Top 100 Most Common Words in the Bible

What 100 words appear most commonly in the King James Bible?
Quiz by TenThousand
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Last updated: July 4, 2017
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First submittedFebruary 4, 2015
Times taken88,390
Average score38.0%
Rating4.24
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word
1
and
2
the
3
of
4
that
5
to
6
in
7
he
8
for
9
unto
10
a
11
Lord
12
his
13
shall
14
I
15
they
16
not
17
be
18
is
19
them
20
with
21
him
22
all
23
it
24
thou
25
but
26
which
27
was
28
God
29
said
30
from
31
have
32
as
33
thy
34
their
35
my
36
me
37
will
38
when
39
thee
40
ye
41
are
42
this
43
were
44
out
45
upon
46
man
47
by
48
then
49
up
50
Israel
51
there
52
people
53
had
54
came
55
so
56
into
57
hath
58
you
59
king
60
come
61
also
62
one
63
son
64
before
65
an
66
on
67
men
68
house
69
at
70
day
71
children
72
now
73
against
74
if
75
made
76
land
77
no
78
we
79
her
80
go
81
went
82
saying
83
even
84
do
85
therefore
86
things
87
hand
88
let
89
your
90
these
91
behold
92
us
93
shalt
94
because
95
after
96
great
97
every
98
saith
99
down
100
o
+4
Level 44
Mar 25, 2015
How is this much different than the most common words quiz?

A quiz based on the top 100 nouns of the Bible would make more sense.

+7
Level 71
Sep 30, 2015
You're in luck! http://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/115106/top-100-nouns-in-the-bible
+5
Level 83
Nov 23, 2015
It has old-fashioned words and inflexions, which won't be found much in modern literature, for a start.
+7
Level 37
Mar 25, 2015
this is a boring quiz.
+27
Level 71
Mar 18, 2018
you're the only person who left a comment saying that and you got no likes... seems that "this is a boring quiz." is merely your opinion
+1
Level 75
Apr 21, 2023
That statement could never have been anything other than an opinion. That's what it is - a statement of opinion. It doesn't become fact even if everyone who ever read it "liked" it.
+6
Level 79
Oct 25, 2020
I enjoyed it
+3
Level 71
Mar 25, 2015
Many of these were just different forms of the same word, such as be, is, was, are. It's unfair that you need to guess the correct inflection. I typed say, but it wasn't accepted although said is in the list.
+1
Level 82
Mar 25, 2015
Got "saying," currently at 2%, but missed "was" and "shall." D'oh.
+2
Level 46
Mar 25, 2015
Where is "sin" ranked?
+3
Level 76
Mar 25, 2015
231st.
+1
Level 70
Mar 25, 2015
name a few prepositions and some pronouns and you are good to go
+3
Level 72
Mar 25, 2015
Also, it is a little surprise that there are so few feminine nouns or pronouns. "He" but not "she," and "son" but no "daughter."
+8
Level 82
Mar 26, 2015
Not much of a surprise. Can you name even 10 women in the Bible?
+24
Level 43
Mar 26, 2015
Eve, Jezebel, Hannah, Leah, Rachel, Naomi, Sarah, Ruth, Rebekah, Judith...ten from the Old Testament.
+8
Level 82
Apr 3, 2015
If you did that from memory then you're probably in the top 1% of Biblical female namers. Nobody knows who Naomi is.
+3
Level 82
Apr 3, 2015
Only two of these are among the top 25 most mentioned characters.
+4
Level 35
Jun 1, 2015
I do.
+14
Level 75
Mar 2, 2017
The story of Ruth and her mother-in-law Naomi is well known - "Whither thou goest I will go." I tried to think of ten women from the New Testament off the top of my head - Mary, Mary Magdalene, Martha, Elizabeth, Priscilla, Lydia, Salome, Anna, Damaris, and Dorcas. To add to the Old Testament list, I also thought of Deborah, Rahab, and Esther. However, you are correct that men are much more prevalent. (That actually might make it easier to remember the few women who are named.)
+3
Level 43
Mar 3, 2017
Don't forget Delilah
+4
Level 51
May 19, 2017
There are three Marys - the mother of Jesus, the sister of Martha, and Mary Magdalene.
+1
Level 82
Mar 18, 2018
^Aesthus and if you speak Arabic there are even more, as the Arabic name for Mary (mother of Jesus) and Miriam (sister of Aaron) are the same. They are also the same name in Aramaic. This leads to some funny mix-ups, such as when Muhammad got the two characters confused once while reciting a verse of the Qu'ran and he called Jesus' mother the sister of Aaron.
+2
Level 78
Oct 22, 2020
Mary, Mary Magdalene, Elizabeth, Eve, Sarah, Hagar, Leah, Rachel, Batsheba and Lot's wife (if she counts) off the top of my head. But I took religion class in school and regularly went to church for years.
+3
Level 39
Aug 11, 2020
Abigail, Ruth, Bathsheba, Elizabeth, Esther, Mary, Delilah, Hannah, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah, Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, Claudia, Dorcas, Priscilla, Susanna, Tabitha, Naomi, Eve, Noa, Orpah, Michal, Phoebe, Julia, Haggath, Jezebel, Basemeth, Adah. Just to name a few. ;-)
+3
Level 68
Nov 28, 2021
and my favorite, Jael =)
+1
Level 65
Apr 2, 2015
What rank is the word "holy" in?
+1
Level 76
Apr 2, 2015
162nd
+1
Level 71
Mar 18, 2018
i was pretty surprised about that one, given im not religious
+3
Level 51
Jul 22, 2015
I am a bad Christian for not doing well on this quiz.
+7
Level 63
Feb 3, 2022
Just because you didn't do well in a Bible quiz doesn't make you a bad Christian. Just be confident in yourself and keep growing that relationship with Jesus!

