What Is The Longest Verse In The Bible? The Scripture and Study

Last updated on: September 17, 2015 at 6:28 pm by Jack Wellman

What Is The Longest Verse In The Bible? The Scripture and Study 2015-09-17T18:28:00-05:00 Jack Wellman

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What is the longest verse in the Bible? What are the longest books and shortest books of the Bible?

The Longest Chapter

The longest chapter is an easy one; it is Psalm 119. Psalm 119 has 176 Bible verses and that includes 2,542 words. What is the context of this chapter? It is the Law of God and not the Mosaic Law of the Old Covenant which was destined to pass away with the work of Christ on Calvary. The psalmist wrote “I rejoice at your word like one who finds great spoil” (Psalm 119:162) and “My soul keeps your testimonies; I love them exceedingly” (Psalm 119:167). The writer wrote so much about God’s law because he “longed for his commandments” (Psalm 119:131).

The Longest Book

If you count the number of Bible verses, then Psalms is easily the longest book in the Bible, but is it really the biggest? No, by word count, the Book of Jeremiah has the largest number of words in it. The Book of Psalms has a lot of poetry in it and doesn’t take up as much print or space (and pages) as other books of comparable size. The Book of Psalms has 2,527 verses in it while Jeremiah has 1,364, depending on the translation you use, but there are larger paragraphs and more content in Jeremiah than there is in the Book of Psalms. Genesis actually ranks ahead of Psalms in size (content) and just behind the Book of Jeremiah.

The Shortest Book

The shortest book in the Bible is not the one chapter Book of Jude but the Book of 3rd John. In fact, the second shortest book is 2nd John followed by Philemon, Obediah and the one chapter Book of Jude, however, if you’re read any of these books, they’re anything but short on meaningful content.

The Longest Bible Verse

Esther 8:9 is believed to be the longest verse in the Bible which says, “The king’s scribes were summoned at that time, in the third month, which is the month of Sivan, on the twenty-third day. And an edict was written, according to all that Mordecai commanded concerning the Jews, to the satraps and the governors and the officials of the provinces from India to Ethiopia, 127 provinces, to each province in its own script and to each people in its own language, and also to the Jews in their script and their language.” This verse is 80 words in length in the ESV.

The Context

The context of this verse and its importance was of the heroic actions of Queen Esther who risked her life to intervene on behalf of the Jews who were about to be exterminated by a plot that the king was tricked into making by a law he instituted. Queen Esther knew that the royal law stated that no one could come into the king’s presence without his permission, even if it was his wife, so Queen Esther and her Jewish compatriots fasted for three days in order for her to get up her courage to approach the king and not be executed. Of course, the plot to exterminate the Jews failed but perhaps it was in large part to one woman’s courage who said “Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:16). She didn’t perish and neither did the Jews.

Conclusion

If you have a Bible, do you have a daily reading plan? If not, why not start one? The most important fact in the Bible is whether you have had a time in your life where you’re repented and trusted in Christ? To repent means to turn around, go the other way, and forsake your sins. To trust in Christ means you believe in Him and His promise that all who believe in Him have eternal life (John 3:16-17).

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.

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