Bible trivia question – what’s the shortest verse in the Bible? The shortest verse in the Bible is often quoted as John 11:35 ‘Jesus wept’ and this may well be true in some of our English translations but if we have a look at the Greek Jesus wept is 16 letters long:
Ἐδάκρυσεν ὁ Ἰησοῦς – 16 letters – ‘Jesus wept’ (John 11:35)
Πάντοτε χαίρετε – 14 letters – ‘Rejoice always’ (1Thess 5:16)
καὶ ὁ δεύτερος – 12 letters – ‘and the second’ (Luke 20:30)
Let’s not go into the Hebrew as there are a couple even shorter in the original language because of the lack of vowels in Hebrew.
Jesus wept is not even the shortest verse in the popular NIV (New International) that is from Job 3:2 ‘He said’. The reason ‘Jesus wept’ is said to be the shortest verse in the Bible because in the KJV (King James) translation it is the shortest!
If it does come up as a question on a quiz and you want to get the point say ‘Jesus wept’! If you want to put the right answer ask the quiz master to be more specific in their question!
Bitesize Bible 