Of all the authors of the bible, who is responsible for contributing the most content? Some of your favorite characters (like Moses and Paul) top the list, but some characters you may not know so well also made some sizable contributions. this infographic breaks down who wrote the most in the books of the bible.
And in case you were wondering who some of these authors are, you can check out their profiles here.
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Which biblical author wrote the most?
here is a breakdown of the five human authors with the greatest contributions to the bible. And just so you know, I draw these word counts from the original languages, not our English Bibles. I used the lexham hebrew bible for the OT authors (although I had to separate the nasb interlinear for the aramaic in ezra) and the na27 (greek new testament).
Obviously, I couldn’t have done this without logos Bible software.
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let’s break those numbers down
So now we know the five most prolific authors of the Bible, but how do their works line up with the rest of the Bible, in terms of word count?
1. bassinet
this guy is credited with 125,139 words in the bible, specifically the books of genesis, exodus, leviticus, numbers, deuteronomy, and psalm 90. okay, it’s probably a little less than that (since I wouldn’t have recorded his own death… right?), but he is the main guy who wrote the law that god gave to israel. He is also the one who gets credit for compiling Israel’s history from creation to Joseph in the book of Genesis.
so, 125,139 words. the bible is only about 611,000 words*, which means moses wrote a little over 20% of the bible. that is incredible. On the word count, Moses towers over all other writers. And if he considers the five books of the pentateuch to be a fivefold book, that means Moses wrote the longest book in the bible.
of course, it makes sense that moses would write so much. the last fragment of deuteronomy says that moses has a special relationship with god: the lord spoke with moses face to face, not just in dreams and visions (dt 34:10). With so much contact with God, Moses had better have a lot to say!
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* “only about 611,000 words”? I must be losing touch with reality to write sentences like this.
2. ezra
ezra is a scribe who has traditionally been called the author of 1 & 2 chronicles and the book that bears his name. he is knowledgeable about the law of moses and is committed to teaching it to the rest of the people (esd 7:10). And I sure do!
Ezra’s word count comes to 43,618 words in Hebrew and Aramaic: about 7% of the Bible. Which may not sound too impressive next to Moses’ word count, but then, we don’t have many direct images of God speaking directly to Ezra in the Bible.
3. luke
You’ve probably heard someone say that Paul wrote half of your New Testament. condolences to paul’s fan club: turns out luke wrote a lot more. Luke is responsible for 37,932 Greek words, which means that he wrote more than 6% of the Bible.
luke is a friend of paul’s who interviews eyewitnesses of jesus so he can get all the facts. then he records the story of the expansion of the early church (and this time, he is one of the eyewitnesses). Luke is a physician (Col 4:14) whose meticulous interview process introduces the Gospel of Luke (which is the longest book in the New Testament) and the Book of Acts.
4. Jeremiah
The “weeping prophet” is actually responsible for the largest book in your bible: Jeremiah. he is the one who sounds the alarm of the imminent invasion of nebuchadnezzar, the king of babylon, but the people of judah will not listen. in fact, they try to get the prophet out of the way over and over again (which influences the crying).
But Jeremiah doesn’t just write the longest book in the Bible. he is also credited with writing the book of lamentations, a clever collection of acrostics mourning the fall of jerusalem. These two books bring their count to 35,306 words, which is just 6% of the Bible.
5. paul
here it is! he may not have written half of the new testament, but he is responsible for more individual documents in his bible than any other person. Paul wrote 13 letters to the early churches and church leaders, and of all the New Testament writers, he is the one who gives us the most insight into how the church should function and the doctrinal reasons why.
paul rounds out the top five with a word count of 32,408, a few marks over 5% of the bible.
ok, so who wrote less in the bible?
In case you’re curious, here’s the list of the guys who made the smallest contributions to the bible. I will list them from the largest contribution to the smallest. and yes, it’s still in the original languages, and from the same Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek sources.
5. jude
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With just 461 words in his single-chapter letter, Jude is the author with the fifth smallest contribution to the Bible. that’s only about 0.08% of the bible.
and the number of words is reduced from here.
4. obadiah
he wrote the least popular book in the bible and the shortest book in the old testament: only 440 words, which is 0.07% of the word.
3. agur
this guy wrote proverbs 30. he was a wise man, but compared to god, he says he feels like a real fool (pr 30:2). he gets 419 words in the bible.
2. lemuel
the mysterious king who wrote proverbs 31, which is actually a tribute to lemuel’s mother. it has 350 words in the bible.
1. the man
This man was quite a famous sage (1 Kings 5:11), and he is the lightest of all the Bible authors. he has 233 words in his name, but even that’s a pretty generous number. Heman co-authored Psalm 88 with the sons of Korah (who wrote several more psalms).