比 with 更 or 还: 100 Bible Comparisons
Answering: “how to compare things in Chinese”
Updated 2026-09-26 · plain text · JSON
比 puts the two things being compared on either side of it and the quality last. No word for 'than' or 'more' is added.
- HSK level
- 1
- derived from its own words
- In the Bible
- 100
- clauses
- Meet it first in
- Luke
- where it is commonest
- How sure
- Counted
- 100% of a checked sample
Practise it
Tap the words that carry the pattern.
：「，？。」
The same verses, in full
Easiest first: ranked by how much of each verse sits at or below HSK 1, the point’s own level. Colours are tones. Nothing here was written for the page — every line is in the text.
他tā对duì我wǒ说shuō：「人子rén zǐ啊a，你nǐ看见kàn jiàn了le吗ma？你nǐ还hái要看yào kàn见jiàn比bǐ这zhè更gèng可憎kě zēng的de事shì。」
Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? You will again see yet greater abominations than these.”
Ezekiel 8:15 · 75% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
我wǒ实shí实在shí zài在zài地de告诉gào sù你们nǐ men，我wǒ所suǒ做zuò的de事shì，信xìn我wǒ的de人rén也yě要yào做zuò，并且bìng qiě要yào做zuò比bǐ这zhè更gèng大dà的de事shì，因为yīn wèi我wǒ往wǎng父fù那里nà li去qù。
Most certainly I tell you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also; and he will do greater works than these, because I am going to my Father.
John 14:12 · 74% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
对duì他tā的de百姓bǎi xìng说shuō：「看kàn哪nǎ，这zhè以色列yǐ sè liè民mín比bǐ我们wǒ men还hái多duō，又yòu比bǐ我们wǒ men强盛qiáng shèng。
He said to his people, “Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we.
Exodus 1:9 · 72% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
他tā的de肉ròu要yào比bǐ孩童hái tóng的de肉ròu更gèng嫩nèn； 他tā就jiù返老还童fǎn lǎo huán tóng。
His flesh will be fresher than a child’s. He returns to the days of his youth.
Job 33:25 · 69% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
但dàn我wǒ告诉gào sù你们nǐ men，在zài这里zhè lǐ有yǒu一人yì rén比bǐ殿diàn更gèng大dà。
But I tell you that one greater than the temple is here.
Matthew 12:6 · 67% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
我wǒ心里xīn li发昏fā hūn的de时候shí hou， 我wǒ要yào从cóng地dì极jí求告qiú gào你nǐ。 求qiú你nǐ领lǐng我wǒ到dào那nà比bǐ我wǒ更gèng高gāo的de磐石pán shí！
From the end of the earth, I will call to you when my heart is overwhelmed. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
Psalms 61:2 · 67% of this verse’s words are at or below the point’s own HSK level
Go and meet it in the text
- Read Ezekiel 8 — where the first example above comes from, with every word tappable.
- The rest of HSK 1 grammar — the other points at this level, with their counts.
- The HSK 1 word deck — the vocabulary side, ordered by how often the Bible uses it.
What the Bible does with it
A Chinese comparison needs no word for than and no comparative ending. A 比 B then the quality: 比雪更白, whiter than snow. Everything that English marks with -er or more is carried by the position of the two nouns and, usually, by 更 or 还 in front of the adjective.
That 更 is what this count requires, and the reason is worth stating. 比 is also one of the commonest syllables in transliterated names — 比拿雅, 亚比米勒, 比加 — and the segmenter splits a name into syllables, so the first version of this rule returned Benaiah and Abimelech more often than it returned a comparison. Requiring the degree adverb finds fewer comparisons than exist and gets the ones it finds right.
The Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified) uses 比 629 times. 529 of those occurrences are the same words doing something else.
The rule is: 比 with a word before it and 更 or 还 within four words after it — the marked comparative. 30 of its 100 matches were drawn at random and checked one by one; 100% were right. Recall is not measured, so the figure is what this rule finds, not everything the translation contains.
| Word | Reading | HSK | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|
| 比 | bǐ | 1 | 629 |
The HSK column is the level data/dict.json gives the word, and it is what puts this point at level 1.
| Occurrences | Share | |
|---|---|---|
| the construction | 100 | 16% |
| the same words doing something else | 529 | 84% |
| Book | Clauses |
|---|---|
| Luke | 10 |
| Matthew | 9 |
| Psalms | 8 |
| Ezekiel | 7 |
| Job | 7 |
Counted from what the rule matched, before the audit — a ranking, not a published total.
Counted
The rule: 比 with a word before it and 更 or 还 within four words after it — the marked comparative.
30 of 100 matches were drawn at random and read in context; 100% were right. Checked by Claude Opus 5, reading each sampled clause in context; not a native speaker. Recall is not measured: this is what the rule finds, not everything the translation contains.
This point is HSK 1 because that is the highest HSK level of the point's own function words, as data/dict.json grades them; a word the HSK lists do not grade sends the point to 'beyond'.
Questions
- Can a comparison leave out 更?
- Yes — 你比我公义, you are more righteous than I, has no degree adverb at all. Those are real comparisons and this count deliberately misses them, because there is no way to tell them from a proper name without reading each one.
- How often does it occur in the Chinese Bible?
- 100 clauses in the Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified), out of 629 occurrences of the words that mark it.
- Which book of the Bible uses it most?
- Luke, with 10 — followed by Matthew (9), Psalms (8), Ezekiel (7).
- How do you know the count is right?
- The rule is: 比 with a word before it and 更 or 还 within four words after it — the marked comparative. 30 of its 100 matches were drawn at random and checked one by one; 100% were right. Recall is not measured, so the figure is what this rule finds, not everything the translation contains.
Related reference pages
Take it further
- 97 ready-made vocabulary decks — by HSK level, by book or by topic, exportable to Anki, Pleco or Quizlet.
- Printable 田字格 worksheets — passages with pinyin, meanings and tracing rows.
- The parallel reader — Chinese, pinyin and your own language side by side, every word tappable.
- The dataset behind these numbers — plain JSON, free to reuse with attribution.
How this was measured
Edition: Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified). Every figure comes from one pass over all 1,189 chapters and 31,021 verses, 650,628word tokens in total, using the site’s own segmentation. A construction count is published only when a hand-checked sample of the rule that found it was at least 90% correct; between 70% and that it is published as an approximation, and below it no count is published at all. Generated 2026-09-26.