66 — 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament.
66 Books, Two Testaments
The Bible isn’t one single book — it’s a library. In total it contains 66 books: 39 in the Old Testament, written before Jesus, and 27 in the New Testament, written after. Different Christian traditions include a few extra books (the Apocrypha) in some editions, but 66 is the standard Protestant count.
How many books are in the Bible?
👉 66 — 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament.
Written over 1,500 years
These 66 books weren’t written in one sitting, or even one century. Scholars estimate they were composed across roughly 1,500 years, by more than 40 different authors — kings, prophets, fishermen, a tax collector, a doctor — writing in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek. What holds them together isn’t a single author but a single unfolding story: creation, a broken relationship with God, and the long arc toward redemption through Jesus.