The word "Bible" comes from the Greek and Latin words which mean "the book" and it's the hottest book ever to be sold and it remains true today. A survey by the Bible Society concluded that around 2.5 billion copies were printed between 1815 and 1975, and it is estimated that the Bible has sold over 5 million copies worldwide. According to Pew, "Christianity is the world's largest religion, with an estimated 2.2 billion adherents, nearly a third (31 percent) of all 6.9 billion people on Earth." If this is true we should know everything about the Bible, correct? Let's be straightforward, most of us never read the entire Bible and we just scan over it for the most part. There are things we don't know about the Good Book inside and outside the pages, however. Here are 10 intriguing facts about the Bible.

The Bible is universal.

The Bible is available in 426 languages and the New Testament is available in 1,115 languages, but there is more work to be done according to christianresearch.org. There are "Over 4,500 languages still wait for even one book of the Bible. This means millions either have no access to the Bible at all or can only encounter it in something other than their heart language."

There are 17 historical books.

There are 17 historical books of the Bible. There is Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings, 1 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther. There is also Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon, which are considered the poetic books.

The oldest men in the Bible.

The oldest man in the Bible was Methuselah, a descendant of Adam and Noah's grandfather. According to Genesis 5:27 he "Lived 969 years and then he died." The second oldest man of the Bible was a sixth-generation descendant of Adam and Eve named Jared. He at the age of 962, making him the second-oldest person mentioned in the Bible.

There are specific ways to approach prayer.

Did you know there are 9 ways to approach prayer according to the Bible? They can be found in the New and Old Testament. There is the act of praise, confession, thanksgiving, petition, commitment, intercession, benediction, confidence and forgiveness.

God miraculously helped Hezekiah.

Hezekiah was struggling on how he would be able to defeat the king of Assyria. He cried out to the Lord at the temple. “Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God." The Lord answered by sending an angel to put 185,000 Assyrian soldiers to death overnight. 

Jesus and John the Baptist were second cousins.

Jesus' mother, Mary and John's mother, Elizabeth were second cousins. However, the word "cousin" can mean "relative" as it was interpreted by 17th Century scholars for the King James Bible published in 1611. John the Baptist and Jesus could be second cousins as indicated in Luke 1:36. "What's more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her 6th month."

The sun moved backward.

Hezekiah had great moments with God for sure. He witnessed another miracle in Isaiah 38:8, "I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the 10 steps it has gone down on the stairway on Ahaz." So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down."

The sun stopped.

The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down for about a full day when Joshua asked the Lord for help as he needed aid against his attackers. "The sun stood still, and the moon stayed until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. And there has been no day like that, before it or after it, that the Lord heeded a voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel."

There was a really tall man.

Okay, did you know that there was a man so tall that he needed a 13-foot bed? According to Deuteronomy 3:11, King Og of Bashan was the last survivor of the giant Rephaites. "His bed was made of iron and was more than 13-feet long and 6-feet wide. It can still be seen in the Ammonite city of Rabbah."

A talking donkey.

According to Numbers 22, Balaam was paid by King Balak to curse the Israelites. But God had other plans and it was through his talking donkey. The angel of the Lord said: "What have I done to make you beat me these 3 times?" Balaam answered the donkey, "You have made a fool of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now." But the donkey responded "Am I not your own donkey, which you have always ridden, to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?" "No," Balaam answered. Then Balaam saw the angel of the Lord and bowed to him and said, “I have sinned. I did not realize you were standing in the road to oppose me. Now if you are displeased, I will go back.” Balaam never got to curse the Israelites and repented.

The Bible is enthralling whether it's on the pages or how it has impacted the world. No wonder it endures as a best-seller.