Using COUNT to count

[Martin]

I have what may be an unusual question... I need to find the shortest chapter of the NT by word count (the reason I need this is too convoluted to go into here ). I was able to eventually find a way that's close but I'm not completely sure my method is accurate. Here's what I did:

1. I performed an NIV word search using * and constraining the search to the NT;

2. Then I clicked on the Details button and viewed the Tables tab;

3. Next I used the cmt-T key to bring up the Set Table Display dialog;

4. Here I chose to Sort by Total Words and to Show Chapter Detail and to Show Total Words Count

 

Using the above, I find that the shortest chapter is 1Thess 1 with 230 hits and 264 words. What I don't understand, though, is why the Accordance reports a different number for hits and words. I thought the hit count might be related to the underlying Greek so I tried the same word search using the GNT-T. Interestingly, here I found that 1Tim 2 is the shortest chapter with 186 hits and 224 words. Will someone help me understand the difference between hits and words? Or, is there a better way to count words?

 

On a related note, if I wanted to find the shortest book within the NT by verse count, should a numerical difference between hits and verses also be expected?

Thanks,

Martin

[Helen Brown]

In the Table, the word count has always included the punctuation. Don't ask why, it has been documented that this is the case. I think this explains the discrepancies between hits and words.