# 1,271 Words Are New Testament Only

> 1,271 distinct words of the Chinese Union Version (和合本, simplified) occur only in the New Testament — a quarter as many as the 4,744 confined to the Old.

Question: words only in the New Testament
Answer: 1,271
Page: https://chinese-bible.com/en/reference/new-testament-only-words

The New Testament is the smaller vocabulary problem in every respect: 27 books, 222,137 characters, and 1,271 words that appear nowhere else in the Bible. Its own words are the ones a reader of Christian Chinese needs first — 福音, 门徒, 使徒, 教会, 复活.

It is also easier by the vocabulary measure used across this site. The books with the highest share of HSK 1-3 tokens are John, Matthew, 2 John, Mark — all in the New Testament, all narrative.

A reader starting here needs far less than the whole-Bible figure suggests. The New Testament's own frequency lists are what its book decks are built from, so the words arrive in the order the text actually uses them.

In round numbers: 7,940 verses, 222,137 characters and about 14 hours of reading at 260 characters a minute, against 59 hours for the whole Bible.

## New Testament books by vocabulary size

| Book | Distinct words | Distinct chars | HSK 1-3 | Minutes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2 John | 138 | 151 | 67.9% | 2 |
| 3 John | 160 | 171 | 63.7% | 2 |
| Philemon | 210 | 226 | 61.8% | 2 |
| Jude | 317 | 357 | 58.6% | 3 |
| 2 Thessalonians | 360 | 361 | 63.8% | 5 |
| 1 John | 395 | 330 | 67.8% | 12 |
| Titus | 423 | 416 | 56.1% | 5 |
| 1 Thessalonians | 534 | 483 | 61.9% | 10 |
| 2 Peter | 572 | 515 | 58.5% | 8 |
| 2 Timothy | 615 | 569 | 58.8% | 9 |
| Colossians | 628 | 558 | 61.2% | 11 |
| Philippians | 642 | 549 | 61.1% | 11 |
| James | 707 | 635 | 64.9% | 12 |
| Galatians | 757 | 605 | 61.7% | 16 |
| 1 Peter | 757 | 653 | 56% | 13 |
| 1 Timothy | 761 | 629 | 56.7% | 12 |
| Ephesians | 800 | 645 | 59.5% | 15 |
| 2 Corinthians | 1,165 | 827 | 64.3% | 31 |
| Hebrews | 1,440 | 976 | 60.5% | 34 |
| 1 Corinthians | 1,453 | 954 | 62.9% | 47 |
| Romans | 1,504 | 971 | 59.1% | 47 |
| Revelation | 1,555 | 1,068 | 65.1% | 52 |
| John | 1,647 | 1,011 | 72.3% | 91 |
| Mark | 1,933 | 1,227 | 67.8% | 67 |
| Matthew | 2,475 | 1,415 | 68.1% | 108 |
| Acts | 2,628 | 1,377 | 63.2% | 111 |
| Luke | 2,749 | 1,493 | 67.7% | 117 |


## Questions

**How long is the New Testament in Chinese?**

222,137 characters — about 14 hours at 260 characters a minute.

**Which New Testament book is the easiest?**

John, at 72.3% HSK 1-3 tokens.

**Is there a New Testament deck?**

Every book has a deck of its own, and the topical decks cut across them.

## Method

- Text: 和合本 (Chinese Union Version), simplified script — public domain
- Words: forward maximum matching against CC-CEDICT (this site's own segmentation)
- HSK levels: HSK 3.0 levels from the complete-hsk-vocabulary list; band 7 covers HSK 7-9
- Reading times: 260 characters a minute (an assumption)
- Computed: 2026-09-22

These are reproducible counts over a public-domain text, not a peer-reviewed study. Difficulty ranks are one stated formula, not a validated readability score.


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- Definitions: CC-CEDICT, licensed CC BY-SA (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).
- If you share this file onward, keep this notice and share alike.
- Character data: Make Me a Hanzi (Arphic Public License / LGPL).
- Bible text: public domain — 和合本 · World English Bible · Louis Segond 1910.
- Built with https://chinese-bible.com