Shortest Book in the Bible: A Simple Guide

The shortest book in the Bible is 3 John — by word count. In the original Greek it runs just 219 words, and the King James Version gives it 294.

If you count verses instead, 2 John wins, with 13 verses to 3 John’s 14. Both letters fit on a single page and take under two minutes to read.

So the honest answer names its measure. Here is the full picture:

Rank	Book	Greek words	Verses	Chapters
1	3 John	219	14	1
2	2 John	245	13	1
3	Philemon	335	25	1
4	Obadiah (OT)	440 (Hebrew)	21	1
5	Jude	461	25	1

Contents

• Two Ways to Measure “Shortest”
• 3 John: The Shortest by Word Count
• 2 John: The Shortest by Verse Count
• Why Translations Disagree
• The Shortest Book in the Old Testament
• How to Read These Short Books
• Common Questions
• Small Books, Real Messages

 Two Ways to Measure “Shortest” 

“Shortest” sounds simple until you pick a ruler.

By word count, 3 John is the shortest book of the Bible — 219 words in the original Greek, and 294 in the King James Version. 2 John comes second at 245 Greek words.

By verse count, 2 John is the shortest, with 13 verses. 3 John has 14 in the KJV — though some modern translations print 15, as you will see below.

Verse counting has a weakness: verses vary hugely in length. Psalm 119 has 176 verses, but its neighbour Psalm 117 has just two. Word counting is fairer, and counting the original Hebrew and Greek is fairest of all, because every English translation reshapes the total.

 3 John: The Shortest by Word Count 

Third John is a private letter from “the elder” to a believer named Gaius. In under 250 Greek words it covers three people: Gaius, praised for welcoming travelling teachers; Diotrephes, who refused them and pushed himself forward; and Demetrius, whose good reputation the letter confirms.

Its whole subject is hospitality — whom to welcome and why it matters. That is remarkably little ground for a book of the Bible, which is exactly why it holds the record.

 2 John: The Shortest by Verse Count 

Second John has one chapter and 13 verses, making it the shortest New Testament book by verse count. The writer calls himself “the elder” and addresses “the lady chosen by God and her children” — read by some as a woman and her family, and by others as a code for a local church.

The letter ties Christian love to obedience — “love one another” is defined as walking according to God’s commands — and warns against welcoming teachers who deny that Jesus Christ came in the flesh (2 John 1:7). Like 3 John, it is about hospitality, but from the warning side: whom not to receive.

 Why Translations Disagree 

Here is the twist most lists miss. In the King James Version and the NIV, 3 John has 14 verses. In the ESV and NRSV it has 15, because the closing words are split into two verses instead of one.

That means the “shortest by verse count” answer can shift with the translation on your shelf — 13 verses of 2 John against 14 or 15 of 3 John. The Greek word counts are not affected, which is one more reason word count is the steadier measure.

A similar effect shows up in English word counts: in the NIV and ESV, 2 John edges out 3 John as the shortest book in English words. The KJV keeps 3 John on top. Measure, text, translation — the answer names all three.

For how these counts fit into the whole book, see how many verses are in the Bible and how many words are in the Bible.

 The Shortest Book in the Old Testament 

The shortest book in the Old Testament is Obadiah — one chapter, 21 verses, about 440 Hebrew words. It is also the fourth-shortest book in the whole Bible.

Obadiah is a judgment poem against Edom, the nation descended from Esau, for standing by — and, according to the text, helping — when Jerusalem was attacked. Its closing verses look ahead to the restoration of God’s people.

Twenty-one verses carry a full prophetic message, which is a fair warning against judging biblical books by their length.

 How to Read These Short Books

All three fit into one sitting, so read each in a single pass before asking questions of it.

• 2 John: read twice — once to notice who writes and who receives it, once to trace the themes of truth, love and caution about teachers.
• 3 John: read it next to 2 John. The two letters approach the same subject — welcoming travelling teachers — from opposite sides, and together they show how the early church handled hospitality and responsibility.
• Obadiah: read it with a short introduction first. Its judgment against Edom assumes history a first-time reader will not have.

Then compare the smallest books with the largest — Psalms, at 150 chapters and 2,461 verses — and the scale of the whole library comes into view in how many chapters are in the Bible.

Common Questions 

What is the shortest book in the Bible?

 3 John, by word count — 219 words in Greek and 294 in the King James Version. By verse count, 2 John is shortest at 13 verses.

Is 2 John the shortest book in the Bible? 

Only by verse count. 2 John has 13 verses, the fewest of any book. By words, it comes second to 3 John.

Is 3 John shorter than 2 John? 

By words, yes — 3 John has 219 Greek words to 2 John’s 245. By verses, no — 3 John has 14 verses to 2 John’s 13 in the KJV.

How many verses are in 2 John and 3 John? 

2 John has 13 verses in standard editions. 3 John has 14 in the KJV and NIV, but 15 in the ESV and NRSV, which split the closing verse.

What is the shortest book in the Old Testament? 

Obadiah, with one chapter and 21 verses — about 440 Hebrew words.

Who wrote 2 John and 3 John? 

Both writers identify themselves only as “the elder” (2 John 1:1; 3 John 1:1). Christian tradition has long associated these letters with the apostle John, though the texts themselves do not state his name.

 Small Books, Real Messages 

The shortest book in the Bible is 3 John — a few hundred words about welcoming the right people. The shortest by verses is 2 John, a note tying love to truth. The shortest in the Old Testament is Obadiah, a single chapter of judgment and hope.

None of them is filler. Each takes less than three minutes to read, and each repays a slow second pass — which is more than can be said for plenty of longer books.

If you want to keep exploring the Bible’s shape, start with God’s Word, and for the passages people reach for most, see our comforting Bible verses.