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The Shortest Verse in the Bible Is Not John 11:35, ‘Jesus Wept’, at Least not in the Greek Bible

June 1, 2016 By Alan E. Kurschner

“Everyone knows that the shortest verse in the Bible is “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). But is it? In Greek, John 11:35 is ἐδάκρυσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς: three words instead of two (and sixteen characters). There is a two-word verse that is shorter in Greek: 1 Thess. 5:16, Πάντοτε χαίρετε, “Rejoice always,” is only fourteen characters. The next verse, 1 Thess. 5:17, is also two words but it contains twenty-two characters: ἀδιαλείπτως προσεύχεσθε (“Pray unceasingly”). Both of these two-word verses contain imperatives.”

Rodney J. Decker, Reading Koine Greek: An Introduction and Integrated Workbook (Baker Academic), 484.

 

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