Most estimates fall in the 700,000–800,000 range, depending on which Bible and language you mean.

Quick Scoop

  • The English Bible’s word count isn’t a single fixed number ; it changes with each translation and edition.
  • A commonly cited figure for the modern King James Version (KJV) is around 783,000 words (often quoted as 783,137).
  • Other major English translations are shorter or longer by tens of thousands of words.
  • In the original languages (Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek), the 66-book Protestant Bible totals a bit over 600,000 words.

How Many Words Are in “the Bible”?

Because “the Bible” can mean different canons and translations, there is no single exact word count.

  • KJV (current standard text): often reported around 783,000+ words , with one detailed source listing 790,678 and another 783,137 , showing how counting methods differ.
  • NIV (New International Version): about 727,000–728,000 words.
  • ESV (English Standard Version): roughly 756,000–757,000 words.
  • NASB (New American Standard Bible): about 782,800+ words.

In the original-language texts , one analysis notes that “the Bible is more than 600,000 words long” when you tally the Hebrew and Greek books together.

Why the Number Changes

Even within one language, counts differ for a few reasons.

  • Different canons:
    • A standard Protestant Bible has 66 books.
    • A Catholic Bible includes additional deuterocanonical books, so it has more words overall.
  • Translation style:
    • More literal translations may use more words to mirror original structures.
    • More conversational translations may condense or rephrase.
  • Edition and formatting:
    • Older vs. newer revisions of the same translation (e.g., early vs. modern KJV or NIV) can shift the count slightly.
* Counting can include or exclude headings, footnotes, and marginal notes, which also changes totals.

A statistics-focused site, for example, gives a total of 783,131 words for a 66-book Bible, split into about 602,580 in the Old Testament and 180,551 in the New Testament.

Mini “Forum-Style” Take

“So what’s the real number?”
Think of it like asking how many words are in “War and Peace” if you include different English editions, abridged versions, and added editor notes—there’s a stable range, but no single magic number.

On forums and Q&A sites, you’ll see posts quoting numbers like 783,137 as the word count for “the Holy Bible,” usually referring specifically to a particular English KJV text block. Others point out that if you look at the original Hebrew and Greek, you get different totals again, but always in the same broad range (600k–800k depending on what you count).

Bottom Line (TL;DR)

  • A typical English Protestant Bible has about three-quarters of a million words.
  • The modern KJV is often cited at roughly 783,000 words ; other English translations range roughly from the 720,000s to the 780,000s.
  • In the original languages , the 66 books add up to just over 600,000 words.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.