(and yes, I am replying to a 6 year old comment)

+4
Level 74
Apr 19, 2023
This is inspiring. My imaginary friend is called Gerald. I'm going to increase my relationship with him.
+2
Level 20
Aug 3, 2015
Did you go through the bible and tally up every word??
+21
Level 76
Apr 29, 2017
Yeah, they took months to count
+2
Level 69
Jan 25, 2018
LOL. Yes, Jerry is a dedicated guy, and also apparently assumed to be a Luddite. ;-) // P.S. But srsly, great quiz.
+3
Level 71
Aug 16, 2015
I note that LOVE doesn't make it.
+1
Level 76
Aug 17, 2015
295th.
+3
Level 43
Mar 3, 2017
Or "FEAR", which is actually supposedly the most written command in the Bible.
+1
Level 76
Apr 29, 2017
199th.
+5
Level 51
Aug 23, 2017
Not to mention that, in context, fear usually means respect and worship - as in 'Fear the Lord your God'.
+5
Level 73
Jan 26, 2018
OT: 602,500 words (approx, varies by translation)

NT: 180,500 words

Hence, words or ideas that may be pretty common in the New Testament have an uphill battle to make this sort of list population mostly by simple words (of, the, and, etc.). Jesus introduced some pretty revolutionary concepts to the world, and some of the words he used frequently were not nearly as common in the OT.

Jerry, I'd love to see a quiz ranking the words of the New Testament alone!

