Trivia: Who wrote the most words?

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Stephen Hughes
Posts: 3323
Joined: February 26th, 2013, 7:12 am

Trivia: Who wrote the most words?

Post by Stephen Hughes »

In a congregation trivia night or a Sunday School gathering, these would be easier questions to ask, but among a theologically educated group I will ask them in another way - without actually using the traditional names.

Rank these groups of NT books according to the number of words they contain (in your preferred version of the GNT, or by letters if you prefer letters).
  • Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
  • Acts
  • Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, Philemon
  • 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus
  • Hebrews
  • James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude
  • Revelation
Which of these two groups of texts has more words / letters?
  • Luke, Acts
  • John, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Revelation
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
Mark Cain
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Joined: November 26th, 2011, 1:41 pm
Location: Sarasota, FL USA
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Re: Trivia: Who wrote the most words?

Post by Mark Cain »

Stephen Hughes wrote:Rank these groups of NT books according to the number of words they contain (in your preferred version of the GNT, or by letters if you prefer letters).
Well for starters, most folks are surprised to find that Luke is the most prolific writer in the NT when word count is the determinant. His two books, Luke and Acts, total 37,858 words while Paul (Romans to Philemon) comes in second with 32,300. (SBL GNT)

Here are the word counts for each of the books in the SBL GNT. You may arrange them as you wish.
  • Matthew 18329
  • Mark 11286
  • Luke 19446
  • John 15438
  • Acts 18412
  • Romans 7055
  • 1 Corinthians 6812
  • 2 Corinthians 4473
  • Galatians 2226
  • Ephesians 2416
  • Philippians 1626
  • Colossians 1580
  • 1 Thessalonians 1473
  • 2 Thessalonians 820
  • 1 Timothy 1591
  • 2 Timothy 1235
  • Titus 659
  • Philemon 334
  • Hebrews 4935
  • James 1739
  • 1 Peter 1678
  • 2 Peter 1098
  • 1 John 2137
  • 2 John 245
  • 3 John 219
  • Jude 459
  • Revelation 9833
Mark Cain
Sarasota, FL USA

http://www.markcain.com
Stephen Hughes
Posts: 3323
Joined: February 26th, 2013, 7:12 am

Re: Trivia: Who wrote the most words?

Post by Stephen Hughes »

Mark Cain wrote:Here are the word counts for each of the books in the SBL GNT.
Well, I suppose fresh food is said to be better for us than the processed stuff. Anyways for the arrangement:
  • Matthew, Mark, Luke, John - 64,499
  • Romans, 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 Thessalonians, 2 Thessalonians, Philemon - 28,815
  • Acts - 18,412
  • Revelation - 9,833
  • James, 1 Peter, 2 Peter, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Jude - 7,116
  • Hebrews - 4,935
  • 1 Timothy, 2 Timothy, Titus - 3,485
For the other one:
  • Luke, Acts - 37,858
  • John, 1 John, 2 John, 3 John, Revelation - 27,872
Γελᾷ δ' ὁ μωρός, κἄν τι μὴ γέλοιον ᾖ
(Menander, Γνῶμαι μονόστιχοι 108)
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