Chapters Verses Words
Genesis 50 1533 38267 50 1533 38267
Exodus 40 1213 32692 90 2746 70959
Leviticus 27 859 24546 117 3605 95505
Numbers 36 1288 32092 153 4893 127597
Deuteronomy 34 959 28461 187 5852 156058
Joshua 24 658 18858 211 6510 174916
Judges 21 618 18976 232 7128 193892
Ruth 4 85 2578 236 7213 196470
1 Samuel 31 810 25061 267 8023 221531
2 Samuel 24 695 20512 291 8718 242043
1 Kings 22 816 24524 313 9534 266567
2 Kings 25 719 23532 338 10253 290099
1 Chronicles 29 942 20369 367 11195 310468
2 Chronicles 36 822 26074 403 12017 336542
Ezra 10 280 7441 413 12297 343983
Nehemiah 13 406 10483 426 12703 354466
Esther 10 167 5637 436 12870 360103
Job 42 1070 10102 478 13940 370205
Psalms 150 2461 43743 628 16401 413948
Proverbs 31 915 15043 659 17316 428991
Ecclesiastes 12 222 5584 671 17538 434575
Song of Songs(2) 8 117 2661 679 17655 437236
Isaiah 66 1292 37044 745 18947 474280
Jeremiah 52 1364 42659 797 20311 516939
Lamenntations 5 154 3415 802 20465 520354
Ezekiel 48 1273 39407 850 21738 559761
Daniel 12 357 11606 862 22095 571367
Hosea 14 197 5175 876 22292 576542
Joel 3 73 2034 879 22365 578576
Amos 9 146 4217 888 22511 582793
Obadiah 1 21 670 889 22532 583463
Jonah 4 48 1321 893 22580 584784
Micah 7 105 3153 900 22685 587937
Nahum 3 47 1285 903 22732 589222
Habakkuk 3 56 1474 906 22788 590696
Zephaniah 3 53 1617 909 22841 592313
Haggai 2 38 1131 911 22879 593444
Zechariah 14 211 6444 925 23090 599888
Malach 4 55 1782 929 23145 601670
Book Chapters Verses Words Cuml.Tot Cuml.Tot Cuml.Tot
      (1) Chapters Verses Words
Matthew 28 1071 23684 957 24216 625354
Mark 16 678 15171 973 24894 640525
Luke 24 1151 25944 997 26045 666469
John 21 879 19099 1018 26924 685568
Acts 28 1007 24250 1046 27931 709818
Romans 16 433 9447 1062 28364 719265
1 Corinthians 16 437 9489 1078 28801 728754
2 Corinthians 13 257 6092 1091 29058 734846
Galations 6 149 3098 1097 29207 737944
Ephesians 6 155 3039 1103 29362 740983
Pilippians 4 104 2003 1107 29466 742986
Colossians 4 95 1998 1111 29561 744984
1 Thessalonians 5 89 1857 1116 29650 746841
2 Thessalonians 3 47 1042 1119 29697 747883
1 Timothy 6 113 2269 1125 29810 750152
2 Timothy 4 83 1703 1129 29893 751855
Titus 3 46 921 1132 29939 752776
Philemon 1 25 445 1133 29964 753221
Hebrews 13 303 6913 1146 30267 760134
James 5 108 2309 1151 30375 762443
1 Peter 5 105 2482 1156 30480 764925
2 Peter 3 61 1559 1159 30541 766484
1 John 5 105 2523 1164 30646 769007
2 John 1 13 303 1165 30659 769310
3 John 1 14 299 1166 30673 769609
Jude 1 25 613 1167 30698 770222
Revelation 22 404 12000 1189 31102 782222
 
 
 

ANALYSIS OF CENTER OF KING JAMES VERSION - ENGLISH
 
CENTER WORD ANALYSIS
 
There are 782,222 total words in the KJV Bible (English).1
782222 X .5   =   391111    
Total Words Through Job: 370205 words
Total Words Through Psalms: 413948 words
There is not one middle word, because the word count is even.
The 391111th word and the 391112th word obviously fall after Job, in Psalms.
391111 (lft.center) - 370205 (thru Job) = 20906
The 20906th and 20907th words of Psalms are the middle two words of the KJV (English).
Psalms Word Count
20195 (thru Psalms 72) + 423 (from Psalm 73) = 20618 (thru Ps. 73)
Through Psalms 73: 20618 words
Through Psalms 74: 21031 words
 
20618 (thru Psalms 73) + 288 words from Psalms 74 = 20906 words from Psalms
Thus, words 288 and 289 of Psalms 74 are the two middle words.
 
Psalms 74:21 has the 391111th and 391112th words, "him lord".
 
This refers to when the Pharaoh made Joseph the lord of his house and ruler of
everything the Pharaoh owned, after Joseph was sold into slavery to the Egyptians.
 
Psalms 74:21 He made him lord of his house, and ruler of all his substance.
 
There can be no one center word in an even number of words.
Thus, there no center word in the KJV Bible (English).
 