+3
Level 22
Jan 20, 2016
I am surprised that I don't see love, faith, grace, peace, amen, church, Jesus, Christ, father, holy, hallelujah, eat, bread, almighty, heaven, earth, hell, sin, et cetera.
+1
Level 70
Jun 4, 2016
Me too, I am thinking the same thing why not Jesus, or Christ?!?!
+11
Level 75
Jun 29, 2016
Because there are at least another 100 words which appear more often...
+1
Level 75
Oct 26, 2020
Jesus was often referred to in other ways - Savior, King, Lord, Messiah, Christ, Immanuel, Redeemer, shepherd, etc.
+1
Level 66
Jan 7, 2020
Because you need more words to make complete sentences ;) plus your words reminds me more of sermons/church than the bible.
+1
Level 51
Mar 7, 2016
rigged
+40
Level 76
Mar 7, 2016
Nah, that word's not even in the top 1000.
+4
Level 93
Jan 3, 2017
This comment just made my day!
+3
Level 74
Mar 8, 2018
Mine too, lol
+3
Level 71
Mar 18, 2018
ha gotee
+1
Level 75
Apr 21, 2023
Yep, it's a conspiracy. Think of all the people who have been plotting for thousands of years to make sure you did poorly on this quiz. It was a complicated endeavor, but ... well, mission accomplished. What should we do next?
+5
Level 24
May 19, 2016
Any Metallica fan who knows all the lyrics to CREEPING DEATH will get automatically 50/100 of these words.7

Rest is pocket change.

