Who Wrote the Most Books in the Bible?

Out of all the Bible’s writers, who are responsible for the most amazing content? Some of your favourite actors (such as Moses and Paul) have made big contributions, but some lesser-known people have also made substantial contributions. This infographic depicts who authored most in the books of the Bible.

Who authored the most in the Bible?

The following are five human authors that produced the most important contributions to the Bible. To be clear, I’m collecting those phrase counts from original texts rather than our English Bibles. I used the Lexham Hebrew Bible (with the NASB interlinear for the Aramaic in Ezra) and the NA27 (Greek New Testament).

Let’s take a closer look at the Authors

So now we know who the Bible’s five most prolific authors are, but how do these works fit into the remainder of the Bible?

Moses

This individual is credited for 125,139 words in the Bible, including those found in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deut, and Psalm 90. Granted, it’s probably less (since he wouldn’t have documented his death… right? ), but he’s the prominent author of the Law God gave to Israel. He is also attributed with compiling the account of Israel in the story of Creation, beginning with creation and ending with Joseph.

That comes to a total of 125,139 words. The Bible is around 611,000 words long*, implying that Moses only wrote about 20% of the book. That’s incredible. Moses outnumbers the competitors in terms of word count. And, if the Pentateuch’s 5 volumes are counted as one, Moses wrote the Bible’s most giant book, the five-fold book.

Of course, Moses’ tremendous output is well-known. That makes sense. According to the final chapter of Deuteronomy, Moses had a special relationship with God: the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, not just in dreams and visions (Dt 34:10). With that much engagement with God, Moses will be responsible for adding!

Ezra

Ezra is a scribe credited with writing the books of 1 and 2 Chronicles, as well as the book that bears his name. He comprehends Moses’ Law and is committed to passing it on to the rest of the people (Ezr 7:10). And he most certainly does!

Ezra’s Hebrew and Aramaic word count totals 43,618 words, accounting for roughly 7% of the Bible. We don’t even have any direct Deity footage in the Bible, which contrasts with Moses’ word count, that may not appear spectacular.

Luke

You’ve probably heard that Paul wrote half of the Hebrew Bible. I understand Paul’s fan club: He wrote a lot more. Luke is accountable for 37,932 Greek words, or even more than 6% of the Greek terminology in the Bible. Paul’s assistant conducts eyewitness interviews to obtain all of the facts about Jesus. Following it, he traces the expansion of the early church (this time, he is one of the eyewitnesses). Luke is a physician (Col 4:14), and the gospel (the longest book in the Hebrew Bible) and the Early Christians are the product of his extensive interviews.

Jeremiah

Jeremiah, an important book in your Bible, was written by the “weeping prophet.” He is the one who is sounding the alarm about Nebuchadnezzar, Queen of Babylon’s impending invasion, but the people of Judah are deafeningly deafeningly deafeningly deafeningly deafeningly deafeningly deafeningly deafening They make many attempts to kill the prophets (which factors into the weeping).

Jeremiah, however, is more than just the author of the Bible’s longest book. He is also credited with writing a Book of Wailings, a complex collection of acrostics mourning the fall of Jerusalem. With these two books, he has authored 35,306 words or slightly more than 6% of the Bible.

Paul

He’s finally arrived! He may not have authored half of the New Testament, but he is the author of the unique documents in your Bible. Paul wrote 13 letters to church fathers and faith leaders, and he is the Hebrew Bible writer who offers us the most insight into how the community should function and the doctrinal grounds for doing so. Paul completes the top 5 with a word count of 32,408, a little over 5% of the Bible’s total.

Who penned the fewest verses in the Bible?

Here’s a list of the guys who contributed the least to the Bible, just in case you’re wondering. I’ll rank them in order of most remarkable contribution to least contribution. Yes, it’s still in the native texts, with the same Hebrew, Assyrian, and Greek origins.

Jude

Jude is the author of the Bible’s tiniest contribution, with only 461 words in his single character. That amounts to less than 0.08 per cent of the Bible. From here on out, the word counts grow lower and more petite.

Obadiah

He composed the Bible’s least popular book and the most miniature book in the Old Testament: only 440 words or 0.07 per cent of the whole Bible.

Agur

Proverbs 30 was written by this individual. He was a clever guy, but he admits that he seems like a complete moron (Pr 30:2). In the Bible, he receives 419 words.

Lemuel

Proverbs 31 is a dedication to Lemuel’s mother, written by a mystery ruler. In the Bible, he has 350 words.

Heman

This person was a well-known intelligent man (1 Ki 5:11), and he is the smallest of the Bible’s authors. Even though he has 233 words to his name, it is a generous estimate. Heman and the sons of Korah (who penned Psalm 88) collaborated on it.

Final Verdict

This list of authors is either named in the Bible’s text or presumed to be such by church/Jewish tradition. I’ve compiled a list of possible candidates for nameless works (like Moses, Ezra, and Matthew). Both of these responses are correct in some ways, but you’re probably seeking more information about the Bible’s writers by now. And rightfully so: knowing who penned a book or chapter of the Bible is crucial when studying it.