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Books of the Bible Based on Difficulty The books of the Bible are listed below in their order of difficulty starting with the easiest to the hardest. This ranking of the biblical books is my opinion alone and would certainly look different than a list compiled by others. There was a quantitative factor for how the books were ranked. I analyzed the books and ranked the biblical books eight separate times using the factors that I feel strongly influence the difficulty presented to an average Western reader. My opinions have also been shaped by feedback from students. I've led many students through the Bible from cover to cover. Patterns develop. Certain books are their pleasure, and other books are a complete struggle.
What influences the difficulty of a book? I've examined each biblical book according to eight factors: (1) cultural context, (2) original language context, (3) vocabulary, (4) literary style, (5) conceptual, (6) subject familiarity, (7) size, and (8) reader's bias. Each factor receive a numeric value. Then, I ran the values for each of the eight factors through a formula to develop an average value. Finally, I've listed the books according to their average value. There is certain room for disagreement. Cultural Context. We can understand today's newspaper better than we can understand a newspaper printed two hundred years ago. Why? We understand the issues of our day. We know what the controversies and expectations of our day. Are we equally as familiar with the hot topics of previous generations? No. The problem is worse when you attempt to understand an ancient writings of a foreign culture. Original Language Context. Communication includes more than literal facts. Communication also include idioms. For example, "I'm on top of the world." This statement is not to be taken literally. Other English-speaking people understand the expression to mean that the speaker is feeling triumphant or great. Idioms vary per culture and per era of time. Ancient Hebrew idioms are more difficult to understand to a modern, American, English-speaking reader than a common American idiom. The structure and intent of Hebrew is more difficult than Greek. Vocabulary, including Foreign Names. The vocabulary of a book in the Bible is determined (1) by its original content and (2) by the translation. First, there are some words in the original content that will be difficult no matter how it is translated. For example, one cannot read Joshua or 1 Chronicles without reading long lists of difficult names. Foreign names are difficult in all translations assuming the translators did not simply omit the list entirely as is true in some paraphrased versions. Furthermore, the average reader will not properly envision "a weaver's shuttle" (Job 7:6) because we do not spin our own yarn. Second, the vocabulary of a books is determined by the translators. To illustrate, the archaic vocabulary of the Authorized King James Version is more difficult than the modern vocabulary of the New King James Version. Note: For purposes of ranking the books of the Bible from easiest to hardest, I only considered how many foreign names were included. I used the same translation for each biblical book. Literary Style. In another article, I've written on eight literary styles found in the Scripture: statutory, historical narrative, poetic, proverbial, genealogies, prophecy, parables, and epistles (or, letters). Genealogies are the most difficult according to my appraisal, and historical narratives are the easiest. Letters are easier to understand than poetic writings. Although the elements of a parable might be simple, knowing the meaning of the parable can be fraught with controversy. Therefore, parables are more difficult than statutes, but prophecy is more challenging than parables. Conceptual. Some concepts are difficult to grasp. The more abstract, theoretical, or philosophical a book is, the more the average reader will struggle. The illusive nature of a fragrance is hard to explain and even harder to imagine by someone else's description. Historical actions of known elements is simpler. For example, we can imagine a 3-year old boy rolling a big red ball. Can you just as accurately imagine the feelings of those who are currently "asleep in Christ?" We've never experienced the later; therefore, it is harder to imagine life after death. What is wisdom? What is gold? We can touch gold and take a picture of it. Wisdom is possessed in the heart, but never in the hand. Subject Familiarity. The percentage of new information in a books greatly influences the difficulty of the book. Pre-established knowledge reduces the readers learning curve. Jesus is a well-known figure of history, and the average Christian knows the names of Peter and John and Judas. However, Zerubbabel is largely a complete stranger. Therefore, knowing preliminary elements about Jesus and the apostles makes understanding the book of Luke easier than the prophecy of Haggai where we read about Zerubbabel. The book of Joshua is similar in technical difficulty to the Acts of the Apostles; however, the evangelistic travels of Acts are more familiar than the conquest travels of Joshua. Books popular among preachers become easier with audiences by exposure. Size. Larger books require more self-discipline. There are fives books in the Bible that are only one chapter long: Obadiah, Philemon, 2 John, 3 John, and Jude. These one-chapter books are naturally easier to learn than books one hundred times larger, such as Psalms and Jeremiah. Size ties into the factor of subject familiarity. The more volume there is to accumulate and understand, the harder it is to retain the vastness of the the details presented by the writer. Or, said in other words, it is easy to maintain an active memory of the content of three chapters, but hard to remember all the content of fifty chapters. One of the problems readers sometimes experience when reading a long book like Ezekiel is that the book is so long and they read so slowly that they forget much of the beginning by the time they reach the end. Reader's Bias. "I love my job!" some exclaim. Their profession may be strenuous by all ordinary measurements. The hours may be long and mentally taxing, yet they love their job. Reading is influenced by how we feel about the author or his subject. If we like the topic, we carelessly look up big words and re-read complex sentences. Romans includes many difficult concepts of soteriology, but Romans is more than the study of salvation. We are reading of our own legal forgiveness found in Jesus. This is a precious message to all believers. Related: Easiest Translation to Read? More than 20 Translations Compared |
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