+2
Level 66
Jan 7, 2020
Any song or piece of literature will get you atleast 50% because many of these are simply the most used words in any kind of sentence ( You, are, in, the etc)
+1
Level 44
Mar 3, 2017
Faith?
+1
Level 32
Mar 11, 2017
I had so much fun with this. At first i got 70 because I just guessed everyday words like: "a,and,you,me,him,her,son,and" and then at my third try i got 100/100!
+2
Level 57
Apr 29, 2017
I say to thee: I made them all
+1
Level 51
Aug 23, 2017
The title should have 'KJV' or equivalent in it. A similar list would be found in any seventeenth-century literature. You might as well have made a list of Shakespeare's most used words, save for the 'Lord'.
+1
Level 76
Aug 23, 2017
Please see the answer to jmcpetunia above. S/he didn't read the instructions either.
+3
Level 37
Nov 9, 2017
HelenO: If we ignore him, will he go away?
+1
Level 82
Mar 18, 2018
I don't know, diva, but why don't you try it? Right now your approach of obsessively commenting about him on every single quiz you take isn't working.
+2
Level 67
Mar 18, 2018
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Popular-Bible-Words.php
+1
Level 76
Mar 19, 2018
Someone (in a now-deleted post) asked if homosexual appears in the KJV; the answer is No, but neither does heterosexual or bisexual.
+2
Level 82
Mar 21, 2018
There's some dirty talk about men laying with other men, though.
+3
Level 75
Jan 24, 2019
And a couple of male angels who drop in on Lot and are apparently so irresistible that all of the men of the city can't help but immediately try to get squelchy with them
+4
Level 82
Jul 24, 2019
Yeah lucky for the angels they were visiting the one good man in town who was such a great guy that he offered his two virgin daughters to the mob to be gang raped, if they would just avoid bothering his guests. And the story only goes downhill from there. So much moral wisdom.
+1
Level 60
May 1, 2023
There's a lot (no pun intended) that you don't seem to understand about the story of Lot, or the culture of the day. First, the angels did appear as men. The angels are always referred to with masculine pronouns. Second, the men of Sodom were not just trying to get to know the angels, or even have sex with them, but rape them (since the angels themselves were of course not willing). Third, Lot was considered righteous, not perfect (no one is perfect but Jesus) and offering his virgin daughters to the men was a real dick move not approved by God. Fourth, his reasoning was based on the ancient near-east custom, still prevalent in some parts of the region, of treating one's houseguests with special honor not even normally reserved for family. If anything had happened to the men under Lot's care, it would've brought shame on him. Plus he recognized they were from God, which is of course even bigger. Fifth, the men refused sex with his daughters, proving they were indeed homosexual.
+1
Level 60
May 1, 2023
And lastly, it was for the violent acts of rape, plus God only knows what other horrible crimes, the people of Sodom were constantly committing that God destroyed them, not for simply experiencing same-sex attraction.
+3
Level 71
Jan 22, 2020
The story of Sodom doesn't make any sense though. If all the men in the city were gay, why would Lot send out his daughter? For a make-over? The original text just say that the men would get to "know" the angels, same word is used that God knew King David.. I wonder how the men in back in 1604-1611 came to the conclusion that the story of Lot is about sex?! Well, not many things in the Bible make sense, but somehow a lot of people around the world believe it to be true. smh..
+1
Level 82
Jan 22, 2020
They weren't gay they were indiscriminate. Also, angels don't have a specific gender.
+1
Level 75
Jan 28, 2020
^ True, but (in KJV) both the townspeople ("Where are the men which came in to thee this night?") and Lot ("unto these men do nothing") refer to them as male
+1
Level 28
Mar 20, 2018
I always forget those darn archaic forms that appear so much in the KJV. My NABRE doesn't have any saith or shalt or thou/thee anywhere, and so I never remember to include them.
+3
Level 39
May 22, 2018
I just got one point. Is this because I'm an atheist?
+3
Level 70
Aug 15, 2018
I'm an atheist and I got 4 points so probably not.
+2
Level 82
May 5, 2019
I got 5 points and my high score is only 69. You can do better.
+1
Level 75
Oct 26, 2020
My high score is 69 but I only got four points. Does QM like you better than me, or does he give atheists a handicap like in golf? :)
+2
Level 82
Nov 27, 2022
the number of points a score is worth changes depending on the average at the time.
+1
Level 50
Feb 12, 2019
I died at 37 too
+2
Level 63
Feb 12, 2019
The key to doing well in this quiz is to just open the nearest book and writing down all the common words that you see.
+2
Level 66
Jan 7, 2020
Plus god, lord and israel and a few old-english words.
+1
Level 66
Jan 7, 2020
And I guess king, not a word you find in every written piece of text.
+1
Level 89
Jan 22, 2020
A lot of directive.
+2
Level 65
Oct 22, 2020
How... did... I... get... 100... percent?...
+3
Level 89
Oct 18, 2022
Divine intervention.
+2
Level 76
Oct 22, 2020
feels like this should be subject to the same rules as the ‘100 most common english words’ quiz, where different inflections count as one (so has, have and had should all just show up under ‘have’). that way this one can start to be more specific to the bible, rather than just prepositions common everywhere, and it makes it more consistent with other quizzes.
+2
Level 79
Oct 22, 2020
I got 71/100 and have never read any Bible!
+3
Level 64
Oct 23, 2020
I got 76/100 but somehow missed #3: "of." Apparently I was in good company though, as only 52% got that one. Funny how the little things can easily slip through the cracks.
+2
Level 24
Mar 3, 2021
Can't believe that God is 28th and Jesus didn't even make it in the top 100. Jeez.
+2
Level 75
Oct 28, 2021
The Old Testament is very God-heavy and Jesus-light.
+1
Level 40
Mar 5, 2021
What about "Peace"?
+4
Level 58
Jun 27, 2022
Hallucinogenic wasn't in there? Who knew!
+2
Level 61
Nov 27, 2022
Props to the guy who counted all these words
+1
Level 66
Apr 19, 2023
Include past tense of the verbs? No way!
+1
Level 78
Apr 19, 2023
It would be interesting to have this one with only the New Testament.
+2
Level 47
Apr 19, 2023
Just typing out the Pulp Fiction "bible quote" helped get a few of these
+1
Level 67
Apr 20, 2023
That's literally what I did
+3
Level 65
Apr 20, 2023
I did this with the help of two friends: a Christian and an atheist. The atheist was the bigger help because she guessed words like “nor”, “and”, and “to”. The Christian guessed words like “river”, “heavenly”, and “truth”.
+1
Level 67
Apr 20, 2023
Interesting
+1
Level 67
Apr 20, 2023
53/100, managed to get ones like Hath but missed And. I was literally reciting random excerpts in my head and whenever I came across a common word I tried it but I forgot to for And
+1
Level 67
Apr 20, 2023
The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger, those who attempt to poison and destroy My brothers. And you will know I am the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon you.
+1
Level 67
Jun 18, 2023
Not really a problem, but kinda interesting that the numeral "1" isn't a type-in for the word "one".
+1
Level 49
Jul 21, 2023
70/100 by guessing common words lol