> > > He said. Job 3:2. Look it up.
> >
> > In the King James, Job 3:2 reads, "And Job spake, and said,"
>
> In the Hebrew Bible, Job 3:2 takes 13 letters and is transliterated "Vaya'an Iyob vayomar".
>

I understand the literal reading of the Hebrew for the verse in Iyov 3:2, or Job, is closest to "...answered and said". For clarity, rather than "he said," many translators read that as "And [Job] answered and said." This particular phrasing conveys that Job was breaking his long silence, answering the burning Question of "why?" by starting a rhetorical discourse about the nature of suffering.


> John 11:35 in same takes 8 letters an is transliterated "Vayebk Yeshua".
>
> In the Greek New Testament, John 11:35 takes 16 letters: "Edakrusen o* Iesous."
>
> *o as in otter
>
> Anyone have a Septuagint?
>
> Incidentally, does John 11:35 still say "Jesus wept' in the version that says "He said"? Not that it would matter much; "Jesus" alone takes 5 letters, and "He said" is only 6.
>

As far as I know, the NIV is the only bible version in English which contains both "He said" in Job, and "Jesus wept" in John. The New Living Translation also says "He said" in Job 3:2 but it opts to use "Then Jesus wept" in John 11:35. Of course, the original New Testament verse as written in Greek requires *three* words to say the same "Jesus wept" phrase, whereas in English we can get by with a mere two.

Wolf "will guess there are LOTS of long 'one word' sentences in Elberfelder or Luther Bibel" spirit