Exhibit A. Psalms Word Count
Psalms Words Words Words Cuml.Tot
1 130 2 206 3 139 475
4 165 5 245 6 159 1044
7 327 8 166 9 367 1904
10 350 11 128 12 147 2529
13 107 14 149 15 99 2884
16 206 17 311 18 918 4319
19 272 20 144 21 246 4981
22 581 23 118 24 178 5858
25 342 26 183 27 340 6723
28 201 29 179 30 231 7334
31 498 32 241 33 350 8423
34 347 35 564 36 223 9557
37 702 38 361 39 270 10890
40 401 41 240 42 281 11812
43 130 44 451 45 327 12720
46 204 47 143 48 229 13296
49 338 50 400 51 322 14356
52 165 53 152 54 110 14783
55 435 56 225 57 230 15673
58 218 59 339 60 211 16441
61 133 62 228 63 194 16996
64 184 65 267 66 327 17774
67 111 68 698 69 670 19253
70 102 71 471 72 369 20195
73 423 74 413 75 189 21220
76 193 77 330 78 1225 22968
79 227 80 334 81 288 23817
82 116 83 273 84 226 24432
85 207 86 313 87 113 25065
88 296 89 879 90 320 26560
91 288 92 258 93 92 27198
94 356 95 199 96 226 27979
97 189 98 170 99 157 28495
100 86 101 173 102 455 29209
103 342 104 598 105 632 30781
 
 
CENTER CHAPTER
 
There are 1189 Chapters of the KJV, English Bible
The 595th chapter would be the middle Chapter.
 
There are 478 cumulative chapters through Job.
595-478 = 117
 
Psalms 117 is therefore the center chapter in the KJV, English Bible
 
Psalms 117 has only 2 verses:
Psalms 117:1 O praise the LORD, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people.
Psalms 117:2 For his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth
of the LORD endureth for ever. Praise ye the LORD.
 
CENTER VERSE
There are 31102 verses in the KJV, English Bible.
Total Verses Through Job: 13940 verses
Total Verses Through Psalms: 16401 verses
Total Verses
31102 X .5   =   15551.5    
15551 (lft.center) - 13940 (thru Job) = 1611.
The 1611th and 1612th verses in Psalm are left and right of middle.
There are 1610 verses in Psalms through Ch 102.
Psalms 103: 1- 2 are the 1611th and 1612th verses in the bible.
 
Psalms 103:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.
Psalms 103:2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.
 
There can be no one center verse in an even number of verses.
Thus, there is no center verse in the KJV Bible (English) , which has 31,102 verses.
 
Exhibit B. Psalms Verse Count
Psalms Verses Verses Verses Cuml.Tot
1 6 2 12 3 8 26
4 8 5 12 6 10 56
7 17 8 9 9 20 102
10 18 11 7 12 8 135
13 6 14 7 15 5 153
16 11 17 15 18 50 229
19 14 20 9 21 13 265
22 31 23 6 24 10 312
25 22 26 12 27 14 360
28 9 29 11 30 12 392
31 24 32 11 33 22 449
34 22 35 28 36 12 511
37 40 38 22 39 13 586
40 17 41 13 42 11 627
43 5 44 26 45 17 675
46 11 47 9 48 14 709
49 20 50 23 51 19 771
52 9 53 6 54 7 793
55 23 56 13 57 11 840
58 11 59 17 60 12 880
61 8 62 12 63 11 911
64 10 65 13 66 20 954
67 7 68 35 69 36 1032
70 5 71 24 72 20 1081
73 28 74 23 75 10 1142
76 12 77 20 78 72 1246
79 13 80 19 81 16 1294
82 8 83 18 84 12 1332
85 13 86 17 87 7 1369
88 18 89 52 90 17 1456
91 16 92 15 93 5 1492
94 23 95 11 96 13 1539
97 12 98 9 99 9 1569
100 5 101 8 102 28 1610
103 22 104 35 105 45 1712
 
 
I understand, but have not verified that:
  • There are slight variations in verses between Bible Translations.
  • The order of the books was not settled until the 4th century.
  • Books of the Hebrew Bible are ordered differently than
    the Christian Old Testament.
  • Chapters were added between the 13th & 16th centuries,
    followed by verses in the 16th century.
 
When you consider the many translations, and the many languages, it is absurd
to put stock in some "mystical" combination of numbers, that were not even a part
of the original manuscripts from which the Bible was born.
The center-of-the-Bible "numbers" don't amount to anything.
© 2007 Fran Corpier.
You may use any information found here, as long as you reference
the author and site, with a link back to this article
 

Conclusion

There is no center verse or center word of the King James Version Bible, in English, from which these studies were drawn. The center Chapter of the KJV Bible is Psalms 117, which is also the shortest chapter in the KJV Bible, with only 2 verses.

The Center of the Bible "numbers" don't amount to anything. Most of the articles and especially re-circulated emails on this topic are incorrect and simply use inaccurate information.