How Many Books Are in the Bible?

If you were to walk into our Chester offices or browse the virtual shelves at Eden.co.uk, you would find thousands of Bibles. Outwardly, they look similar, but if you look closely at the Table of Contents, you will discover a fascinating mystery: some Bibles are physically longer than others.

Why is that? Did someone add books to the Bible, or did someone take them out?

To understand the Bible, we have to look past the leather covers and thin paper to see how the early church compiled these texts. The Bible is not a single, continuous book written by one person; it is a divine library of 66, 73, or 81 separate scrolls penned by over 40 authors across 1,500 years.

Here is the complete, historically accurate guide to exactly how many books are in the Bible, why the counts differ, and how they are categorised.

1. The Protestant Bible: 66 Books

The Protestant Bible is the version most modern churchgoers in the UK are familiar with. If you purchase a standard NIV, ESV, NLT, or KJV Bible, it will contain exactly 66 books, split cleanly into two sections:

• The Old Testament (39 Books): Originally written in Hebrew and Aramaic, these books record God’s covenant with Israel before the birth of Jesus.
• The New Testament (27 Books): Written in Greek during the 1st century AD, these books record the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ and the early history of the Church.

How the Protestant Books are Categorised:

2. The Roman Catholic Bible: 73 Books

If you open a Roman Catholic Bible (such as the RSV Catholic Edition or the Jerusalem Bible), you will find 73 books.

The New Testament is exactly the same (27 books), but the Old Testament contains 46 books instead of 39. The 7 additional books are interspersed throughout the Old Testament and are known as the Deuterocanonical books (meaning "second canon") by Catholics, and the Apocrypha (meaning "hidden books") by Protestants.

The 7 Additional Catholic Books:

1. Tobit (A moving story of family faithfulness and angelic protection)
2. Judith (The heroic tale of a Jewish widow who saves her city from an invading army)
3. 1 Maccabees (The historical account of the Maccabean Jewish revolt against Greek oppression)
4. 2 Maccabees (A theological retelling of the same revolt, focusing on the resurrection of the dead)
5. Wisdom of Solomon (A poetic book filled with deep, theological advice on righteous living)
6. Sirach / Ecclesiasticus (A collection of practical wisdom, similar to the Book of Proverbs)
7. Baruch (Written by the scribe of the prophet Jeremiah, offering prayers and confessions of exile)

Additionally, Catholic Bibles include longer, expanded versions of the Book of Esther and the Book of Daniel (including the famous story of Bel and the Dragon).

Browse our full range of approved Catholic Bibles Here →

3. The Eastern Orthodox Bible: 81 Books

The Eastern Orthodox Church (which includes Greek, Russian, and Antiochian Orthodox parishes) has the longest Bible canon, typically recognising 81 books (though this can slightly vary by specific national jurisdiction).

Why is the Orthodox Bible longer?

When the Apostles wrote the New Testament, they didn't quote from a Hebrew Old Testament. Instead, they quoted from the Septuagint (LXX)—a Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures completed in Alexandria, Egypt, around 200 BC.

Because the early Church spoke Greek, the Septuagint became the official Bible of the early Christian movement. The Septuagint contained several books that were not in the traditional Hebrew temple archives. The Eastern Orthodox Church has preserved this collection for 2,000 years.

In addition to the Catholic books, the Orthodox Bible includes:

• 1 Esdras (An alternative historical account of the return from exile)
• 3 Maccabees (The miraculous story of Egyptian Jews surviving execution under Ptolemy IV)
• 4 Maccabees (An academic, philosophical discourse on the triumph of reason over passions, using the Maccabean martyrs as examples)
• The Prayer of Manasseh (A beautiful, penitential prayer of King Manasseh during his captivity)
• Psalm 151 (A short, poetic psalm celebrating David's victory over Goliath, found in the Septuagint but not the Hebrew Psalter)

Discover the Orthodox Study Bible →

Why are the Books Different? (The Historical Mystery)

If the early Church universally read the Greek Septuagint, why did Protestants remove these books in the 1500s?

It all comes down to manuscripts and the Protestant Reformation.

During the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church used the Latin Vulgate translation, which included the Deuterocanonical books. But in 1534, when Martin Luther translated the Bible into German, he decided to look past the Latin translation to the original Hebrew scrolls used by the Jewish community in Europe.

Luther noticed that the Jewish community did not recognise the Apocrypha as inspired scripture because these books were written in the period after the great prophets had ceased speaking, and were mostly written in Greek rather than Hebrew.

Luther chose to follow the Hebrew canon for the Old Testament. However, because he still valued the Apocrypha, he didn't throw them away! In his 1534 German translation, he placed these books in a separate section between the Testaments, writing:

"Apocrypha: These are books which are not held equal to the Sacred Scriptures, and yet are useful and good for reading."

For nearly 300 years, Protestant Bibles (including the original 1611 King James Version) continued to print the Apocrypha in the middle. It wasn't until the 1800s, when Bible Societies began printing cheaper, compact editions to distribute globally, that they stripped the "books in the middle" out completely to save on weight and printing costs. Over time, the 66-book Bible became the norm for Protestants, and the history of the other books was largely forgotten by the general public.

Frequently Asked Questions

What does "Canon" mean?

The word "canon" comes from the Greek word for a "measuring rod" or "standard." In biblical terms, the canon refers to the official list of books that are recognised as inspired scripture and used to establish church doctrine.

Are the books of the New Testament different?

No. Whether you are Protestant, Catholic, or Eastern Orthodox, all Christian denominations agree on the exact same 27 books of the New Testament. The debate is entirely confined to the Old Testament.

Is the Apocrypha safe to read?

Absolutely. Even if you are a Protestant who does not view the Apocrypha as divinely inspired scripture, these books provide crucial historical, cultural, and theological background. They explain what happened to the Jewish people in the 400 "silent years" between the Old and New Testaments, explaining how Jewish sects like the Pharisees and Sadducees emerged before the birth of Jesus.

Choose the Right Bible for Your Faith Journey

There is no "wrong" Bible to read, but choosing the right edition will help you engage with the text without confusion.

If you are attending an Anglican or Evangelical parish, an NIV or ESV 66-book Bible is your best option. If you are exploring ancient history or attending a Catholic or Orthodox service, we highly suggest upgrading to a Catholic Edition or an Orthodox Study Bible so you can read exactly what the early Church fathers read.

At Eden, we have spent decades helping UK readers find the perfect Bible. No matter where you are on your faith journey, the best Bible is simply the one you will open and read today.

Browse our Full Collection of Bibles at Eden.co.uk

If you aren’t sure which Bible to get, there are a few ways we can help.

1. Try the Bible Finder: We’ve put together a simple way to filter down to the perfect Bible for you. Just choose a translation, pick the features you want and select a comfortable text size. You can try the Bible Finder here.
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