Trivia: Which verse has the least / most number of words?

Stephen Hughes
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Joined: February 26th, 2013, 7:12 am

Re: Trivia: Which verse has the least / most number of words

Post by Stephen Hughes »

Stephen Hughes wrote:Does anyone have an idea which New Testament verse has the the ... most ... number of words
Okay, we have some good ideas for the shortest and least, how about the most words in a verse - or the most number of letters, or the longest sentence or sentence element?
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
David Lim
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Joined: June 6th, 2011, 6:55 am

Re: Trivia: Which verse has the least / most number of words

Post by David Lim »

Stephen Hughes wrote:
Stephen Hughes wrote:Does anyone have an idea which New Testament verse has the the ... most ... number of words
Okay, we have some good ideas for the shortest and least, how about the most words in a verse - or the most number of letters, or the longest sentence or sentence element?
Here are my counts based on the textual variants that I like. :)

Least words:
[1 Thes 5:16] παντοτε χαιρετε (2)
[1 Thes 5:17] αδιαλειπτως προσευχεσθε (2)

Least characters:
[1 Thes 5:16] παντοτε χαιρετε (15)
[John 11:35] εδακρυσεν ο ιησους (18)

Most characters:
[Rev 20:4] και ειδον θρονους και εκαθισαν επ αυτους και κριμα εδοθη αυτοις και τας ψυχας των πεπελεκισμενων δια την μαρτυριαν ιησου και δια τον λογον του θεου και οιτινες ου προσεκυνησαν το θηριον ουδε την εικονα αυτου και ουκ ελαβον το χαραγμα επι το μετωπον και επι την χειρα αυτων και εζησαν και εβασιλευσαν μετα του χριστου χιλια ετη (326)
[Rev 9:20] και οι λοιποι των ανθρωπων οι ουκ απεκτανθησαν εν ταις πληγαις ταυταις ου μετενοησαν εκ των εργων των χειρων αυτων ινα μη προσκυνησωσιν τα δαιμονια και τα ειδωλα τα χρυσα και τα αργυρα και τα χαλκα και τα λιθινα και τα ξυλινα α ουτε βλεπειν δυνανται ουτε ακουειν ουτε περιπατειν (278)

Most words:
[Rev 20:4] και ειδον θρονους και εκαθισαν επ αυτους και κριμα εδοθη αυτοις και τας ψυχας των πεπελεκισμενων δια την μαρτυριαν ιησου και δια τον λογον του θεου και οιτινες ου προσεκυνησαν το θηριον ουδε την εικονα αυτου και ουκ ελαβον το χαραγμα επι το μετωπον και επι την χειρα αυτων και εζησαν και εβασιλευσαν μετα του χριστου χιλια ετη (57)
[Rev 3:12] ο νικων ποιησω αυτον στυλον εν τω ναω του θεου μου και εξω ου μη εξελθη ετι και γραψω επ αυτον το ονομα του θεου μου και το ονομα της πολεως του θεου μου της καινης ιερουσαλημ η καταβαινει εκ του ουρανου απο του θεου μου και το ονομα μου το καινον (52)

But what's so interesting about these incidental byproducts of versification?
δαυιδ λιμ
Stephen Hughes
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Joined: February 26th, 2013, 7:12 am

Re: Trivia: Which verse has the least / most number of words

Post by Stephen Hughes »

David Lim wrote:But what's so interesting about these incidental byproducts of versification?
Many participants on B-Greek (wholly or partially self-taught) have little or no experience of the classroom (instructed) setting of learning Greek. There is a measure of non-meaningful trivia that is taught as part of the classroom experience, that truly has no real benefit to students other than to increase "bonding" and a sense of familiarity with the language. I'm not thinking to bring that experience, but rather to share what has been brought to me.

Another way of looking at it is that grammar and vocabulary usually seem interminable to a student trying to master them, and trivia gives a needed sense of achievement - simple question and simple answer. There are others which have a semi-useful benefit, such as the Trivia Question that I was going to ask eighth, but now I could ask next; Is there a NT verse which contains all the letters? What is the smallest number of contiguous verses that contain all the letters? Which is sort of useful or either writing or pronunciation practice, "If I can read this / write this, then I have mastered all the letters" type of thing.

NB. While these things are just trivia for me, I recognise that for a small number of other people, there is great significance in numbers and counting words and verses in the Bible. You can see a website like Biblewheel which finds a special significance in numbers in a way that has had a minority presence in the church throughout most of its history.
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
Eeli Kaikkonen
Posts: 611
Joined: June 2nd, 2011, 7:49 am
Location: Finland
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Re: Trivia: Which verse has the least / most number of words

Post by Eeli Kaikkonen »

David Lim wrote:But what's so interesting about these incidental byproducts of versification?
Useless trivia is always interesting, as all useless trivia lovers out there know, but it can also be very useful. Imagine a situation where some unsuspecting member of your church tries to make impression by telling that "Jesus wept" is the shortest verse in the New Testament (quite common piece of trivia popping up every now and then). "Oh yeah, but do you know what's the longest verse in the Greek text?" (Add some medieval Codex name there before "Greek text" and memorize the verse and learn to pronounce it authentically.) You will be winner.
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